Madam, – I am writing in response to the “conclusion” in the statement by the Catholic bishops after their summer meeting in Maynooth. (Home News, June 17th). After reading (at their advice) Why Marriage Matters, I wonder at their comment that only their definition of family constitutes the basis of “social order” and is “indispensable to the welfare of the nation and State”.
Can the bishops not recognise the irony when, on one hand they espouse “the right to social and civil freedom in religious matters” and the “cherished principle of a free and diverse society” while on the other hand they want a monopoly over social order and the freedom for the church to decide on individual conscience? Been there; done that. – Yours, etc,