ROME, JUNE 17, 2001 (Zenit.org).- Directors of Civiltà Cattolica denied news reports that the Jesuit review was coming out in favor of homosexual couples.
Some news agencies ran headlines like «Jesuits Accept Recognition of Homosexual Couples» after reading a summary of an upcoming Civiltà Cattolica editorial.
If true, the news would have been earthshaking, since drafts of the biweekly review are revised by the Vatican State Secretariat.
In fact, the news was false.
Father Michele Simone, vice director of Civiltà Cattolica, explained that the editorial makes it clear «that a Catholic politician cannot approve homosexual unions.»
Some agencies published their news without having read the article. The edition carrying the full editorial was not yet on sale.
Some media said that the Rome-based review believes the question of de facto couples must be studied «as it is a social phenomenon that cannot be left uncontrolled.» The media then quoted Franco Grillini, a homosexual activist, expressing his «enormous joy and satisfaction» over the opinions allegedly given in Civiltà Cattolica.
In fact, the topic is only mentioned in a few paragraphs of a long editorial on Catholics´ commitment in Italy.
The editorial reaffirmed the duty of Catholic politicians to carry out pro-family policies founded on marriage. It also confirmed its opposition to the adoption of children by homosexuals who pose as couples, but referred to the need to study the «social phenomenon» of same-sex partners.
«We are not in favor of, nor do we want to promote, this type of union; we simply note it, proposing that lawmakers regulate this phenomenon because it is their duty,» Father Simone explained.
«This is the traditional doctrine of the Church,» he added. «Given the negative phenomena existing in society, it is not about approving them but about regulating them, so that they will not go beyond the set limits.»
Father Simone called the international press´ interpretation of the matter as «totally illegitimate.»
«There is nothing new in the editorial,» he added. «It is not about recognizing, much less equating, homosexual unions with the family, as if the power to choose a particular way of living together is a right.»
