"We have to reassert the priority of the family over society and the State". It was stated this morning by card. Seán Brady, archbishop of Armagh and primate of Ireland, as he spoke at the Cèifin Conference, which will end tomorrow, in Ennis (County Clare). After saying that "few institutions are as important as the family for the future of our society", the primate commented: "the prospect of a married couple that sets up a serene, stable family has never been so great in Ireland; our challenge is to help women and men rediscover the joy that marriage and the commitment of a lifetime can offer". "The family is the natural community in which the social nature of man is experienced, and it offers an irreplaceable contribution to the good of society". It is this essential link between the "family capital" and the "social capital" that partly explains "the special place and uniqueness that the Irish Constitution gives to marriage". In this respect, card. Brady pointed out that "the government’s publication last June of the General Framework of the bill of law on unmarried couples is a cause of concern", because "it might give live-in couples and same-sex couples the same status as marriage, to all intents and purposes". (continued)
