New Zealand's Catholic bishops have asked for the support of the Pope in the battle against the Civil Union Bill, according to remarks released by the Vatican. Bishop Denis George Browne, president of the New Zealand bishops' conference, asked for the Pope's support and said the Civil Union Bill was part of an effort in a "program of social engineering" that will diminish Christian values. The bishops' delegation, making a periodic visit to the Vatican, was led by Cardinal Thomas Williams, who several months ago wrote in the NZ Herald, denouncing the politicians behind the bill as "modern barbarians." Pope John Paul II told the visiting bishops that efforts to equate marriage between man and woman to other forms of cohabitation violated "God's plan for humanity." Spouses “rightly” deserve legal recognition, other relationships don't, he said. Homosexuality is a recurrent topic for the elderly pontiff. Earlier this month the Pope lectured the new Canadian ambassador to the Vatican about the "evils of homosexual unions."
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 14th September 2004 - 12:00pm