Chile Gay Press Beats Catholic Church
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: December 31, 2004 8:14 pm ET

(Santiago, Chile) The ultra conservative Opus Dei movement in the Catholic Church has lost a lengthy battle with a gay Chilean newspaper.

The Chilean branch of Opus Dei had sued the paper, called Opus Gay, claiming that the publication had infringed on it name in a deliberate attempt to embarrass the organization and the Church.

The secretive Opus Dei has strong allies at the Vatican and has been one of the leading opponents of gay rights around the world. Members of the society have been some of Rome's leading spokespeople in the battle against same-sex marriage.

The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is responsible for Church doctrine is reportedly heavily influenced by Opus Dei.

In the culmination of a two year court battle Chile's intellectual property commission ruled in favor of the newspaper.

"It is difficult to see how the public could be exposed to mistakes or confusions" between the two, the commission said.

Chile's largest LGBT rights group, the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, called the ruling an "unprecedented victory" against the powerful Roman Catholic Church in Chilean society.

©365Gay.com 2004

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