Not opposed to Same-Sex Couples Having Some Marriage Privileges
MONTREAL, April 12, 2002 (LSN.ca) – In an article published in the Quebec City daily Le Soleil on March 18 Archbishop Bertrand Blanchet of Rimouski wrote on homosexual civil unions. In the article, highlighted on the webpage of the Quebec Bishops Conference on April 11, Archbishop Blanchet wrote “The bishops of Quebec are not opposed to attributing to same sex couples certain advantages reserved up to now to married persons.”
The archbishop admitted that “some people were surprised, this position did not seem to be faithful to Catholic morality.” He added, “Not to be opposed does not mean approving or promoting.” Later in the article, regardung homosexual adoption, Archbishop Blanchet writes, “The first criteria to consider is without any doubt the good of the child himself. When one of the partners is the biological parent it is possible that adoption constitutes the best solution.”
The article, is consistent with the position stated by the statement of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Quebec (L’Assemblée des évêques du Québec – AEQ) issued March 6. As LifeSite pointed regarding the AEQ statement, the position taken by Archbishop Blanchet contradicts Church teaching on the matter.
On June 4, 1999, in an address to the Pontifical Council for the Family, Pope John Paul II addressed these matters with the following words: “Moreover, when “de facto unions” claim the right to adopt, they clearly show their disregard for the child’s welfare and the minimum conditions he is owed for proper upbringing. Moreover, the Pontifical Council’s document on ‘Family, Marriage and ‘de facto’ Unions states: “In today’s open and democratic societies, the State and the public authorities must not institutionalize de facto unions, thereby giving them a status similar to marriage and the family, nor much less make them equivalent to the family based on marriage. This would be an arbitrary use of power which does not contribute to the common good.”
Archbishop Blanchet, who just completed his stint as the Chair of the Catholic Organization for Life and Family, has been known to contradict Church teaching on life as well as family issues. In a 1988 book called ‘Abortion. Yes or No’ Msgr. Blanchet, then Bishop of Gaspe, said “I would be unable to impose upon a woman, who had not committed a free act, to carry a pregnancy to term that was the result of a rape.” See related LifeSite coverage: QUEBEC BISHOPS CONTRADICT CHURCH TEACHING ON HOMOSEXUAL ADOPTION https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/mar/02030701.html See the article by Archbishop Blanchet: https://www.eveques.qc.ca/aeqdoc_aeq_2002_3_15_f_0.html