10/13/2004: "Bow that knee to Caesar!"

Evidently some members of the European Parliament consider faithful Catholics to be persona non grata, given that they refuse to pay homage to the god of secularism:

Italy's nominee to become the European Union's Justice and Home Affairs commissioner failed on Monday to win the backing of the European Parliament's Justice Committee, days after testifying that he considers homosexuality a sin.

The panel narrowly failed to endorse Rocco Buttiglione, who is currently Italy's European Affairs minister, said Jean-Louis Bourlanges, chairman of the Justice Committee.

The committee voted 27-26 not to recommend Buttiglione, officials said.

During a confirmation hearing last week, Buttiglione, who is close to the Vatican, faced a barrage of hostile questions over his conservative views. He vowed to defend the rights of gays but told the Justice and Home Affairs Committee he considered homosexuality a sin....

Buttiglione is the only commissioner-designate to be rejected by an EU assembly panel so far.

In last week's hearing, legislators pushed him to reveal his conservative religious views, which many fear could influence his job in drafting anti-discrimination rules.

"I may think that homosexuality is a sin, and this has no effect on politics, unless I say that homosexuality is a crime," Buttiglione said.

So it's not enough for some EUers that a candidate for office pledges to enforce the law according to the requirements of the law. If there's a conflict between the law and his religious convictions, he must not only enforce the law, but reject his convictions. Thus does the "Swedenization" of Europe proceed apace.