Senior Vatican official says Ireland’s gay marriage vote is a “defeat for humanity”

Originally published in The Christian Post

A senior Vatican official, reportedly seen as second only to the pope, said Ireland’s recent legalisation of gay marriage is a “defeat for humanity” in comments seen as the strongest yet from the Catholic Church on the controversial referendum.

“I was deeply saddened by the result,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, said at a conference in Rome on Tuesday night, according to The Guardian. “The church must take account of this reality, but in the sense that it must strengthen its commitment to evangelization. I think that you cannot just talk of a defeat for Christian principles, but of a defeat for humanity.”

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Ireland became the first country to legalise gay marriage by popular vote after 62 percent of voters supported a referendum to change their constitution to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry.

An earlier reaction from Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, appeared a bit more measured as if the church was ready to soften its position on gay marriage but Parolin’s comments made it clear that this was not the case.

“It is very clear that if this referendum is an affirmation of the views of young people … [then the church needs] a reality check,” Martin had reportedly said.

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Other countries allowing gay marriage are Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, England/Wales, Finland, France, Iceland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and Uruguay, according to Pew Research Center. Gay marriage is legal in 37 US states and DC, and in certain parts of Mexico.