SAN NARCISO, Calif. (Bennington Vale Evening Transcript) -- Bitterly disappointed that God did not destroy the world at the close of 2012 because of the permissive gay equality laws passed by several U.S. states, Catholic leaders renewed their attacks on homosexuals and those who support them by distributing letters urging parishioners to oppose same-sex marriages, saying these spurious unions "create a legal fiction...the state has no power to create something that nature itself tells us is impossible." Opponents referenced research from 1999 onward that documents homosexual behavior in nearly 1,500 animal species, which includes sex, courtship, pair bonding and parenting. The Church responded by defining "nature" as only those elements of creation endowed with a soul, referring to everything else as "resources and backdrop scenery." Catholic leaders consequently proposed a ban on all academic and scientific studies that attempt to elevate these resources to anything beyond tools, amenities or curious amusements for the planet's heterosexual human masters. On Wednesday, Vatican officials also announced publication of a definitive handbook on marriage as outlined in the Bible.