Standing Up To Be Counted...

I previously bewailed the absence of any response to the Government's proposals to push through legislation on same-sex "marriage." Bishop Joseph Devine of the Diocese of Motherwell was the first to stick his head above the parapet - though same-sex "marriage" was only one of the issues he raised - closely followed by Bishop Philip Egan, the new Bishop of Portsmouth.

Now it appears that the other Bishops are starting to wake up. Archbishop Vincent Nichols and Archbishop Peter Smith, as President and Vice-President, respectively, of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England & Wales, issued a joint statement on the Government response to the same sex marriage consultation. It did read very much like a statement drawn up by committee (as Fr. Ray pointed out, the Bishops' Conference does appear to frustrate the decision-making process) but at least the statement has been made, with its unequivocal opposition to any Bill changing the definition of marriage.

Furthermore, Archbishop Peter Smith issued another statement after his meeting with Maria Miller, the Secretary of State. In this much more personal statement, Archbishop Smith explained in detail why the intention to redefine marriage is such a problem.

"There is only one institution called marriage, whether you enter it by a civil or religious route, and it is for the good of society as a whole that we are concerned. The essence of marriage involves the complementarity of the two genders, male and female... 

"...the Government thus far has shown an impoverished understanding, unable to see that the institution of marriage is more than a way of recognizing committed loving relationships. What marriage has always meant is the union of one man and one woman for love and mutual support, and open to the procreation of children. This is the most secure foundation for the family and, as all the evidence shows, provides the best environment in which the next generation can be created and brought up as flourishing members of society. That is why society has given a particular legal status to marriage distinct from all other relationships: it is because it provides a unique benefit not only to the married couple but also to society itself. There lies the root of our opposition: it is a desire to preserve marriage in its full meaning as an essential element of the common good of society."

And now, Bishop Michael Campbell, the Bishop of Lancaster, has brought out his own statement, ending with an endorsement of the statement made by the Archbishops of Westminster and Southwark.

It is a huge relief that some of the Bishops, at least, have started to respond to this crisis - for it is a crisis. The Government, in choosing to ignore over 600,000 signatures objecting to the proposed change in the law, showed how very little concern it has for the democratic process. The redefinition of marriage in law may well mean that the Catholic Church has to follow continental customs, treating the Sacrament of Matrimony as completely separate from the civil registration of marriage. If that should prove to be the case, one might actually question the necessity for any civil registration at all...