"These are the real problems of the country, of the people. So, is is not understandable why (the Italian Parliament) spent so much emphasis and energy on causes that do not tackle these issues, and merely respond to ideological schemes," the cardinal stressed.
Cardinal Bagnasco also noted Pope Francis' repeated defences of the natural family.
He quoted from the Pope's joint declaration with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, in which the bishops said that "the family is based on marriage, an act of freely given and faithful love between a man and a woman … We regret that other forms of cohabitation have been placed on the same level as this union, while the concept, consecrated in the biblical tradition, of paternity and maternity as the distinct vocation of man and woman in marriage is being banished from the public conscience."
The cardinal also recalled that Pope Francis called the family "the foundation of coexistence and a remedy against social fragmentation" in his speech to the community of Varginha in Rio de Janeiro on July 25, 2013.
The Pope had also, Cardinal Bagnasco continued, stressed at colloquium held Nov. 17, 2014, that "complementarity lies at the foundation of marriage and the family," and for this reason "children have a right to grow up in a family with a father and a mother capable of creating a suitable environment for the child's growth and emotional development."
Cardinal Bagnasco also recalled that the Pope has so often underscored that gender ideology is "a mistake of the human mind" and doubted whether gender is "an expression of frustration and resignation, which seeks to cancel out sexual difference because it no longer knows how to confront it."
"It cannot be understood why these clear statements from Pope Francis, which the bishops often reiterate, are kept under silence, as if the Pope had never said or written them."
The bishops of Italy, Cardinal Bagnasco said, "underscore the Pope's statements, so that they can turn into effective commitment."
Andrea Gagliarducci is an Italian journalist for Catholic News Agency and Vatican analyst for ACI Stampa. He is a contributor to the National Catholic Register.