My Longkang

VATICAN CITY through Archbishop Angelo Amato, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has made clear its stand on gay marriage and abortion. In a no-holds-barred statement he denounced gay marriage as evil and abortion as terrorism with a human face. The statement is probably a reaction to a highly controversial law that would give unmarried heterosexual and homosexual couples some form of legal recognition as Italy considers giving more rights to gays. He called abortion clinics “slaughterhouses of human beings”.

He also criticized newspapers and television bulletins and likened them to “a perverse film about evil”. Can the barricades of the the Vatican withstand the onslaught of gay activists seeking more legal rights and abortionists who take a different stand from the Vatican on the abortion issue. Is it a sign of the changing times that the Vatican has to defend its flock from what it perceives as ‘evil and terrorism’ ?

The Vatican has a heavy responsibility as it leads the faithful worldwide and every decision made is carefully debated and considered before being made public.

Meanwhile, groups opposed to gay marriage and recognition of unmarried couples intend to stage a national rally in Rome next month.

Italy’s Roman Catholic Church, set up on diocesan and parish levels, has the capability to mobilize hundreds of thousands of people. A huge turnout, which is expected, could be a major embarrassment for Prodi’s government.