The cardinal archbishop of Paris has pledged that he and other Catholics of France will oppose the Socialist government’s plans to rewrite the marriage law.

Speaking to fellow bishops at a meeting at the shrine of Lourdes last week, Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois said, “When we defend the right of children to build their personality with reference to the man and the woman who gave them life, we are not defending a particular position.”

“We are recognising what is expressed by the practices and the wisdom of all the peoples since the beginning of time and which modern specialists confirm.”

He said same-sex “marriage” would harm the equilibrium of French society and of children: “It will not be ‘marriage for all’,” he said, citing the government’s slogan, “it will be the marriage of a few imposed on all.”

The cardinal urged the government to focus on urgent economic matters that matter to the people more than ideologically motivated efforts to install “gay marriage”.