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  (Photo: Reuters/Benvegnu Guaitoli)
  Britain's Cardinal Cormac Morphy O'Connor, Westminster's Archbishop, in Rome in this March 1, 2005 file photo.

A prominent religious figure in the United Kingdom issued a warning that addresses the effects of the government passing same-sex marriage laws, explaining that the Church will not be the only entity affected.

Cormac Murphy O'Connor is a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church as well as Archbishop Emeritus of Westminster and former President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. He issued his warning to those who are encouraging the passage of marriage equality and insisted there are unintended consequences of such actions that would reverberate throughout society.

"Any legislation that supports the family and marriage, I will support. Anything that diminishes it, I will oppose." O'Conner told The Telegraph. "Most people in this country don't really want gay marriage on the statute."

The Cardinal also argued that it is not the government's place to determine what marriage should be adding that it is an important pillar in humanity and that is the "bedrock of our social life and culture."

The former head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales also accused the government of pushing through an agenda that is controversial, and claims that recent polling showed that the majority of those in government do not want to see legislation concerned with the redefinition of marriage.

O'Connor was referring to a recent poll of Members of Parliament conducted by ComRes which showed that eight out of ten MPs want the option for a freedom vote, which would allow them to vote according to their conscience and not what their party insists.

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"This poll will make uncomfortable reading for David Cameron and Nick Clegg, who continue to want to force through these undemocratic proposals regardless of what those who elected them say," Colin Hart of the Coalition for Marriage told the Christian Institute.

"It shows a growing sense of unease at the way redefining marriage is being handled, not least how the concerns of ordinary people have been ignored," he added.