A Catholic Cardinal has warned Canada’s Senate against impending anti-Christian prosecution after the gay marriage bill was recently approved in the House of Commons.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Archbishop of Quebec and Primate of Canada, spoke to the Senate on behalf of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, when he appealed to Senators saying, "We are turning to you in the hope that you will prevent the adoption of this unjust law."

The Cardinal cited numerous examples in which the rights of Christians who oppose same sex ‘marriage’ have already been disregarded by legal authorities, including marriage commissioners who were forced from their jobs after refusing to consecrate same sex unions on grounds of conscience.

"These attempts to intimidate persons who do not share the State’s vision of marriage may well multiply after the adoption of Bill C-38," said the Cardinal. "Once the State imposes a new standard affirming that homosexual behaviour is a social good, those who oppose it for religious motives or motives of conscience will be considered as bigots, anti-gay and homophobes, and then risk prosecution."

Cardinal Ouellet also raised concern for the well-being of children in light of the legislation. He said, "We are also most concerned by the foreseeable impact of a redefinition of marriage on Canada’s most vulnerable citizens – its children. We cannot dismiss their needs and rights by imagining that tomorrow’s society will not suffer from the repercussions of this legislation."

He continued, "The principal right of children is to be born of an act of love and to live in complete communion with a father and mother."

The Cardinal also criticised the State for demeaning the sanctity of heterosexual marriage, and urged for special status to be accorded traditional marriage vis a vis same-sex marriage: "Unlike same-sex couples, heterosexual couples naturally and most often transmit life. In giving new citizens to society, they render an essential social service to the State, which justifies a special status to their union."

Mr Ouellet challenged Senators with the issue of protecting the rights of Christians who do not agree with same-sex union.

He said: "The Charter currently protects freedom of conscience and religion; however, in provinces that recognise the validity of same-sex marriage we are already witnessing lawsuits against persons and groups who do not share this vision. Must we now resign ourselves to being victims of discrimination for believing in the historical definition of marriage and wishing to teach, educate and preach according to our faith and conscience? Must a majority of parents accept it as inevitable, that schools and the media will transmit a vision of marriage contrary to their own?."

Meanwhile, former host of Canadian television show 100 Huntley Street and leader of a pro-marriage group, David Mainse, appealed to Her Majesty the Queen to intervene to stop bill C-38 being approved in the Senate.

In a letter sent to Her Majesty last week, Mr Maine wrote: "Our beloved Queen Elizabeth II, I know that the refusal of the Governor General to give royal consent would precipitate a crisis. Millions have nowhere else to turn but you. Please help humanity everywhere to begin a reversal of this morally and socially destructive trend."

Mainse has been running the campaign against the Liberal Government’s same-sex "marriage" bill since he quit Huntley Street in 2003. His website defends traditional marriage and calls on more people to contact the Queen: "Contact the Queen of England [sic] to ask for her to withhold royal consent for Bill C-38. Urge her to influence her Governor Generals [sic] worldwide (but urgently in Canada) to refrain from signing any bills on her behalf that would change the definition of Marriage."