Same sex marriage not the end of the world says Archbishop Christopher Prowse
The world won't end if or when Australia adopts same-sex marriage but it will change, and people need to be careful what they wish for, Canberra-Goulburn Catholic Archbishop Christopher Prowse said.
"Yes, the sun will still rise in the east and set in the west if this [same-sex marriage] comes through but what sort of society are we moving towards?" he said. "We've got to ask the big questions."
Catholic Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn, Christopher Prowse. Photo: Katherine Griffiths
The future definitions of words such as intimacy and friendship stand at the head of the list.
"Where will traditional marriage, which has served us in such good stead for millennia, stand? Will that be relativised? Will it be seen as one arrangement amongst many or will it still be seen as the pre-eminent way families are introduced into humanity?"
Archbishop Prowse cautioned against rushing to legislate in the wake of last month's Irish Referendum result which prompted a pastoral letter from Australia's Catholic bishops to their congregations last Thursday.
The letter acknowledged the same-sex marriage debate was gaining momentum locally and referenced moves by the Labor Party and the Greens to introduce draft legislation.
Archbishop Prowse, who described the debate as "one-sided", said the danger of trying to extend meaning to everything – in this case all forms of relationships – was the removal of meaning from anything.
"If friendships and relationships have the same sort of meaning across the board, then what about the particular arrangements of mother and father, husband, wife children? Are they somewhat relativised amongst a whole string of other types of emerging relationships?"
This would be unjust to traditional families already under pressure.
"Traditional families are trying their best during very difficult times. These legislation possibilities need to keep that in mind. Will [what is proposed] strengthen traditional marriage or will it relativise and weaken it? That can't be answered overnight."
Issue warrants 'proper consideration'
The Archbishop said regardless of what happened with the current bill, the issue was not about to go away.
"I have a feeling that for the time being in the Australian conversation if this bill doesn't get up, another bill of another kind will appear," he said.
"It will be a bit of a test of our national maturity [to see] if we can have a reasonable and respectful debate on a very controversial issue."
Archbishop Prowse said while same-sex marriage campaigners wanted legislation enacted as quickly as possible, the issue warranted proper consideration.
"Some people say `rush, we've been talking about this for 10 years'," he said. "But it's now reached a certain level of resonance where it is a topic that we can talk about, hopefully in a reasonable way."
The Catholic Bishops have said the debate should be issues-driven, not just about what one group or another wanted.
"If there is a rush to legislate, you suspect that there are other forces at play here; not just the common good," Archbishop Prowse said.
Asked about calls for Cardinal George Pell to reappear before the Royal Commission into Responses to Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse following claims made at the hearings in Ballarat last month, Archbishop Prowse said the Cardinal had done all he could.
"Cardinal Pell has repeated many times that if he is invited by the Royal Commission, he is more than happy to come back, either personally or on video link or telephone. But you can't force yourself onto a Royal Commission; he can't come uninvited."
Bishop Stuart Robinson of the Anglican Diocese of Canberra Goulburn declined to comment on the same-sex marriage issue on Monday.