Cameron’s rift

The adoption of the bill on gay marriages after a seven-hour debate is a pyrrhic victory. 400 ‘yes votes’ were cast by Liberal Democrats (in the government coalition) Labour MPs while some 136 Conservatives, 50% of all the party members, opposed it (175 noes all together). For the Catholic and Anglican Churches religious freedom is at risk. Despite the government’s reassurance, Churches could be forced to host services while civil servants and teachers might be called to promote them in the workplace. The long battle of Christian Churches and of the life Movement is ongoing. Next step: the members of the House of Lords. The reaction of Catholic bishops. The law will almost certainly lead to the legalization of gay marriages by 2015, but it remains controversial, with many "question marks" that will "have to be closely taken into account during the next phases of the legislative process", said archbishop Peter Smith, Vice-President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, in charge of the department for Christian responsibility and citizenship, a few minutes after the "yes" of Westminster. A conflictual procedure. Almost certainly, thanks to the support of the Lib Dem, Cameron’s allies at the government, and of Labour MPs, David Cameron will manage to obtain the vote of the local districts and the passage to the House Lords. Moreover, the course of the bill in the coming months – from two to nine – will be conflictual, as underlined by the spokesperson of the "Association for unborn children", among the most important organizations of the Life Movement, Anthony Ozimic: "the battle of Christian Churches and of the pro-life movement continues, and it will focus on the Lords who could say ‘no’ to the transformation of an institution that centuries of civilization have brought to unite husband and wife, and protect their children, even though their power is only to delay the adoption of the law without blocking it permanently", says Ozimic. For Cameron, who unexpectedly announced the new legislation – absent in the electoral manifestos of all political parties – last December, this is a half victory. No less than 136 Tories, including two government ministers, eight undersecretaries and eight parliamentary leaders, have voted "no". Some MEPs have voted both "yes" and "no" to express their indecision.Religious freedom at stake. For environment Minister Owen Paterson, and Welsh Secretary David Jones, who wanted to reject the law, the matter at stake is religious freedom, a concern that the Catholic and Anglican Churches have conveyed on many occasions in their long battle that led to a petition against the law, with 625 thousand signatories. A few days ago in a statement to MPs the Catholic Church reiterated that the government’s safeguards, "will not provide adequate protection for individuals or religious organisations with conscientious objections to same-sex marriage". The bishops recalled that in "2004, the Civil Partnerships Act was passed and religious organisations were excluded, but this was later changed to allow civil partnership ceremonies to be conducted on religious premises". There were also assurances that the definition of marriage would not be affected but only a few years later the Bill now before Parliament seeks to alter the fundamental meaning of marriage, the bishops said. The same position was conveyed by the Church of England: "If the Bill proceeds into law it will be the focus for a series of continued legal disputes for years to come. There is continuing uncertainty about teachers and on the position of others holding traditional views of marriage working in public service delivery". Although the new law stipulates that the Anglican Church should not celebrate gay marriage, while other Churches are free to choose, citizens are likely to resort to the Court in Strasbourg to celebrate homosexual marriage in religious environments, forcing teachers and civil servants who refuse to endorse it to resign from their posts. In defense of marriage. "The Catholic Church continues to support marriage understood by society for centuries as the significant and unique lifelong commitment between a man and a woman for their mutual well-being and open to the procreation and education of children", said Msgr. Smith. "Despite claims by supporters of the Bill that the central issue is one of equality, the Bill actually seeks to re-define marriage and will have consequences for society at large". In the speech for his enthronement at Lambeth Palace past Monday the new Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, reiterated that "for the Anglican Church marriage will always be the union of a man and a woman".