Ecuador is debating a new draft constitution and Pope Ratzinger doesn’t much like it.  The new constitution, which goes to the voters on September 28, among other things guarantees the rights of same sex couples.  Consider that here in the land of the free and the home of the brave we’re busy taking those rights away one state at a time.  Some say the new Ecuadorian constitution also concentrates too much power in the office of the current President, who is a socialist.  But that’s not what Ratzinger’s men are busy complaning about…

Archbishop Antonio Arregui Yarza of Guayaquil criticized the draft charter for including what he called ambiguous abortion laws and granting the same benefits to same-sex couples and married heterosexual couples.

"A union between homosexuals is not a family," Arregui said in a news conference Monday.  "We’re going to request that the entire Christian conscience takes note of the nonnegotiable incompatibilities of this constitution with our faith." He also said the proposed document is "leaving the door open to the deletion of a new baby."

Just ignore that little bit of translation awkwardness…the new constitution doesn’t explicitly ban abortion outright and that’s a problem for the Archbishop.  But what’s unacceptable to him, is that it gives same sex couples the same rights as opposite sex couples.  To him that is a nonnegotiable incompatibility with his faith. 

Luckly for Ecuadorian gays, their president isn’t afraid to throw the religious argument right back at the haters…

President Defends Gay Rights in Draft Ecuadorean Constitution

President Rafael Correa has defended a new draft Ecuadorean constitution that grants same-sex couples the rights of marriage, El Telégrafo reported Aug. 1. The document faces a popular vote Sept. 28.

Speaking in the city of Monteverde, Correa said: “Jesus of Nazareth never preached hatred, homophobia or segregation; instead he knew to say, ‘Love one another.’

“It is false that (the draft) is recognizing as family the union of homosexuals. What we are doing is recognizing the dignity of all people without discrimination based on race, sex, sexual orientation, etc.”

“Let’s hope, now that there’s been so much talk about moral incompatibilities between the new constitution and the Gospel, sometimes utilizing falsehoods, that we also can talk with equal force about the profound incompatibility of the social situation — of that inequality, of that existing social injustice — with the Gospels,” Correa said.

Emphasis mine.  This is why John-Paul furiously tried to stamp out liberation theology in South America.  It’s one thing to preach to the poor and the outcast.  It’s another thing entirely when they start preaching back at you.