Irish bishops urge parliament to reconsider recognition for same-sex unions
June 17, 2010
The Catholic bishops of Ireland have issued a statement calling upon legislators to reconsider pending legislation that would give same-sex partnerships the same legal standing as marriage.
“This is not compatible with seeing the family based on marriage as the necessary basis of the social order and as indispensable to the welfare of the Nation and State,” the bishops argued. They called attention to the Irish constitution’s guarantee that the government would “guard with special care the institution of Marriage, on which the Family is founded.”
The bishops also asked parliament to amend the legislation in order to protect the conscience rights of individuals who uphold “the objective moral order and the teaching of the Gospel,” and the autonomy of churches.
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