Colombian Christians issue joint condemnation of homosexual ‘marriage’ as court decision approaches
Image via WikipediaThe leaders of Colombia’s major Christian denominations have issued a joint statement asking the nation’s Constitutional Court to protect the institution of marriage and reject a petition to create homosexual marriage as a constitutional “right.”
The Court is due to issue its decision on the matter today, following a suit filed by a homosexual couple in January of this year.
The statement, which was signed by representatives of the Catholic Church, Evangelical Protestant churches, Methodists, and Anglicans, states that “the bond between two men or two women cannot constitute a true marriage or a true family, and much less can the right to adopt minors be attributed to it.”
“Anthropologically and psychologically the integral complementarity of the couple is of a man and a woman, with the purpose of a union in love, of the fruit of love in children and the creation of a family, ” the prelates add.
“We respectfully invite the magistrates of the Constitutional Court to decide this important matter keeping in mind the profound social implications of its decision, the good of Colombian families and the ethical values of the country.”
Article 42 of the Constitution of Colombia expressly defines marriage as a union contracted “by a free decision between a man and a woman” and adds that “the government and society guarantee the integral protection of the family.”
However, Colombia’s Constitutional Court has a history of ruling against the Constitution in order to further a socially liberal ideological agenda.
In 2006 the Court ruled that abortions in rape and incest cases could not be punished by the government, despite Article 11 of the Constitution, which states: “The right to life is inviolable. There will be no death penalty.”
As a result of the decision, the country’s public and private hospitals have been ordered to permit abortions in such cases, and at least one Catholic hospital has been fined for refusing. The Catholic bishops of the country, in union with other religious groups, say they have gathered four million signatures in favor of a new constitutional amendment that would prohibit all abortions.
The Court ruled against homosexual “marriage” in November of 2010, but activists revised their complaint and resubmitted it, and it was again accepted for review, indicating that the Court is open to reversing its decision.
