May 11, 2007 / 11:24 am
In an open letter, Cardinal Janis Pujats, primate of the Catholic Church in Latvia, has called on the Latvian government to protect traditional family values “against the libertinism of homosexuals”.
The cardinal has urged the Latvian government to stop what he calls “an action inspired from abroad, in which a handful of people with dubious morality tries to force the government to accept their perverted views,” reported Interfax.
The cardinal warned against an attempt to organize a gay pride parade on June 3. Such a parade, he said, would be “a real attack on the national morality, religion and family values.”
According to a recent poll, 62 percent of the population in Riga is against the march, 17.5 percent are in favor, and 20 percent could not respond. The cardinal said people would “not watch it in silence.”
“No international document on human rights views homosexuality as a sign of minority to be protected,” he stressed.
The cardinal also pointed to the need to hold a referendum in Latvia on same-sex marriages.