Lawmakers in predominantly Roman Catholic Malta legalized same-sex marriage recently, joining much of Western Europe by replacing the traditional "you are now husband and wife" declaration in civil ceremonies with "you are now spouses."
Only one lawmaker out of 67 in the Maltese Parliament voted against the legislation, signaling its broad support on the island nation despite opposition from the Catholic Church.
Nationalist lawmaker Edwin Vassallo cited his Catholic faith and its incompatibility with what he called a "morally unacceptable" law. "A Christian politician cannot leave his conscience outside the door when he enters parliament", Vassallo said.
The Labor government had promised to introduce the bill as its first law after winning a second term last month. Both opposition parties supported it, ensuring its passage. The aim of the law, piloted by Malta Equality Minister Helena Dalli, was to "modernize the institution of marriage" to extend it to all consenting adult couples.
Its passage marked the latest evidence of the transformation of the once-conservative nation of about 440,000 people, where divorce was illegal until 2011.
While abortion remains banned in Malta, adoption by same-sex couples has been legal since civil unions were introduced in 2014. Last year, the number of exclusively civil marriages eclipsed the number of Church weddings for the first time.
Archbishop Charles Scicluna had opposed the same-sex marriage law, reflecting the Church's longstanding view that marriage can only be between a man and woman.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had said it would be "discriminatory" to have separate laws for mixed and same-sex couples. So the amendments to existing laws included eliminating any reference to "husband and wife." In its place is now the gender-neutral term "spouse" to cover all situations.
The law also calls for the removal of the terms "father" and "mother," to be substituted by "parents." Lesbian couples who have children via medical interventions are distinguished by the terms "the person who gave birth" and "the other parent."
Other changes concern heterosexual marriages. Any reference to "maiden name" is replaced with "surname at birth," while couples can now choose what surname to take after marriage. A man, for example, can take his wife's surname.
More than a dozen European countries have legalized same-sex marriage, all in the western part of the Continent. Almost a dozen others, including Italy, have some sort of same-sex unions or civil partnerships, according to the Pew Research Center.
Is there any doubt that the secular Europe of today appears to be very much like the Roman Empire on the eve of its collapse.
The unrelenting assault by the homosexual community upon the culture and values of a once Christian Europe is spawning the collapse of Western Civilization itself.
Where once statesmen were found are now those who would sell their souls for political expediency.
The Gospel and the Christian Faith which were the underpinnings of a free and prosperous Europe have been abandoned. The Church, once the most convincing voice in advancing the nobility and dignity of human freedom as an inalienable right bestowed by God and not the State, has lost its credibility amidst the scandals and turmoil within its ranks.
The Pope and liberal elites of the political class within Europe these days preach a gospel of immigration and multiculturalism. It is a prescription for the death of Western Civilization.
One day soon, Europe will awaken to find itself enslaved by Islam, which will have replaced Christianity. Those who advocate homosexual unions, the liberal elites, the worst critics and enemies of the traditional culture and moral values of Europe will be the first to be executed.
Europe will once again come under the shadow, not of an Iron Boot, but of a barbarism by Islam that will make Nazism look tame by comparison.
Only this time, the America which is quickly following in Europe's footsteps, won't be there to rescue the Continent.
And, with the irony that only the willfully ignorant can muster, Europeans will raise their eyes to Heaven and cry out: "How can this be happening to us?"
O tempore, o mores!
No comments:
Post a Comment