VATICAN CITY

(AP) — Pope John Paul II again stressed his opposition to gay unions today, saying they degrade the true sense of marriage between man and woman. He urged Catholic and non-Catholic authorities alike to stop approving them.

It was the second time in a week that John Paul has raised the issue, which is making headlines in the United States as a national debate arises from a decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that prohibiting same-sex marriages violated that state's constitution.

In his comments, John Paul said a family based on marriage between man and woman was a pillar of society that justly had rights and duties specific to it.

He urged all public authorities, but particularly Catholic ones, to stop approving such laws, saying they shouldn't contribute to legislation that is contrary to "the primary and essential norms that regulate moral life."

Authorities must instead protect laws that favour the family ``knowing that they promote a social development that is just, stable and promising."

...Last year, the Vatican launched a global campaign against gay marriages in a bid to stem the tide of widening legal recognition for same-sex unions in Europe, North America and elsewhere.

-- Bill Nelson (bnelson45-nospam@Hotmail.com), February 28, 2004

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-- Bill Nelson (bnelson45-nospam@Hotmail.com), February 28, 2004.