Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
London (Fides Service) - In a statement on Civil Partnership issued on December 6th from the Catholic Communications Network Archbishop Peter Smith, archbishop of Cardiff and President of the Commission for Christian responsibility and citizenship of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, said “the introduction of civil partnerships as a legal institution is bound to have a significant and lasting cultural and social impact”. The Archbishop said with the Civil Partnership Act which will come into force in Britain on 21 December the government has effectively established same-sex marriage in all but name.
“As a result, the Archbishop said, “there is a real danger that the deeply rooted understanding of marriage as a permanent and exclusive relationship between a woman and a man and as the best context for raising children, will be eroded”. According to the Archbishop what the government needs to do is to “support and promote marriage rather than undermine it. Civil Partnership is not based on natural complementarity of male and female and the natural purpose of sexual union cannot be achieved by same sex partnerships nor can a same sex couple cooperate with God to create a new life”.
Archbishop Smith stated that “life long marriage between a man and a woman continues to represent an unchanging ideal and a vital anchor for a rapidly changing world. Marriage is recognised to be the most stable and living context for raising children”. And he reaffirmed the commitment of the Catholic Bishops in England and Wales to “uphold the unique status and meaning of marriage and its importance for the well-being of society”. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 9/12/2005, righe 19, parole 256)
