Roto-Reuters.co.uk: Vatican criticises Italy plans on gay, unwed couples
Rome - The Vatican said on Saturday Italy's left sought to "eradicate" the traditional family by adding to its Christmas wish-list legislation that would give legal rights to unwed couples, including homosexual ones.
The Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, said in an editorial that politicians in the ruling centre-left coalition were embarking on a "senseless battle". They aim to put forward a bill by the end of January.
"Fifteen days to Christmas. And there are those making other calculations, thinking of other deadlines," it wrote in its weekend edition.
The headline read: "Christmas 2006: To eradicate the family is the priority of Italian politics."
Prime Minister Romano Prodi was elected in April on a campaign platform that included some sort of legal recognition of unwed couples. But he has so far stopped short of openly supporting gay marriage, a divisive issue in Catholic Italy.
He greeted a Senate motion on Thursday urging some recognition of heterosexual and homosexual couples as a "step forward".
Equal Opportunity Minister Barbara Pollastrini said she would start working on a draft law in the coming days so it would be ready by the Senate's requested January deadline.
This outraged centre-right politicians. But the motion, partly a compromise after lawmakers dropped a measure about unwed couples' inheritance, has also stirred up controversy within Prodi's cabinet.
Justice Minister Clemente Mastella, who is also a senator, said in comments published by Italia media on Saturday that he was ready to cast his first vote against the ruling majority unless the traditional family was fully protected. Continued...
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