Pope Benedict XVI Says Gay Marriage Poses A Threat To 'Justice And Peace'

Pope Benedict XVI said gay marriage poses a threat to "justice and peace," according to the Huffington Post.

The leader of the Catholic world condemned the union of gay couples, labeling the act "unnatural."

The Associated Press reported the comments on same sex marriage came on Friday when the Pope ushered in the Christmas season with the traditional lighting of the tree in Vatican City's St. Peter's Square.

According to Gay Star News, the Pope in his annual address to the world, said that gay marriage is "unnatural" and "against human nature."

"There is...a need to acknowledge and promote the natural structure of marriage as the union of a man and a woman in the face of attempts to make it juridically equivalent to radically different types of union," said the Pope. "Such attempts actually harm and help to destabilize marriage, obscuring its specific nature and its indispensable role in society. These principles are not truths of faith, nor are they simply a corollary of the right to religious freedom. They are inscribed in human nature itself, accessible to reason and thus common to all humanity."

The Pope according to ANSA, said gay marriage "constitutes an offense against the truth of the human person, with serious harm to justice and peace."

Though Pope Benedict XVI also said abortion is a great threat to peace in his annual message, the catholic leader, like his predecessors, strongly spoke out against homosexuality, reported the AP.