“We believe it inappropriate to put same-sex marriages on the same footing as heterosexual marriages and give same-sex couples the right to adopt children, for this would undermine the fundamental and irreplaceable role of both mother and father in the life of the family”.

It was written by Mgr Anton Stres, president of the Slovenian Bishops’ Conference and archbishop of Ljubljana, and Nedzad Grabus, president of the Islamic Community in Slovenia, in a joint statement signed today in Ljubljana in which – as reported by the Slovenian Bishops’ Conference Press Office – the two religious leaders reaffirmed “the need for their respective communities of faithful to uphold the value of marriage between a man and a woman and of the family”.

The action – reads the statement – is a response to the draft law submitted to the Parliament by the left-wing majority party aimed at “revising the meaning of words such as marriage and family and granting same-sex couples the same rights accorded to heterosexual couples, including the right to adopt children”.