The Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence in the US state of Rhode Island has banned Catholics from participating in or entering into same-sex civil unions after a church campaign to stop them being legalised failed.

“The church reminds its members that homosexual activity is contrary to the natural law and the will of God and, therefore, is objectively sinful,” Bishop Thomas Tobin wrote.

“Because civil unions promote an unacceptable lifestyle, undermine the faith of the church on holy matrimony, and cause scandal and confusion, Catholics may not participate in civil unions. To do so is a very grave violation of the moral law and, thus, seriously sinful. A civil union can never be accepted as a legitimate alternative to matrimony.

“Can there be any doubt that almighty God will, in his own time and way, pass judgment upon our state, its leaders and citizens, for abandoning his commands and embracing public immorality?”

It's a qualified victory for digital civil liberties as web blocking plans are watered down

The European Parliament's civil liberties committee has voted unanimously to reject mandatory European Union-wide blocking of child pornography websites.

The European Commission had originally wanted to force member states to block illegal content and encouraged national authorities to use Internet service providers "to develop codes of conduct and guidelines for blocking access to such Internet pages." This provoked concern among many civil liberties groups that were worried that member states might misuse the power to block websites and that legitimate content could be blocked in error.

The new text of the draft law on online child pornography approved by the civil liberties committee Tuesday removes the obligation on member states to block content, but says they "may" do so subject to certain safeguards. However, a new addition to the text is the warning that any blocking measures must comply with the European Convention on Human Rights, specifically the rights to communication and privacy.

Presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann is again weathering criticism over a statement related to slavery, this time for signing a document that suggested African American families were more stable when slavery was legal.

Seeking to strengthen her position as an established social conservative, Bachmann endorsed a pledge called "the Marriage Vow," composed by a conservative Christian organization, that denounced homosexuality and pornography. The pledge also lamented the deterioration of African American families by hearkening back to pre-Civil War America.

"Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African American baby born after the election of the USA's first African-American President," the document read.

Family Leader, the group that circulated the document, removed the offending passage. A Bachmann spokeswoman later told Politico that the pledge did not reference slavery and advanced Bachmann's position that "slavery was horrible and economic enslavement is also horrible" in a swipe at President Obama's policies.

This is not the first time Bachmann has been forced to explain a controversial statement about slavery. In January she said that the Founding Fathers "worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the United States," neglecting the fact that the architects of the constitution died before the Civil War and were for the most part slave owners.

Source: International Business Times

Former presidents, prime ministers, eminent economists and leading members of the business community will unite behind a call for a shift in global drug policy. The Global Commission on Drug Policy will host a press conference at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York to launch a report that describes the drug war as a failure and calls for a "paradigm shift" in approaching the issue.

Those backing the call include Ernesto Zedillo, former president of Mexico; George Papandreou, former prime minister of Greece; César Gaviria, former president of Colombia; Kofi Annan, former UN secretary general; Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president of Brazil; George Shultz, former US secretary of state; Javier Solana, former EU high representative; Virgin tycoon Richard Branson; and Paul Volcker, former chairman of the US Federal Reserve.

The commission will call for drug policy to move from being focused on criminal justice towards a public health approach. The global advocacy organisation Avaaz, which has nine million members, will present a petition in support of the commission's recommendations to UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon.

Today, 2nd June, the Global Commission on Drug Policy is releasing a groundbreaking report at a press conference and tele-conference at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. The report condemns the drug war as a failure and recommends major reforms of the global drug prohibition regime.

The Commission is the most distinguished group of high-level leaders to ever call for such far-reaching changes, including alternatives to incarceration and greater emphasis on public health approaches to drug use, but also decriminalization and experiments in legal regulation.

The Executive Director of the global advocacy organization AVAAZ, with its nine million members worldwide, will present a public petition in support of the Global Commission's recommendations that will be given to the United Nations  Secretary General.

"Fifty years after the initiation of the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and 40 years after President Nixon launched the US government's global war on drugs, fundamental reforms in national and global drug control policies are urgently needed", said former president of Brazil Fernando Henrique Cardoso.

"Let's start by treating drug addiction as a health issue, reducing drug demand through proven educational initiatives and legally regulating rather than criminalizing cannabis."

The Commission's recommendations are as follows:

•    End the criminalization, marginalization and stigmatization of people who use drugs but who do no harm to others.

•    Encourage experimentation by governments with models of legal regulation of drugs (especially cannabis) to undermine the power of organized crime and safeguard the health and security of their citizens.

•    Ensure that a variety of treatment modalities are available. Including not just methadone and buprenorphine treatment but also the heroin-assisted treatment programs that have proven successful in many European countries and Canada.

•    Apply human rights and harm reduction principles and policies both to people who use drugs as well as those involved in the lower ends of illegal drug markets such as farmers, couriers and petty sellers.

The report is available in English and Spanish.

For more information, please read:

•    Associated Press: "High-level commission calls drug war a failure, recommends legal regulation of marijuana"

•    BBC News: "Global war on drugs 'has failed' say former leaders"

•    The Guardian: "War on drugs not working, says global commission"

•    Le Monde: "Un rapport pointe l'échec de la guerre contre la drogue"

•    Wall Street Journal: "Panel Calls War on Drugs a Failure"

PDF download: Global_Commission_Report_English.pdf

VATICAN CITY (CNS) - An article in the Vatican newspaper said that, on a practical level, condom campaigns increase the possibility of AIDS infection by promoting a false sense of security.

On a moral level, the article said, condom use by married couples goes against the church's teaching about responsible procreation because it "deforms" the conjugal act.

The article was written by Father Juan Perez-Soba, a moral theologian who teaches in Rome at the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family. It appeared in L'Osservatore Romano May 24, three days before the start of a major Vatican conference that was expected to clarify church teaching on AIDS.

Father Perez-Soba said that although use of a condom may have some effectiveness against HIV/AIDS contagion in single acts, it cannot guarantee safety -- especially throughout the sexual life of a couple. It is wrong, therefore, to say that condom use can prevent infection, he said.

"The numerous campaigns that invite people to use the condom indiscriminately have instead demonstrated the contrary: By feeding the false belief that there is no danger, they have increased the possibility of infection," he said.

"To present the condom as a solution to the problem is a grave error; to choose it simply as a habitual practice is to show a lack of responsibility in regard to the other person," he said.