Giving in to emotions when voting on same-sex marriage was not beneficial, Mgr Carmelo Zammit, the new Bishop of Gibraltar, urged MPs, hours before his episcopal ordination at the Mdina cathedral yesterday.

The episcopal ordination was headed by Cardinal Vincent Nichols.

Gibraltar’s parliamentarians, he said, should vote in accordance with their conscience so their vote would reflect their beliefs. It was clear, he added, that the debate about allowing same sex partners to get married was not a question of rights but of terminology.

The government of Gibraltar has moved a Bill in Parliament aimed at allowing civil marriages between couples of the same sex. The House of Representatives in Malta had approved a civil unions law two years ago.

“Seeking the legal right to have a partnership between same sex people called marriage is basically fuelled by the wish to be seen as identical to heterosexual couples getting married.

“Giving in to such an emotional wish will, in the long run, have its consequences on the institution of marriage itself, which, in my view, will not be beneficial,” he said in a statement on the eve of his ordination.

According to the Gibraltar Chronicle, Mgr Zammit’s comments echoed those of Gibraltar’s Christian denominations and the Jewish community.

We have a duty to do all we can to ensure that the true meaning of marriage is not lost for future generations

He felt that changing the legal definition of marriage was a “radical step” and its consequences should be taken seriously.

A change in the law would gradually and inevitably transform society’s understanding of the purpose of marriage, he said. “With the proposed change in the law, the complementarity of male and female and that marriage is intended for the procreation and education of children will be lost in the future.

“I believe that, as a society, we have a duty towards those who come after us to do all we can to ensure that the true meaning of marriage is not lost for future generations. If this law goes through, there is no turning back,” Mgr Zammit warned.

He insisted that everyone deserved to be treated with equal respect. “Any unjust discrimination against people with a different sexual orientation must be avoided. However, the fact that all people are equal does not take away the reality that not all are the same. There is diversity in equality. The Catholic teaching on marriage is not a judgement about people who experience same sex attractions but a statement about how the Church has always understood the nature of marriage itself,” Mgr Zammit said. The terms “marriage” and “civil partnership” were testament to such diversity, he added.

Mgr Zammit also referred to the independence of the State and the Church. The Church only proposed what it believed to be the best for society and it did not impose, he said.

Whatever the outcome of the debate in Parliament, Mgr Zammit said he hoped there would be no hostile feelings among those “with whom we agree to disagree”.

He expressed the hope that people with different views would be able to voice their beliefs without fear of intimidation and that religious freedom and liberty would be supported and defended.

The episcopal ordination was headed by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Bishop Ralph Heskett.