We already knew that the Westboro Baptist Church was pissed off with Ireland and its democratic decision to legalise gay marriage, but now a high ranking Catholic has waded in with some dated dogshit, describing the landmark LGBT victory as "a defeat for humanity".

Reported by the Guardian, the Vatican's secretary of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin said at a conference yesterday: “I was deeply saddened by the result. The church must take account of this reality, but in the sense that it must strengthen its commitment to evangelisation. I think that you cannot just talk of a defeat for Christian principles, but of a defeat for humanity.”

Parolin is in effect the Pope's right hand man, so the revelations provide a chilling insight into the Vatican's reluctance to accept homosexuality. On May 22, Ireland held a referendum to decide whether or not to legalise same-sex marriage, with 62 per cent voting in favour of letting people marry who they like. It's the first country in the world to ever open the decision to the public.

The archbishop of Dublin Diamurd Martin offered some sense on the subject. Speaking to RTE, he said: "We have to stop and have a reality check, not move into denial of the realities. We won’t begin again with a sense of renewal, with a sense of denial. I appreciate how gay and lesbian men and women feel on this day. That they feel this is something that is enriching the way they live. I think it is a social revolution.”

The Vatican's reluctance to accept homosexuality is pushing the Catholic church further back into the past. Laurent Stéfanini is a gay, Catholic, French ambassador who has not yet been accepted by Pope Francis into The Holy See, with many suspecting that his sexuality is what's holding things up.

When news broke in Ireland that same-sex marriage had been legalised, couples and campaigners lined the streets in bold colours to embrace and celebrate. Imagine looking at those scenes and feeling "deeply saddened".