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(Saw this article at work, and decided to be very naughty and beat Angharad to blogging about it!)
See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8492597.stm
or http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8493280.stm
(effectively the same article, just rephrased slightly.)
The Pope has urged Catholic bishops in England and Wales to fight the UK's Equality Bill with "missionary zeal".
Pope Benedict XVI said the legislation "violates natural law". He told the Catholic bishops of England and Wales gathered in Rome: "Your country is well-known for its firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all members of society.
"Yet, as you have rightly pointed out, the effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs. "In some respects it actually violates the natural law upon which the equality of all human beings is grounded and by which it is guaranteed."
Religious leaders have voiced concern that the Equality Bill could force churches to employ sexually active gay people and transsexuals when hiring staff other than priests or ministers.
Unsurprisingly, Joseph Ratzinger's comments are already provoking a backlash...
Labour MEP Stephen Hughes said he was appalled. Speaking in Rome, he said: "As a Catholic, I am appalled by the attitude of the Pope. Religious leaders should be trying to eradicate inequality, not perpetuate it." He said the pontiff should ensure existing EU legislation was applied in the Vatican, rather than attacking equality in the UK.
The National Secular Society said it would mount a protest campaign made up of gay groups, victims of clerical abuse, feminists, family planning organisations and groups supporting abortion choice, among others.
President Terry Sanderson said: "The taxpayer in this country is going to be faced with a bill of some £20m for the visit of the Pope - a visit in which he has already indicated he will attack equal rights and promote discrimination."
A spokesman for the Government Equalities Office said: "The Pope acknowledges our country's firm commitment to equality for all members of society.
"We believe everyone should have a fair chance in life and not be discriminated against. The Equality Bill will make Britain a fairer and more equal place."
And in other news, according to Warwickshire's LGBT Staff Network, February is apparently LGBT History Month.
If anyone's interested, I'll blog their Intranet article on the subject this evening - they've blowing their own trumpet recently, as we've recently been ranked in the Top 100 of the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index.
Comments
The Catholic Church
The Catholic church and a lot of other denominations have been opposed to anything resembling complete equality. They have been guilty of heinous crimes down through history on people that don't conform to their beliefs so it really isn't all that surprising that they would oppose this. They really don't have much of a moral leg to stand on anyway because they allowed pedophiles to be moved around and continue molesting children for years. Now they want to act morally superior in trying to stop this bill. They should have absolutely no say whatsoever in it. The UK should pass this law and make the Pope and his minions live with it.
Uhmmmm
The Catholic Church is in that long line of people who helped derail Health Reform - by insisting on the Stupak Amendment.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
The Pope?
How many divisions has he got? He has a right to his opinion but that's all it is. I didn't vote for him.
I don't know what the situation is in the UK, but I always thought that religious organizations in
the US that choose to violate human rights should at very least lose their tax exempt status.
That would shut them up quick about trying to run other peoples business...
~~~hugs, Laika
.
Or as Louis Jordan put it so eloquently years ago:
You catch me beatin' up your chops?
I ought to turn you over to the cops,
But dig this spiel I'm going to lay on you, Gate,
Don't cop your broom, park the body and wait.
You run your mouth and I'll run my business, brother,
You run your mouth and I'll run my business, brother,
You tell everybody I'm busted,
You talk so much you got me disgusted.
But you run your mouth and I'll run my business, brother.
You run your juicy mouth and I'll run my business, brother,
You run your juicy mouth and I'll run my business, brother,
You start in tellin' me you're my pal,
And end up tellin' me how to handle my gal,
You run your mouth and I'll run my business, brother.
Just clap your liver lips and I'll run my business, brother,
Clap your liver lips and I'll run my business, brother,
You always tellin' me what to do,
Sayin', "I wouldn't do that if I was you!"
You run your mouth and I'll run my business, brother.
Do you dig me, Jack?
What borders on stupidity?
Canada and Mexico.
.
I can't see the logic in this
"The taxpayer in this country is going to be faced with a bill of some £20m for the visit of the Pope - a visit in which he has already indicated he will attack equal rights and promote discrimination."
Why don’t they tell the Pope to stay home and use the money in the NHS where a few thousand a head is needed for SRS?
TG_Karmon
Shock horror ...
... the Pope's a Catholic. What did anyone expect? Few religious leaders are likely to support any equality for the LGBT lobby. It's taken a few of them 100s of years to acknowledge that women have any rights and it looks like Hell (if it existed) will freeze over before there's a female Catholic priest.
It annoys me, too, that our government is spending money for the Pope to visit the UK. He's welcome to come but he, or his acolytes, should foot the bill.
Robi
btw - we'll get Angharad upset if we continue to beat her to the blogs. Me last week, you this. LOL
The Pope is Catholic
But does he poop in the woods?
Mr. Ram
The Pope is a cath-a-holic
no, he does not have any poop left for the woods after he poops on the rest of us.
The Equality Will Start
When the Catholic Church permits women to be priests!
Joanne
Absolute total hostility!!!!
The friggen pope is trying to wag the dog.
Every single time I see, pass or think of a Christian church, I have to ask for forgiveness because I just want to burn one down. I can't posibly do it. When will these bozoz realize how much they hurt others.
Khadija