Homosexuality is illegal in nearly half of the world's nations. In most of those countries which ban consensual adult same-sex relationships, the penalties range from a few years in jail to life imprisonment. But in the case of seven countries, all governed by Islamic law, the sentence is death. Two of those countries, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, will sit on the U.N. Human Rights Council in 2009. The picture here shows two young gay men about to be hanged in Iran. In May, Britain granted asylum to a gay Iranian teenager studying in London who feared execution by Iranian authorities after his boyfriend was hanged for 'sodomy'. Iranian human rights campaigners say more than 4,000 gay people have been executed in their country since 1979.

The United Nations appears now increasingly minded to end the criminalisation of homosexuality, and later this month the UN General Assembly will issue an historic declaration calling for the decriminalisation of homosexuality across the world. It's historic because the General Assembly has never before considered the rights of the global gay and lesbian population in any convention, declaration or humanitarian law.

Why, then, is the Vatican opposing this new Declaration?