Mags Gargan“Debate at the core of the call for same-sex marriage is not about equality”
The bishops have warned that presenting same sex-partnerships as equivalent to marriage would be saying that the union of a husband and wife is no longer the foundation of society.
In a pastoral statement launched by Bishop Liam MacDaid and Bishop Kevin Doran today, the Church set out its teaching on marriage ahead of the referendum on same-sex marriage next year.
Bishop MacDaid said the statement underlined that the Church’s understanding is that “a communion of life and love” between a man and a woman “provides the best and most stable environment for children to grow up and develop”.
The pastoral statement, The Meaning of Marriage, was launched after the winter general meeting of the bishops’ conference at Maynooth. It states that the Church regards the family based on marriage between a woman and a man as “the single most important institution in any society,” and that an attempt to re-define the nature of marriage would “undermine it as the fundamental building block of our society.”
Contradiction
Bishop Doran said the proposal to extend marriage to same-sex couples would be “a contradiction in terms”, because marriage is, of its nature, “a committed relationship between a man and woman which is open to the transmission of life”.
The Church leaders insist that “the debate at the core of the call for ‘same-sex marriage’ is not about equality or about the separation of a religious view of marriage from a civil view of marriage. It is about the very nature of marriage itself and the importance society places on the role of mothers and fathers in bringing up children”.
The bishops insist that male–female complementarity is intrinsic to marriage. “It is naturally ordered toward sexual union in a faithful, committed relationship as the basis for the generation of new life.”
The bishops point out their belief that legitimate rights can and should be afforded to same-sex couples “without sacrificing the institution of marriage and family and the fundamental role they play in society”.
The latest opinion poll indicates that an overwhelming majority of Irish people will vote to amend the constitution to legalise same-sex marriage. According to the Ipsos MRBI poll, 67% would vote in favour, 20% said ‘no’, with 9% having no opinion and 3% refusing to respond.
The Government has committed to holding the referendum in spring 2015.