I am disturbed by the push for gay marriage, even though there is within my family, as in Fr Dickson’s family, a person who experiences same-sex attraction. We ensure this person is made to feel valuable and loved, and while we make it clear that we don’t approve of the lifestyle, we do let it be known that we are always there to support in every other aspect of life. But same sex marriage is an impossibility because there is no way that two women or two men can have intercourse in order to consummate their relationship. This means their relationship can never be a marriage and so should not be called marriage, for marriage is not and never has been a simply legal term which we can redefine at will; it is a term that was borrowed by the State from the Judeo-Christian Faith; adopted for recognition of the union of a man and a woman in a life-giving relationship. I understand that the State now thinks it is possible to remove the need for consummation from the definition of marriage in order to allow for same-sex ‘marriage’? This only goes to show how a government –any government of any place or time– acts as though it were God; how it becomes, in fact, its own god by redefining religious terms to suit its own purpose.
So why are governments seeking to allow same sex ‘marriage’? Let us not kid ourselves that this is altruism; about giving equality to gay people, for civil unions give same sex couples rights of inheritance etc. Rather, it seems to be much more about playing for votes in order to hold on to power. For any government to distort religious definitions and use persons’ disordered attractions as fodder for votes, is perhaps bordering on the down-right wicked.
In fact, this is not true.
ReplyDeleteIn European nations, marriage was traditionally considered a civil institution. Around 5AD great Christian theologians such as Augustine wrote about marriage and the Christian Church started taking an interest in the ceremony.
It was at this point that Christians began to have their marriages conducted by ministers in Christian gatherings, but it was in the 12th century that the Roman Catholic Church formally defined marriage as a sacrament, sanctioned by God.
Your point is taken, but I would say that Marriage was established as a union between a man and a woman way back; all the way back to the days of Genesis when the blessing of procreation (multiplying) was enjoined upon them. It was then affirmed as a Sacrament by Christ in the Gospels. That the Church formalised this with ceremonies or in the fifth century or by laws cannot alter those religious facts. The point Andrews is making in his post is that two men or two women cannot consummate their partnership and procreate as a couple, thus they cannot be regarded as married. It is therefore foolish to think a Government can describe a same-sex relationship as ‘marriage’.
DeleteWhat are the two blog authors' qualifications in theology and/or church history?
ReplyDeleteAnd what is your reference to the fifth century referring to?
Qualifications: none of us holds a Phd if that is what you are asking, just the kind of formation fitting for our vocation in life.
Delete5th Century reference: "That the Church formalised this with ceremonies in the fifth century..." was simply relating back to the century used in the comment. Father apologises for the way his sentence reads, which is due to the fact (he says!) that he cannot type well! He adds that “laws for the formalisation of marriage really arose in the post reformation period with Tametsi, from the Council of Trent. It forbade clandestine marriage. It was superseded by Ne Temere in 1908”.
You have missed the point of Ne Temere, if gay marriage is legal how can a priest sign the same certificate. Will there be an apostolic dispensation ?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment.
ReplyDeleteIndeed the priest would not be able to sign such a "marriage certificate". I do not think I indicated that a priest could do so... Further, even the Apostolic See cannot dispense from Divine Law, so there is simply no possibility of a priest being able to support gay "marriages".
Yes you cannot sign the same certificate as a registrar. you can sign a cert for the couple as a valid marriage in terms of the church in a little jotter or whatever you have to hand, or a parish registrar. Couples will have to make their own legal arrangements. Canon lawyers and priests are going to have a bit of fun when someone who has contracted a civil gay marriage later wants to contract a sacramental marriage. Hey - ho
ReplyDeleteThanks for replying. The fact remains that same sex pairings cannot contract a sacramental marriage. Neither the Church nor the State can override Divine Law, so the answer to so-called gay couples from a sound Catholic priest then will always simply be 'no'.
DeleteOr are me and Father missing your point?