Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Scots cardinal defiant after Pope criticises equality law ahead of visit

THE leader of Scotland's Catholics has insisted the Church's voice would "continue to be heard" despite new legislation which could end its ban on allowing gays taking up senior positions.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien's comments came after Pope Benedict XVI hit out at proposals in the UK's forthcoming Equality Bill, claiming the legislation "violates natural law" and was a threat to religious freedom.

The cardinal, who is leading a week long visit by Scotland's Catholic bishops on their traditional Ad Limina pilgrimage to Rome, spoke out yesterday in the official Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano.

The pontiff yesterday announced plans to visit Scotland later this year, but in an unprecedented attack on Gordon Brown's human rights policies, the Pope urged Catholic bishops to fight back with "missionary zeal".

Yesterday the Pope faced a backlash from gay and human rights campaigners with Labour MSP Stephen Hughes challenging him to start applying equality rules "on his own doorstep".

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