The Church has a right and a duty to “speak out on social issues” Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has said.
Referring to the same-sex marriage debate, Dr Martin stressed that “the teaching of the Catholic Church on marriage is well known and is not something just Irish. That teaching is the same in Ireland and in any other country in the world and does not change according to fashion.”
Urging the judicious use of language on this and other matters of interest to faithful Catholics, the Archbishop said that “by reaching out to people in what for the Church are irregular situations, they may become more open and gradually begin to come closer to more sensitive understanding of the Church’s teaching on marriage as a lifelong commitment, which for Christians has with a deep religious foundation.” W
arning that people would not come to understand the Church’s position “by decree or dictate”, he explained “the Church has to learn a new way to criticise in such a way as not to alienate, but also the Church must avoid giving the impression that ‘anything goes’.
By way of illustration, Archbishop Martin referred to the example of Pope Francis during his time as a prelate amid Argentina’s same-sex marriage debate.
“Pope Francis was unequivocal in his judgment about its non-admissibility, yet he consistently told people not to judge any individual,” he explained. “Pope Francis has the ability to see that truth and mercy are not mutually exclusive in absolutist terms. Pope Francis does not think in the black and white categories that we tend to. He sees that most of us live in the grey areas of life where compromise may often be almost inevitable. He sees that Christians who may live together before marriage or who live in civil marriages may indeed share more of the vision of Christian marriage than we often think.”
Acknowledging that the culture of Ireland has changed and “cultural factors which affect all western countries are just as active in Ireland as elsewhere”, Dr Martin asked: “Does that mean that the Church should simply recognise social change and either change its teaching or shut up?”
Lamenting that, all too often, “criticism of society from the side of Church leaders will be welcomed, but often only on those areas where such criticism is the flavour of the day and not on certain others issues,” the archbishop insisted that “ethical teaching cannot be reduced to an ethic which makes people feel comfortable; it must challenge people to move away from acquiescence”.