Susan Gately and Chai Brady
In the aftermath of the divorce referendum, the Bishop of Elphin, Kevin Doran, has called for ongoing backing for marriage, including civil marriage and ‘sustainable communities’. “We have to give serious consideration to preparation for marriage,” said Bishop Kevin Doran emphasising that he was not only referring to sacramental marriage. “If society values marriage, it should be supporting it.”
On May 24, 82.1% of people voted in favour of reducing waiting times for divorce to two years and taking it out of the Constitution. “There’s no point crying over spilt milk,” Bishop Doran told the Irish Catholic.
“If you want to support families,” he continued, “make sure people have jobs, make sure people have houses, take away the things that create stress and pressure on peoples’ relationships.”
This comes as Prof. Geoffrey Shannon, assigned by the Government as Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, defended his support for changing the constitution in the referendum.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic, he mentioned peer-reviewed studies including ‘Parental Divorce and the Well-Being of Children: A Meta-Analysis’ conducted by Paul Amato and Bruce Keith, ‘The voice of the child in private family law proceedings: findings from a reconnaissance of Anglo-Irish child related divorce legislation’ by Mervyn Murch and Geraldine Keehan and several others.
Dr Shannon said that he is a “passionate supporter of marriage” and that “children thrive in a marriage context”. He added that it’s “the gold standard”.