Aug 11 - ERG Welcomes Bishop Heskett's Statement On Same Sex Marriage
Equality Rights Group welcomes the statements made by Roman Catholic Bishop Ralph Heskett in his recent Pastoral Letter to his Gibraltar Diocese, and reported by local media, regarding the question of civil marriage and same sex couples. It will go some way towards addressing the local Church’s long silence on this issue about which some of his congregation have been complaining.
A spokesman for the ERG said: "We note the Bishop’s statement , however, talks of ‘marriage and single sex friendships’ as being different. We agree. Friendship and marriage are two very distinct questions. But who is debating or talking of ‘friendship’? Marriage between same-sex couples is entered into precisely because the ‘friendship’ has evolved and developed into love between those people. And love is expressed in all its colours – sexually as well as affectively. Sex is a real part of the marital relationship and we ought not to skate around it, or treat it as a dirty subject by wrapping it up in delicate language. We’re in 2015. It is no longer apt to deal in euphemisms or hiding truths. ERG fully endorses clear and open speaking on all these matters."
The ERG says Bishop Heskett takes a gentle line of argument, however, and that is certainly a characteristic we understand he is known for and which we applaud. Furthermore, it is a tone which is only appropriate given that ERG’s One Civil Marriage Law For All campaign – which has undoubtedly prompted the local Church’s introduction into the debate – offers neither threat nor incursion into religion or religious belief, which this organisation will be the first to respect and protect in its commitment to the human and civil rights of all.
To be clear, and to underline one more of many times, the Bishop and his followers should note that 1) religious marriage is undisturbed or unaffected by advances in the civil law 2) religious doctrine and practice is the domain of the religions and must be respected as such – no interference is right or permissible in our view and 3) civil law and practices are secular and no religious interference is, likewise, permissible or acceptable.
"We are, and always will be, open to discussion and dialogue with the Bishop and his representatives in Gibraltar in the spirit of mutual respect and understanding, and also as part of our duty to put forward the concerns of the many religious LGBT people under his pastoral care in this Diocese," the spokesman concluded.
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