Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols describes the government's plan for gay marriage as undemocratic and a 'shambles'.
The leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales said there was no mandate to enforce same-sex marriage laws "and yet here we are on the verge of primary legislation."
"From a democratic point of view, it's a shambles," he said in an interview with the BBC. "There was no announcement in any party manifesto, no Green Paper, no statement in the Queen's Speech."
The religious leader said that during a "period of listening", those who responded were seven to one against same-sex marriage.
"George Orwell would be proud of that manoeuvre. I think the process is shambolic," the Archbishop said.
Speaking to the congregation at Westminster Cathedral during Christmas Eve mass, Archbishop Nichols said that "even governments mistakenly promote such patterns of sexual intimacy as objectively to be approved and even encouraged among the young."