Same sex marriage proposal puts Church against State

THE decision by the Taoiseach to publicly support same-sex marriage will mean he is about to have a fight on his hands, firstly from conservative Fine Gael backbenchers but, more volubly, from the leaders of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

These groups have indicated they will oppose the referendum, saying any change to the nature of marriage would “undermine” it as the fundamental building block of society.

In a statement from the Catholic Communications Office, Bishop Denis Nulty said the Church will continue to assert that the differences between a man and woman are “not accidental to marriage but fundamental to it”.