WELLINGTON, New Zealand (CWNews.com) - The New Zealand bishops' conference this week added its approval of a government plan to grant same-sex couples the same legal rights enjoyed by married couples, in apparent contradiction to current teaching from the Vatican.

    The bishops said in a report to the Ministry of Justice they will support the registration system which will grant legal rights, including tax allowances, legal aid, and property entitlements, that married couples have, but opposed adoption by same-sex couples or access to "reproductive technology" to allow them to become parents.

    Opponents of the plan, including the Christian Heritage Party, were stunned by the bishops' acquiescence to the plan. The Rev. Graham Capill, leader of the party, said same-sex unions should be recognized in any form. "We are playing with semantics. To treat homosexual couples to a form of registration but not call them married is to give them the same status but not the same title," he said.

    In January, Pope John Paul II told European legislators that elevating homosexual relationships to a level with marriage was morally unacceptable. "I ask authorities to avoid any initiative which could favor or guarantee legal equality between the family and other forms of living together," he said.

    Last year, the Holy Father told the Pontifical Council for the Family, "In some countries it is sought to impose so-called 'de facto' unions upon society. 'De facto' unions between homosexuals represent a deplorable distortion of what should be the communion of love and life between man and woman in a reciprocal giving (which is) open to life," he said.