Bishops are wrong. Where is the God of love and compassion?

A COUPLE of weeks ago the Catholic Bishops of Ireland asked us to reflect on what was proposed in the marriage equality referendum. The common refrain of messages then was “marriage is important. Reflect before you change it.”

Over this past weekend, the bishops changed their minds. One by one, they have all asked us to vote No. Not to reflect, not to think long and hard, but to vote no.

I’ve read as many of the bishop’s letters as I’ve been able to. The arguments tend to be the same in all of them — this is not about equality; it will affect children in one way or another; the debate has been rushed; the whole issue raises important questions of freedom of conscience.