VENEZUELA, October 26, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Citing Pope Francis’ recent comments in favor of homosexual civil unions, Venezuela’s far-left president Nicolas Maduro asked his country’s National Assembly to discuss same-sex “marriage” during its next term.
“I have friends and acquaintances who were very happy with what the Pope said yesterday…I will leave that task, the task of LGBT marriage, to the next National Assembly,” Reuters reports Maduro saying.
Maduro delivered his comments to the leaders of his Socialist Party at an event on October 22, the day after the release of the documentary, Francesco, in which the Pope made his remarks on civil unions for homosexuals that contradict previous Church teaching.
Pope Francis’ comments in the documentary included a statement on the need to enact civil union laws for the protection of same-sex couples. “What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered. I stood up for that,” the Pope said.
The Venezuelan National Assembly would have to change the country’s civil code to legalize same-sex “marriage.” Article 44 of Venezuela’s civil code says that “matrimony can only be contracted between a single man and a single woman.”
An election for a new National Assembly is scheduled for December 6. The election has been denounced by critics as a fraudulent attempt by the illegitimate Maduro regime to consolidate its power. The legitimacy of the elections has been contested due to irregularities in its planning process and concern that the vote will be rigged. Rather than being appointed by the National Assembly as envisioned in the country’s constitution, the National Electoral Council was appointed by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, which is loyal to Maduro.
The opposition parties that make up the Democratic Unity Roundtable have agreed to boycott the election, and have received international support from the Lima Group, the International Contact Group, the European Union, and the United States. While the Venezuelan bishops’ conference has criticized the Maduro regime for its actions, it also criticized the opposition’s boycott.
Maduro has been on record supporting same-sex “marriage” since 2017. Planned parliamentary discussions of the were postponed once his legitimacy as president was contested after the country’s 2018 presidential election.
Maduro is not the only politician to have used Pope Francis’ remarks to advance the legal recognition of same-sex relationships. In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman, Harry Roque, indicated that the Pope’s words will be used to silence conservatives opposed to legalizing same-sex civil unions. “With no less than the Pope supporting it, I think even the most conservative of all Catholics in Congress should no longer have a basis for objecting,” he said.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin was nuncio to Venezuela during the dictatorship of Chavez until being recalled to Rome by Pope Francis. He was credited with re-establishing diplomatic relations with the Latin American Marxist regime.
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