Strengthening traditional marriage and protecting human life at all
its stages is fundamental in the promotion of the common good, and our
newly elected politicians must not forget this, Ireland's Catholic
Bishops have said.
In a statement following its March meeting in Maynooth, the Bishops
commended the newly elected members of the Dáil on their willingness to
“take on the noble vocation of political leadership at a time of
unprecedented challenges on a political, social and economic level.”
The Bishops also acknowledged the extent of the fear and suffering
throughout the country caused by the current economic crisis.
However,
they insisted that, notwithstanding these economic difficulties
society's obligation to defend the dignity of every human person and
protect the common good “must not be forgotten at the present time.”
The statement said: “Public policy should always support and protect
the common good. Strengthening the family, based on marriage between a
man and a woman, as well as promoting and protecting human life at all
its stages is fundamental in this regard.”
Last week a body of the Catholic bishops issued a document that
highlighted the economy, marriage, and the right to life as key election
issues.
The document, From Crisis to Hope: Working to Achieve the Common Good,
the Bishops' Council for Justice and Peace stressed “the importance of
supporting, protecting and strengthening the family based on marriage
between a man and a woman as well as promoting human life at all its
stages.”
Most of the document focuses on the “devastating impact of the
financial crisis on individuals and families throughout Ireland.”
It
notes that “real cost of the crisis cannot be expressed in figures
alone, without reference to the impact, on a human level, on those who
have lost their jobs, their life savings and even their homes.”
It adds that that the crisis affects the fabric of family and social
lives.
“It can be an extremely difficult time for parents, many of whom
are attempting to provide for all the needs of their children in
changed economic circumstances.”
“As a result of mounting economic pressures many parents may be ‘time
poor’ as well as materially poor and this can have a negative impact on
child-parent relationships,” the document says.
It says that the family unit is central to Irish society and calls
for “adequate analysis of the impact of social and economic policies, to
ensure that they contribute to the protection and strengthening of
family life, rather than causing fragmentation.”
The document also points out that, for Catholics, the protection of
the right to life of the unborn “constitutes a non-negotiable element of
fostering the common good. Abortion is the denial of that inalienable
right.”