Catholic Bishop of Shrewsbury speaks out on the value of marriage
The Catholic Bishop of Shrewsbury has urged people to remind young couples about the values of marriage and encouraged more to consider the commitment.
Right Reverend Mark Davies spoke at the annual Mass in celebration of marriage and family life and said church weddings had declined to the point that in some parishes there were fewer than 10 marriages a year.
But he called on church-goers to speak to young people about the "beauty of marriage".
He said: "God's plan for marriage never goes out of fashion. It is the obscuring of the vision of marriage in our time which creates the fear that such a life, such a lasting love, such an enduring faithfulness is no longer possible.
"I simply cannot believe a sincere couple see their love as demanding merely a provisional commitment, an uncertainty about faithfulness, or a closed door to children.
"However, even if this vision were obscured in the world around us, God forbid that it should be lost amongst Christians who are called to give witness to the original meaning of marriage."
Speaking at a service in Chester, he added: "Today the moment has surely come to re-propose the full vision of married life and love. I ask you to speak boldly of the beauty of marriage, especially to the young.
"Tell them of the grace given you, and of the faithfulness which God makes possible in your lives. Speak of how you have been called in the Sacrament of Marriage to a love and self-giving beyond your own weaknesses.
"Marriage is a sacrament by which God's grace makes it possible for ordinary men and women in the love and faithfulness of their family lives to become saints."
The Bishop also spoke of what he called "British values" at a congregation of civic leaders in Shrewsbury Abbey on Sunday.
He said it would be a mistake to try to "uncouple Britain from her Christian heritage" in a bid to draw up a new set of national values.
