Homily on Marriage
by the Most Rev. Marcel Gervais, Archbishop of Ottawa

Here is the text of a homily by Ottawa Archbishop Marcel Gervais delivered at the Sunday Masses on July 20th at Notre-Dame Cathedral. This homily is part of the Archbishop's reaction to the reference by the government of Canada of its proposed new legislation pertaining to same sex marriages and follows last Friday's letter to the government by a group of local clerics.

Ottawa Archbishop Marcel Gervais
Notre-Dame Cathedral, Ottawa
July 20, 2003

Readings:
1st. reading: Jeremy 23: 1-6
2nd reading: Ephesians 2: 13-18
Gospel: Mark 6:30-34

Sisters and brothers in Christ

On this fine day in our holiday season, I am happy to find myself with this congregation again. Welcome to all of you, especially to all our visitors. Our country is undergoing serious changes these days and I wish to speak of them. I am referring to the proposed legislation on same sex marriages, let us keep all of those involved in this project in our prayers at this Eucharist.

Let us start by acknowledging our sins and asking for God`s mercy.

Homily: July 20, 2003

The prophet in today's first reading does not think too much of leaders who refuse to lead; of shepherds who refuse to bring their flocks to food or to water. The Gospel tells us that Jesus responded to the hunger of his people by teaching them at length.

Today I am trying to respond to your hunger for some solid food on a very controversial topic, but I will not speak to you at length. The food that I offer will not satisfy everyone and will not be palatable for all of you. Nevertheless, I feel compelled to speak. I am hoping that what I have to say is what the Lord wants us to hear.

We are living through some very difficult moments right now. Yes, in the middle of everyone's holidays - including mine - we have to be concerned about the issue of same sex marriages, with the federal Minister of Justice encouraging all the provinces to immediately, officially, recognize the unions of same sex couples! Pre-empting any discussion even by parliament!

We are in a kind of democracy, where, the moment you can convince people that individual rights are at stake, then nothing can stop our elected governments to move in order to correct the apparent wrong. The appointed judiciary is just as responsible. In this rush to attend to individual needs, the rights and needs of the community are being ignored, they are being sacrifice at the altar of individual rights. I have asked leaders of various religious groups to consider approving a common letter to our Prime Minister. We got this letter approved by all of us last Friday. It reads in part as follows:

"Some same-sex partners have claimed that it is discriminatory not to give them access to marriage, but, in fact, it is the contrary which is true. Altering the definition of marriage to include same-sex partners discriminates against traditional marriage and deprives it of its social and legal recognition as a fundamental, unique and irreplaceable basis of society. The effects of this very serious issue need to be more widely studied by the public so that the social and economic consequences can be better understood".

This letter is supported by many other religious leaders:

• Most Rev. Marcel Gervais, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Ottawa

• Imam Dr. Gamal Solaiman, Ottawa Muslim Community

• Very Rev. Ghattas Hajal, Antiochian Orthodox Church

• Very Rev. Alex Michalopulos, Greek Orthodox Church

• Rt. Rev. Exarch Habib Kwaiter & Rev. François Beyrouti, Melkite Catholic Church

• Pandit (Dr.) Madhu R. Sahasrabudhe, Hindu Temple of Ottawa Carleton

• Abdul Rashid, Ottawa Muslim Community

• Fr. Shenoude Boutros, Coptic Orthodox Church

• Msgr. Raymond Hanna, Maronite Church

• Iain T. Benson, Barrister & Solicitor

Though we share different faiths, different traditions, one thing is clear, what we all believe is that marriage - which is threatened enough already - will only be more destabilized by this legislation. We believe it is still time to influence our parliamentarians in whatever way we can. The free vote in Parliament will be sometime in the future.

 

As Roman Catholics, we can understand that the civil authorities may wish to provide homosexual couples with the same sort of protection and benefits as those provided to men and women who are married but the sum of those benefits need not include a redefinition of marriage. As one person put it, 'Call it what you want, but don't call it marriage because that is not what it is'. And its not just a question of vocabulary, but a question of substance.

