The Pope’s link-man to the Bishops of Great Britain, the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Antonio Mennini, had a tough message for English and Welsh Bishops from the Pope about gay (and heterosexual) marriages. He gave the same lecture the Pope gave the US Bishops.
“Particular mention must be made of the powerful political and cultural currents seeking to alter the legal definition of marriage. The Church’s conscientious effort to resist this pressure calls for a reasoned defence of marriage as a natural institution consisting of a specific communion of persons, essentially rooted in the complimentarity of the sexes and oriented to procreation.
Sexual differences cannot be dismissed as irrelevant to the definition of marriage. Defending the institution of marriage as a social reality is ultimately a question of justice, since it entails safeguarding the good of the entire human community and the rights of parents and children alike.”
Your Pastoral Letter “a good start”, now get on with this “lengthy and difficult campaign”
Archbishop Antonio Mennini told the English and Welsh Bishops’ Conference in Leeds last week:
“As you well know, the Pastoral Letter on marriage which you issued at the beginning of the Government consultation was a good start in highlighting the importance of marriage and in encouraging our people to reflect on, and express, the view of Christians, Catholic and others, in this regard. However, I think that most of us realise that this is the start of what may well prove to be a lengthy and probably difficult campaign.”
Enlist other Churches and Faiths as anti-gay marriage Allies
“As I said when we met last November, I also wonder if we shouldn’t ask for and look for more support among other Christian confessions and indeed, persons of other faiths. It seems to me that, concerning the institution of marriage, and indeed the sanctity of human life, we have much in common with the position of the Jewish community, the Chief Rabbi and many of the more significant representatives of Islam.”
The Catholic Bishops have already linked up with Anglicans opposed to lesbian and gay marriage equality, by promoting the signing the Coalition for Marriage petition. Archbishop Smith of Southwark commented last week: “We are working as best we can with all sorts of different faith groups, the Church of England is very much along the same lines as ourselves on this. I went to see [Home Secretary] Theresa May back in February and the Church of England was well represented.”
The Bishops of England and Wales have gone even further than the Nuncio has asked, by telling the Catholic Education Service (CES) to try pushing the anti-marriage equality message in schools, only for it to trip up and make a legal mistake. This is now being investigated by officials of the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove. His spokesman said
“Officials are looking into this as ministers are anxious to establish the full facts of this case and will be meeting representatives of the CES shortly.”
The education law against political campaigning will have been broken by the individual schools that promoted signing the petition and did not give “balanced” teaching on a live political issue. However it appears the Catholic Education Service itself has not been broken the law by giving wrong advice to schools.
Muslim opposition
Last month the Muslim Council of Britain voiced opposition to the plans, describing it as “unnecessary and unhelpful”. But there’s no central head of the Islamic faith in Britain, just individual mosques, so Muslim opposition needs to be voiced through local alliances.
In Scotland, the Council of Glasgow Imams has agreed a joint resolution describing same-sex marriage as an “attack” on their faith and fundamental beliefs.
Jewish divisions
Among the Jewish community, opinion is sharply divided. The Liberal and Reform synagogues have given their support to same-sex marriage but Rabbis within the main United Synagogues are oppposed. The Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks, who is retiring, has so far resisted pressure to come out in opposition. But Rabbi Yitzchak Schochet of Mill Hill United Synagogue in north London, who advises him on family issues, recently accused the Coalition of launching an “assault” on religious values.
Archbishop Peter Smith, of Southwark, last week said there had been no “formal” contact with Jewish groups to form a united front on the subject of marriage. But he said: “We will work with anyone who agrees with us that to redefine marriage is not a good thing for society and will lead to more confusion.” He seems to be waiting to be called, rather than actively courting Jewish opposition.
Sikhs too
Meanwhile Lord Singh, head of the Network of Sikh Organisations, recently said the proposed reforms represented “a sideways assault on religion”.
Will more Bishop action block civil gay marriage plans? - Unlikely
We might see some Catholic Bishop activity encouraging the Chief Rabbi and leading Imans at Mosques to make public statements against gay marriage. Will this make much difference to the government’s plans? Probably not. The government has set up the consultation in a way designed to keep gay marriages strictly civil ceremonies never held in religious buildings and never conducted by any Minister, Rabbi, or Iman or other religious official. By doing this, the government hopes to have a simple and plain message against any and all religious objections: the law change is only to allow civil, not religious marriages, religions are not affected at all.
Talk tough with heterosexuals - no living together before marriage, it is gravely sinful
Pope Benedict XVI also told the American bishops, and the Nuncio repeated this for the English and Welsh Bishops: “On the practical level, marriage preparation programmes must be carefully reviewed to ensure that there is greater concentration on their catechetical component and their presentation of the social and ecclesial responsibilities entailed by Christian marriage.
“We cannot overlook the serious pastoral problem presented by the widespread practice of cohabitation, often by couples who seem unaware that it is gravely sinful, not to mention damaging to the stability of society. I encourage your efforts to develop clear pastoral and liturgical norms for the worthy celebration of matrimony which embody an unambiguous witness to the objective demands of Christian morality, while showing sensitivity and concern for young couples.”
“We all know how difficult it is to live in an increasingly secularised society but, that is why we need to express the teaching of the Church in a clear and outspoken way. This testimony in public life will affect the future of the young and will, God willing, also touch the hearts of all persons of goodwill who are seeking meaning in their lives and, often without realising it, are in fact, searching for God.”
Tough marriage preparation task
The Bishops (and especially the parish clergy) have a tough and largely thankless task there. How will the Bishops “develop clear pastoral and liturgical norms for the worthy celebration of matrimony which embody an unambiguous witness to the objective demands of Christian morality, while showing sensitivity and concern for young couples.”
In plain English that means telling couples no sex before marriage, whether you live together or not.
Will heterosexual people have to confess mortal sins of sex before marriage before any church wedding?
Will communion be refused?
Will heterosexuals be forced to stop living together and live apart for a period before the wedding?
How will this be done “while showing sensitivity and concern for young couples”. The tough ‘unambiguous’ yet ‘sensitive’ recipe doesn’t mix well.
Maybe it’ll be like the ‘good cop’ bad cop’ approach, with two priests for every marriage preparation - a tough priest and a sensitive priest.
More Catholics saying ‘Goodbye Church?’
Some Catholic heterosexual couples who disagree with the Church’s sexual morality teaching may simply walk away from a Catholic Church wedding, and perhaps that will be the last the Catholic Church sees of that family. If it is a mixed marriage, as many are, others may choose the Church of England where everyone has the right to marry at their local Anglican parish church.
This may be tough Vatican Catholic love, but is it wise? Will English and Welsh Bishops find a way to accommodate pastoral realities?
More information
The Tablet: Nuncio is nudging the bishops
Full Text : Pope’s priorities for English and Welsh bishops
Catholic Herald report
Daily Telegraph report
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uhg, does he honestly think they will actually win? If I were them I would say that same-sex marriage is going to eventually pass. It is far too late for them to respond and actually have a chance. They should have started building this up 10 years ago. They need to stop lobbying so heavily against secular same-sex marraige becuase it will only give the church more negative press and they wont win on top of it all. Benedict is not going to live much longer (I do not hate him, he is only following what he thinks is right same as we are) and the clergy just needs to hold off for a year or two more. The next pope is bound to be conservative too, and it would be much better for everyone on all sides if this passed before the new pope is elected. That way it will be a non-issue and we can focus on other things, and the church’s publicity will hopefully start to improve so that the hierarchy feels less threatened and more likely to open up.