Advertisement

Bishop backtracks over gay incest jibe

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
Bishop backtracks over gay incest jibe
Mouvement des Entreprises de France (MEDEF)

A French archbishop who claimed gay marriage could lead to incest or polygamy partially backtracked Tuesday following a furore over comments he claims were misinterpreted.

Advertisement

Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, the archbishop of Lyon, said Tuesday that opposition to same-sex marriage did not make clerics anti-gay.

"They (homosexuals) are building the kingdom of heaven as much if not better than me," he told France Info radio. "They are struggling to be faithful, to be Christians, each in their own way because we are all poor sinners."

Barbarin said the overall tenor of his comments at the weekend had been misrepresented but stopped short of apologising for his controversial remarks to a Christian radio station on the subject of gay marriage.

"Afterwards they will want to create couples with three or four members," he said. "And after that, perhaps one day the taboo of incest will fall."

The Archbishop's comments have been widely condemned. Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, one of France's few openly gay politicians, said on Monday that a Catholic leader he had previously admired appeared to have "flipped his lid."

France's Socialist government has promised to enact legislation allowing gay couples to marry and adopt children by the middle of 2013.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also