Argentinean Senate Debates Marriage Equality

Religious demonstrators that stand against equality lined the streets by the thousands today in Argentina’s capitol of Buenos Aires as the country’s Senate debated a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage.

The measure has already passed through the lower house by a 125 to 109 vote, and if it passes in the Senate, the bill will then be presented to President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who supports the legislation, to be signed into law.

Similar to what happens here in the U.S., there have been reports that religious leaders have been lobbying Senators to vote against the bill. One Senator however, Miguel Angel Pichetto, told the Telam news agency that he had not been pressured, stating:

“There is some pressure in some provinces where the church plays a prominent role, but such is democracy.”

Yet the Catholic leaders in the predominately Catholic country have been charging up the rhetoric and Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, Argentina’s highest-ranking Catholic official sent out warnings that the bill is the devil’s work, as he asked priests and their followers to protest.

In a letter, Bergoglio wrote:

“Let’s not be naive, we’re not talking about a simple political battle; it is a destructive pretension against the plan of God. We are not talking about a mere bill, but rather a machination of the Father of Lies that seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God.”