One of the leading Catholic voices in Slovenia has backed the campaign for a referendum on same-sex marriage in the hope that the right can be stripped away.

Lawmakers passed a bill that legalized same-sex marriage in Slovenia in March, making it the first Central European country to do so, but opponents initiated the process of implementing a referendum to repeal the law and the issue ended up in court.

Slovenia’s Constitutional Court has been weighing the legality of a referendum as the country’s constitution expressly prohibits popular votes on laws eliminating an unconstitutionality in the field of human rights.

The court is expect to publish a decision on the matter sometime after September and in the meantime opponents continue to push for the referendum.

If the court decides a referendum is constitutional then same-sex marriage should stand as the law of the land.

Speaking to Demokracija, Ljubljana Archbishop Stanislav Zore said it should be up to the Slovenian people to decide the issue.

Zore said the belief that marriage was only between a man and a woman was one of the ‘fundamental truths of our faith,’ and that people in the majority Catholic country should be able to have their voices heard.