ROME, November 1, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Leftist and Socialist Members of the European Parliament have succeeded in forcing conservative Italian minister, Rocco Buttiglione, to step aside from his appointment to the European Commission.
Buttiglione, a friend of Pope John Paul II, was opposed for making comments based on Catholic teaching on the family and homosexuality. Cardinal Martino, the head of the Vatican’s Council for Justice and Peace called the effort to oust Buttiglione a ‘new inquisition.’ On Saturday, Buttiglione said he was “ready to stand aside to smooth the way for [the] Commission.” He told reporters, “I’m an innocent victim of an orchestrated campaign.” he added, “I am not an adversary to human rights. I am a champion of them.” He also thanked new Commission president José Manuel Barroso for having “defended me as much as possible.” Support for the embattled politician has come not only from the Vatican but from the head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Athens. His Beatitude the Orthodox Archbishop of Athens and all of Greece, Christodoulos Paraskevaides, said from Athens, that Buttiglione is “a good Christian” and defended his characterization of homosexuality as “a sin before God, although not a criminal offense.” The archbishop said, “Think how low humanity has sunk. It seeks to support a blatant, crying sin and keep us quiet to placate those who have the failing, who want everyone else to accept it as a normal condition.” Read story from EPolitix.com: https://www.epolitix.com/EN/News/200410/12b62939-2c15-46c2-9841-325346a9d790.htm ph