The Church and Monaco Cross Swords on the Question of Civil Unions

The case began in 2013, when members of the Union Monégasque (UM), a centrist political party, tabled a bill seeking to establish a Living Together Contract, the Monaco equivalent of the “Civil Solidarity Pact” introduced in France in 1999.

The Church, which is the state religion on the Rock, warned the legislature against a law that would constitute “an ersatz marriage” and a threat to the institution of matrimony.

Bishop Bernard Barsi, Archbishop of Monaco, said that “to legislate specifically in favor of cohabitation is going far beyond the scope of the text. It is endangering the stability of our institutions by further removing the Monegasque legislation from the doctrine of the Church.”

In a letter sent on October 14 to Stéphane Valéri, the President of the National Council, the Monegasque prelate warns: "when one legislates, it is necessary and responsible to know how to go beyond the short-sighted horizon of the political moment or the simple political tactics, to project oneself into the future (...). The example of neighboring countries where 'marriage for all' has arrived after a succession of methodically calculated steps cannot be ignored, not to mention one-upping the rights of filiation (PMA, GPA, etc.)."

Stéphane Valéri has moderately tasted this political lesson. He replied to the archbishop that “the Church cannot be considered as a co-legislature” in the Principality. In this tense climate, the President of the National Council has decided to postpone until December 2, 2019 the debate on the “Monegasque PACS” in Parliament.