Gay activists protest
outside Vatican
By Reuters from the
Web, January 13, 2006
VATICAN CITY -- Some 40 gay
rights activists protested outside St Peter's Square on Friday, a day after Pope
Benedict condemned homosexual marriage.
The group stayed out of the square, which is Vatican territory, but held up
banners and placards criticising the Roman Catholic Church.
One banner read "2000 years of discrimination" and said the Church should stay
out of Italian affairs.
Benedict, in an address to Italian politicians on Thursday, re-stated the Church
opposition to gay marriages and to proposed laws that would formally recognise
the rights of gay couples.
The demonstration took place on the eighth anniversary of a suicide by a
homosexual in St Peter's Square.
The demonstrators were commemorating Alfredo Ormando, a 39-year-old Italian who
set himself on fire there in 1998 to protest against the Church's position on
homosexuals. He later died of his injuries.
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