Catholic church urges Cubans to reject same-sex marriage
The Catholic Church has urged Cubans to oppose new changes that would legalise equal marriage.
Cuba’s Catholic Church has urged the country to reject the legalisation of same-sex marriage.
The comments come over Cuba’s upcoming referendum on whether to legalise same-sex marriage. Back in July, Cuba’s National Assembly paved the way for equal marriage by approving a draft constitution changing the definition of marriage.
The current definition of marriage in the country is the “voluntary union between a man and woman” but the proposed changes would make this “the consensual union of two people, regardless of gender”. However, Cuban citizens would have to approve the change in a vote for it to become official.
In a long letter published this week, Dionisio Garcia, the archbishop of Santiago de Cuba, urged Cuban citizens to defend the definition of marriage as the union between a man and woman, France24 reports.
Garcia said the acceptance of same-sex marriage was “alien” to Cuban values and claimed that the proposal stemmed from the “cultural imperialism” of powerful countries that use the effect of globalisation “to create a uniform culture that accepts and adopts its criteria (while) disqualifying those of others.”
He also said that rich countries were using their power to “influence less developed countries in need of economic aid.”
Several Evangelical churches in Cuba also campaigned against the changes by issuing leaflets which promote marriage as a union between a man and woman.
Meanwhile, Cuban LGBT activists have created their own posters promoting same-sex marriage.