Religious leaders ask for a civil debate on marriage

Declaration of Marriage drafted by major faiths

- CCN photo by Deborah Gyapong The religious leaders who brought the Declaration on Marriage to Parliament Hill include Ottawa Archbishop Marcel Gervais (left), Evangelical Fellowship of Canada President Bruce Clemenger, Orthodox Church of America Very Rev. John Jillions, and Rev. Ken Bellous, executive minister of the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec.

By DEBORAH GYAPONG
Canadian Catholic News
Ottawa

More than 40 leaders from all major faiths, including the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), have affirmed the crucial role of marriage as a heterosexual social institution for the procreation and nurturing of children.

"Changing the definition of marriage involves a repudiation of millennia of history and experience," states the Declaration on Marriage.

Procreation?

"Redefining marriage as being 'between two persons' eclipses the essence and full purpose of marriage; the inner connection between marriage, the complementarity of the sexes, procreation and the raising of children is lost."

In advance of a promised vote in Parliament, the leaders urged politicians to reopen the debate on marriage in a way that treats all sides respectfully.

"Marriage is a most important state in life, because on it depends the future of the human race," said Ottawa Archbishop Marcel Gervais, speaking in French at a news conference Nov. 9.

Marriage not only guarantees the procreation of offspring, but the best quality of upbringing.

Gervais recognized the hatred and bigotry people with same-sex attractions face and said the Church opposes any unjust discrimination against them.

"I completely support this teaching," he said. "But let's call marriage what it is - marriage, and this other reality another designation."

"Our appeal today is that law and public policy recognize the essential and unique importance of marriage as the union of one man and one woman for the security, nurturing and well-being of children," he said.

"The best interest of the child must prevail over adults' exercise of their liberty."

Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) president Bruce Clemenger said same-sex marriage legislation was passed in 2005 without adequate study. He noted that a previous government's House of Commons justice committee had done extensive research but the report was never presented to Parliament.

Instead, then-Prime Minister Paul Martin referred several questions to the Supreme Court of Canada on the nature of marriage. One question, on whether the Charter of Rights and Freedoms demands the redefinition of marriage to include same-sex couples, the justices refused to answer, Clemenger said.

Options

The justice committee report recommended other options, such as retaining the traditional definition of marriage but offering a domestic partnership option for same-sex couples, or of having the state get out of the marriage business altogether, Clemenger said.

These other options were never seriously examined.

Gervais objected to the way the legislation was "pushed through very quickly," without allowing for serious public discussion or the review of the research of other countries.

The French government decided not to redefine marriage based on research showing it would not be in the best interests of children.

The leaders also objected to the tone of the previous debate, which Clemenger said devolved into rhetoric and five-second sound bites.

Civility

"We need to go past the period of name-calling in which I and others were subjected to," Gervais said. When he made a presentation on behalf of the CCCB before a legislative committee in 2005, an MP mocked the ideas as coming from the age of the Flintstones.

Both Clemenger and Gervais agreed the churches were losers under the present law, and said the implications for religious freedom could be dire.

"It boils down to what are we going to be allowed to say in our schools with impunity," Gervais said.

He wondered whether Catholic schools will be able to teach children about the importance of traditional marriage without being accused of being hateful.

The full text of the Declaration on Marriage is online at www.cccb.ca/site/Files/DeclarationOnMarriage.doc.

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