Cardinal O'Brien emphasised the importance of marriage

Cardinal Keith O'Brien outlined his views on social and spiritual policy in a homily at a homecoming mass in Edinburgh.

The mass at St Mary's Cathedral celebrated his elevation to the post of cardinal in Rome last week.

Clad in red biretta and soutane, Cardinal O'Brien said that families were the building blocks of society and the foundation on which those blocks were laid was marriage.

He said: "I sometimes wonder whether the state recognises sufficiently the security and stability that married couples and their families bring to society.

In a very real sense our future rests in the hands of today's parents as they mould and shape the next generation Cardinal Keith O'Brien

"Perhaps we need to ask: What does the state do to encourage young people into stable relationships and to help them bring up children?

"Have our politicians looked around Europe and the world at how other countries support the family and learned from what they see?

"If not, I urge them to do so. In a very real sense our future rests in the hands of today's parents as they mould and shape the next generation."

Cardinal O'Brien, who was formerly archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, was promoted by Pope John Paul II at a ceremony in the Vatican on Tuesday last week.