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VATICAN CITY, June 29, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — The President of the Pontifical Academy for Life said in an interview that the Vatican “shouldn’t have written” a note asking Italy to block a bill that would make “homophobic” discrimination a crime punishable by jail time.
The National Catholic Register’s Rome correspondent, Edward Pentin, tweeted on Thursday the transcript of an interview with Archbishop Paglia, together with notes on Paglia’s responses.
.@PagliaAbp: Holy See “shouldn’t have written” note asking for Italy’s transphobia bill to be blocked. Says it’s complex, unrelated to Lateran Pact. Seems to support catechism change on homosexuality, to recognise other forms of cohabitation, but marriage only between man, woman pic.twitter.com/vgMxs4ZQYW
— Edward Pentin (@EdwardPentin) June 24, 2021
After expressing his regret that a Vatican official protested the “transphobia” bill, Paglia added, “However, it remains a bad bill, poorly written.”
The Zan bill, named after Alessandro Zan, the homosexual legislator who introduced it, aims “to prevent and combat discrimination and violence for reasons based on sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.” It also would, reportedly, establish a “day against “homophobia, lesbophobia, biphobia and transphobia.”
The bill was passed by the lower House in November, and is now under consideration by the Italian Senate.
In what local media described as an “unprecedented” move, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States Paul Richard Gallagher delivered a note to the Italian Embassy to the Holy See on June 17, asserting that the Zan bill would have “the effect of negatively affecting the freedoms guaranteed to the Catholic Church and its faithful by the current concordat regime.”
Here, Gallagher invoked an agreement between the Holy See and Italy, which was signed in 1984 as a Revision of the Lateran Concordat, and in particular, its statement that “[t]he Italian Republic recognizes the full freedom of the Catholic Church to carry out its pastoral, educational and charitable mission, of evangelization and sanctification.”
In his interview, Paglia disputed the idea that the Lateran Concordat has any bearing on the lawfulness of the bill, saying, “The Zan bill has nothing to do with the agreement.”
Gallagher also made mention of “ecclesiastical traditions” of the “authentic magisterium” “which consider sexual difference,” in an apparent reference to the bill’s stated protection against “discrimination” based on “gender identity.”
Reuters reported that according to a Vatican source, “The Vatican fears that the law as written could lead to criminalisation of the Church in Italy for refusing to conduct gay marriages, for opposing adoption by homosexual couples through Catholic institutions, or for refusing to teach gender theory in Catholic schools.”
Gallagher is not alone among Catholic clergy in expressing concerns about the bill. The Catholic Episcopal Conference of Italy (CEI) released a statement last year warning that the proposed “anti-homophobia” legislation could punish those “who believe the family requires a dad and a mom.”
“Rather than punishing discrimination — it would end up striking the expression of a legitimate opinion, as learned by the experience of the legal systems of other nations in which similar internal regulations have already been introduced,” the statement said.
Zan countered the bill’s opponents in a tweet last week, stating that the bill “does not in any way limit freedom of expression, as well as religious freedom. And it respects the autonomy of all schools.”
Pentin’s remark on Twitter that Paglia “seems to support catechism change on homosexuality” appears to refer to the following response by Paglia in answer to the question of whether he agrees with the Catholic catechism’s teaching that “homosexuality is a symptom of sexual disorder:”
Hungary recently took a major step to protect children from having their innocence destroyed and being sexualized by LGBT propaganda in schools and by pornography in the mass media.
Please SIGN and SHARE this petition which expresses agreement and respect for the wishes of the sovereign nation of Hungary to protect its children against the onslaught of LGBT indoctrination propaganda and pornography.
Since passage of the bill the fake news outlets from Europe to America have predictably begun to fabricate outrage and, or, simply lie about the contents of the bill. And, the corrupt European Union has also now started to attack Hungary's efforts to protect children.
For doing the hard and good thing, Hungary now needs our support.
The bill, which was passed last week, specifically prohibits showing pornographic material or content portraying homosexuality or transgenderism to minors under the age of 18. Other measures include a registry of sex offenders, regulations on sexual education, and stronger policies against child pornography.
