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SAFRICA-MARRIAGE Dec-9-2005 (580 words) xxxi
Southern African bishops condemn court ruling on same-sex marriage
By Bronwen Dachs
Catholic News Service
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- Bishops in southern Africa condemned a South African high court ruling that it is it unconstitutional to deny same-sex couples the right to marry.
"The legalizing of same-sex marriages is doomed to have a morally deleterious effect on the institution of the family, traditionally defined as the permanent union between husband and wife," the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference said in a Dec. 7 statement.
The Constitutional Court told Parliament Dec. 1 to amend marriage laws to include same-sex partners within the year. It said if Parliament does not act the legal definition of marriage will be automatically changed to include same-sex unions.
While noting that "the constitution is the supreme law of the land," the bishops said that in order for the constitution to be binding on the consciences of citizens "it must conform to the law of God," adding that "it clearly does not" in this case.
"All homosexual acts are declared to be intrinsically disordered" and therefore "cannot under any circumstance be approved," said the bishops' statement, signed by the conference president, Cardinal Wilfrid F. Napier of Durban, South Africa.
If the constitution "is being made to supersede the revealed will of God, then South Africa is morally doomed," the bishops said. "For no one can go against God's will and come away unscathed."
They said the fact that same-sex marriages have been approved by the court "does not make them morally right."
Noting that the church has the duty to point out where the constitution counters the commandments, the bishops said their first course of action would be "prayer for a change of heart on the part of all who are responsible for flaunting God's law."
They said they would "continue teaching and preaching the truth revealed by God's word about human sexuality and its proper use in marriage" and "mobilize the faithful ... to work together to save our nation ... from the disasters that befall any people that turn" their backs on God.
The South African Council of Churches, of which the bishops' conference is a member, said in a statement that the court's ruling does not impose any new duty or obligation on religious institutions.
"We recognize that, for many lesbian and gay people in particular, the court's decision comes as a joyful affirmation of their humanity and dignity," the statement said. "We share this joy with those lesbian and gay people who are members of our congregations and churches.
"We also acknowledge the pain and confusion that this ruling will bring to others among our members," it said. "We seek to accompany pastorally all who are wrestling with the difficult issues that this decision raises."
The court's ruling makes it likely that South Africa will become the first African country to legalize same-sex marriage.
Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of Cape Town said the Anglican Church in South Africa will not marry homosexual couples because "we do not regard partnership between two persons of the same sex as a marriage in the eyes of God."
But the ruling "should not cause alarm" because the court did not order churches to marry same-sex couples, he said in a statement.
"We recognize that we live in a country which is home to many beliefs, cultures and practices," Archbishop Ndungane said, noting that "it would be arrogant and presumptuous of us to attempt to force our values and viewpoints on people who think differently from us."
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