What’s become of marriage?” “

“We regret that the government is not producing proposals to reinforce and support marriage. Either the government believes that marriage, the exclusive union of a man and a woman for life, has a special role in society, or it does not believe that it has any such role”. So says Msgr. John Hine , the bishop in charge of the family ministry in the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. In a document issued in recent days, he has intervened on the merits of the bill for the registration of civil unions, including those of homosexuals. Removing forms of discrimination but defending marriage . The Catholic Church “condemns every form of unjust discrimination, violence or abuse against homosexuals”: that is one of the premises contained in the document, that considers positive the fact that “in recent years there have been many significant changes in legislation to remove unjust forms of discrimination against people on grounds of their sexuality”. The document analyses the various proposals of the government aimed at equating civil unions with marriage on the legal level. The government document published on the matter explains that it wants to “remedy the inequalities that exist between couples of different sex and those of the same sex”. Msgr. Hine adduces the various arguments in opposition to the government bill, with particular regard to the defence of the institution of marriage: “The signal that the law would send to the new generations – he declares – is that marriage between husband and wife, and a relationship between persons of the same sex, are equally valid options, and provide an equally valid context for the bringing up of children. By elevating the relationships between people of the same sex to a legal status virtually equivalent to civil marriage, the signal given to society would be that these two situations of life deserve equal respect and protection”. Attention to the rights of children. Msgr. Hine also concerns himself with the modern techniques of assisted fertility, which would give to gay couples the possibility of having children of their own: “In the long term – he says – we must take into account the rights of children. It is wrong to embark on a policy that could deliberately bring into this world children deprived of the presence of a father and of a mother”. Though admitting that very often children are “successfully” brought up by a single parent, Bishop Hine says that this “ought not to be an objective of social policies”. The same goes for adoptions. The real threats to the family. Acknowledging the growing breakdown of many heterosexual cohabitations, with consequences for the rights of children, Msgr. Hine underlines “the urgent need for a government campaign to publicize the existing law” and to “encourage cohabiting couples to guarantee their own rights and those of their children through marriage”. Of course, he admits, “when we analyse the real forces that are undermining marriage and the family today, we have to recognize that the status of same-sex relationships is not at the top of the list: there are far deeper reasons that are jeopardizing the stability of the family”. Among the many, “a culture obsessed with sex, that devalues obligations and fidelity within the relationship; and an economic environment that fails to support marriage, imposes excessive working hours and leaves families with children without the right balance between work and family life”. He therefore urges the government “to pay more attention to the support of marriage, and to encourage the stability of the marital relationship”. Civil unions do not serve the common good. “We believe that the government’s proposals to create civil unions between couples of the same sex would not promote the common good – says Msgr. Hill -. We therefore firmly oppose them”. But while “these proposals are neither necessary nor desirable”, he explains, “it remains essential to affirm and protect the legitimate rights of everyone, irrespective of their sexual orientation”. “The Catholic Church – he concludes – teaches that homosexuals must be ‘accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity’. Unfortunately this does not always correspond to the reality either in society or in the Church; we must therefore continue to work to achieve this objective”.