VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Benedict XVI remembered his beloved predecessor yesterday and again stressed the importance that a family based on marriage has “in the life of the Church and of society”. Benedict’s remarks, as he presided over an evening Vespers service on New Year’s Eve, came as the Catholic Church opposed proposals to give legal recognition to unmarried couples in Italy.

“The family has always been at the centre of attention of my venerable predecessors, especially John Paul II,” Benedict said before a packed congregation in St Peter’s Basilica. “He was convinced, and reiterated it many times, that a crisis within the family comes at the grave detriment of our civilisation.”

John Paul died April 2.

The pontiff, in his homily, also referred to an address he gave in June during a conference of the Diocese of Rome on the role of the family, when Benedict repeatedly referred to marriage as a union between man and woman and condemned same-sex unions as anarchic “pseudo-matrimony”.

Benedict said yesterday he spoke that day “to underline the importance of the family founded on a marriage in the life of the Church and of society”.

The Vatican holds that families are born of unions between man and woman founded on matrimony.

Benedict, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, spearheaded a Vatican campaign against same-sex unions in 2003, issuing guidelines for Catholic politicians to oppose laws granting legal rights to gay couples when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

In his homily yesterday he also praised the Diocese of Rome for its work to focus its pastoral programmes on the importance of the family.

“May the Lord grant that the common effort should lead to an authentic renewal of Christian families,” Benedict said.

The Vatican and the Italian Catholic Church have opposed efforts by opposition politicians in Italy to give legal recognition to unmarried couples.

Cardinal Camillo Ruini, president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference and the pope’s vicar for Rome, has said the move would eclipse the nature and value of a family and cause “very grave harm” to Italians.

Italy, where Vatican influence is strong, does not recognise unions of unmarried couples. Gay and lesbian associations have been pushing for common law couples to have legal recognition in hopes the move might pave the way for granting legal status to gay couples.

At the end of the service, the Benedict paid a brief visit to the Vatican’s Nativity scene in St Peter’s Square, according to news agency reports.