Alistair
McBay, NSS spokesman in Scotland said: "Joseph Devine's latest outburst
follows a series of vituperative and inhumane pronouncements by the
Scottish Catholic hierarchy on same sex marriage, for example by
likening it to bestiality and incest. Each pronouncement has further
alienated the Church from its own congregations and has horrified the
wider population. Joseph Devine remains blissfully unaware that his
lecture to the PM is so spectacularly arrogant and at variance with
public opinion that it makes him a laughing stock – albeit not for the
first time."
"The Church has gambled its entire moral
authority on gay marriage, and spectacularly lost. Despite the Catholic
Church raising the stakes on this issue to the maximum, politicians on
both sides of the Border are totally ignoring it."
"Bishop
Devine's assertion that he 'will take no finger-prodding lectures from
anyone or any group devoid of moral competence' needs to be seen in the
context of polls showing that the line taken by Catholic bishops on
moral issues is widely ignored, not just by the public but by the vast
majority of Catholics in the pews in this country."
"We
call on those political leaders who were so quick to condemn Stonewall
for awarding its 'Bigot of the Year' award to Cardinal O'Brien to be as
swift, as public and as damning to criticise Bishop Devine for his much
less temperate outburst directed at the Prime Minister."