An initiative of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Scottish Bishops Hold "National Marriage Sunday"

Yesterday, Sunday August 26, the universal Church heard St. Paul’s beautiful words about marriage in his letter to the Ephesians: “‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ [Gen 2:24] This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the church.” (Eph 5:31-32)

Yesterday, then, was a fitting Sunday for the Catholic bishops of Scotland to declare “National Marriage Sunday.” In light of a debate about marriage’s definition currently going on in Scotland, they asked all parishes to read aloud the following pastoral letter about marriage.

A Message for Marriage Sunday
from the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland

In all things, we as Catholics look to Jesus Christ as our model and teacher. When asked about marriage He gave a profound and rich reply: “Have you not read that the Creator, from the beginning, ‘made them male and female’, and said: ‘This is why a man must leave father and mother and cling to his wife and the two become one body’.” (Matthew, 19: 4-5)

In the Year of Faith, which begins this October, we wish to place a special emphasis on the role of the family founded on marriage. The family is the domestic Church, and the first place in which the faith is transmitted. For that reason it must have a primary focus in our prayerful considerations during this period of grace.

We write to you having already expressed our deep disappointment that the Scottish Government has decided to redefine marriage and legislate for same-sex marriage. We take this opportunity to thank you for your past support in defense of marriage and hope you will continue to act against efforts to redefine it. We reaffirm before you all the common wisdom of humanity and the revealed faith of the Church that marriage is a unique life-long union of a man and a woman.

In circumstances when the true nature of marriage is being obscured, we wish to affirm and celebrate the truth and beauty of the Sacrament of Matrimony and family life as Jesus revealed it; to do something new to support marriage and family life in the Catholic community and in the country; and to reinforce the vocation of marriage and the pastoral care of families which takes in the everyday life of the Church in dioceses and parishes across the country.

For that reason, in the forthcoming Year of Faith we have decided to establish a new Commission for Marriage and the Family. This Commission will be led by a bishop and will be composed mostly of lay men and women. The Commission will be charged with engaging with those young men and women who will be future husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, and with those who already live out their vocation to marriage and parenthood in surroundings which often make it hard to sustain and develop the full Catholic family life we cherish.

We wish to support too, those who are widowed, separated and divorced and all who need to feel the Church’s maternal care in the circumstances in which they find themselves. The new Commission will promote the true nature of marriage as both a human institution and a union blessed by Jesus. The Commission will be asked to develop an online presence so that prayer, reflection, formation and practical information on matters to do with marriage and family life can be quickly accessible to all. It will also work to produce materials and organise events which will support ordinary Catholic families in their daily lives. During the course of the coming year we will ask for your support for these initiatives.

Our faith teaches us that marriage is a great and holy mystery. The Bishops of Scotland will continue to promote and uphold the universally accepted definition of marriage as the union solely of a man and a woman. At the same time, we wish to work positively for the strengthening of marriage within the Church and within our society.

This is an important initiative for all our people, but especially our young people and children. We urge you to join us in this endeavour. Pray for your own family every day, and pray for those families whose lives are made difficult by the problems and cares which they encounter. Finally, we invite you to pray for our elected leaders, invoking the Holy Spirit on them, that they may be moved to safeguard marriage as it has always been understood, for the good of Scotland and of our society.

Read the press release here.

2 responses to “Scottish Bishops Hold "National Marriage Sunday"”

  1. George W. Mouchette says:

    Some officials within the Scottish Government have been misled and/or have become afflicted within a politically architected alter-identity state and are acting blindly without regard to consequence.

    Homosexuality is produced through a corrupted primary identity; or, by no fault of their own, through alter-identity processing. Gay marriage leads people deeper into a life of nocturnal voice based Core Knowledgebase manipulation and disruption undermining their human free-will (as is consistent with the engagement objectives of Intervoice).

    It is notable that they want to protect the homosexual cognitive state within the school system because it is within the school system that many of the homosexual conversions will take place – without the student’s or parent’s knowledge or understanding.

    On this path, the long term prognosis for Scotland is dire because over the next 50 years their society and institutions will be migrated towards pervasive institutional and social disruption that will be difficult or impossible to extricate itself from.

    Their prudent course of action is to investigate the genesis of the cause of homosexuality before they act; particularly as all of the genetic explanations have been discredited, the cause of family associations has been explained and the procedures for homosexual conversion prevention and reversal have been put into place.

  2. Dayana says:

    Traditional Catholicism has little trioatcn politically and the geo-political scene generally would have to undergo a radical alteration for it to gain any in the short term. The present race for the GOP presidential candidacy is a reflection of how moribund resistance to the status quo remains. A vote for Romney consigns the USA to four more years of worsening wars and bank bailouts either under the incumbent or the Republican newcomer. In that regard, Cardinal Burke embodies the same don’t rock the boat disposition of the secular majority.A young, ponytailed, Irish (probably lapsed Catholic) intellectual summed up the current state of affairs in an interview with the internet journalist Max Keiser in respect of the financial disaster engulfing his country. Resistance could be messy , he concluded dispassionately. We all know what he means by this. Until there this a level of upheaval that does indeed turn messy , then the Cardinal Burkes and Vincent Nichols of this World will continue to ignore Daphne McLeod and her followers and enforce their own failed policies in the manner of their secular equivalents.

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