CARDIFF, WALES, UNITED KINGDOM – The government of Wales is investigating whether a Roman Catholic lobbying group encouraged a campaign against marriage equality in the country’s secondary schools.

Welsh Minister for Children and Education Leighton Andrews is looking into allegations that the Catholic Education Service (CES) sent an email last month to all Catholic secondary schools in order to promote an online petition organized by the Coalition for Marriage, a conservative political group.

The group’s Web site notes the Roman Catholic Church and its Archbishops support the signaturegathering effort, which opposes progressive changes to the laws on marriage.

The British Humanist Association (BHA) has accused the CES of “victimizing” students, and is asking both Andrews and his counterpart in the British government, Education Secretary Michael Gove, to intervene.

BHA officials say that the Coalition for Marriage petition violates British political and campaign laws, and is seeking a Roman Catholic student to initiate a court challenge. CES denies the allegations and says that the Roman Catholic view of marriage is a religious, not political one.