Giving rights to same-sex couples is part of the political agenda turning New Zealand into a "moral wasteland", according to Cardinal Thomas Williams of Wellington. Williams, the senior figure of the Catholic Church in New Zealand, attacked reforms in the past two decades that had legalised prostitution and homosexuality and said the Civil Union bill would grant legitimacy to "all manner of relationships that are anything but marital". The comments were part of an essay written by Williams entitled "The Spiritual Bankruptcy of Liberalism" and published in the NZ Herald on Monday, merely days after the Herald ran a story on officials within the Catholic Church covering up sexual offences against boys by former priest Alan Woodcock.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 30th June 2004 - 12:00pm