Another veteran Vatican figure has signaled openness to civil recognition of same-sex unions, in the wake of similar comments in early February from the Vatican’s top official on the family. It’s a position also once reportedly seen with favor by the future pope while he was still Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The latest expression of support for civil recognition as an alternative to gay marriage comes from Archbishop Piero Marini, who served for 18 years as Pope John Paul II’s liturgical Master of Ceremonies.
“There are many couples that suffer because their civil rights aren’t recognized,” Marini said.
Marini, now 71, is currently the President of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses. He spoke in an interview with the newspaper La Nación in Costa Rica, where the local church today wraps up a Eucharistic congress.
Though Marini has no responsibility to frame policy on matters of marriage, his comments may reopen questions about the Vatican’s line in the wake of a similar position expressed in early February by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family.
During a Vatican news conference on Feb. 4, Paglia said that while the church is opposed to anything that treats other unions as equivalent to marriage between a man and a woman, it could accept “private law solutions” for protecting people’s rights.
In some quarters that comment was styled as undercutting bishops in both France and the United States who at the time were fighting off proposals for gay marriage, though Paglia insisted it’s not what he meant.
The Marini comments may also reawaken interest in the new pope’s history on the issue.
On March 19, The New York Times reported that when Argentina was gearing up for a bitter national debate on gay marriage in 2009 and 2010, Bergoglio quietly favored a compromise solution that would have included civil unions for same-sex couples.
That report was denied by Miguel Woites, director of the Argentinian Catholic Information Agency, a news outlet linked to the Buenos Aires archdiocese. Woites insisted Bergoglio would “never” have favored any legal recognition of same-sex unions and said the Times report was a “complete error.”
In early April, however, a senior official in the Argentine bishops’ conference told NCR that Bergoglio did, in fact, favor civil unions.
Mariano de Vedia, a veteran journalist for Argentina’s leading daily, told NCR he could confirm Bergoglio’s position had been correctly described in the Times account.
Guillermo Villarreal, a Catholic journalist in Argentina, said it was well known at the time that Bergoglio's moderate position was opposed by Archbishop Héctor Rubén Aguer of La Plata, the leader of the hawks. The difference was not over whether to oppose gay marriage, but how ferociously to do so and whether there was room for a compromise on civil unions.
Villareal described the standoff over gay marriage as the only vote Bergoglio ever lost during his six years as president of the conference.
Speaking today on an Italian cable news network, church historian Alberto Melloni, seen as a voice of the progressive wing of Italian Catholicism, predicted that "sooner or later, this openness [to civil unions] will arrive in the magisterium of the pope." However, Melloni also said he believes Francis will move with "caution" and "prudence."
On other matters, Marini said in his interview in Costa Rica that the election of Francis has generated a “different air of freedom” in the Vatican, “opening a window onto springtime and hope.”
.................
For you, what has the change in the papacy meant?
It’s a breath of fresh air, it’s opening a window onto springtime and onto hope. We had been breathing the waters of a swamp, and it had a bad smell. We’d been in a church afraid of everything, with problems such as Vatileaks and the pedophilia scandals. With Francis we’re talking about positive things; he puts the emphasis on the positive and talks about offering hope.
Can you describe the atmosphere that prevails now in the Vatican?
In these first days of his pontificate there’s a different air of freedom, a church that’s closer to the poor and less problematic. He doesn’t like living surrounded by great paintings and gold.
.........
Full article at the National Catholic Reporter
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Another Vatican voice backs civil unions for same-sex couples
John L. Allen,Jr.
National Catholic Reporter
April 21, 2013
Another veteran Vatican figure has signaled openness to civil recognition of same-sex unions, in the wake of similar comments in early February from the Vatican’s top official on the family. It’s a position also once reportedly seen with favor by the future pope while he was still Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The latest expression of support for civil recognition as an alternative to gay marriage comes from Archbishop Piero Marini, who served for 18 years as Pope John Paul II’s liturgical Master of Ceremonies.
“There are many couples that suffer because their civil rights aren’t recognized,” Marini said.
Marini, now 71, is currently the President of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses. He spoke in an interview with the newspaper La Nación in Costa Rica, where the local church today wraps up a Eucharistic congress.
Though Marini has no responsibility to frame policy on matters of marriage, his comments may reopen questions about the Vatican’s line in the wake of a similar position expressed in early February by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family.
During a Vatican news conference on Feb. 4, Paglia said that while the church is opposed to anything that treats other unions as equivalent to marriage between a man and a woman, it could accept “private law solutions” for protecting people’s rights.
In some quarters that comment was styled as undercutting bishops in both France and the United States who at the time were fighting off proposals for gay marriage, though Paglia insisted it’s not what he meant.
The Marini comments may also reawaken interest in the new pope’s history on the issue.
On March 19, The New York Times reported that when Argentina was gearing up for a bitter national debate on gay marriage in 2009 and 2010, Bergoglio quietly favored a compromise solution that would have included civil unions for same-sex couples.
That report was denied by Miguel Woites, director of the Argentinian Catholic Information Agency, a news outlet linked to the Buenos Aires archdiocese. Woites insisted Bergoglio would “never” have favored any legal recognition of same-sex unions and said the Times report was a “complete error.”
