Roman Catholic Church Laments Approval of Gay Unions in Italy

CHRISTIANITY TODAY
By Andre Mitchell

A man protests in front of Parliament during the final vote on gay and unmarried civil unions at Italy's lower house of Parliament in Rome on May 11, 2016.

ITALY---Although the unions will not be called "marriage," they will confer many of the rights and privileges of marriage, with the exception of the right to adopt, which may still be awarded by judges on a case-by-case basis. Roman Catholic Church leaders and conservative Italian politicians lamented the Chamber of Deputies' approval of the gay civil unions bill. With this, it is now up to Italian President Sergio Mattarella to either pass or veto the bill, with the latter scenario deemed as highly unlikely. [link]