I refer to the report Why Same-Sex Marriages Cannot Be Blessed (May 25) and the editorial Dangerous Models (June 5).
I wish to commend Archbishop Joseph Mercieca for his courage and fortitude in condemning "gay marriage" and other forms of secular hedonism. Homosexuality is a troubling moral and social phenomenon. Due to benign interpretations of the homosexual condition itself it is increasingly being viewed as something neutral or even good. It now threatens to destroy the institution of marriage in Canada.
No ideology, however, can erase from the human spirit the certainty that marriage is solely between a man and a woman. The natural truth about marriage was confirmed by the Revelation contained in the biblical accounts of creation (Gen 1:27-28. Gen:2:24). According to consistent biblical testimony concerning homosexuality, there are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God's plan for marriage and family. In fact, all major religions of the world consider homosexuality an objective disorder. Why? Because it violates "natural law". Homosexual acts close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.
"Natural" does not refer here simply to what is in accord with biological processes of man. Nor does it refer to what is innate, nor even to what is "normal". Rather, the word "natural" has a metaphysical meaning. That which is "natural" accords with what is good for human beings. All human beings are, in fact, in an unnatural and disordered condition. It is common to the human condition, for instance, for human beings to want to eat, drink and sleep, more than is good for them. It is common to the human condition for humans to want to have sexual intercourse with those with whom they should not or when they should not or in ways that they should not. In this context, homosexuality is simply another of the "unnatural" or "disordered" conditions to which humans are susceptible.
Natural law has to do with the fundamental goods we humans naturally incline to and the principles that govern our pursuit of them. These goods, which are essential to our personhood, include life, truth, community and creativity. By engaging in them, we fulfil our human mandate. Both civil and religious authorities endorse natural law when they rule against murder, which attacks life, or perjury which attacks truth. They also endorse natural law when they rule against sexual irregularities, which attack community, life, or both.
Homosexuality renders human sexuality incomplete. Incompleteness, the absence of a required good, is the definition of evil. When fundamental human goods are at stake, evil is something we ought never to choose. It is not without reason that recent statistics show there is a much higher rate of disintegration within same-sex unions than in heterosexual marriages. Adding to the fallout of homosexual unions is the curse of HIV/Aids which is largely a symptom of homosexual activity.
Marriage exists solely between a man and a woman who through their personal gift of self to each other, perfect one another into a communion of persons. This human development of the spouses and the proper nurturing of children who are the fruit of such unions makes an immense contribution to the common good of society. One does not need to have any particular religion to recognise this, or that the family based on marriage is the best way to bring up happy, productive children.
I wish also to applaud Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg for his efforts in upholding a request by the pro-life movement to entrench the ban on abortion in the Constitution.
Procured abortion is the deliberate and direct killing, by whatever means it is carried out, of a human being in the initial phase of his or her existence, extending from conception to birth. While the term "choice" may sound democratic, the person who opts for abortion is neglecting to consider the fundamental right to life of the mother's unborn foetus.
To claim the right to abortion and to recognise that right in law means to attribute to human freedom a perverse and evil significance: that of an absolute power over others and against others. This is the death of true freedom.
Today, in many people's consciences, the perception of the gravity of abortion has become progressively obscured. The acceptance of abortion in the popular mind, in behaviour and even in law itself, is a telling sign of an extremely dangerous crisis of the moral sense, which is becoming more and more incapable of distinguishing between good and evil, even when the fundamental right to life is at stake.
The moral gravity of procured abortion is apparent in all its truth if we recognise that we are dealing with murder. Given such a grave situation, we need now more than ever to have the courage to look the truth in the eye and to call things by their proper name, without yielding to convenient compromises or to the temptation of self-deception.
Caesar Augustus, a pagan, sought to strengthen Roman society by outlawing adultery and sodomy and by encouraging marriage and procreation. He understood that there is such a thing as public morality. Emperor Augustus saw this, but it was too late to overcome the sexual licence of the late Roman Republic. This was the real reason why it collapsed. Let us hope Malta does not suffer the same fate but rather continues to be, in the words of the late Pope John Paul II, "a stronghold of faith".