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Archbishop Nichols says family is the key to society

‘Today marriage is sometimes thought of, and presented, without any reference to children at all ... with damaging consequences.’

By Simon Caldwell and James Walsh

Marriage is vital for the wellbeing of children and for the stability of society, the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has said.

The sexual complementary of men and women found its “correct expression” in marriage and children were the natural fruit of married love, said the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster and president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.

He said the “context of a marriage is the best place for children to be reared, providing them with a framework of love, within which they are sure of their biological heritage and not deprived … of the experience of being loved and raised by their natural mother and father”.

Then, in a reference to David Cameron’s proposals to legalise same-sex marriage, Archbishop Nichols said that any attempt to redefine marriage would have “damaging consequences” for the whole of society.

“Today marriage is sometimes thought of, and presented, without any reference to children at all,” the Archbishop said in a Mass of Thanksgiving for married couples in Westminster Cathedral, London.

“Today, sexual activity is often approved and even promoted separated entirely from marriage. Today marriage is proposed by some without any reference to the sexual complementarity of the genders.

“Today, children are created outside the key enduring relationship of father and mother and then live without a link with their natural father and mother and their natural siblings.”

He continued: “The Church’s teaching holds together marriage, sexual relationships and the generation and raising of children.

“When separated from the bonds of this interconnectedness, these three powerful aspects of human living are driven further apart from each other, with damaging consequences.”

He was addressing 530 married couples, with a combined total of 31,850 years of marriage, who were celebrating landmark 10th, 25th, 30th, 40th, 50th or 60th wedding anniversaries.

Continued on page 2

Royal prayers have captured the Elizabethan era in giving thanks for the importance of families

Professor Simon Lee Page 14

Bishop and 900 horsemen retrace Pentecost journey Regensburg Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Mueller attends the jubilee Pentecost ride near Bad Koetzting, Germany.

elaborately in traditional costumes.

For 600 years the Koetzting Pentecost ride has been held with some 900 equestrians riding to the Saint-Nicolas church in Steinbuehl.

Tens of thousands of onlookers lined the way to get a glimpse of the horses and horsemen decorated

According to the legend in 1412 a priest was to bring the sacrament to a dying man in the tiny church in nearby Steinbuehl.

Since bandits lurked along the way, some young men from the village protected the priest on horseback. After the successful journey, the lads vowed to undertake the journey annually.