BBC – TODAY: A senior British cleric has defended his attack on government plans to legalise same sex marriage.
Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland, had described the plans as "grotesque" and said they would "shame the United Kingdom" in an article in the Telegraph.
He told the Today programme's John Humphrys that likening gay marriage to slavery is "a very good example" of what could follow on from the change in the law.
Same sex marriage "is not marriage", he maintained, which is defined by the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights as a relationship between a man and a woman. Countries which already support same sex marriage are "violating human rights".
"It's time to call a halt to what you might call progress", he said, saying that same sex marriage would lead to society "degenerating even further... into immorality". Listen to BBC AUDIO » | John Humphries | Monday, March 05, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Gay marriage is like slavery, Catholic leader says: Britain’s most senior Catholic, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, has condemned gay marriage as an “aberration”, likening it to slavery and abortion. » | Hannah Furness | Monday, March 05, 2012
NY DAILY NEWS: Head of Catholic Church in Scotland calls British plan to allow gay marriage ‘madness’: Scottish Roman Catholic Cardinal Keith O’Brien accuses British government of trying to ‘redefine reality’ ¶ LONDON — The head of the Catholic Church in Scotland has fiercely attacked the British government’s plans to allow gay marriage, calling the proposals “madness.” ¶ In an article for the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, Scottish Roman Catholic Cardinal Keith O’Brien accused the coalition government of trying to “redefine reality.” ¶ He called the plans “a grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right,” and said the government’s backing for marriage to include homosexual couples was “madness.” » | Associated Press | Sunday, March 04, 2012
GUARDIAN – BLOGS – ANDREW BROWN: If lay Catholics now accept remarriage, why not gay marriage? : Cardinal O'Brien should note the Bible's rejection of divorce is a lot stronger than the evidence for damning all gay people » | Andrew Brown | Monday, March 05, 2012
