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By Terry Vanderheyden

EDINBURGH, February 27, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A proposal by Scotland’s parliament to allow the adoption of children by same-sex couples is under fire from the Roman Catholic hierarchy there.

Rt. Rev Joseph Devine, Bishop of Motherwell, in a letter to Jack McConnell, the First Minister of Scotland, has condemned the move, which was put forward in parliament last month. Bishop Devine described the measure as “yet another violation of family life.”

“No doubt for refusing to pander to the idea that homosexual and lesbian relationships are equal to heterosexual partnerships, particularly those blessed in the sight of God, I shall be termed a bigot by the politically correct hardcore in the Scottish Parliament,” he wrote, as reported by The Herald. Bishop Devine added that despite the inevitable stigma he will endure, he is “not prepared to stand by and watch the destruction of Christian values and truth.”

The proposed law would allow all unmarried couples – whether heterosexual or homosexual – the option to adopt children. Earlier laws allowed one member of a non-married couple to apply to adopt a child, while the second member applied for a residency order. The UK outside of Scotland brought in a similar law allowing same-sex couples to adopt or foster a child in December.

“What started as a tolerance and compassion for gays had developed into the suppression of the majority heterosexual lifestyle,” the bishop charged. “Traditional family values are in the dock and the judge and jury are composed of politically correct extremists.”

After watching “with mounting disquiet the forces of political correctness corrupt our moral, political and social order,” the Church now bemoans the same corruption of innocent children, he added. “Now their insidious influence threatens our innocent and vulnerable children.”

Last month the government denied a request by Scottish prelate Cardinal Keith O’Brien that Catholic adoption agencies be allowed a “conscience clause” to exempt them from the ruling, so as not to be forced to place children in homes with same-sex guardians.

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
  Scot Cardinal: Gay Adoption Makes Children “Guinea Pigs in Some Distorted Social Experiment”
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jan/06011608.html
  Scotland’s Catholic Prelate Condemns Government Move to Legalize Gay Adoption
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/jun/05061306.html