In a powerful address marking World Marriage Day, the Bishop of the Diocese of Roseau, Reverend Kendrick Forbes, articulated a profound theological and social defense of traditional marriage. Speaking before congregants at the St Joseph Roman Catholic Church this past Sunday, Bishop Forbes positioned the institution as the fundamental building block of both the family and society at large.
The Bishop’s homily defined marriage as a sacred covenant between a man and a woman, characterized by “total self-giving, fidelity, courageous trust and hope.” He emphasized its procreative purpose, describing spouses as “co-creators with God” in bringing new life into the world. This perspective frames marriage not merely as a social contract but as a divine vocation, a calling “written into the very nature of man and woman” as articulated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Elevating the discourse, Bishop Forbes invoked the language of the Second Vatican Council, referring to matrimony as an “intimate partnership of life and love” and an “indissoluble covenant” that perseveres through both prosperity and adversity. He stated that the family’s mission is so critically vital that the fate of humanity itself “either stands or falls by it.”
World Marriage Day, observed annually on the second Sunday of February, served as the backdrop for this celebration. The event is globally recognized by many Christian denominations as an opportunity to honor married couples, reaffirm the family as society’s basic unit, and celebrate the virtues of “fidelity, sacrifice, and joy” found in daily married life. Bishop Forbes’s remarks thus provided both a spiritual justification and a social argument for the enduring relevance of the institution he leads his flock to uphold.