Cardinal in strongly worded criticism of plans to redefine marriage

Mar 5, 2012

In a strongly worded article for The Sunday Telegraph Cardinal Keith O’Brien – Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic – has said that marriage should not be redefined by the Westminster Government. He said: “Since all the legal rights of marriage are already available to homosexual couples, it is clear that this proposal is not about rights, but rather is an attempt to redefine marriage for the whole of society at the behest of a small minority of activists.” He added: “No Government has the moral authority to dismantle the universally understood meaning of marriage.”

His intervention comes after the Church of England’s Archbishop of York and Archbishop of Canterbury both said that marriage should not be redefined in law. It puts the government at odds with the two largest churches in Britain – as well as nearly 100,000 members of the public who have signed the Coalition for Marriage’s petition.