The figures were released Friday by the Ministry of Justice.

One-hundred-fifty-six of the couples were male and sixty-five were female.

An additional 202 marriages in which one of the spouses is a Portuguese citizen were performed outside the country. Nineteen gay couples married in Portuguese consulates around the world.

Social Democrats, led by Prime Minister Jose Socrates, approved the gay marriage bill in February.

Portugal’s conservative president, Anibal Cavaco Silva, reluctantly signed the gay marriage bill into law on May 17, saying he was only doing so because Social Democrats were certain to overturn a veto.

Social conservatives had urged the president to veto the bill.

Days before the bill’s signing, Pope Benedict condemned the institution as he toured the predominantly Roman Catholic nation. Speaking in the city of Fatima, the pope called gay marriage “insidious and dangerous” and urged Catholics to stand united in opposition.

The law does not allow gay and lesbian couples to adopt children.

Pool photo by Paulo Cunha
Pope Benedict XVI greeted Portugal’s President Anibal Cavaco Silva, left, at the end of a mass at the Catholic shrine of Fatima in central Portugal on Thursday.
In a speech here to Catholic social service groups, Benedict called for initiatives aimed at protecting “the family based on the indissoluble marriage between a man and a woman, help to respond to some of today’s most insidious and dangerous threats to the common good.”

He also said he expressed his “deep appreciation for all those social and pastoral initiatives aimed at combating the socioeconomic and cultural mechanisms which lead to abortion, and are openly concerned to defend life and to promote the reconciliation and healing of those harmed by the tragedy of abortion.”

The audience in a chapel at the shrine gave the pope a standing ovation.

The pope’s remarks came on the third day of a four-day visit aimed at shoring up Christian belief in increasingly secular Europe, although it has been somewhat eclipsed by the sexual-abuse scandal confronting the Vatican in recent weeks. Benedict also has used the visit to signal a more forceful tone in confronting the abuse, which he has called a “sin inside the church.”

Although it is 90 percent Catholic, Portugal has seen a notable shift away from Catholic teaching in recent years. The country legalized abortion in 2008 and its Parliament recently approved a bill permitting same-sex marriage. President Aníbal Cavaco Silva is expected to sign the bill into law in the coming days.

The church has opposed the measure, but Portuguese society appears to be largely supportive.

Portugal would be the sixth country in Europe to legalize same-sex marriage, after the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Norway and Sweden. France and Denmark recognize same-sex unions, which convey many but not all of the rights enjoyed by married couples.

Throughout his five-year-old papacy, Benedict has endeavored to shape a new identity for the church as a “creative minority” in an increasingly secular Europe. On Thursday, he denounced “the pressure exerted by the prevailing culture, which constantly holds up a lifestyle based on the law of the stronger, on easy and attractive gain.”

The pope also told the social service groups to find alternatives to state financing so they would not be subject to legislation at odds with Catholic teaching, urging them to “ensure that Christian charitable activity is granted autonomy and independence from politics and ideologies, even while cooperating with state agencies in the pursuit of common goals.”

Addressing bishops later on Thursday, Benedict called for “authentic witnesses to Jesus Christ” in “those human situations where the silence of the faith is most widely and deeply felt: among politicians, intellectuals, communications professionals who profess and who promote a monocultural ideal, with disdain for the religious and contemplative dimension of life.”

He added that “in such circles are found some believers who are ashamed of their beliefs and who even give a helping hand to this type of secularism, which builds barriers before Christian inspiration.”

Earlier on Thursday, Benedict celebrated Mass before an estimated half a million faithful on the anniversary of the day three peasant children are said to have seen an apparition of the Virgin Mary here in 1917.

Tradition has it that the Virgin revealed three secrets to the children: One was interpreted as predicting the end of World War I and the start of World War II, the second to have predicted the rise and fall of communism, which gave Fátima an anti-communist allure during the cold war.

Pope John Paul II credited the Virgin of Fátima with saving him from an assassination attempt in 1981. In 2000, the Vatican revealed the third secret of Fátima, which it said prefigured the attempt.

Since arriving in Portugal on Tuesday to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the beatification of two of the peasant children, Benedict has sought to broaden the significance of the message of Fátima to help the church overcome its difficulties in the sexual-abuse scandal.

A version of this article appeared in print on May 14, 2010, on page A6 of the New York edition.

Original Posting: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/world/europe/14pope.html

Mentioned earlier this year, it seems Portugal might soon become the sixth European country to allow same-sex marriage. Back in January, their Parliament passed a gay marriage bill with the support from their left-of-center parties.

And in even better news, this past Thursday, Portugal’s highest court ruled that the proposed law should be enacted! This now leaves only their conservative President Anibal Cavaco Silva, who has the power to ratify or veto, to decide within the next 20 days.

The president’s signature is the final step before their country can be free to have the equal rights they all deserve.

Original posting: http://perezhilton.com/2010-04-09-portugal-might-soon-allow-gay-marriage

Passing easily through Parliament thanks to the majority the governing Socialist party and left-of-centre parties have,  the billwill now go to a parliamentary commission before returning to the Parliament for final approval.

Once this has occurred, the legislation will go to the President who can choose to either sign or veto the legislation. If he does the latter then it would return to Parliament who are able to overturn his decision.

Source Text:

www.queeried.com

Make it happen!

From 365Gay.com:

Portugal’s Socialist government has drawn up a proposal that would make Portugal the sixth European country to allow gay marriage.

The law is almost certain to pass, as the center-left Socialist government has the support of all left-of-center parties, who together have a majority in Parliament. Right-of-center parties oppose the measure.

The proposal changes Portuguese law to remove references to marriage being between two people of different sexes, Cabinet Minister Pedro Silva Pereira told a news conference Thursday, adding the government will send its proposal to lawmakers for a debate, probably in January.

If approved by Parliament, the proposed law goes to Portugal’s conservative President Anibal Cavaco Silva, who can ratify or veto it. A veto can be overturned by Parliament.

If there is no presidential veto, the first gay marriage ceremonies could take place in April – a month before Pope Benedict XVI is due on a four-day official visit.

Gay marriage is currently permitted in five European countries – Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Norway.

Source Text:

www.gayagenda.com

Portugal Ready to Leagalize Gay Marriage

According to sources, José Sócrates, the Prime Minister of Portugal, has been busy developing a new government after the elections in September. Part of that new government is equality for the country’s LGBT citizens. On October 23, Sócrates stated that legalizing same-sex marriage will be one of the new leadership’s first changes.

According to a post on PortugalGay.pt:

The measure is part of the official program of the party and according to government sources, the move will be done as soon as the government is complete.” (Complete as in completely formed).

Portuguese lawmakers from all parties are in favor of the move and support marriage equality, leading to the belief the bill will pass with ease.
Portugal has recognizes “de facto unions” for both opposite and same-sex couples since 2001, but much like civil unions, they only grant limited rights to couples, so the lawmakers feel it’s time to even the playing field.

Portugal would become the nineth country to legalize same-sex marriage, joining the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden and Nepal in offering its LGBT citizens marriage equality.

Source Text:

http://www.gayagenda.com/2009/11/portugal-ready-to-leagalize-gay-marriage/