Madam, - Archbishop Diarmuid Martin (November 28th) seeks to clarify the interpretation of remarks he made on marriage and civil unions at a recent Maynooth press conference, which I attended.
Bishops and archbishops can all too easily go down the road of condemnation when speaking out on the issues of the day and know there will be no misunderstanding of their position. To be fair to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, he does try to take the harder road in his public utterances as advocated by Pope Benedict, which is to promote Christianity as a positive option.
It would be a shame if this approach and the merits of the Archbishop's argument were lost because of a misunderstanding of the nuanced position he was trying to articulate.
Dr Martin, while promoting the positives for society of the Christian view of marriage, was also striving to inform those who misinterpret the church's position as uncaring and unsympathetic. The Church does care about the rights of a variety of people in caring and dependent relationships. This position is largely lost in the current debate on marriage and civil unions.
To ensure clarity in future Maynooth press conferences may I suggest to the bishops that the gatherings be less of a sprint to the finish and that they stay behind to meet reporters - who make the effort to travel out to Maynooth - and clarify any queries. - Yours, etc,