Top Cardinal in France Threatens Violence If Gay Marriage Allowed

It seems that Cardinal Andre Wingt-Trois (pictured at right), the most senior member of the Catholic hierarchy in France has been reading NOM's script and is stating that the French government risked inciting more violence by "rushing"  marriage equality through the French Legislature.  The refrain also echos the calls by the folks who signed the Manhattan Declaration which encourages Christofascists to defy the law and refuse to recognize gay marriage and legal protections for LGBT citizens.  Through these threats and actions, Christianity is yet again showing its ugly face of hate, bigotry and even lawlessness if the hate mongers fail to get their way.  Reuters looks at these developments.  Here are highlights:

PARIS (Reuters) - France's top Catholic bishop warned the government on Tuesday that legalization of same-sex marriage risked inciting violence at a time the country had more pressing economic and social problems to tackle.

Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois told a meeting of French bishops the planned marriage reform, which the government has speeded up amid mounting pressure from opponents, was a sign that society had lost its capacity to integrate different views.

Protests against the law, led by lay groups mostly backed by the Catholic Church, have become more agitated in recent days as noisy opponents rally outside the Senate and National Assembly and harass politicians supporting the reform.

Vingt-Trois, the archbishop of Paris, said the difference between the sexes was a basic human trait and denying it by legalizing marriage and adoption for homosexuals would weaken society's ability to manage its differences peacefully.

"This is the way a violent society develops," he told the spring meeting of the French bishops' conference. "Society has lost its capacity of integration and especially its ability to blend differences in a common project."

The Socialist-led government, whose popularity has plummeted amid economic woes and a tax fraud scandal, is expected to pass the law next week to make France the 13th country to allow gays to tie the knot. 

Government leaders have accused the protesters of turning radical and criticized the increasingly frequent presence of aggressive far-right nationalist and traditionalist Catholic fringe groups at the otherwise peaceful protests.

I for one hope that the French government will play hardball with these bigots and, if it appears that Vingt-Trois has been encouraging sedition and violence, that the authorities will arrest his fat ass and throw him in jail.  The Christofascists and the Catholic hierarchy cannot be allowed to position themselves as above the law.    Their day of abusing others and imposing their toxic beliefs on others needs to end now.