Dublin archbishop responds to gay ‘marriage’ debate suggesting gay civil registrations
DUBLIN, Ireland , February 18, 2014 - Faithful Catholics in Dublin are in an uproar over their own bishop. While homosexual activists are working hard in Ireland in the build-up to a national referendum on “gay marriage,” Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has suggested civil recognition of homosexual relationships as an alternative, a notion that runs counter to established Vatican teaching. “I believe that there are ways in which, civil registrations for example, in which gay and lesbian people can have their rights respected and legally protected,” said Archbishop Martin in an interview with the state broadcaster RTÉ . Archbishop Diarmuid Martin “There can be ways in which gay people can celebrate their togetherness, their love for one another, but it isn’t marriage,” he added. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that a civil partnership is somewhat of less value than marriage.” In contrast, the Vatican teaching on the matter is clear and emphatic. The 2003 Vatican document , or