In a statement published on May 15th, on the website of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, the Bishops spoke out again on the bill passed in the first session of the House of Commons on marriage between persons of the same sex, the Marriage Bill, which provides for the possibility of celebrating weddings even in places of worship, with the exception of the churches of the Anglican rite.
«We urge members of the House of Commons to think again about the long-term consequences of the Marriage Bill in deciding how to vote», was the call of the bishops. «It’s not too late to reconsider».The question is primarily cultural and anthropological. If the law on marriage of same-sex couples were approved, it would deeply distort the entire social order. «Marriage—continued the Bishops of England and Wales in the note signed by the President, the Archbishop of Westminster Msgr. Vincent Gerard Nichols, and the Vice-Chairman, Archbishop of Southwark, Msgr. Peter David Gregory Smith—would become an institution in which openness to children, and with it the responsibility on fathers and mothers to remain together to care for children born into their family, is no longer central to society’s understanding of marriage». The institution of marriage, in fact, lives as a union of a man and a woman through love and mutual support, openness to children and their education.
According to what was stated some time ago by the Bishop of Portsmouth, Msgr. Philip Egan, this law would exert moral pressure limiting the freedom of conscience of many believers. «Just as the Church was forced to abandon the adoptive services, in the same way also Catholics who work in the health sector and social services would find themselves under intolerable moral pressure that would probably be felt even in Catholic schools by teachers, staff and parents», said Msgr. Egan in an interview.
