Mexican cardinal says Church cannot be silent in face of attacks on marriage

Mexico City, Mexico, Jan 12, 2010 / 13:11 pm

Archbishop of Mexico City, Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera reiterated this week that leaders of the Church cannot be silent in the face of attacks on marriage and the family - such as those by Mexico City lawmakers who approved same-sex unions and granted them the right to adopt children.

In response to the criticism he received for calling the Mexico City law immoral, unacceptable and condemnable, Cardinal Rivera thanked those who have shown solidarity with him and with the Bishops’ Conference of Mexico, including many other Christian leaders in the country.

“The Word of God will always be the guide of our faith and a peace-filled consolation that comforts us during persecutions and tribulations,” the cardinal said. “For this reason, we can’t help but recall that passage from the Acts of the Apostles when the enemies of Jesus Christ, filled with hatred, forbade Peter, John and the disciples from speaking and teaching the name of Jesus.

However, the disciples, filled with the Holy Spirit, courageously responded, ‘We must obey God before men’.”

“They also want to forbid us, venerable brothers, from speaking the name of Jesus, preaching his doctrine, following the command of the Lord to proclaim the Good News and defending the sacred bond of marriage which St. Paul compared to the love of Christ for his Church.

“And no, we cannot be silent,” because one day we will go before “the supreme court of God,” who will ask us to account for the times we were too embarrassed to speak of Jesus' name.

“We, the shepherds of the People of God, cannot put men and their laws before God, as God’s law is supreme and unending. Every human law that goes against it is immoral and perverse, as going against his will brings society to moral degradation and ruin,” the cardinal said.

“Mexico is Christian,” he added. “Mexico is a country that loves the family, which is its basic cell and the center of social cohesion. For this reason we are very concerned about the attacks on marriage, the mockery of Christian values and of our most sacred beliefs. But,” he concluded, “we have discovered that the Lord has granted us an undeserved grace: that of being his witnesses, of embracing his Cross with joy in order to complete his Holy Passion.”