BOSTON As the Massachusetts legislature considers proposals regarding the definition of marriage, Boston's Archbishop Sean O'Malley has issued a strong statement giving the reasons for the Catholic teaching that marriage is the exclusive reserve of one man and one woman. The Massachusetts proposal employs the “compromise” of creating legal “civil unions” and retaining the traditional definition of the word “marriage.” The pope has expressly condemned the so-called civil unions “compromise.”
Speaking for the Catholic Church in Massachusetts, O'Malley wrote, “We support the Marriage Affirmation and Protection Amendment as it has been presented, without the introduction of civil unions language.” The Archbishop warned that the proposal represents a threat to the freedom of religious communities. We are concerned with proposals to give same-sex couples identical benefits and protections to those given to husbands and wives that pose a grave threat to religious liberty and the freedom of conscience.”
See also:
Archbishop O'Malley's Statement in Full
Also, New York Bishops Strongly Defend Marriage
NEW YORK, NY Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, spokesman for the archdiocese of New York, has testified that once marriage is taken legally to include homosexual partners, it can be twisted to become anything according to individual desires. Allowing “gay marriage” could lead to group “marriage” or, if taken to the absurd, to marriage between pets. “It could be anything once you say marriage is something other than what it is,” DiMarzio said, citing the Catholic Church's teaching that marriage is an objective reality and not something open to legal or legislative tinkering.
Edward Cardinal Egan said, in a homily, “you want to champion the rights of the family,” calling marriage the “most basic, essential and sacred component of society.”
In an annual meeting, Cardinal Egan and other New York bishops met with legislators last Tuesday to make the case for the defense of traditional marriage. Egan also met privately with Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno on marriage and other issues last week. The Cardinal said after the meeting, “My position would be that marriage would be an agreement to be faithful and to stay together in a union between a man and woman with openness to children and with a seeking of mutual support.” He added, “I believe that this is perhaps the position of every civilization as long as we know.”
See also:
Cardinal Egan Targets Gay Marriage
(This update courtesy of LifeSiteNews.com.)