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Titled "Deus Caritas Est", God is Love, Pope Benedict the XVI's first encyclical is due to be released at noon on January 25th. Though the Pope maintains that the encyclical, which is the most authoritative type of papal declaration, is intended to illuminate the nature of charity and the relationship between spiritual and erotic love, one can't help but speculate on the timing. Incorrectly defining the Greek word "eros" as "the love between man and woman", despite the Greek's use of the word to describe any form of erotic love regardless of gender, the early reports regarding the encyclical read like protest statements against the global tide toward same-sex marriage rights. Hinting that marriages beyond defined bounds are "reduced to mere merchandise" and that erotic love "risked being degraded to mere sex" without the balancing component of spiritual love founded on the Christian faith, I've no doubt the document will be utilized by those seeking to outlaw partnership rights for same-sex couples here in America.

The second portion of the document, dealing with the necessity of charitable works, was written by Pope John Paul in the final years of his papacy.