Italy’s civil unions bill has stalled once again over a Catholic Rebellion in the Senate.

The Senate postponed voting on legislation that would finally give same-sex couples the right to get a civil union and for a man or woman to adopt their partner’s biological child.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi had promised to enact the law last year but has faced repeated challenges from within parliament and the Catholic Church.

The Democratic Party’s chief whip in the Senate, Luigi Zanda, asked to put off the scheduled voting until next week after it was feared Catholic members would vote against the bill.

The delay would allow ‘a period of reflection so we can pull the political threads back together and find the path that allows us to proceed in an orderly fashion’, Zanda said, according to Reuters.

Debate on the bill will begin again on 23 February at the very earliest.