On Wednesday April 10th, the Parliament of Uruguay passed the law on so-called “egalitarian marriage,” i.e. the legal recognition of marriage as «a permanent union between two persons of the same or different sex». Uruguay is the second largest country in South America after Argentina.
 
By a released the day before the final vote on the law document, the Permanent Council of the Bishops’ Conference of Uruguay had intended to clarify «the confusion that has been created in various sectors of society with regard to values» that are the basis of family and «about the consequences» of this law. While acknowledging the good will and intent of legislators to seek greater justice, the law on “egalitarian marriage” is defined as «a setback of the legal system in the foundation, respect and defense of the family, which is the constitutional basis of society, the core of love and mutual solidarity». Previously, the protection of the rights of same-sex couples was already regulated through the defense of “civil unions,” without the assimilation with marriage. «Giving the same label to different realities, with the pretext of equality, is not justice but an inconsistent assimilation that will only further weaken marriage. Recognizing a real difference is not discrimination. Trying to “equalize” everything and everyone, regardless of the reality and the ethical and moral principles that govern the family, means standardizing and depersonalizing», the Permanent Council’s document “Defendiendo la familia y el matrimonio, ganamos todos” says.
Even a Uruguayan deputy, Gerardo Amarilla, said that the new law «debases and distorts the institution of marriage, with stunning impact on society and the family, especially in procreation».
«In wanting to call “marriage” unions between persons of the same sex, there is the subtle desire to demolish a structure that is rooted in our society», Msgr. Pablo Galimberti, Bishop of Salto, said on Monday, April 8th, during the demonstration in defense of marriage between a man and a woman, on Constitution Square in the center of Montevideo, organized by the movements opposed to the legislative reform and gathered at the “National Office for the Defense and Promotion of the Family,” to protest against «the Government’s striking attack on the institution of marriage and on the weakest, the children». The coordination committee of the movement had sounded the alarm, which remained unheeded, with regard to the legalization of adoption and in vitro fertilization for same-sex couples, under conditions that are even more favorable than those for traditional couples, a sign of the «progressive deterioration of a culture that does not respect the right to life, has legalized abortion, does not recognize the value of education imparted to children by their parents and remains indifferent to the difficulties of poor families». In fact, the document of the Permanent Council of Bishops indicates, «there is a risk that the child will turned into an object, without taking into account that the interests of the growing child must prevail, wherever possible, with clear maternal and paternal references».
According to the Bishops of Uruguay, this law copies «models that have come from abroad, without the necessary anthropological analysis, and without an examination the consequences that these legislative changes will cause for the entire Uruguayan society on issue of the family». At the end of the document, the Bishops recalled what Cardinal Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio wrote to the Carmelite Nuns of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 22 June 2010, just a few weeks before the approval of the law on same-sex marriage in Argentina: «The identity of the family, and its survival, are in jeopardy here: father, mother, and children. The life of so many children who will be discriminated beforehand due to the lack of human maturity that God willed them to have with a father and a mother is in jeopardy. A clear rejection of the law of God, engraved in our hearts, is in jeopardy».