The Most Reverend Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland today addressed, as keynote speaker, a seminar entitled ‘Supporting Marriage & Family Life’ in Buswells Hotel, Dublin. The seminar was hosted by the Irish Bishops’ Conference. Archbishop Brady said, “the Catholic Church has both a duty and a right to teach and act in defence of the primacy of the natural institutions of marriage and the family. It is also for this reason that it cannot and should not apologise for insisting that other forms of relationship are not of the same nature and status as that of marriage and the family. The looming debate about the level of recognition that is appropriate for same-sex couples make this an important and an imminent issue. “Now more than ever the Church’s pastoral and practical resources are being channelled to protect families against the pressures which they now face in Irish life. The rapid pace of social change; the revolution of values within our culture; the intrusion of the mass media into our homes; the impact of changing political and economic conditions, most notably the lack of affordable housing, the growing disillusionment with rampant consumerism and the increasing gap between the haves and the have nots: all of these have placed the Irish family under unprecedented stress in recent years,” he said. Ms Breda O’Brien addressed the seminar on the issue of ‘Children and the Family’. Ms O’Brien said, “Marketing, at least some of the time, aims to isolate young people in a homogenous group and attempts to shape their tastes so as to provide maximum access to their disposable income. It is necessary to keep them dissatisfied with their bodies, possessions and lives so that they will keep on buying products to fill the void. This is a profound challenge to families, and yet is much more invisible than problems with, for example, consumption of alcohol among young people.” Mr Stephen Cummins, Director of Education for ACCORD - the bishops’ agency providing care and support for marriage - addressed the seminar on the theme ‘ACCORD – life long support for marriage.’ Mr Cummins said, “The work of ACCORD is divided mainly between counselling on the one hand and education on the other. We have 57 centres throughout the island of Ireland divided into six regions. There are 300 counsellors and 330 facilitators working within the organisation. In 2003, ACCORD provided 28,261 hours of counselling dealing with 5,332 cases. This shows an increase of just over 9% compared to 2002. In 2003 our facilitators provided 17,238 hours of marriage preparation. This again is an increase of just over 11% on 2002. In 2003 a total of 6,200 couples attended ACCORD marriage preparation courses.” Mr Colm Rapple discussed the issue of ‘Government policy – a help or a hindrance to family life’. Mr Rapple said, “One of the recommendations of the Commission on the Family, which issued its final report six years ago, was that the potential impact of Government measures on families should be explored in Family Impact Statements. Such statements would set out clearly the consequences for families of both central and local government policies, programmes and services. That recommendation, like so many of the Commission’s recommendations was never acted upon.” Mr Rapple continued, “What’s needed in so many areas is not more consultation, more discussion or more reports but some action.” Ms Arlene Diaz spoke on the topic of ‘The experience of Ireland as a host country for Families’. Ms Diaz said, “Irish people are generally hospitable. For strangers like us, to be given such attention, is something that would not only make you feel welcome, it’s also be very uplifting that our existence is being recognized. Ms Daiz continued, “Difficulties experienced by overseas/migrant families include: * search for accommodation; * unfamiliarity with the area which leads to difficulties co-ordinating workplaces, schools and other establishments of importance to our family; * the cost of rent in relation to size, facilities included, the required advance deposit; * some landlords do not want to take children and pregnant women and the rental contract is usually for a minimum of 12 months.” The Most Reverend Christopher Jones, Bishop of Elphin and Chairman of the Bishops’ Committee for the Family and Children concluded the seminar saying, “Today’s presentations clearly demonstrate the challenges facing family life today in Ireland. The Church believes passionately in marriage as the source and strength of family life, and indeed of the life of society. Unlike any other relationship, marriage makes a unique contribution to the common good of society, especially through the procreation and education of children for life. The Church is not, and can never be, found wanting in its support for marriage and family life.” ENDS Further information: Martin Long Director of Communications (086 172 7678) Brenda Drumm Communications Officer (087 233 7797) Notes for Editors * The Irish Bishops’ Conference (IBC) is the collective term used to describe the formal meetings held between all 35 Catholic bishops. The bishops meet at least on a quarterly basis. Bishops are represented on the IBC from all the 26 dioceses in Ireland (32 counties). * 2004 is the 10th Anniversary of the UN International Year of the Family. * The text of Archbishop Brady's address and those of the other speakers are available on the website of the Catholic Communications Office - www.catholiccommunications.ie |