The former head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has defended Catholic adoption agencies that discriminate against same-sex couples.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor wrote in a letter to The Daily Telegraph, “Because of our conviction that children are better placed in a home with a man and a woman, a father and mother, the agencies were unable to offer a service to same-sex couples”.

He continued, “It would have been a sensible and proportionate accommodation, recognising organisations have a distinct identity and ethos that very often bring a valuable contribution to the wider common good of society”.

Murphy-O’Connor has previously urged the Prime Minister at the time, Tony Blair, to provide an opt-out in the Equality Act that would allow for the agencies to discriminate against gay and lesbian couples.

He concluded, “In spite of the fact that I, as Archbishop of Westminster then, appealed to the Prime Minister for an exemption from this law, it was not forthcoming and the result has been a sad loss for the Church and society”.

The 81 year-old expressed support for a previously published editorial in The Telegraph in which Baroness Hale, the UK’s most senior female judge, suggested that Christians who oppose serving gay couples need to have more “religious freedom”.