Truth comes first

Msgr. Philip Tartaglia, of Italian background, took possession of the archdiocese of Glasgow past September 8 wearing the canonicals that Benedict XVI wore during his visit to Scotland two years ago. Upon his installment the archbishop said that the intention of the Scottish government to legalize same-sex unions "is a question of religious freedom". To Silvia Guazzetti, from SIR Europe, he explained why. Your Excellency, you said that you could be sent to prison as a result of the Church’s opposition to same-sex unions. Could you tell us why? "The Scottish government has said that it intends to legalize same-sex unions, and if this should happen, we fear restrictions to the freedom of expressing our opinion in public. We do not know whether we will be free to say that marriage is the union of a man and a woman only, without being accused of a crime. So for us, the question of gay unions is basically a question of religious freedom".Are there signs that this could happen?"It could happen. We asked for the opinion of a lawyer, expert in human rights, Aiden O’Neill. He said that it’s very likely that if priests and teachers speak against same-sex unions they could be incriminated in compliance with the law on human rights. We could be sanctioned or persecuted in different ways. Some envisage that the Church, exempted from a portion of State taxes as a ‘charity’ body, could be penalized. Some groups could say that the ‘bigots’ cannot be granted tax cuts and that they should be subjected to a new fiscal regime. We might have to accept new rules regarding Catholic education in schools, thus jeopardizing the Catholic school system, which we consider very important".Are the relations with the government edgy?"They are. It has been a very difficult moment. We said that if we define marriage simply as a relationship between those who love each other, then what are the limits? Which relations are encompassed in the term ‘marriage’? What are the philosophical foundations of this political decision? Who has the right to redefine marriage, which exists before statehood? We haven’t been given satisfactory answers and on the press there has been only anger and accusations. The emotional level rises when we ask these questions, and the Church is condemned on the basis of claims that she is scarcely charitable, homophobic and exaggerated. Unfortunately there isn’t a true debate but a clash". Why is the government so determined to approve gay unions? "The government says that it’s a question of equality. But it also spoke of Scotland as a progressive country, as relates to same-sex unions. There is a yearning to be progressive, modern and enlightened. The government is also under the pressure of some lobbies".Do you think that there’s a way out?"The relations with the government have always been good and I hope they will continue to be. However we shouldn’t try to please the government or the establishment because they don’t know Jesus. For the Church this can be an important moment of renewal, since it calls us into question, leading to the acknowledgement that State protection can’t be always guaranteed".Are you planning a commission on the family? "We want to launch this commission in order to avoid a merely negative approach. We would like to do something positive on the marriage on the family and help the parents and raised the children as Catholics". What will you do for the year of the faith, which coincides with the Fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council? “There are some initiatives in dioceses and parishes. We plan to hold a conference that will be attended by Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney and by Msgr. Serratelli, ICEL president, the international commission for English language liturgy, which produced the new Missal. This conference on the new evangelization will be a very important moment for us. We’ll hold it on December 1st, the day after the feast of St. Andrew, our patron saint. I hope it will instill new courage and energy to the Church in Scotland. I will have the privilege and the responsibility of representing Scotland at the Bishops’ Synod, where I will speak of faith, the primary theme of my episcopate as archbishop of Glasgow".