Post date: Nov 17, 2012 5:46:7 PM
Thousands turn out in Paris against governmental plans to allow same-sex marriage.
PARIS, FRANCE (NOVEMBER 17, 2012) (REUTERS) - Thousands of Catholics joined by church leaders marched in cities acrossFrance on Saturday (November 17) to protest against government plans to legalise same-sex marriage.
With the slogan "everyone born from a man and a woman", the organisers called on demonstrators to dress in pink, white and blue and take to the streets in Paris, Nantes, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille and other major towns.The organisation, dubbed "Demos for All" in imitation of the "marriage for all" call of gay-marriage campaigners, claims the government's reforms would threaten "major and dangerous upheaval".
"To examine and to vote this law proposal is condemning a child to be deprived of a natural family because a child is conceived between a man and a woman, that's the way it is and we can't go against nature," said Marthe Vignault who marched in Paris.
France's National Assembly is due to start examining the proposed law allowing same-sex marriage in January, with a vote expected in mid-2013. It would grant gay couples the right to adopt children but not to use assisted procreation methods.
Recent polls show the majority of French people support gay marriage, though not the right for homosexual couples to adopt children.
France's top Catholic prelate, Paris Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, earlier this month criticised the Socialist government for forging ahead with the plans when the country faced urgent economic concerns.
Lyon Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, who has said marriage was defined at the very start of the Bible as created by God to join man and woman, was among around 10,000 protestors in the city, according to figures from the organisers.
The Toulouse archbishop of Toulouse was among a further 10,000 in that city, based on the organisers' figures.
The Vatican, reacting to strong gains for gay marriage in the United States and Europe, pledged this month never to stop fighting attempts to "erase" the privileged role of heterosexual marriage, which it called "an achievement of civilisation".
The pope told a group of French bishops visiting the Vatican earlier on Saturday not to be afraid of spreading Christian teachings.
"In the important debates about society, the voice of the church must make itself heard relentlessly and with determination," Pope Benedict said.