Last night in Roscommon town at an event organised by The Iona Institute, Bishop Kevin Doran delivered a talk called 'Marriage and the Common Good'.

The talk was widely covered in the papers today because Bishop Doran, among other things, addressed the topic of same-sex marriage and next year's planned referendum on the subject. (The report in The Irish Times can be found here and the report in The Irish Independent here).

On the topic of same-sex marriage, Bishop Doran said that, “To extend civil marriage to include a relationship between people of the same sex…would be to change the meaning of marriage”.

He said that that if we allow same-sex marriage, it will not “just be a case of adding ‘another kind of marriage’ to what we already”. He argued that “the unique relationship between marriage and procreation would disappear completely from the definition of marriage.”

Echoing Pope Francis, he said that children have a right “to grow up with a mother and a father capable of creating a suitable environment for the child’s growth and emotional development”. 

Bishop Doran stated in his talk that opposition to same-sex marriage “is not about homosexuality...it is about the meaning of marriage.”

He told the meeting that the Catholic Church teaches that people who are homosexual “must always be treated with respect and condemns without reservation words or actions which are intended to injure, ridicule or undermine homosexual people”.

He said that same-sex couples and others who “live in long-term committed relationships” are entitled to protection and recognition from the State including hospital visitation rights and inheritance rights.

THE FULL TEXT OF BISHOP DORAN'S TALK IS HERE.