Michael KellyIrish people still treasure family based on mother and father
The next Primate of All-Ireland has called for a more inclusive approach to Catholics whose marriages have broken down. Marriage and the family, particularly the current ban on remarried Catholic divorcees receiving Holy Communion at Mass, is set to be a key point discussed at a meeting of the world’s bishops with Pope Francis in Rome in October.
Writing in The Irish Catholic this week, coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh Dr Eamon Martin said that the recent consultation process among Catholics on issues relating to marriage and the family “unfolded a panorama of pastoral challenges to marriage and the family”.
“We are conscious that, despite their best intentions, some couples find themselves no longer able to sincerely live together in faithful love.
“Many Catholics find themselves in this situation and our Church must find new pastoral ways of reaching out to them with God’s abundant mercy and love so that they do not feel themselves as outsiders in their own Church,” the archbishop said.
The recent consultation process found that Church teaching on marriage and the family were poorly understood or poorly accepted among many Catholics.
“We are all well aware, from our own families and relationships, of the intense pressures – from within and without – that face couples who commit their lives to each other in marriage,” Dr Martin said.
However, he said “despite the difficulties and problems, the universal Catholic Church still wishes to proclaim to society that the prophetic beauty of a man, woman and their children united in marriage and in family, is something special and well worth protecting, for the common good.”
Meanwhile, Dr Martin also called on young Catholics to be confident in voicing their faith in controversial public debates.
The archbishop also said it is “vitally important” that young Irish Catholics feel confident in articulating their faith. They “must not be afraid to speak out with conviction in the public square on matters about life, marriage and family, poverty and injustice, peace and reconciliation,” he said. However, he also cautioned that “we must always be mindful of God’s mercy”.
He said that presenting the “Good News of the Family is an integral part of our mission in the Catholic Church.
“I believe that, despite the many challenges that face family life, the people of Ireland still treasure the intrinsic value and beauty of the family unit of mother and father together with their children,” he said.