The head of the Catholic Church in New Zealand, who professed “profound sadness” over the passage of marriage equality in this country, has been made a Cardinal by the Pope. The Pope has selected 15 Cardinals from around the world in a move designed to reflect the diversity of the church. When the marriage equality legislation passed into law in New Zealand, Dew told CathNews: “We find it bizarre that what has been discarded is an understanding of marriage that has its origin in human nature and is common to every culture,” and added “we know many New Zealanders stand with us in this.” He said marriage was “founded on sexual difference”. “Marriage is the essential human institution that predates religion and state. It is a committed union between a man and a woman which has a natural orientation towards the procreation of new human life.” He’d also previously stated that “however much children brought up by homosexual partners may be loved and cared for, no one has the right to intentionally deprive them of a father’s love or a mother’s love or the parenting of either a father or a mother.” The Pope has taken a distinctly softer tone on gay people than his predecessors, most notably stating to reporters “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?” However the Church remains far from accepting of gay unions, and a move to ease the Church’s rhetoric towards gay people didn’t get the two thirds’ support of Bishops it needed to pass last October. It would have stated gay people have “gifts and talents to offer the Christian community,” and referred to lgbt couples as “partners” instead of sinners.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 5th January 2015 - 8:37am