A radical group, Catholic Action, is angering some gay-friendly New Zealand MP’s and the NZ Catholic Bishops, the latter seemingly powerless to do anything about the extreme fringe group. Banned by the bishops from using the word Catholic in their name, Catholic Action raised the ire of MP’s after sending an email telling them they were Read more
A group of nearly 14,900 French mayors has said it will not perform “gay marriages”, even if lawmakers go ahead with plans to legalise the practice. A spokesman for the group said some of the mayors “would resign if the law is adopted”, while others “have said they will refuse” to perform marriage ceremonies for Read more
A member of the Samoa Fa’afafine (Transvestite) Association (SFA) says they do not support gay marriage. “People always assume us to be that and this and I’m sure they (people) already thought we are celebrating together with the New Zealand gay community, when we are not,” said Tania Pulotu. So’oalo Roger Stanley, Samoa Fa’afafine Association Read more
The Pacific Conference of Churches, which represents 38 Protestant and Catholic Churches in the Pacific region, says it’s unmoved by the passage, in New Zealand, of the same gender marriage bill General secretary Francois Pihaartae has told Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat in his view, same sex marriage remains against God’s will. “Pacific churches are very much conservative. And Read more
On Wednesday evening New Zealand became the thirteenth country in the world, and the first in the Asia/Pacific region, to support same gender marriage. Labour MP Louisa Wall’s Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill, allowing same-sex couples to marry, has passed its third reading and final vote in Parliament. In front of a packed public Read more
An openly homosexual man who was removed from his positions of reader and religious-education instructor in his New York parish after he entered into a same-sex marriage is petitioning to be reinstated. Nicholas Coppola has presented a petition signed by 18,000 people to Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Center diocese. The diocese released a statement Read more
The catchcry of same-sex marriage proponents is “equality”: gay couples have a right to equal treatment and to deny them legal marriage is blatant discrimination. Yet this claim deflects attention from the real issue: what is the true nature of marriage? Two rival visions jostle for supremacy. The conjugal model says marriage is a lifelong Read more
Marriage has been under assault for at least 40 years, but according to Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, the younger generation can turn the tide — by getting married and staying married. Archbishop Cordileone of San Francisco is the chairman of the US bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage. As the Supreme Court on Read more
Auckland Transport has pulled an advertisement depicting Chairman Mao performing the Gangnam Style dance. It has been banned from Auckland bus stops for fear it will insult Chinese residents. The advertisement for online electricity store Powershop shows the Chinese former dictator surrounded by Chinese people and soldiers posing with guns, and carries the slogan ‘Same Read more
Numerous assurances have been given that marriage celebrants who object, on the ground of religious belief or conscience, to conducting same gender marriage ceremonies will be protected in law. But Professor Rex Ahdar, from the Law Faculty of Otago University, says a flaw still remains in the most recent version of the Bill, despite the Select Committee’s hope that the Read more
