More than 300,000 Christians recently gathered for a pro-family rally in Rome against a measure that would broaden the rights of those in same-sex unions and the introduction of gender ideology in Italian schools.
The rally, organised by the movement called "Defend Our Children," urged the Italian parliament to turn down a bill that would grant same-sex couples in civil unions many of the rights enjoyed by married couples, the Catholic News Agency reported.
The bill, dubbed as the "Cirinnà bill" as it was introduced by socialist Sen. Monica Cirinnà, has been publicly criticised by Italian bishops who maintain that it does not reflect the will of the people, according to the National Catholic Register.
The bishops also say the measure represents "ideological enforcement," and that it would cause confusion when the family should be "based on marriage between a man and a woman."
Protesters, who gathered in the piazza of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, also voiced their objection to the inclusion of gender theory in schools. The theory promotes the notion that a person's gender is chosen and does not have to match one's biological sex. Demonstrators also asserted parents' rights to educate their children.
"Today in the square we are all creating a culture, not against persons, but against the ideologies that are destroying the family and are trying to destroy man and woman as its mode," Simone Pillon of Family Forum told the crowd, coming from across Italy and numbering 300,000 to a million despite the short notice.
"Europe is sinning by rejecting the Gospel," said Kiko Argüello, founder of the Neocatechumenical Way, who underscored Pope Francis' warning against "ideological colonisation."
Gianfranco Amato, head of Jurists for Life, described the theory a "drift toward totalitarianism that tends to impose by law the dictatorship of a single way of thinking."
"We want to bear witness to the beauty of the family," spoke Vincenzo and Sara, a couple who have 11 children, before the crowd. "All of our children have been born of a mother and a father."
They underlined that "parents are the ones called in the first place to educate our children, and the school cannot take away that sacred right from us."
The protest was also joined by Orthodox, Protestants, Jews, Muslims, and Sikhs. The imam of the Centocelle Mosque in Rome told the crowd that "the Muslim community is against this law that is dangerous for the existence of humanity and would pollute the minds of our children."
