Pope Ignites Equality Row

Human rights campaigners in Britain have criticised the Pope's opposition to proposed extensions of UK equality law.

Benedict XVI, who is expected to travel to Britain in September, said the Equality Bill "violates natural law".

Senior Catholics have voiced concern that the legislation could oblige them to employ gay and trans-gender people within the church.

The government has defended the amendments, which it said are designed to make the UK a fairer place.

The Pope, announcing his official tour, told English and Welsh bishops yesteday: "Your country is well-known for its firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all members of society.

"Yet, as you have rightly pointed out, the effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs.

"In some respects it actually violates the natural law upon which the equality of all human beings is grounded and by which it is guaranteed."

Stonewall, the gay rights charity, lambasted Benedict's comments, adding equality legislation is designed to protect everyone.

Jonathan Finney, a senior parliamentary officer, told the BBC no-one should be denied employment because of their sexual orientation.

"What you can't start doing is saying that religious people have hard-won freedoms, we'll now restrict those, we won't give them to gay people, we won't give them to women," he said.

The National Secular Society said it will hold a demonstration in protest at the Pope's comments.

It said the campaign would be backed by gay groups, victims of clerical abuse, feminists, family planning organisations and pro-abortion groups among others.

Peter Tatchell said the Pope was "ill-informed" and wanted the Catholic church to be "above the law".

"His ill-informed claim that our equality laws undermine religious freedom suggests that he supports the right of churches to discriminate in accordance with their religious ethos," he said.

"He seems to be defending discrimination by religious institutions and demanding that they should be above the law."

Ann Widdecombe, Conservative MP and practising Catholic, said religious groups should not be forced to endorse relationships they see as fundamentally wrong.

"If a faith teaches, as major faiths do, that something is wrong, then quite clearly you cannot have somebody who believes that it's right actually occupying a very senior position," she told the BBC.

"Nobody else is saying that the teachings of the Catholic Church should influence what non-Catholics do - this is about allowing Catholics to pursue their own faith."

Lib Dem MP Evan Harris said the Equality Bill would "protect the general workforce from prejudiced employers".

"Religious people can be reassured that there is nothing in the Equality Bill which imposes gay priests on religions," he added.

Benedict will be the first Pope to visit Britain since 1982, when John Paul II carried out a papal tour.

(PR/GK)