The Vatican added its voice on Wednesday to a wave of protests over the use of a newborn baby in a publicity campaign to combat anti-gay discrimination.
As a key part of its campaign, the regional government of Tuscany plans to use a photo of a baby whose hospital identity bracelet bears the French word Homosexuel.
The caption on the photo, which is soon expected to appear in poster form on billboards all over Tuscany, says: "Sexual orientation is not a choice".
"Doing a publicity campaign like this is not a good idea. This is a bit strange. They shouldn't have gone that far," said Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State.
The Catholic Church's view of homosexuality is that being gay is not a sin in itself, but a sort of psychological "disorder". Indulging in gay sex, on the other hand, is sinful, it says.
The Vatican has recently spoken out strongly on gay marriage, condemning all moves in this direction in European countries as undermining traditional marriage and the family.
The Tuscan initiative, which is sponsored by Italy's equal opportunities ministry, has been praised by gay rights associations. One of them, Arcigay, said that the rest of Italy should follow the example of Tuscany, which was "at the forefront of efforts to guarantee the rights of gays, lesbians and transsexuals".
But it has been condemned by the centre-right opposition. The Forza Italia party of opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi said Tuscany was trying to push a model of society in which sexual uncertainty prevailed.
The Catholic UDC party called it a "chilling" exploitation of a baby to push the "erroneous" message that homosexuality was innate.
Northern League MP Massimo Polledri said the planned posters using the photo would be in "bad taste" and demanded that the Tuscan region not plaster them around its territory.
Italian philosopher Gianni Vattimo, who is openly gay, criticised the publicity campaign on scientific grounds, saying he doubted that homosexuality could be explained away by genes.
"The initiative is in bad taste, in fact they've made a mess of it," he said in comments reported by the Corriere della Sera daily on Wednesday.
