Print friendly
Perth Catholic Archbishop Barry Hickey said that the Archdiocese would stop officiating at legal marriages if it was forced to celebrate same-sex unions.
When addressing parishioners of the Traditional Anglican Church parish of St Ninian and St Chad in Maylands on Sunday, he also commented that he was uncertain if the Church could bury Catholics who had entered into a same-sex marriage.
However, Catholic newspaper The Record reported Archbishop Hickey as saying that if the push for same-sex marriage succeeded, the Catholic Church would continue to celebrate marriage as it always had.
Archbishop Hickey said he had “very, very serious concerns” about the Federal Government’s push to amend marriage laws to include same-sex unions.
“We can’t bless a relationship with an inbuilt defect in it . . . We’ve got nothing against people loving one another; it’s the sexual content that makes it difficult for us.”
Archbishop Hickey also told parishioners he had “not worked out yet” whether the Church could bury people who had entered into same-sex unions.
But in a later statement, Archbishop Hickey said he had only been thinking aloud about the possible pastoral implications of legal same-sex marriages
“A number of priests have urged me to take the compassionate view and place no barrier on burying people, because we cannot judge a person’s inner conscience nor do we know that person’s relationship with God,” he said. “I think this is good advice and I will take it.”
Father Joseph Walsh, from St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Subiaco, said marriage between a man and a woman was sacrosanct and he did not see any possibility of the Church changing its policy.
But Father Walsh said he would bury anyone irrespective of their sexuality because the Church had a duty of pastoral care. He said gay people were integrated into his church, he had buried them and baptised their children.
Full Story: The West
Image: The West
Related Posts:
News category: World.
