Archbishop Eamon Martin has said Catholics should ask politicians about their policies towards the family, the right to life, schools and freedom of conscience in the coming election campaign.

Speaking at a conference organised by the Iona Institute and The Irish Catholic newspaper, the Primate of All Ireland called on those who wish to be “advocates for the family and for the Catholic understanding of marriage” to actively press election candidates on a range of issues relevant to families in Ireland today.

“We might ask those who seek our vote: To what extent can you, in contemporary Ireland support Family and Life, freedom of education and conscience, a proper work-life balance, which respects the role of mothers and fathers?” he suggested. “What will your economic and social policies say to poorer families in Ireland, particularly those policies which impact directly on family: the needs of children and the elderly; tackling the proliferation of drugs, alcohol, gambling and other addictive behaviours which can destroy home and family life?

“How will your welfare policies and benefit programmes support families who are most in need and who are so easily targeted and exploited by loan sharks and other criminal elements? How will you better assist young people who wish to establish a family, mortgage a home, take out insurance, but who may sometimes be convinced by economic policy to remain single?”

Reiterating Pope Francis’ message that the family, as the basic unit of society, “deserves special attention by those responsible for the common good”, the Primate insisted that “the State should go out of its way to support the family, and, among the many types of family that are out there, to support the uniqueness of the faithful and exclusive union between a married man and a woman and their children. In doing so, the State is not only caring for its citizens, but it is also strengthening and nurturing the foundations of society itself.”

Quoting the final report on last October’s Synod on the Family, Archbishop Martin said: “A society that neglects the family has lost its access to the future.”

The full speech can be read here.