Mr Cameron, who has publicly pledged his support for gay marriage, is facing a growing backlash from within his own party over the proposal to redefine the legal definition of marriage to include same-sex couples.
He is now facing the prospect of an open breach with prominent religious figures – just a week after leading Conservatives voiced their support for Christianity following a series of court rulings which reinforced the secularisation of Britain.
Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, yesterday joined Lord Brennan, the barrister and peer, to launch the “Coalition For Marriage”, a new cross-party campaign [to] designed derail the plans for homosexual marriage.
A clutch of Church of England bishops and other Christian groups have already pledged their support for the alliance which is seeking hundreds of thousands of signatures on a petition to maintain the current definition of marriage.
Crucially, the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church yesterday threw its support behind the campaign, raising the prospect of support from the more than a million devout Catholics in England and Wales.
It is understood that leading bishops are considering issuing a pastoral letter to parishes across urging them to support the campaign. » | John Bingham, Social Affairs Editor | Monday, February 20, 2012
