Friday, August 21, 2009

Bishop warns against gay marriage move

A leading bishop has warned the Government against the introduction of domestic partnerships for gay couples insisting that ''the State exists for the family and not the family for the State''.

Speaking at the Annual Knock Novena, Bishop Christopher Jones argued that the ''Government must never introduce any form of legislation that could possibly undermine the importance and significance of marriage and family life in our country.''

Dr Jones, who chairs the bishops' committee on the family, warned that ''society through its government has a huge responsibility to support and promote family rooted in marriage''.

''Society depends on the family rooted in marriage to provide happy and healthy citizens. Indeed nothing is more destructive to the person, the family and society than dysfunctional and broken marriages.

''Tragically so many children, who are victims of broken and dysfunctional families, become liabilities for the State, because of juvenile delinquency, crime, drugs and gangland murders,'' Bishop Jones told the packed congregation in the basilica.

Underlining the fact that the Church teaches that ''the family rooted in the life-long marriage of a man and woman provides the greatest guarantee of happiness for the married couple'' he said that the ''Government must realise that change in legislation in the area of marriage and family will inevitably change the perception and attitudes of people''.

The Civil Partnership Bill (2009), which is due to be debated before the Oireachtas in the Autumn, provides for a number of rights for same-sex couples similar to the rights enjoyed by married couples.

Quoting research from the Church's marriage advisory service Accord, he said that while 12% of couples in Ireland choose long term cohabitation instead of marriage ''the family based on marriage is still the fundamental unit of society.''

''All of this should give us great hope at a time when soap operas night after night present promiscuity as if it were the norm and as mass media would give the impression that most marriages end in divorce,'' he said.
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