Senate to Vote on Same-Sex Marriage in Argentina

July 15, 2010

Thousands of protestors gathered outside Argentina’s congress in the capital Buenos Aires to protest the Senate’s vote on gay marriage Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio called on priests in the capital to demonstrate against the bill, which is expected to pass the Senate after passing the House earlier.

"Let's not be naive, we're not talking about a simple political battle; it is a destructive pretension against the plan of God,” He wrote in a letter to the monasteries of Buenos Aires.

"We are not talking about a mere bill, but rather a machination of the Father of Lies that seeks to confuse.”

Argentinean president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who is currently in China and supports the legislation, said the church’s tone dates back to the “medieval times and the Inquisition.”
 

“It is disturbing to hear phrases like war of God or the devil's projects, which are things that take us back to medieval times and the Inquisition,” she told reporters.

Senator Miguel Angel Pichetto told the state-run Telam that lawmakers have been lobbied by church leaders but that he himself had not been pressured.

"There is some pressure in some provinces where the church plays a prominent role, but such is democracy," he said.

Tuesday night, tens of thousands of protestors marched in front of Argentina’s Congress. The march was organized by church from several dominations in the country.

"We don't want a negative tint, that's not the objective of the march, but to propose and promote marriage as we understand it, between a man and a woman," said Justo Carbajales, representative of the Episcopal Church in Argentina, according to Telam.