Colombia's Constitutional Court Awards Pension Rights To Deceased Priest's Same-Sex Partner

According to a report on Friday by Pink News, Colombia's Constitutional Court has ordered the country's Institute of Social Security to award pension rights to the same-sex partner of a deceased Catholic priest. The two lived together for 28 years before the priest's death in 2009. The court ruled that same-sex couples constitute a family under Colombian law. Rejecting determination by lower courts that no pension was required because the priest had broken his vow of chastity, the Constitutional Court held that it must exercise the principle of religious neutrality in its decisions.