The right of Catholic schools in Ireland to teach that marriage is between one man and one woman only must be protected in the event of a Yes vote in the same-sex marriage referendum, a Catholic bishop has insisted.
In an interview with The Irish Catholic newspaper, Bishop Kevin Doran of Elphin stressed that “any school of course could teach that the law about marriage has changed but a Catholic school would also have to be free to teach that the Catholic Church does not subscribe to that changed understanding of marriage”. The bishop added that a key consideration for schools should the vote pass would be “how any change in the Constitution would have to be reflected in the text and images of the books used in our schools”.
Bishop Doran was responding to a recent interview in which Taoiseach Enda Kenny appeared to suggest that, in the event of a Yes vote in the referendum, schools could be forced to teach on different forms of marriage. “The Taoiseach has stated…that the constitutional amendment, if passed, would not change the meaning of marriage,” the bishop pointed out. “He is, however, suggesting at the same time that Catholic schools would have to teach something different about marriage than what they previously taught.”
Asked about protecting the right of Catholic schools to continue teaching the traditional definition of marriage, a spokesman for Mr Kenny simply said, Christianity is also about “inclusiveness and tolerance”.
