Peruvian Catholic Priest Ousted For Supporting Civil Unions

The Church hierarchy decided not to renew the ministerial license of Garatea Gaston, a Catholic priest, limiting his priestly work and makes it impossible to officiate mass and the sacraments. Garatea Gaston, who publicly gave his support for civil unions between same-sex couples, chaired the Roundtable for Poverty Reduction and was commissioned by the Commission of Truth and Reconciliation. He is also advisor on Social Responsibility of the Catholic University of Peru.

The superior of the Sacred Hearts order, Father Raul Pariamachi, received the order several days ago by the Archbishop of Lima, Juan Luis Cipriani, and thus communicated to the priest.

"I can not celebrate Mass or make confessions," lamented the father Garatea, apologizing in trying to provide more information about the situation. As has transpired, however , the reason is that the priest has made ​​several statements that go against the tradition of the church, including on relations between same sex.

The most recent were in an interview to the magazine Caretas, which he held that "most of the canon is spoken rather than the Gospel." In February last year, Garatea was in favor of civil unions between same-sex couples if that is the will of the people.

"We can be against same-sex marriage, but in a civil union should be no problem," he said. And in October 2009 when Congress was discussing a proposal to legalize eugenic abortion, the priest called on parliamentarians to assess the issue with a "more humane" view than legal.

Support for the priest

As soon as the news of the veto to Gaston Garatea broke, social networks showed support and expressions of apology to the priest. In most cases, people have questioned the official order as to marginalize gays and Cardinal Cipriani has been accused of intolerance, who previously has proved his conservatism and fanatical opposition to any legal advance referring to homosexuality.

Source: Dos Manzanas