In early April, however, a senior official in the Argentine bishops’ conference told NCR that Bergoglio did, in fact, favor civil unions.
Mariano de Vedia, a veteran journalist for Argentina’s leading daily, told NCR he could confirm Bergoglio’s position had been correctly described in the Times account.
Guillermo Villarreal, a Catholic journalist in Argentina, said it was well known at the time that Bergoglio's moderate position was opposed by Archbishop Héctor Rubén Aguer of La Plata, the leader of the hawks. The difference was not over whether to oppose gay marriage, but how ferociously to do so and whether there was room for a compromise on civil unions.
Villareal described the standoff over gay marriage as the only vote Bergoglio ever lost during his six years as president of the conference.
Speaking today on an Italian cable news network, church historian Alberto Melloni, seen as a voice of the progressive wing of Italian Catholicism, predicted that "sooner or later, this openness [to civil unions] will arrive in the magisterium of the pope." However, Melloni also said he believes Francis will move with "caution" and "prudence."
On other matters, Marini said in his interview in Costa Rica that the election of Francis has generated a “different air of freedom” in the Vatican, “opening a window onto springtime and hope.”
.................
For you, what has the change in the papacy meant?
It’s a breath of fresh air, it’s opening a window onto springtime and onto hope. We had been breathing the waters of a swamp, and it had a bad smell. We’d been in a church afraid of everything, with problems such as Vatileaks and the pedophilia scandals. With Francis we’re talking about positive things; he puts the emphasis on the positive and talks about offering hope.
Can you describe the atmosphere that prevails now in the Vatican?
In these first days of his pontificate there’s a different air of freedom, a church that’s closer to the poor and less problematic. He doesn’t like living surrounded by great paintings and gold.
.........
Full article at the National Catholic Reporter
Another veteran Vatican figure has signaled openness to civil recognition of same-sex unions, in the wake of similar comments in early February from the Vatican’s top official on the family. It’s a position also once reportedly seen with favor by the future pope while he was still Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The latest expression of support for civil recognition as an alternative to gay marriage comes from Archbishop Piero Marini, who served for 18 years as Pope John Paul II’s liturgical Master of Ceremonies.
“There are many couples that suffer because their civil rights aren’t recognized,” Marini said.
Marini, now 71, is currently the President of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses. He spoke in an interview with the newspaper La Nación in Costa Rica, where the local church today wraps up a Eucharistic congress.
Though Marini has no responsibility to frame policy on matters of marriage, his comments may reopen questions about the Vatican’s line in the wake of a similar position expressed in early February by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family.
During a Vatican news conference on Feb. 4, Paglia said that while the church is opposed to anything that treats other unions as equivalent to marriage between a man and a woman, it could accept “private law solutions” for protecting people’s rights.
In some quarters that comment was styled as undercutting bishops in both France and the United States who at the time were fighting off proposals for gay marriage, though Paglia insisted it’s not what he meant.
The Marini comments may also reawaken interest in the new pope’s history on the issue.
On March 19, The New York Times reported that when Argentina was gearing up for a bitter national debate on gay marriage in 2009 and 2010, Bergoglio quietly favored a compromise solution that would have included civil unions for same-sex couples.
That report was denied by Miguel Woites, director of the Argentinian Catholic Information Agency, a news outlet linked to the Buenos Aires archdiocese. Woites insisted Bergoglio would “never” have favored any legal recognition of same-sex unions and said the Times report was a “complete error.”
In early April, however, a senior official in the Argentine bishops’ conference told NCR that Bergoglio did, in fact, favor civil unions.
Mariano de Vedia, a veteran journalist for Argentina’s leading daily, told NCR he could confirm Bergoglio’s position had been correctly described in the Times account.
Guillermo Villarreal, a Catholic journalist in Argentina, said it was well known at the time that Bergoglio's moderate position was opposed by Archbishop Héctor Rubén Aguer of La Plata, the leader of the hawks. The difference was not over whether to oppose gay marriage, but how ferociously to do so and whether there was room for a compromise on civil unions.
Villareal described the standoff over gay marriage as the only vote Bergoglio ever lost during his six years as president of the conference.
Speaking today on an Italian cable news network, church historian Alberto Melloni, seen as a voice of the progressive wing of Italian Catholicism, predicted that "sooner or later, this openness [to civil unions] will arrive in the magisterium of the pope." However, Melloni also said he believes Francis will move with "caution" and "prudence."
On other matters, Marini said in his interview in Costa Rica that the election of Francis has generated a “different air of freedom” in the Vatican, “opening a window onto springtime and hope.”
.................
For you, what has the change in the papacy meant?
It’s a breath of fresh air, it’s opening a window onto springtime and onto hope. We had been breathing the waters of a swamp, and it had a bad smell. We’d been in a church afraid of everything, with problems such as Vatileaks and the pedophilia scandals. With Francis we’re talking about positive things; he puts the emphasis on the positive and talks about offering hope.
Can you describe the atmosphere that prevails now in the Vatican?
In these first days of his pontificate there’s a different air of freedom, a church that’s closer to the poor and less problematic. He doesn’t like living surrounded by great paintings and gold.
.........
Full article at the National Catholic Reporter
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