Church raps move on sex law

IRISH bishops last night condemned government proposals to lower the age of sexual consent to 16.

Catholic church leaders criticised an Oireachtas committee for sending out the signal that engaging in sexual activity is something trivial.

The 33 bishops, from north and south of the border, spoke out for the first time on the issue which has divided public opinion.

After the general meeting by the Irish Episcopal Conference in Maynooth, they said children need to be protected not only from irresponsible adults but also from themselves until they reach the age of 18.

The proposals, they claim, also send out the wrong signal to parents, who are themselves often confused as to how they should react to their children’s activities.

The bishops said they welcomed the report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Child Protection, launched on November 30, but recommend the proposals be subject to serious study and wide public debate.

“However, even at this stage, bishops wish to register their deep concern at the lack of any reference to the moral issues involved,” they said.

“The question of child protection should not blind the public to the broader issues, such as the increase in teenage sexual activity and its consequences in terms of danger not only to their physical and psychological health, but also, and in particular, to their moral wellbeing.

“In this context, bishops view the lowering of the age of consent to 16 with alarm, as this sends out the wrong signal to a young generation who, under the influence of teenage glossy magazines, peer pressure, and binge drinking, feel engaging in sexual activity as something trivial.

“For Christians, sex is anything but trivial.”

Set up in the wake of the statutory rape crisis, the Child Protection Committee recommended the age of consent, at present 15 for boys and 17 for girls, be lowered to 16 years for both sexes.

The bishops also called on the Government to urgently enact legislation to address the trafficking of women for sexual exploitation into this country.

“It is important that anti-trafficking legislation is framed so as to offer assistance to women in such circumstances and not be used to deport them back to their countries of origin,” they said.