The Church in Costa Rica Deplores a Government Attack on the Family

On August 8, 2018, with a vote of six to one, the Constitutional Court decided to revise the Code of Family Law with the clear intention of legalizing unnatural civil unions. The Parliament now has 18 months to pass the law.

The decision of the highest court in Costa Rica came after the president of the Diversity Movement, Marco Castillo, and a “couple” of female militants filed an appeal for non-constitutionality. This decision was based on consultative advice from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that has now been made obligatory.

“We regret that the Constitutional Court did not declare inadmissible the appeal against article 14 of the Code of Family Law, that does nothing but recall the origin and natural function of the family,” wrote the Episcopal Conference of Costa Rica in a statement published on August 9.

“Refusing to discriminate against homosexuals does not authorize the government to subvert the natural order of marriage and the family,” recalled the bishops, adding that “the Church firmly maintains that family remains and will always remain the basic unit of society, for in it are engendered and educated the future citizens of all society.”