CATHOLIC BISHOPS yesterday renewed their opposition to gay marriage, insisting that sexual differentiation is intrinsic to the sacrament of marriage.
The bishops' statement comes in the middle of the Dublin Pride Festival organised by the gay community, which is aimed at celebrating diversity and lobby for equal rights.
However, a spokesman for the Irish Bishops' Conference insisted the timing of their statement - based on the June meeting of the bishops held last week - had nothing to do with the festival.
Informed sources say the intervention was prompted by comments by a Catholic nun and a professor of theology that the Catholic sacrament of marriage should apply to same-sex couples.
Margaret Farley, professor of moral theology at Yale Divinity School and a member of the Sisters of Mercy order of nuns, told a conference in Dublin last month that same-sex marriage should be allowed as a matter of justice.
In a statement yesterday, the Irish Bishops' Conference said that in view of the debate about marriage promoted by individuals who "claim support from Christian ideas", they were keen to reiterate that marriage involves more than the commitment of two people to each other.
"Christian tradition holds that sexual differentiation is intrinsic to our understanding of the sacrament of marriage," the group said.
"Marriage has a meaning that is not reducible to individuals' intentions and society's laws. Marriage is not perceived as just any kind of relationship, but as a quite specific kind of relationship, with certain core characteristics."
It continued: "It is oriented towards the sharing of their lives and the support they will give each other, and also towards the creation of new human beings as the fruit of their love.
"It is for the sake of these two objectives that the loving marital relationship between a woman and a man needs to be one that is faithful, exclusive and lasting."
This is in contrast to Prof Farley's comments at a conference by the Irish School of Ecumenics at Trinity College Dublin that the sacrament of marriage was easily applicable to same-sex marriages.
In an interview with The Irish Times, she said a committed couple had the right to a marital relationship.
"We have softened gender stereotypes in recent times and it becomes possible to say that any two people who have the gift of love - which is theologically a call by God to participate in the sacrament of marriage - to marry," she said. While she accepted her position was not accepted by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, Prof Farley said many senior bishops were sympathetic to the needs of same-sex unions.
"In a Christian context, Catholic understanding of marriage as a sacrament can be applicable to same-sex marriages as well as to heterosexual marriages," she said.
"We have to witness that homosexuality can be a way of embodying responsible human love and sustaining human and Christian fellowship."
Meanwhile, Government plans to introduce legislation which would allow for civil unions between same-sex couples are unlikely to be published before the Dáil's summer recess.
Government officials say progress has been delayed due to the Lisbon Treaty campaign and the Cabinet reshuffle following Brian Cowen's appointment as Taoiseach.
However, some well-placed sources say there has been tension between the Green Party and Fianna Fáil over how far aspects of the legislation will go.
