Catholics, Mormons Fight Gay Marriage in Argentina

As the Argentina senate prepares to vote on a same-sex marriage bill this week, the Catholic church and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are stepping up efforts to defeat the measure in the country, where more than 90% of the population calls itself Catholic.

The marriage equality bill, which goes before the senate on Wednesday, already passed the lower chamber in May, but a tougher fight is expected in the senate, according to Agence France-Presse. The hurdles include religious opposition and advocacy.

"During Sunday Mass, church officials read a message from Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio in which he urged the faithful to protest Tuesday in front of Congress," reports AFP.

"The bishops of La Pampa, a central province, published a document in which they defended a family model 'with a mom and a dad, naturally endowed with the remarkable wealth of fertility.'"

Also on Sunday, sacrament meetings of the LDS church were reminded of the church's position against same-sex marriage.

According to the Deseret News, "In a single-paragraph letter dated July 6 and read Sunday to Argentine congregations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the church's First Presidency said the doctrine is 'absolutely clear: that marriage is between a man and a woman and is ordained of God.'"