Benedict meets gay governor Nicchi Vendola
Pope Benedict XVI made his first trip outside Rome since his election six weeks ago and he visited the province of Puglia, home of gay Catholic communist governor Nicchi Vendola and his partner. It was there he rambled on about his "fundamental commitment ... to reconstitute the full and visible unity of all the followers of Christ." Vendola said, "Recognition of civil unions does not represent any threat to the institution of marriage and the family. There is a reality of loving co-operation which asks to be granted the dimension of a citizen's right." As Cardinal Ratzinger, the Pope declared homosexuality to be "a more or less strong tendency ordered towards an intrinsic moral evil", and worked hard to suppress Catholic gay organisations. This included prohibiting priests and nuns from doing pastoral work with gay men and lesbians.
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