Unthinkable, heart-breaking

Church teaching, reflected in Scripture and Tradition, affirms that it is a man and a woman, united in marriage, who, together with their children, form a family. This community is the basic cell of society and the foundational and determinative point of reference according to which all other forms of family relationship can be assessed (CCC 2202). It is certainly true that the qualities of love and care which are intrinsic to the family may not always be adequately realised, sometimes with devastating consequences. Equally, aspects of the values particular to family life can be found outside of the familial unit composed of husband, a wife and their child or children. There are, however, unique and indispensible characteristics of the accepted understanding of family which make it the rightful and preferred context in which to raise children, namely the diverse and yet reciprocally enriching nature and contribution of both male and female parents, exercised within the security and the
permanence of marriage.
The Church teaches that God created man and woman and thereby established the fundamental constitution of the human family (cf. Gen 2:24; CCC 2203). While the traditional notion of family is not immune from breakdown and difficulty, this is no reason for it to be abandoned or replaced as the primary building block of society. On the contrary, more effort should be made to support families, whether the children within them are genetically the offspring of their father and mother or have been placed in their care through adoption.
Because of this constant teaching and the Church’s adherence to it, I find it unthinkable, indeed heart-breaking, that Catholic Caring Services, so linked to the Catholic Church since its inception, would abandon its position and capitulate to recent same-sex adoption legislation. Again, it is abundantly clear to me that you are adamant in your pursuit of an Open Policy, at variance with the Church’s teaching.
As your Bishop, I cannot give permission to an agency of the Catholic Church to act in opposition to her teaching and her long and rich experience of the placement of children with adoptive parents.

Patrick O’Donohue, Bishop of Lancaster
Letter to ‘Catholic Caring Services’