Legalization of gay unions would be injustice to common good, state bishops of Costa Rica

San José, Costa Rica, Sep 10, 2010 / 16:03 pm

The Bishops’ Conference of Costa Rica has sent a message to the country’s lawmakers noting that it is an injustice to sacrifice the common good and the rights of the family in response to pressure from those who support making gay unions equal to marriage.

“Marriage is not just any union between two human beings,” they stated, explaining that it was “founded by the Creator, who gave it a particular nature...and an undeniable purpose.” For this reason, the bishops said, they oppose all measures aiming “to make same-sex unions equal to marriage.

“The legalization of such unions distorts the understanding of fundamental moral values and undermines the institution of marriage as such.”

“In making same-sex unions equal to marriage or the family under the law, the state is acting arbitrarily and is contradicting its own duties,” the bishops continued.

They stressed that “men and women with homosexual tendencies must be treated with respect and must not be subject to discrimination.” However, the bishops then reaffirmed the Church’s teaching that “homosexual practices” are “objectively contrary to God’s plan for the human being.”

The bishops also pointed out that the vast majority of Costa Ricans are opposed to the legalization of same-sex unions,” and they rejected the argument that such a move is necessary to prevent such individuals from being deprived of their rights as citizens and persons.

“In reality, like all citizens, thanks to their private autonomy, they can always resort to common law in order to safeguard legal situations that are of mutual interest,” the bishops said. “On the other hand, it would be a grave injustice to sacrifice the common good and the rights of families in order to allow them to obtain benefits that can and should be guaranteed by means that do not harm society at large,” they added.

What these groups and their supporters are doing is nothing more than the “first step towards marriage and adoption, as in fact has occurred in other countries,” the bishops said.