Editing Pope Benedict XVI (section)

==== Same-sex marriage ====
In an address to a conference of the Diocese of Rome held at the basilica of [[St. John Lateran]] 6 June 2005, Benedict remarked on the issues of [[same-sex marriage]] and abortion:<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 June 2005 |title=Pope Slams Gay 'Pseudo-Matrimony' |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pope-slams-gay-pseudo-matrimony/ |access-date=8 February 2021 |publisher=CBS News |language=en-US}}</ref>

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| The various forms of the dissolution of matrimony today, like free unions, trial marriages and going up to pseudo-matrimonies by people of the same sex, are rather expressions of an anarchic freedom that wrongly passes for true freedom of man ... from here it becomes all the more clear how contrary it is to human love, to the profound vocation of man and woman, to systematically close their union to the gift of life, and even worse to suppress or tamper with the life that is born.
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During a 2012 Christmas speech,<ref>{{Cite web |author=Benedict XVI |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2012/december/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20121221_auguri-curia_en.html |title=Address of his Holiness Benedict XVI on the occasion of Christmas greetings |publisher=Vatican |date=21 December 2012 |access-date=26 December 2012}}</ref> Benedict made remarks about the present-day interpretation of the notion of [[gender]]. He stated that a new philosophy of sexuality, which he rejects, suggests that "sex is no longer a given element of nature, that man has to accept and personally make sense of: it is a social role that we choose for ourselves", and "The words of the creation account: 'male and female he created them' (Gen 1:27) no longer apply". Although he did not mention the topic, his words were interpreted by news media as denunciations of same-sex marriage,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-denounces-gay-marriage-as-people-manipulating-their-godgiven-gender-to-suit-sexual-choices-8428862.html |title=Pope denounces gay marriage as 'people manipulating their God-given gender to suit sexual choices' |first1=Jerome |last1=Taylor |newspaper=The Independent |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221170419/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-denounces-gay-marriage-as-people-manipulating-their-godgiven-gender-to-suit-sexual-choices-8428862.html |archive-date=21 December 2012 |date=21 December 2012 |access-date=21 December 2012}}</ref> with some outlets adding that Benedict would have called it a threat to world peace similar to abortion and euthanasia.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/pope-makes-new-anti-gay-marriage-stance/story-fn3dxix6-1226542140170 |title=Pope makes new anti-gay marriage stance |newspaper=The Australian |agency=Australian Associated Press (AAP) |access-date=21 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221130951/https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/pope-makes-new-anti-gay-marriage-stance/story-fn3dxix6-1226542140170 |archive-date=21 December 2012}}</ref> In March 2012, he stated that heterosexual marriages should be defended from "every possible misrepresentation of their true nature".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/03/09/pope-straight-marriage-must-be-defended-from-misrepresentation/ |title=Pope: Straight marriage must be 'defended from misrepresentation' |first1=Stephen |last1=Gray |website=Pink News |date=9 March 2012 |access-date=21 December 2012}}</ref>