Cathal BarryThe leader of the Church in Ireland has distanced himself from remarks made by controversial US Cardinal Raymond Burke about the recent marriage referendum.
Cardinal Burke, who was the Vatican’s top legal adviser until he was demoted by Pope Francis last year, said the referendum result here was a “defiance of God”.
“It’s just incredible. Pagans may have tolerated homosexual behaviours, they never dared to say this was marriage,” he said.
Distancing himself from the Cardinal’s remarks, however, Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh said he personally “wouldn’t use that language”.
He told The Irish Catholic that Church leaders “need to be extremely careful” that their choice of language “is not offensive”.
“Sometimes language can be offensive to people, and we need to be aware of this. I think too that sometimes we can be offensive even when we don’t mean to be,” he said.