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Showing posts with the label Diarmuid Martin

Dublin archbishop responds to gay ‘marriage’ debate suggesting gay civil registrations

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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

Irelands revamped constitution must not change definition of marriage

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Image via Wikipedia   Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin defended traditional marriage in the midst of a looming political attack during an address before the Mater Dei Institute of Education this past Tuesday. “The Irish Constitution clearly carves out a special role for the family.  The legal presumption is that the definition of the family in the Constitution is one based on marriage between a man and a woman,” the archbishop commented, according to the Iona Institute .  “In line with most European countries Ireland recognises the fundamental difference between marriage and other forms of relationship.” The archbishop’s comments come in the wake of a proposal on the part of Ireland’s two ruling political parties, Fine Gael and the Labor Party , for a Constitutional Convention to redraft the Irish Constitution. Among the changes proposed is the redefinition of marriage to include same-sex unions. The Fine Gael party replaced Fianna Fail as the new Parliamentary majority i