Statement of Service
The Big Question: What is equality legislation, and why is the Pope so concerned about it?
Why are we asking this now?
The Pope has made an extraordinary intervention into British politics by urging Catholics to oppose the Equality Bill going through Parliament. The Bill has finished its passage through the House of Commons, and was being fiercely debated in the House of Lords last week, with religious groups lined up on both sides of the argument, and may become the cause of a stand-off between MPs and peers.
The Pope told a gathering of English and Welsh Catholic bishops, in Rome, that the legislation would "impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs," and added: "In some respects it actually violates the natural law upon which the equality of all human beings is grounded and by which it is guaranteed." The impact of his words is all the greater because he will be soon be making the first papal visit to the UK since 1982.
Related Links
Independent
www.independent.co.uk
February 3, 2010
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