Fr Tony writes.....

There has been a lot in the media recently about equality before the Law, and how this affects the rights of religious groups to live by the principles of their faith. The Equality Bill, now before Parliament, raises a number of contentious issues. The remarks of the Pope in his address to the Bishops of England and Wales provoked considerable coverage in the press and on radio and TV, much of it ill-informed. It is not about religious groups seeking to “impose” their views on everyone else. Rather, it is about our right as Christians to contribute to the public debate. It is fundamentally about building a society that allows for diversity of views, respects the dignity of each person, but also respects the rights of people to follow their conscience in serious moral issues.
As always in these matters, “the devil is in the detail”. The Church has always taught that it is the duty of our schools to cooperate with parents when it comes to teaching children and young people about questions to do with sex and human relations. At the moment the Government is trying to have it both ways, in allowing our schools to teach in accordance with our beliefs, but insisting that schools should teach what is decreed by the Government. It is surely impossible to speak about these various moral issues without betraying one’s own convictions. A Catholic school cannot be morally neutral. This is a very serious question, and will need to be on our agenda as the General Election approaches.