This policy is to be welcomed as a pro-active measure against the liberal and LGBT propaganda machine which is steadily encroaching on Hungary's borders, and which threatens to tear down Christian civilization altogether.
Indeed, the same week that this law was passed in Hungary, Vienna's (Austria) deputy mayor distributed "Rainbow Family" information boxes to 350 kindergartens in the Austrian capital. And, Vienna is only about 50 miles from the Hungarian border!
But, never satisfied with corrupting the children of their own countries, LGBT activists and their accomplices in the EU have been quick to castigate Hungary, claiming that the Budapest government has "discriminated" against homosexuals with their law to protect children, and in doing so, has violated EU law.
However, Hungary's Justice Minister, Judit Varga, set the record straight in an interview with Hungarian journalists, stating:
"This is one of a number of declarations declaring certain Hungarian measures to be contrary to EU law without a thorough examination. The fake news that has taken wing in these statements is completely unfounded.
In Hungary's view, the legislation has nothing to do with EU law. The issue of subsidiarity and constitutional, national identity is a matter for the Member States. Furthermore, the European Charter of Human Rights also says that a parent has the right to determine the direction of their children's development in a culturally traditional background."
And, more broadly, Viktor Orbán, Hungary's Prime Minister, had this to say about Hungary's new law:
"The current left-wing campaign against Hungary is further proof that today, the left is the enemy of freedom, because instead of freedom of speech, they want political correctness as defined by them, and hegemony of opinion instead of a pluralism of ideas.
The new Hungarian law does not conflict with any lofty ideals or European laws. The new Hungarian law simply states clearly that only parents can decide on the sexual education of their children. Education in schools must not be in conflict with the will of parents; it must at most be supplementary, its form and content must be clearly defined and it must be subject to parental consent.
Parents also rightly expect that on platforms used by our children, pornography, sexuality for its own sake, homosexuality and gender reassignment programs should not be available. These restrictions must also be defined with surgical precision. In Hungary, no one has a say in how adults live their lives. In our view, a free adult should not have to give an account of his life in front of any secular authority — only before God when the time comes."
Please SIGN and SHARE this urgent petition which supports the government of Hungary in their passage of this pro-active child protection measure banning LGBT propaganda and pornography for under-18s.
Thank you!
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
'Hungary passes law against homosexuality, prime minister renews vow to ‘protect our children’' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/hungary-passes-law-against-homosexuality-prime-minister-renews-vow-to-protect-our-children
'Hungary bans promotion of homosexuality, transgenderism to minors' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/hungary-bans-promotion-of-homosexuality-transgenderism-to-minors
'EU to take legal action against Hungary’s anti-pedophilia bill' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/eu-to-take-legal-action-against-hungarys-anti-pedophilia-bill
Photo Credit: okoscso / Shutterstock.com
“… long live Pope Francis because his message goes beyond the thinking of many Italians,” said Paglia. “It is an important process and I would not stop at catechism. A few months ago the catechism was changed on the death penalty. The Church is a living body and it goes on.”
Paglia, who was appointed President of the Pontifical Academy for Life and Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in 2016, has earned some notoriety for his proclivity for actions and statements scandalizing the faithful.
In late 2019, Paglia claimed that anyone who says Judas Iscariot is in hell is a heretic, and that priests may “accompany” assisted suicides.
He is also known for commissioning a homoerotic mural to be painted in his Cathedral, which depicts Jesus carrying nets to heaven filled with naked and semi-nude homosexuals, transsexuals, prostitutes, and drug dealers, jumbled together in erotic interactions. Paglia oversaw every detail of the work, according to its painter, Ricardo Cinalli. The painting was described by critics as “blasphemous” and “demonic.”
Paglia was largely responsible for what veteran Catholic journalist Phil Lawler described as the “ideological purge” of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. Under his direction, all professors of the Institute were temporarily suspended from teaching there, more than just a few were dismissed, and academic offerings such as the “Master and Diploma in the Pastoral Care of the Family” were eliminated.