Evangelical Catholic Church - Pastoral Letter on Marriage Referendum
Evangelical Catholic Church
To our beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,
We of the Evangelical Catholic Church in Ireland, wish to reach out to all with this, our pastoral, in relation to the upcoming Same Sex Marriage Referendum due to be held here in Ireland on Friday, May 22nd 2015.
It is an issue which is proving to be of great concern and challenge to ALL parties, whether they be in support or against of this legislation, and here in Ireland, it is all the more evident that many Christians of all denominations are struggling.
For many, it is a major challenge for them – whether as religious or as lay – to translate that which their faith asks of them into action. It is not just within the faith communities that this struggle exists, but indeed it encompasses all of Irish society – religious, political and generational.
RC Church -v- Society in Ireland
It can be rightly claimed that Ireland has had more than its fair share of religious interference and intolerance down through the ages, and this has been borne out by the recent exposés of the failings of the Irish Roman Catholic hierarchical cover-ups in relation to child sex abuse, Magdalene ‘homes’ and indeed the ongoing discrimination of many groupings within society, and especially so the LGBT community.
The Roman Catholic Church hierarchy has, in recent days (14th April 2015) indicated very strongly that it would withdraw from being the civil solemniser (alongside officiating religiously) on behalf of the State should this upcoming referendum be passed. This indeed is indicative of the desperation of the aforementioned hierarchy to emotionally blackmail people to vote the way the hierarchy would wish them, and therefore continue legally discriminating against the LGBT community.
However, they have not considered the fact that the citizens of Ireland are more democratically minded than these ecclesiastics themselves are, and this referendum should serve as a reminder to these bishops that the Church they claim to represent, once started out as a democracy!! The consensus of the faithful originally served to inform the official teachings of the Church, and down through the centuries, this was the norm and kept the Church - and its teachings – modern and relevant to the times in which they were then living.
This has indeed all changed, and radically so, especially since the time of John Paul II, who actually once declared that democracy cannot exist within the Church, and that indeed they could just about co-exist!!
It is regrettable that this mentality has not only been taught by the late Pontiff, but also acted upon and indeed enforced ever since.
Note the document issued on the 10th. March 2010 by the Irish Catholic Bishops Conference entitled ‘Why Marriage Matters’, A Statement of the Irish Bishops’ Conference on the Civil Partnership Bill. It has 2 headings within which are of note, namely ‘Challenges to Marriage today,’ and the other being ‘Why is the Church concerned about the Civil Partnership Bill?’
In this document, they draw attention to the very real issue of marriage being a private matter which they claim it should not be but rather a public one which should enrich the couple and society. Is this stating that marriage is not indeed a private matter between two people? If marriage is indeed to be a public issue, then let the public deal with this issue as they wish to within the confines of the ballot box and not the confession box!!
The Church admits that the Civil Marriage Bill will indeed present a challenge to them as indeed it will to ALL of society, so no-one can take it that they should have more of a voice in this debate.
Civil marriage will become a term which the Church fears, but will no doubt be welcomed by society in general as it removes any discrimination and inequality that currently exists in law and recognition.
Let us not forget that traditionally, marriage was NOT and NEVER has been the gift of any church but rather of society.
Marriage began long before any church came into existence, and was then (as is now) a socially (and/or later religiously) recognised ritual or legal contract between spouses (note it is between spouses and NOT man and woman). It was later usurped by religious minds and authorities and adjusted to be that which it is now – between man and woman.
The bible does NOT give specific details or directions in relation to a marriage ceremony, but Scripture is very clear about marriage being a holy and divinely established covenant (ie contract). In effect, church authorities bastardised and sacramentalised marriage in their own way for their own purposes.
If one is a member of any faith community, then that membership involves participating in the rituals and rites of that community but this does not mean - nor should it be permitted by the civil government - that one faith community should rule or dictate to the populace in a fashion as beset Ireland from its foundation as a State in 1922.
The Roman Catholic Church, not unlike other denominations, has its sacraments and they are indeed well entitled to ritualise as they determine best for themselves. The sacrament of marriage is exactly that within their faith community – a sacrament – and it is based upon the original marriage ritual of society i.e. mutual contract to live together as part of society.
In this debate, they seem to deliberately misinform people that the sacrament of marriage is under threat and its very definition is also going be undermined by the new wording to be put to the people.
Nothing could be further from the truth!!
The sacrament remains the sacrament irrespectively as it is purely a church issue.
Marriage is purely a civil binding recognised by society and given legal recognition and effect.
The sacrament of marriage is therefore best described as members of the church community asking the State for the right to have their uniting as one recognised by the State and that such binding be both religiously and socially contracted within the rituals of their faith community.
This also then challenges the Irish RC bishops threat to have their clergy removed as solemnisers on behalf of the Irish State all the more interesting and indeed progressive – whether they realise it or not.
It will mean that Ireland will then modernise its marital laws in common with mainland Europe in that it will then oblige its people to civilly marry and then the couple can go back to their own faith community (if so wish) to be then sacramentally wed.
There will be few enough clergy in Ireland upset at that prospect as it will result in reduced liability and paperwork on their behalf. It may well indeed be the way forward, but to use it as a threat is not only unforgivable but also will serve as another (self-inflicted) nail in the coffin of RC ecclesiastical authority in Ireland.
As things stand, we await the approaching historic date of Friday, 22nd. May 2015 with a slight sense of trepidation, when we will go to our local voting station and pick up the ballot paper asking us to decide whether we will permit the following words to be inserted into the Irish Constitution:
“Marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex.”
Part of this change at present is that we have been asked by our government to think about marriage and the family in our society, and to state by the means of a referendum whether or not we wish to extend the rights and civil protections of marriage and the family to homosexual people.
This address is not a directive to our fellow Christians on how to vote in this referendum.
How one decides to vote is a matter for ones’ own conscience.
This letter is our appeal to your conscience, as sisters and brothers in Christ, that we all carefully weigh up all of the facts, together with all of the realities we live each day, and fearlessly appreciate that by extending such rights to other people we do not in the least diminish our own rights.
The Evangelical Catholic Church - Diocese of Ireland is a community of Christians seeking to live out the love of God in Jesus Christ, and to show this radical love among the people with whom we have been called, by the grace of God, to serve.
We are of the belief that human sexuality is one of the many blessings that God has given his creation, and that sexuality is as wide and varied as all the other facets of our shared human nature. We do not believe that gay men and women are incapable of being loving partners of other people in life-long, committed marital relationships.
Further to this, we believe that gay women and men are every bit as capable of being loving parents as any heterosexual person. We believe that withholding the rights of gay couples to be married and to establish a family, if they so choose, is cruel and contrary to God’s creative purposes.
Notwithstanding how people choose to vote in this referendum, the Evangelical Catholic Church - Diocese of Ireland, will remain committed to supporting the extension of all of these rights and protections to same-sex couples.
Our doors will always be open to all people, regardless of their individual realities, for the sake of community, our worship, and commitment to the love of God and the service of others as it is proclaimed to us from the Holy Gospel.
+ Joseph – Evangelical Catholic Church, Diocese of Ireland
