The Catholic Church is instructing parishioners to lobby federal MPs against voting for gay marriage.

It has suggested they base arguments on the natural order and the importance of a biological relationship with children rather than on marriage being a religious institution.

As pressure mounts inside the Labor Party for a change in the party’s policy officially banning such marriages, both the gay lobby and now the Catholic Church are intensifying their efforts to win the debate.

MPs are consulting their constituents after a Greens motion urging politicians to seek the views of their electorates on changing marriage laws was passed last month in the House of Representatives with Labor’s support.

In an open letter, the church tells its members that as “the Greens continue their assault on the culture of life . . . every Catholic should let federal legislators know that marriage and family, the cornerstone of society, must be protected at all costs.”

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