Holy See and Sex: Follow Up

In follow up to the “Holy See and Sex”: here.

The “negotiations” of the Rio+20 summit have officially closed, with all parties agreeing on the severely compromised declaration text.

In the closing plenary, the Holy See was the third last “country” to speak. After successfully campaigning for the removal of any reference to “reproductive rights,” the closing speech was taken as a chance to make it perfectly clear what the Vatican’s position was.

The speech took aim at the references to “reproductive health.”

The Holy See reaffirmed its position that reproductive health encompasses “a holistic sense of health, including the mind, body and soul.” We were reminded that, in the Vatican’s view, “reproductive health does not include access to abortion or … contraceptive methods.”

Next, the speech took a swipe at the LGBT community. Sustainable development, according to the Holy See, is best served (somehow) by “marriage as sanctioned by god, between one man and one woman only.”

The segue back into reproductive rights was particularly interesting, again letting us know that the Vatican doesn’t approve of abortion, contraception, or “unnatural sexual practices.”

Then, a reminder that “at the centre of sustainable development is the sanctity of the human person.”

To close, the representative for the Holy See thanked Brazil, the UN, and all member states, for helping to keep “all of creation” safe into the future.

By Genevieve Stewart, photo by the Vatican.