Catholic diocese slams Bologna for recognising overseas same-sex marriages

Bologna’s Catholic Diocese has denounced the city’s formal recognition of same-sex marriages conducted abroad.

The Italian city, which has a population of 380,000, yesterday announced that same-sex couples who have married abroad can have their marriages registered at city hall.

Bologna’s Catholic Diocese attacked the move calling the decision a “surprise attack,” Italian news agency ANSA reports.

But Mayor Virginio Merola said it had been “long overdue”.

Monsignor Giovanni Silvagni said that “haste and approximation are always bad ideas….imposing thoughts that are slightly weak and young, not sufficiently matured or tested”.

In contrast, Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino said he would follow Bologna’s lead and start the process in Italy’s capital city “for the recognition of marriages contracted abroad, both heterosexual and homosexual couples”.

The Italian Parliament has yet to legalise civil unions or same-sex marriages.

• Nov 29 2023

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