Gay marriage will not come to Ireland until 2015, when a referendum will be held, to approve a recommendation last year by the country’s constitutional convention – but already, some benefits are being seen, in both Church and state. In the secular sphere, legislation for marriage equality cannot be introduced until after approval by the referendum, the government has announced that meanwhile, it will recognize same – sex marriages contracted abroad. That “abroad” soon include marriages in England or Wales, for those couples who satisfy British law (but not yet, Northern Ireland).
In the Catholic Church, the early debate on the subject has already drawn some unpleasant language, which has prompted Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, to warn against intemperate language – and to refer to homophobia as “an insult to God”. This is notable enough, when so many other bishops, in the USA, Scotland and elsewhere, resorted to nasty, homophobic language themselves in their campaigns to forestall equality. But at least as notable, is a further observation by Martin – that Church teaching did not exclude same – sex couples from celebrating their unions in other forms of recognition outside marriage, for example in civil unions.
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(Archbishop Diarmuid Martin) said Church teaching was that marriage was between a man and a woman, exclusively, but that this approach did not exclude gay people from celebrating their union by a different means
With this statement of support, he joins an expanding list of senior bishops and cardinals who have made public similar support (and an unknown number who share those views, but have not made their thoughts public). Until this announcement, I had not seen any further bishops saying so, but that could be simply that the extraordinary series of supportive statements coming directly from Pope Francis made these observations by bishops seem to them less urgent, or that statements have been made, and not seen as newsworthy – or that the continuing progress to full equality has made support for civil unions simply less important. I don’t know which. However, this news from Ireland is a useful reminder that when bishops the bishops gather in Rome for the synod later this year, they will include in their number a significant number who have already publicly expressed support for some form of legal recognition of same – sex unions. They and their colleagues will then have to turn their attention to finding appropriate pastoral responses which satisfy the requirements in church teaching for “respect, compassion and sensitivity”
- Feb 2014, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Dublin
- May 2013, Cardinal Godfried Daneels, Belgium
- April 2013, Fr Frederico Lombardi, papal spokesman (cautious acceptance of legal recognition)
- April 2013, Archbishop Piero Marini, President of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses (support for civil unions)
- April 2013, Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna, (support for civil unions)
- April 2013, Cardinal Rubén Salazar of Bogota, Colombia (support for civil unions)
- March 2013, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington (support for civil unions)
- Feb 2013, Archbishop Vincent Paglia, head of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Family (supported “legal protections” for same-sex relationships)
- Jan 2013, French Bishops’ Conference’s Family and Society Committee (support strengthened civil unions as alternative to full marriage)
- Dec 2012, Bishop Giuseppe Fiorini Morosini, Locri-Gerace diocese in Calabria (supported “legal protections” for same-sex relationships)
- May 2012, Cardinal Rainer Woelki of Berlin (support for same-sex relationships)
- March 2012, Diocese of New Hampshire (civil unions as alternative to full marriage)
- March 2012, Bishop Geoffrey Robinson (complete reform of all sexual doctrine)
- Feb 2012, Bishop Charles Scicluna of Malta (support for same-sex relationships)
- Jan 2012, Bishop Paolo Urso of Ragusa, Italy (de facto support for civil unions)
- Nov 2011, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Westminster (sees “value” in civil unions)
- July 2010, Bishop Willie Walsh, the retiring Bishop of Killaloe (respect for same-sex relationships)
- ? 2010 Cardinal Bergoglio, now Pope Francis (civil unions as alternative to full marriage).
- June 2010 Bishop Januario Torgal Ferreira, Portuguese ordinariate for armed forces (support for same-sex relationships) June 2010
- June 2010 Bishop Francis A Quinn, retired bishop of Sacramento (complete reform of all sexual doctrine)
- April 2010 Cardinal Schonborn of Vienna, (support for same-sex relationships)
- Aug 2009 Portuguese Bishops, (civil unions as alternative to full marriage)
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Books
- Boswell, John: Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe
- Glaser, Chris: As My Own Soul: The Blessing of Same-Gender Marriage
- Hunt, Mary: Fierce Tenderness: A Feminist Theology of Friendship
- Jennings, Theodore W. The man jesus loved
- Jordan, Mark: Blessing Same-Sex Unions: The Perils of Queer Romance and the Confusions of Christian Marriage
- Stuart, Elisabeth: Just Good Friends: Towards a Lesbian and Gay Theology of Relationships
- Sullivan, Andrew: Virtually Normal: An Argument About Homosexuality
- Sullivan, Andrew: Love Undetectable: Notes on Friendship, Sex, and Survival
- Vasey, M: Strangers and friends: A new exploration of homosexuality and the Bible
Related articles
- Celebrating the “Goodness” in Same – Sex Relationships
- Gay Marriage Laws Forcing Responses From Churches.
- Vatican Spokesman Accepts Legal Recognition of Same – Sex Unions
- How Bishops’ Support for Civil Unions is Modifying Church Teaching.
- Catholic Cardinals, Bishops Evolving on Civil Unions, Gay Relationships
- An Exciting Time to be Gay and Catholic?
-
Things Are Changing And They Won’t Stay The Same (enlightenedcatholicism-colkoch.blogspot.com)
- Same-Sex Civil Unions? (commonwealmagazine.org)
- Pope’s former MC backs gay civil unions: “Many couples suffer because their civil rights aren’t recognized” (ncronline.org)
- Another Vatican Official Endorses Civil Unions (newwaysministryblog.wordpress.com)
- Signs of Hope: Cardinal Defends Gay Marriage Legislation (gaymystic.blogspot.com)