Ireland’s most recently ordained bishop, Alphonsus Cullinan, has said that the Church must continue to teach the truth about marriage in spite of May’s referendum result.

Dr Cullinan, who is the bishop of Waterford and Lismore, was addressing a meeting of The Iona Institute last month in Dublin. His topic was, ‘Teaching the Truth about Marriage’.

Describing the vote in favour of same-sex marriage as an “error”, he urged Catholics to, “Continue to advocate for society to recognise that the permanent, fruitful, faithful union of one man and one woman makes a unique contribution to the common good, and so deserves — once again — unique protection and support in law.”

He added: “This will, in the short term, create more room for social tolerance of this venerable view of marriage, and in the long term, make the day come sooner when, inevitably, this decision will come undone. I know that I as bishop must teach the whole truth about marriage and nothing but the truth.

Bishop Cullinan also questioned whether the State really cares about marriage in view of the fact that the State itself does not have marriage preparation courses for couples.

Bishop Cullinan claimed that rising individualism means that “commitment to marriage is decreasing”.

He wondered whether family breakdown is contributing to the homelessness crisis and called for a study to investigate whether there is such a connection.

He called for family-friendly policies such as extended maternity leave and additional support for mothers who wish to stay at home with their children.

The full text of Bishop Cullinan’s address is here.