In which Newton Emerson explores Leviticus and the theology of coupledom
Official recognition of civil unions will seriously undermine the status of the family in Irish life, Archbishop Dr Brady Bunch has warned.
Dr Bunch was responding to a Law Reform Commission report which recommended eight improvements to the rights of cohabiting couples, covering issues such as inheritance, pensions, health care, welfare, taxation, dirty looks in Donegal guesthouses and endless hints from mothers who mean well and are trying not to nag but just don't understand that the mortgage comes first.
Dr Bunch also expressed "surprise" at Social and Family Affairs Minister Mary Coughlan's comments that the State should not favour marriage over other types of family life. "This is very strange coming from a Government Minister, especially given the Constitution, which specifically prevents Fianna Fáil Ministers from meddling in my patch," he said.
Dr Bunch was speaking at a church seminar in Dublin yesterday entitled "Supporting Marriage and Family Life As We Define It", organised by the Irish Bishops Congress. "Marriage is the primary source of stability in any society," he told an audience of elderly single men from dioceses across Ireland. "That is why couples who aren't married must be denied stability."
Dr Bunch added that the Law Reform Commission's proposals would amount to official recognition of "so-called de-facto unions".
"Any politician who supports this idea should be denounced as a de-facto unionist," said the Archbishop. "That should remind Mary Coughlan that I can meddle in her patch as well."
The issue of same-sex unions is causing most distress within the church, despite moves towards a better tolerance. "The Catholic Church teaches that homosexual people are to be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity, and condemns all forms of violence or abuse directed against people who are homosexual," said Dr Bunch. "They must only suffer violence and abuse in hell, where the Catholic Church teaches that they will spend an eternity in torment."
The Archbishop warned that this new mood of liberalism should not be mistaken for approval of same-sex unions. "Marriage and the family are grounded in the will of God and revealed by the order of nature," he explained, "whereas homosexual relationships are neither natural nor God's will, which is why the church has opposed them throughout history and across the world in every human culture."
The Archbishop is also concerned that official recognition of same-sex unions might lead to the adoption of children by gay couples. "We already have a situation where half of all Irish children are raised without the presence of father," he said. "Raising the other half in the presence of two fathers may meet Ms Coughlan's parenting targets on a purely statistical level but spiritually speaking it leaves much to be desired."
Dr Willy Knight, the Bishop of Portadown and Kilkenny, who has written extensively about church thinking on these complex issues, outlined the theological reasoning behind the Archbishop's objections.
"Romans 1:27 tell us that 'The men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men working with men that which is unseemly'," he explained. "But enough about marriage and the priesthood. What concerns us most directly here is Leviticus 20:13 which says "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."
"Archbishop Bunch has effectively described homosexuals as dangerous freaks of nature who should remain in a state of legal limbo for the protection of society," said Bishop Knight. "However he has not called for their execution, which demonstrates a remarkable willingness to compromise on his part. If only the same could be said for Mary Coughlan."
Gay advocacy groups point out that Leviticus also forbids sowing two crops in one field, eating shellfish, touching a woman within seven days of menstruation, collecting interest on a loan, talking to lepers, cooking goats in their mother's milk, shaving a priest's head, keeping meat for more than three days, seeking the advice of wizards and dressing in cloth of mixed fibres.
"The Bible rates homosexuality as no more of a mortal sin than wearing poly-cotton boxer shorts," said a leading Dublin gay person yesterday. But Bishop Knight rejected the scriptural validity of this comparison. "I'm not wearing any boxer shorts," he said. "Now tell me young man, do you like football?"
Newton Emerson is editor of the satirical website portadownnews.com