Bishop Tartaglia on the family

Each month, Opus Dei very kindly send me Position Papers, a collection of articles of interest. This forms part of my "breakfast reading" and there is invariable something that informs or inspires. The December issue carries the text of the sermon given by Bishop Philip Tartaglia, recently appointed to the Diocese of Paisley in Scotland, to the annual "Red Mass" at Edinburgh Cathedral for those in the legal profession.

Bishop Tartaglia chose to speak about the law relating to the family. He outlined how the Family Law act (which makes divorce quicker and easier), Civil Partnership legislation (giving homosexual relationships a status similar to marriage) and the Gender Recognition Act (allowing people to change their "gender") undermine the family in society.

He was forceful on the responsibility of legislators. He pointed out that the truth of marriage and the family is not just a mystery of faith but "belongs to the natural law and is accessible by reason. He went on:
"Even many non-Christian societies have recognized this, Unfortunately, in our times, the minds of many have been so darkened by hubris and by the selfish pursuit of their own gratification that they have lost sight of the natural law which God has written into his creation so that even those who do not believe in him may reach out for the truth and so be disposed, however inchoately, to God's presence in the world, Even if they cannot be blamed for not having faith, I suspect that God will call them to account for ignoring the promptings of their own right reason, They are fortunate that he is more merciful than they are!"
To get Position Papers, email ppapers@eircom.net. (Annual subscription outside Ireland is 25 euros, 18 pounds sterling or 34 US dollars.)

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