SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - One of Brazil's oldest gay-rights groups said on Thursday it would urge homosexuals to renounce their baptism into the Catholic church in protest at the Vatican's condemnation of same-sex unions.
Marcelo Cerqueira, president of the Gay Group of Bahia, said the association would publish the addresses of the main archdioceses in Brazil so that homosexuals can write to the church asking that their baptism be revoked.
"We cannot be part of a religion that constantly violates the human rights of homosexuals, from the Inquisition to current times," he said.
The campaign, which Cerqueira said would be coordinated with other gay rights groups in Brazil and be launched on Friday, was the latest outcry against the Vatican's call on Thursday to stop the legalization of gay marriage.
In a strongly worded document, the church urged Catholic lawmakers to vote against bills that would recognize gay marriage and denounced the adoption of children by homosexual couples.
Cerqueira said the Gay Group of Bahia, which claims to be the oldest gay-rights association in the country, would also pressure the Brazilian government to halt any public funding for Catholic groups.
Most of Brazil's 170 million people are Roman Catholic, making the Latin American country the most populous Catholic nation in the world.
Although some Brazilian cities have awarded homosexuals certain rights granted to non-married couples, gay marriage is not legally recognized in the country.