"Between a man and a woman"

A day after the California Supreme Court overturned a ban on same-sex marriage, the Holy Father firmly stated that only marriage between a man and a woman is moral.

On Thursday, May 15, California's Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, overturned a state law preventing homosexuals from being recognized as married. The next day, Benedict XVI, while not directly mentioning the ruling in an address to the Forum of Family Associations and the European Federation of Catholic Family Associations, stressed the importance of the traditional family for the good of society.

"The union of love, based on matrimony between a man and a woman, which makes up the family, represents a good for all society that cannot be substituted by, confused with, or compared to other types of unions," he said.

Benedict XVI also spoke of the rights of the traditional family, "founded on matrimony between a man and a woman, the natural cradle of human life." Mention of the need to defend the family is not uncharacteristic for Pope Benedict, but his statement takes on particular relevance following the California ruling.

In the same address, the pope emphasized the family's importance by citing John Paul II, "the Pope of the family," who said that "the future of humanity passes by way of the family."

(Story courtesy of Catholic News Agency.)