Archbishop Pinder's Statement on The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill 2009

August 27, 2009


Beloved in Christ:

(Statement on the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2009)


Consultation and dialog are essential aspects of the formation of public policy in a vibrant democracy.  As a dialog partner in the current public conversation regarding the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill 2009 (commonly referred to as the “marital rape ban”), I offer this contribution on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church.

From Genesis through the writings of St. Paul, it is evident in Sacred Scripture that God created man and woman in such a way that through their bodies it would be self-evident that they are called to love and give themselves to one another in the gift of Marriage. 

Love generating life is the fundamental description we have for God who created us and redeems us.  The reality (mystery) of God’s love for us is made present in a unique way in Marriage.  This is at the basis of our Catholic understanding of Marriage as a Sacrament.  This is the essential insight of Ephesians chapter 5 where Marriage is placed in the context of life redeemed by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  There we are told: “He who loves his wife loves himself.  For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, because we are members of his body.  For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” (Ephesians 5:28b-31)  By its nature, then, marriage is an intimate union of life and love.

The nuptial blessing found in the Rite of Marriage puts it in these memorable words.  “Father, you have made the union of man and wife so holy a mystery that it symbolizes the marriage of Christ and his Church.  Father, by your plan man and woman are united, and married life has been established as the one blessing that was not forfeited by original sin or washed away in the flood.”

Marital life, of which conjugal love is an essential aspect, must reflect the reality of this intimate union of life and love.  This love is to be above all fully human, that is to say, a compound of sense and spirit, reflecting each party’s free gift of self to the other.  It is also to be an act of free will, whose trust is meant not only to survive but to grow.  This love of spouses for each other is to reflect, totally, a personal friendship in which husband and wife generously share everything.  In Marriage man and woman become husband and wife and they love each other not only for what one can give the other but each loves the other for his or her own sake.  This means each respecting the unique dignity of the other as a human being and as an equal partner before the Lord.

The radical equality between man and woman in Marriage is made manifest in the Genesis story of creation.  It describes the relationship between the first man and woman as the originating model of Marriage: “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone.  I will make a suitable partner for him.’” (Genesis 2:18)  In response the man states, “This one at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh….” (Genesis 2:23) This response expresses the profound equality and intimacy between the man and the woman as intended by God.  In other words woman and man exist in a partnership where one partner completes the other partner.  The relationship is one of complementarity and not ownership.  No person can be the possession of another.  Human dignity does not allow this.  The legacy of slavery and its abolition has surely taught us this lesson.

It is from this perspective that the Catholic Church in The Bahamas addresses the proposed legislation amending the Sexual Offenses Act.  When an individual is forced to engage in sexual activity against his or her will then the perpetrator does violence to the dignity and value of the human person created in the image and likeness of God. 

When forced sexual activity takes place within the context of Marriage, the biblical understanding of Marriage is distorted and the relationship between husband and wife is ruptured.  Such sexual activity is not conjugal love and is rightly seen as a crime against the dignity of the human person.

It must be clearly understood that rape is never an act of love nor is it ever an act of intimacy.  It is always an act of violence against the person. Like any act of violence, be it physical, verbal or otherwise, rape has no place in the communion of life and love which is Marriage properly understood.

In our tradition of moral thought rape holds a place of unique disdain as an act of violence which is never allowed or permitted or justified or rationalized under any circumstance whatsoever.  In our Bahamian community today we need to become much less accommodating of violence in our domestic and social transactions.

Clearly this proposed amendment is not without its difficulties relative to the application of the law.  When husband and wife share a common home, it is reasonable to presume that they engage in sexual activity.  Under the circumstances it may be very difficult, in some cases, to prove that such sexual activity was achieved without the consent of the wife.  Such cases make the application of the law difficult. 

Therefore every effort must be made to ensure that this law serves its purpose well.  In particular care must be taken to protect against false accusations of rape within marriage so as to safeguard the presumption of innocence which is a fundamental right of all persons. 

Toward this end it may indeed be necessary to amend section 6 of the Act to provide that no prosecution may be commenced against a person accused of marital rape without the consent of the Attorney General.

To the extent that the proposed legislation seeks to address the unfortunate reality of marital rape and in the measure that it seeks to preserve the dignity of every person and to safeguard Marriage as a covenant of life and love between a man and a woman, the Catholic Church offers its prayerful support.

May God bless our efforts to seek Wisdom, Truth, Justice and Peace.  May God bless the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

Devotedly yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Patrick C. Pinder
Archbishop of Nassau