Catholic Bishops warn family referendum could discourage marriage

The Irish Catholic Bishops Conference have officially called for a ‘NO’ vote in the upcoming referendums, saying it could result in lower rates of marriage. 

Church leadership said the proposed Family Amendment trivialises the role of marriage in society. In a statement released Sunday, the bishops said the family is based on the “exclusive, life-giving public commitment of marriage.” 

“The proposed Family amendment to the Constitution diminishes the unique importance of the relationship between marriage and family in the eyes of Society and State and is likely to lead to a weakening of the incentive for young people to marry,” they said.

Family Referendum 

On 8 March, Ireland will hold two referendums to change the wording of the Constitution relating to family and care. 

The Family Amendment seeks to redefine the family, providing a wider concept for what the law will consider a family. It proposes adding the term “durable relationships” to Article 41 of the Constitution. 

Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman played a key role in pushing for the referendums, first introducing the bill to bring them forward in December and helping draft the text for the proposed changes. 

“The wording of Article 41 of the Constitution doesn’t match our value as a country,” said Minister O’Gorman, “In many ways, it doesn’t reflect the reality of where we are today”. 

The Rights of Families

He emphasised that the proposed Amendment will not remove any of the rights or recognition that married couples receive but will merely extend privileges to other kinds of families.  

As it stands currently, non-married couples with children and single parents are not recognised as families under the Constitution. 

“The objective behind the Amendment on the Family is to recognise and provide Constitutional status to families beyond the marital family,” said Minister O’Gorman.

Irish Catholic Bishops also recognised the existence of families outside of marriage but said married couples should be afforded certain rights.

They said that marriage “brings stability to the family and society” and therefore “deserves the protection of the State”.

Clergymen read the statement at masses across the country on Sunday, including in Galway. The Galway’s Bishops office declined to comment.

The rate of marriage in Ireland rose 35% between 2021 and 2023. CSO statistics for 2023 are not yet available.