In an interview with The Scottish Catholic Observer (SCO), Bishop Gilbert shunned all political correctness to challenge the Scottish government's move toward legalizing same sex marriage.
“Why is it alright for a man to marry another man, but not alright for him to marry two women?" the bishop asked. "If we really want equality, why does that equality not extend to nieces who genuinely, truly love their uncles? And, if you say that such things don’t happen, that they are mere freaks of nature, extreme examples dreamed up for the sake of argument, I say you need to spend more time in the parish.”
He went on to argue that the government cannot change the essential nature of things through legislation.
“You can’t have a meal without food, and you don’t have marriage without a man and a woman. This isn’t just social convention. It’s not something any government can change. It’s a fact of life. . . The truth is that a government can pass any legislation it likes, it can legislate to say that everything with four legs is a table, even when it’s a dog and not a horse, but that won’t make it so."
Even though he will continue to love and respect homosexuals, he cannot and will not marry them.
“As Bishop of Aberdeen, I know there are gay people amongst the community of the Church,” he said. “I promise I will always respect and love them and uphold them in their relationship with the God who loves them. But I won’t marry them. It just can't be done."
His statements come just as the Bishops are considering exiting talks with the government over the legalization of same-sex marriage, a process they were invited into but now believe is nothing more than a sham.
“The Scottish Government said that it was committed to consult on the redefinition of marriage, but it has not listened to the result of that consultation,” a senior Church source told the SCO. “Now it may or may not engage in a second consultation and it is already committed to legislate. At this stage we have to wonder if there is any point to engaging further.”
The bishops are hosting a Support Marriage Sunday campaign on August 26 which will involve preaching about marriage to explain to the faithful just what is being put at risk by the Scottish government’s plans to legalize same-sex ‘marriage.’
“The Church will use Support Marriage Sunday on August 26, to highlight all that is good and positive about the Sacrament of Marriage, aspects that some in our society have lost sight of,” Peter Kearney, director of the Scottish Catholic Media Office, told the SCO this week.
Polls show an overwhelming majority of Scots are against the legalization of same-sex marriage with more than 67 percent saying they support traditional marriage and only 32 percent favoring homosexual unions.
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