The Vatican has registered opposition to proposed legislation against “homophobia” in Italy, invoking the rights of the Holy See under the 1929 Lateran Treaty.

Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Secretary for Relations with States, sent a diplomatic message to the Italian ambassador, remarking that the legislation could force Catholic schools to promote gender ideology, and could make it illegal to articulate the teachings of the Church on sexuality.

The archbishop’s letter included an unprecedented reference to the rights granted to the Holy See under the Lateran Treaty, under which “Catholics and their associations and organizations are guaranteed full freedom of assembly and expression of thought by word, writing and any other means of dissemination.”