Pope speaks out against gay unions

POPE Benedict XVI said on Thursday there was an “urgent” need to avoid confusion over gay unions and other common-law partnerships, and stressed that only marriage between men and women could be the basis for a healthy society.

Benedict also said the 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, which defined the Church’s opposition to artificial birth control, remains relevant today. He said the physical differences between men and women were not just biological happenstance, but had a far more profound significance — that of coming together to create new life.

The Pope spoke to members of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, an institute founded by the late pope to promote Church teachings on the sanctity of marriage and family.