(Updates with new quotes)
* Cardinal warns government against changing marriage law
* Opposition is mobilising before draft bill is presented
* Church urges Catholics to pressure MPs, use “other means”
By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor
PARIS, Nov 3 (Reuters) – France’s leading Roman Catholic
prelate said on Saturday a government plan to legalise same-sex
marriage would profoundly affect the equilibrium of French
society, calling it a reform for a few but not all citizens.
Speaking in the pilgrimage town of Lourdes, Paris Cardinal
Andre Vingt-Trois urged Catholics to show their opposition to a
planned marriage reform by writing and speaking to their elected
officials or taking part in protest marches.
His call to action, announced at an annual plenary meeting
of the country’s Catholic bishops, came as President Francois
Hollande’s left-wing government prepared to present its draft
bill on gay marriage in cabinet next Wednesday.
If the law passes, France – a traditionally Catholic society
where churchgoers are now a single-digit minority – would become
the 12th country in the world to allow same-sex marriage.
Opinion polls say voter support for same-sex matrimony has
slipped several points to under 60 percent and to under 50
percent for gay adoption as the opposition has ratcheted up its
campaign since last summer.
A BVA survey published by Le Parisien newspaper on Saturday
said this was the first fall in support after a decade of rising
acceptance for the two reforms. “Opinion trends on the subject
are clearly on the retreat,” it said.
French faith leaders – mostly Catholic, but also Jewish,
Muslim, Protestant and Orthodox Christian – and conservative
politicians have mobilised against the law, especially against
its provision to allow gay couples to adopt children.
“The presidential and legislative elections (earlier this
year) did not give them carte blanche, especially not for
reforms that very profoundly affect the equilibrium of our
society,” said Vingt-Trois, calling the planned law “a fraud”.
“It will not be ‘marriage for all’,” he said, citing the
slogan of the pro-reform campaign, “it will be the marriage of a
few imposed on all”.
Green MP Denis Baupin, vice-speaker of the National
Assembly, accused the cardinal of trying to prevent equal rights
for all citizens. “Mr Vingt-Trois, respect the deputies, respect
the citizens,” he said in a statement.
PLANNED PROTESTS
Vingt-Trois did not openly call in his speech for street
protests against the law, due to be debated in parliament in the
first half of next year, but later told journalists his
reference to “democratic means of expression” included them.
But he would not take to the streets himself. “My function
is not to lead the political action, it’s to awaken consciences
and alert my fellow citizens when I think there is reason to do
so,” he said.
Lay Catholic groups organised protests in 75 cities around
France last month and plan more in mid-November. The Church
could organise a large demonstration but is wary of adopting too
prominent a role in an emotional political debate.
Some conservative politicians have spoken out in favour of a
large street protest in Paris and some mayors, the main
officials who celebrate civil marriages, have said they would
not preside over ceremonies for gay couples.
The cardinal said parliamentarians should be able to vote on
the law according to their consciences, saying: “We appeal to
their sense of the common good, which cannot be reduced to the
sum of particular interests.”
He said he had been invited to meet with deputies later this
month to explain the Church’s position.
PARENT “A” AND PARENT “B”
Vingt-Trois accused the government of trying to rush through
the marriage reform without a broad debate in French society
about its implications, especially for children who would grow
up without a clearly identified mother and father.
“Has it asked citizens if they agreed to no longer be the
father or mother of their child, but only an undifferentiated
‘parent A’ or ‘parent B’?” he asked, referring to a proposal to
make references to parents gender-neutral on birth certificates.
Reacting to growing criticism, the government has scheduled
longer parliamentary hearings on the bill than first planned but
still aims to pass the reform by mid-2013.
France legalised gender-neutral civil unions in 1999 and
almost as many are contracted every year as traditional
marriages. But only four percent of those are among same-sex
couples.
(Additional reporting by Jean Decotte. Editing by Stephen
Powell)
