“It is very clear that this referendum is an affirmation of the views of young people,” said Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin in reaction to the massive popular vote in Ireland in favour of gay marriages.

Martin, who during the referendum campaign repeated­ly explained why he was voting against gay marriage, acknow­ledged that the Church needed a “reality check” as the outcome was part of a social revolution.

“The Church has a huge task in front of it to find the language to be able to talk to and get its message across to young people – not just on this issue but in general,” he said, while adding that the strong pro-gay marriage vote came from young people who had been educated in Church schools for 12 years.

Fr Tony Flannery, a founder of the Association of Catholic Priests, responded to the result by underling that people are not listening to the Church any longer.

“The Redemptorist priest warned that “the people are no longer willing to listen to speeches and sermons on morality from the Church.”

Cardinal slams call for Church blessings

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the bishops’ conference, criti­cised the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) following a position paper that called for Church blessings for all same-sex partnerships and remarried divorcees. ZdK is the largest Catholic lay group in Germany.

Marx said the group was “over-hasty” and that its paper contained certain demands that were “theologically unacceptable” if enacted “unreservedly”.

Marx spelt out that both demands required further theo­logical clari­fication and that “necessary theo­logical debate” and dialogue on both subjects would be helpful.

At the same time, however, Marx praised the ZdK’s position paper for its many “theological and socially significant statements on the family and the demand to promote the family in the Church, in politics and in society”.

However, ZdK general secretary Stefan Vesper rejected the criticism levelled by Marx and other bishops.

Atheism not negotiable

China’s ruling Com­munist Party has warned that atheism is not negotiable for its members.

According to the party’s news­letter, “the fact that a small number of party members have forsaken the party’s world view of dialectical mate­rialism and have turned to religion is now attracting serious concern, to the extent that it now falls within the purview of disciplinary work”.

“Marx himself stated boldly that Communism, in essence, begins with atheism,” the party added. “There can be no doubt about the fact that the founding ideological principle that Communist Party members cannot be religious believers has been upheld by our party from the outset.”

‘Euthanasia erodes faith in healthcare’

Archbishop Paul-André Durocher of Gatineau, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, said: “The court’s ruling [overturning legislation against eutha­nasia] not only erodes society’s appreciation for human life, but also the trust people should have in medical personnel and healthcare institutions to protect their lives.”

He added: “Parliament, as well as provincial legislatures and colleges of physicians, need to prevent this ruling from impacting the charter rights of physicians, and on what is now an urgent need to protect all healthcare workers and managers from being compelled to provide, or be involved in, assisted suicide.”

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.