Harsh criticism of the media and society in the UK, that are so obsessed by sex that they forget the values of love and the family, has been made by the Catholic Primate of England and Wales Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor in a speech to the Society of Theology at the University of Wales. “We confuse the provision of information on sexual activity, contraception and relationships between persons of the same sex with education”, said the cardinal to Welsh students. “We don’t do enough to prepare the young for marriage”. Yet 89% of British youth, according to a recent survey cited by the cardinal, wish a stable marriage. The young, said the Catholic Primate, “wish to serve others, they are not absorbed by our consumerist culture or by the banalization of sex. Their deepest desire is to marry and have a family”. If contemporary society is unable to respond to this search for meaning, “let us look at what the Christian tradition teaches us on how we ought to live”, said the cardinal, adding that the model of our life is the incarnation of Jesus Christ.
