Bishop Juan Ruben Martinez of the Catholic Church in Argentina has insisted that adoption of children by homosexual couples means denying children their right to have a mother and a father.

The bishop has reaffirmed his stance on the subject, speaking to a radio station in Posadas, where he is based, he said: "According to psychologists, personal disorders are caused by the lack of a motherly or fatherly image."

For this reason, he said, he opposes adoption by same-sex couples, because it essentially deprives children the opportunity to grow up in a family which ought to contain a properly married couple.

He stated that being adopted by a homosexual couple would also deny children the proper culture needed to form their own families in the future.

Bishop Martinez said that the Church would continue to call on Argentina’s lawmakers to understand the dimensions of the current debate on homosexual adoption.