Catholic World News

English bishop: same-sex marriage the ‘inevitable outcome’ of artificial contraception

August 02, 2013

In a message to his diocese, Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth said that the recent legislative passage of same-sex marriage in England and Wales is “the inevitable outcome of a process that has been gathering pace since the sexual revolutions of the 1960s,” particularly artificial contraception, “which split [the] two ends of sexual intercourse, separating the unitive and suppressing the procreative aspect.”

“In the revised understanding of sexual intercourse and family life, powerful lobby groups have enabled homosexual relationships to become socially acceptable, and so the Government’s attempt to extend marriage to same-sex couples - and in time, presumably, to other combinations and partnerships - is an inevitable development,” continued the prelate, who was ordained a bishop in 2012.

“As Catholics, like Israel in Egypt, we now find ourselves in an alien land that speaks a foreign language with unfamiliar customs,” he added. “Parliament’s Orwellian attempt to redefine marriage radically changes the social context and this presents a massive challenge to the Church in England and Wales: to those who wish to marry in our churches, to Catholic parents bringing up children, to teachers in our Catholic schools, and to the clergy engaged in pastoral ministry. It may also be a legal minefield, although we will have to wait before the full implications of the new legislation take effect.”

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