ROME – Pope Benedict XVI denounced gay and civil unions, saying marriage between people of the same sex is “weak.”

“Only the foundation of complete and irrevocable love between man and woman is capable of forming the basis of a society that becomes the home of all men,” Benedict told a convention of the John Paul II Pontifical Institute today. The pope said “confusing marriage with other types of weak love” should be avoided.

The 79-year-old Benedict has weighed in on issues such as gay unions, abortion pills, and embryonic stem-cell research since his election as pontiff more than a year ago. Still, more than 71% of Italians are favorable to gay civil unions such as those allowed in the Britain, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium, according to a January report by a research group, Eurispes.

While the 1929 Lateran Treaty outlines the separation of church and state in Italy, about 43% of Italians believe the pope has meddled excessively in politics, according to the Eurispes report, published January 17.

While Italians identify themselves “culturally” as Catholics, their beliefs contrast with church doctrine, according to the report, based on the research institute’s December 22-January 5 interviews with 1,070 people.

“When the pope speaks of ‘weak love’ regarding millions of men and women, it’s not surprising anymore at the level of interference but at the much deeper level of a real lack of charity,” an official in the Radical Party, Daniele Capezzone, said, according to news agency Ansa.

Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, and Canada, don’t distinguish between gay and heterosexual weddings, while Britain allows civil partnerships that aren’t legal marriages. In America, gay weddings or civil unions are only permitted in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Vermont.