French Catholics take action against website for encouraging extra marital affairs

Catholic groups took legal action and a moral stand against an extramarital dating website in culture that has been to turn a blind eye to extramarital affairs. French Catholic groups are suing the Gleeden website for encouraging people to break their marriage vows.

The Catholic family associations successfully persuaded several local councils around Paris to demand the removal of advertisings that promoted the joys of adultery after 23,000 people signed a petition for their removal. They are now taking Gleeden to court in France, where the site touts more than a million members.

Adultery has not been illegal in France since 1975, although it still constitutes grounds for a fault divorce.

But Catholic groups argue that advertising a website promoting extramarital affairs amounts to public acceptance and promotion of dishonorable behavior in a committed relationship.

The Catholic Church feels that modern society has entered into a time in which nothing is taken seriously including bonds of matrimony in addition to same sex relationships and marriages.

A Gleeden spokesperson said the lawsuit was incomprehensible because all the company’s advertising material was submitted to and cleared by the advertising regulatory bodies. A previous challenge was thrown out by advertising regulators, but this is the first time Catholic groups are going to court.

Photo by Eusebius@Commons\\Flickr