Margaret Somerville, an ethicist and professor of law at McGill University, writing to M.P. Svend Robinson, says that she cannot support same sex marriages. She refuses the accusation that she is thereby discriminating against homosexuals.
"First, there's a difference between separate-but-equal and different-but-equal. Separate-but-equal means that two entities are inherently the same, but are treated as separate. That's discrimination, and you rightly reject it. Different-but-equal means that two entities are not inherently the same, but are treated equally. That's the antithesis of discrimination. Separate-but-equal is second-class citizenship. Different-but-equal is not." * "The question is: Are homosexual and heterosexual unions inherently the same, in which case they should constitute one group of unions, or inherently different, but should be treated equally? The answer depends on which characteristics of the unions we choose to focus. * "If we focus on adult individuals' commitment to each other and public recognition of that commitment (as the courts have done), we can conclude that restricting marriage to opposite-sex unions and having a separate but equal institution for same-sex unions would be discrimination. * If, however, we focus on the inherently procreative nature of an opposite-sex union and the absence of that feature in a same-sex union, we can regard the two types of union as different but equal."
* According to Margaret Somerville and me, our governments need to respect the societal needs of homosexual couples, but it does not have to place their relationship on the same footing as marriage.

Our government tells us that our rights as religious groups to refuse to celebrate same sex marriages will be protected. Isn't that broad-minded of them? We will be an exception to the norm! Normal religious groups will marry homosexuals, we the retarded and out of date traditionalists will not. How long will it be before we are accused of discrimination and accused also of promoting hatred?

To try to give stability to the relationship of gay couples is not something to be rejected offhand. Stability benefits society and is always better than promiscuity. As a secular society, if something could legally be done to improve the stability of the relationships of gay couples, then let it be. But leave marriage alone, it is a different institution, it is unique and needs all the special support of society to maintain itself. Stable relationships between homosexuals is another reality, give it a new name, make special rules for it, but leave marriage alone.

The change in the definition of marriage will impose hardships on us. It will place further burdens on parents, teachers, priests and bishops who will continue to present the ideal of human maturity in heterosexual terms. It will become increasingly difficult to avoid the accusation of discrimination. This tension is already happening in our public schools, it soon will in our catholic schools as well.

For our children, growing up will be more difficult. It takes some courage and some "stick-to-it-tiveness" to go from being comfortable with the same sex in our early teen age years to accepting to be involved with that strange and often threatening other sex that challenges our very identity. If the gay lifestyle is made to seem equal to the heterosexual lifestyle, are we then encouraging young people to experiment and even to adopt a homosexual lifestyle? There will be all kinds of complications in the area of hiring in our Catholic schools, we can foresee that.

Whatever happens, we will have to continue to emphasize the importance and the beauty of marriage. It is clear that parents will have to be increasingly attentive to their own example of love, respect and affection between spouses. They will also have to show more love, respect and affection and give better discipline to their children. For the rest we will have to trust in the Lord, keep steadfast in prayer, mutually supporting one another in our roles as parents.

In moments like these we are truly challenged to be who we are: to be Christians who love all people, who are willing to forgive everyone, but who are also dedicated to the truth.

Even though it would appear that Parliament has abdicated its primary responsibility of being the place where discussion and debate takes place, each one of us has a duty to be heard by our members of Parliament who will eventually speak on our behalf in this regard.

My dear friends, may I remind you of the teaching of the Catholic Church expressed in its catechism: "The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. They do not choose their condition; for most of them it is a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they encounter from their condition."(No.2358)

My very dear friends, in this Eucharist, let us pray for all homosexuals, for our elected officials, that they hear the Lord's voice in this most important debate. Let us also pray fervently that the Lord will give each of us the strength, the courage, the audacity we need to make every representation possible to our elected officials, so that the definition of marriage continue to reflect our Lord's will for the Church and for humanity at large.

Gabrielle Tassé
Coordonnatrice des Communications Co-ordinator
Archidiocèse d'Ottawa Archdiocese