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Polish President Warns EU Charter Could Force "Gay Marriage" on the Catholic Country

Polish referendum on Lisbon Treaty could strengthen calls for referendums in other EU countries

By Hilary White

WARSAW, March 19, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Poland's head of state, President Lech Kaczynski, angered Poland's homosexual activists and their friends in the Polish government and the EU when he warned in a television address against the dangers of adopting the EU's new treaty and its Charter of Fundamental Rights. He said that the Charter, because it had no clear definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman, may leave signatory nations open to attacks on the institution by the homosexualist lobby.

"An article of the charter," he said, "...may go against the universally accepted moral order in Poland and force our country to introduce an institution in conflict with the moral convictions of the decided majority of our country." The Polish constitution states that marriage is only between a man and a woman.

The European Union and other pan-Europe bodies have consistently attacked Poland's constitutional protections of natural marriage and the unborn. Poland remains, despite declines, 89.8 percent Catholic, with about 75 percent practicing their faith, one of the highest rates of religious practice of any of the Catholic European countries.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who is known to be strongly pro-Europe, responded, "The anti-European political row provoked by [the President's party] PiS is no good for Poland's strong position in the EU and the world. I regret to say that the president has joined this row with his address."    

If the President's opposition Law and Justice Party were to block the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty in Parliament, Poland could hold a referendum, Prime Minister Tusk said Tuesday. "We will do everything in our power in parliament for the Lisbon Treaty, which offers real chances to strengthen Poland's position in the EU, to be ratified," Tusk, the head of government, declared.

The Lisbon Treaty, the replacement for the defeated European Union Constitution that hands over significant powers to Brussels, has been a contentious issue in Britain, where opposition Tories and a large portion of the public have demanded a referendum that Prime Minister Gordon Brown has refused, despite Labour's campaign promises. Some have speculated that a Polish plebiscite could embolden calls for such votes in other EU countries.

President Kaczynski said, "Not everything in the EU is good for Poland."

Opposition leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the President's twin brother and leader of the Law and Justice party, is working to have the EU treaty include a preamble safeguarding the right of member states to opt out of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

At the same time, a New York man has filed a complaint against President Kaczynski for using in his speech a video clip of him and his sexual partner at their "marriage" ceremony. The Prime Minister used the clip during his address to illustrate the danger of following the homosexualist political agenda.

Brendan Fay, a long-time homosexualist activist, complained to the International Herald Tribune, "Our images clearly were being used in a campaign by the president of Poland against lesbian and gay persons, and fostering intolerance and fear among the people of Poland." Fay "married" Tom Moulton at an Episcopal church in New York in a ceremony that was officiated in part by the Catholic priest, Raymond Lefebvre. They had their liaison officially registered in Toronto in 2003.

President Kaczynski has a history of standing up to pressure from the homosexualist lobby and the politicians who support them. In June 2005, after he banned a planned "Gay Pride" parade in Warsaw, Kaczynski made clear the distinction between homosexual persons and the political ideology driving the homosexualist lobby.

He said, "I don't care if someone is a homosexual or not, and even if I found out something like that I wouldn't judge a person differently than on their actions alone."

"But if that person tries to infect others with their homosexuality, then the state must intervene in this violation of freedom."

In February last year, President Kaczynski was denounced as a "homophobe" by Irish politicians for his comments linking natural sexuality with population growth. He said the human race "would disappear if homosexuality was freely promoted."

The president was making these remarks in light of the current demographic crisis in Europe, which continent already has nearly total acceptance of homosexuality, contraception and abortion.

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Polish President a "Homophobe" for Comments Linking Natural Sex to Birth Rate
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/feb/07022105.html

UK to Hand Sovereignty to EU without Referendum
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/08030606.html

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