If we thought the debates over same-sex “marriage” here in the US were acrimonious, they’re nothing compared to what’s going on in Italy. In Genoa, the cathedral was vandalized by activists and the archbishop is under armed guard.
Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa, recently appointed head of the Italian bishops’ conference, has been a vocal opponent of a recent initiative to legalize civil unions.
The words “Bagnasco shame” were spray-painted across the main entrance to the cathedral of St. Lawrence in Genoa. The words appeared shortly after Archbishop Bagnasco, the president of the Italian bishops’ conference, issued a statement opposing the legal recognition of civil unions, and saying that the government’s failure to enforce moral norms regarding marriage could open the way to all kinds of perverse relationships.
Police in Genoa told reporters that Archbishop Bagnasco was being accompanied by an armed guard because of concerns about his security raised by the incident.
Meanwhile, three priests have published an editorial in a noted anti-Catholic newspaper dissenting from the Church’s teaching on the matter.
Father Antonelli, in a particularly acrimonious statement, said that the position taken by the Italian hierarchy demonstrates “the Talibanization of the Church.”
I have a new corollary to Godwin’s Law: “Anyone who invokes their opponent as the Taliban or refers to the Talibanization in any matter not involving Afghanistan, automatically loses the debate.” That goes along with “Godwin’s Law”, Catholic variant that Jay Anderson recently articulated.
Technorati Tags: Catholic | Italy | civil unions | same-sex marriage | homosexuality | politics | Genoa | archbishop | Bagnasco |
