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Ahead of Australia’s federal election, Catholic bishops have spoken out about political decisions that can damage marriage and hurt families.
In a statement from the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) released yesterday, the bishops stated that “political decisions” can damage the institution of marriage and hurt families.
Australia’s federal election is scheduled for July 2.
The Australian Labour party has promised to legalise same-sex marriage within 100 days if it is elected.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has promised to hold a A$160 million plebiscite on the issue if he is re-elected.
The bishops’ statement, titled “A Voice for the Voiceless”, affirmed that marriage and family are at the heart of a healthy social environment.
But “political decisions can end up undermining marriage and providing less and less support for families despite a rhetoric that claims otherwise”.
“The fact is that economic decisions have been less and less favourable to families in recent years; and it may be that political decisions in the future will undermine further the dignity and uniqueness of marriage as a lifelong union of man and woman,” the bishops stated.
“Support for marriage and the family does not look a big vote-winner, so that even the most basic human institution, upon which the health of a society depends, can become part of the throwaway culture or at best an optional extra.”
The purpose of the bishops’s statement was “to give a voice to the voiceless and make their faces seen, however briefly . . . “.
The bishops highlighted “a danger that the economy can become a kind of false god to which even human beings have to be sacrificed”.
The bishops also raised the plight of asylum seekers, the mentally ill, indigenous Australians, the elderly, sex abuse survivors, unborn babies who are “defenceless”, the environment and highlighted the dangers of focusing on economic management at the expense of human beings.
The statement added that “any society is ultimately judged not on how well it manages the economy but on how well it treats the thrown-away people”.
And on tackling climate change and protecting the environment, the bishops stated that “now is the time to act”.
Sources
- Sydney Morning Herald
- Australian Electoral Commission
- ACBC statement: A Voice for the Voiceless
- Image: Leeduguid.com.au
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News category: World.
