Sexual Orientation Regulations

The following document was available at the back of church this weekend, courtesy of His Grace the Archbishop of Birmingham, Vincent Nichols. I believe it is a letter to all priests in the diocese:

Dear Father,

SEXUAL ORIENTATION REGULATIONS

These regulations are about to be published. Only a very limited Parliamentary debate is being permitted. This will take place in the next few weeks. The Regulations come into force shortly afterwards. Now is the time to write to Members of Parliament, drawing attention to important underlying issues. Even though these Regulations cannot now be changed, these issues are of long-term consequence and MPs ought to be left in no doubt as to our views.

I would suggest that two key points are made:

1. In Defence of the Family:

These regulations impose on all involved in the work of publicly funded services the duty of making no distinction between a heterosexual couple and a same-sex partnership. They impose the view that in considering the good of the child no preference may be given to the benefit to the child of having a mother and a father as adoptive parents. We do not believe that this new principle of equivalence can be in the best interests of the child. This undermining of the family has far wider implications for the well-being of our society.

2. The Work of the Church in the Voluntary Sector:

The Regulations raise serious questions about future cooperation between public authorities and the Voluntary sector, in particular Christian Churches and their charities. The approach put forward in these Regulations reduces those who work in partnership with public bodies to being no more than agents of Government policy. This threatens to undermine a long tradition of public authorities and the Voluntary sector working together in mutual respect. It is unacceptable that such cooperation, which is of clear benefit, be jeopardised in this manner.

I ask you to urge your people to write to their MPs.

Vincent Nichols
Archbishop of Birmingham

Name and address of MP:
House of Commons
London SW 1A OAA

To read more about the Archbishop's statement, click here. The above picture is of a statue "compassion" outside Selly Oak Hospital Outpatients Department in Birmingham. It is two naked men, and obviously not how I will practice medicine, so I thought it appropriate to illustrate some of these themes! (yes, I have finally been driven mad by political correctness)