WASHINGTON (EWTN News/CNA)— The New York Legislature’s recognition of same-sex “marriages” undermines the common good and will place officials in a position to “retaliate” against those who uphold basic truths about marriage, the U.S. bishops’ point man on the defense of marriage said.
“Making marriage law indifferent to the absence of either sex creates an institutional and cultural crisis with generational ramifications yet to be seen,” Bishop Salvatore Cordileone of Oakland, Calif., said on June 28.
“To eliminate marriage’s very essence — its essence as the union of husband and wife — from its legal definition is to ignore not only basic anthropology and biology, but also the purpose of law generally.”
Law is meant to uphold the common good, not undermine it, stated Bishop Cordileone, who heads the U.S. bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage.
He pointed to children as one group that will suffer the consequences of the vote, since their “basic right” to be raised by their mother and father is ignored by the state.
“Also, as demonstrated in other states where marriage redefinition has occurred, officials there will be in a position to retaliate against those who continue to uphold these basic truths. This is a mark of a profoundly unjust law,” he said.
After a strong push by Catholic Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, homosexual activists and several wealthy Republican backers, the legislation passed the New York Senate by a margin of 33 to 29 votes. All but one Democratic senator voted for the bill, and all but four Republican senators voted against the bill.
Senate Republicans declined to use their control of the Senate to stop the legislation from coming to a vote.
Bishop Cordileone thanked those involved in the grassroots effort to oppose the bill.
“Those courageous legislators and active citizens in New York who defended marriage should be applauded for their inspiring witness,” he said.
While the bill contains some last-minute protections for religious organizations, the Oakland bishop said marriage is “a fundamental good that must be protected in every circumstance. Exemptions of any kind never justify redefining marriage.”
The Catholic bishops of New York reacted to the bill’s passage in a June 24 statement.
They said the Legislature undermines marriage and the family and also warned of attempts to enact “government sanctions” against churches and religious organizations that preach the truth about marriage.
Similar state senate legislation had failed in a 2009 vote of 38-24.
Efforts to recognize same-sex “marriage” in law have continued since the Massachusetts Supreme Court ordered the state to recognize such unions in a November 2003 ruling. State legislatures in New Hampshire, Vermont and Connecticut have passed same-sex “marriage” bills, as has the District of Columbia’s city council.
The Iowa Supreme Court unanimously imposed same-sex “marriage” on the state in 2009. Opponents have since voted to recall three state Supreme Court justices and are working to pass a marriage amendment there.
Forty-one U.S. states have laws or constitutional amendments defining marriage as a union of a man and a woman, The Associated Press reports. A marriage amendment will be on the Minnesota ballot in 2012.
Legislative efforts to redefine marriage in 2011 have failed in Maryland and Rhode Island.
Tim Drake: Register Radio: Catholics in Politics and the Darkside of Disclosure Laws
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TO ALL US BISHOPS AND CLERGY: The recent passage of the same sex marriage law in New York State should be a wake up call for the catholic bishops and clergy to assess their leadership style. No wonder people do what they want to do. They have no effective leadership. I find most bishops and clergy to be preoccupied with being politically correct and have an inordinate fear of being insensitive in what they say. I also find the they give uninspiring sermons for the most part. Get Real! Get your heads out of the pop culture and psychology of the 70’s and start giving challenging sermons and leadership, Make people want to go to church to listen to you, practice what the churches teaches and pass it on to other people. If people do not like what you are saying, who cares. Pray that they see the light before its too late. AND FOR GOD’S SAKE STOP BEING AFRAID OF LOWER RETURNS IN THE COLLECTION BASKET IF YOU HAVE THE COURAGE TO PRACTICE THIS ADVICE. Jesus Christ wasn’t. Remember what happened when he talked about the importance of eating his flesh and drinking his blood. Rember the falloff of followers resulting from his “insensitive statements” The church went on to flourish anyway. So far because of your weak leadership we have abortion and same sex marriage on the lawbooks. Assisted suicide will be next. Wake up! Get real! In the words of Christ “To whom much has been given, much will be expected. Daniel Harrison, Bronx NY
Why are our priests and Bishops not speaking out about this from the pulpits in the parishes located in the grass-roots? Where the public is
allowed to vote the same-sex laws unanimously fail! Speak out! homilists or forever hold your peace on this matter. Of course there is the matter of placing themselves in the line of fire…the guns of accusation are pointed at all times towards the priest in the trenches…and thus far little support and aide is given to those who fall in the line of duty.
All Christians must become involved if this insanity is to be defeated and our future families protected against this incredible tyranny of the secular culture we live in today.
Seems our Priests and Bishops have long had a preference for hiding behind the Pat Robertson’s and Franklin Graham’s on this topic allowing them to catch the heat from the media when confronting incendiary issues. Catholic clergy will never stand with outspoken local or national Christian Pastors and Evangelists even when they are in agreement because—————-they are Protestant.
Daniel Harrison and ThirstForTruth - you are both spot on with your comments. The time has come for bishops to get on the same page, and become unified under the banner of what Oakland, CA’s bishop described. So how can bishops become unified? I fear many bishops and priests support same sex marriage, in secret, because those living in glass houses cannot throw stones: they are homosexual, likely not living chaste lives. So how can we get their attention? I agree all Christians (and Orthodox Jews) must become involved if “this insanity is to be defeated and our future families protected…” Our church leaders are to be men of morals that protect and shepherd us according to God-honoring truths.
NOVENA to stop “Same sex marriage” in NY (& other) states…it’s NOT too late to pray for a miracle.
Please pray the prayer below, other prayers & offer sacrifices to God from Weds. 7/6/11 to 7/14/11 in petition, followed by 9 days of thanksgiving up to the day NY’s law is supposed to take effect…and also the date 3000+ gay “couples” plan to marry.
“Oh God, You have created us male and female in Your image. You have ordained that a man should leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and that they should become one flesh in You. Intercede for us now. Intercede for our[NY] state which has passed laws which would tear asunder Your Divine plan—by attempting to unite in marriage those who are unable to become one flesh in You.
Please spare us, oh Lord, from the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, which You destroyed in Your wrath for this same disordered way of thinking and acting. For the sake of the 50, for the sake of the 40, the 30, the 20, the 10 righteous people in this[NY] state, do not sweep away the innocent with the guilty. As Abraham said: “Far be it from You to do such a thing!”
Please accept our prayers and sacrifices which we offer up to You in petition [use the word “thanksgiving” instead of “petition” from 7/15-7/23] so that this sinful law may be repealed before it ever goes into effect. Hear the prayers of St. John the Baptist, who—upon the feast of his birth—this decree was signed into law. He who was beheaded for fearlessly decrying the unlawful marriage of King Herod, will intercede for us[NY] now . His holy parents, Elizabeth and Zechariah, followed your plan for marriage, and were rewarded with this saintly child. Surely, this holy family, and Your Holy Family, dear Lord, will all intercede on our behalf. We also implore the prayers and assistance of St. Maria Goretti, Blessed Kateri Tekawitha,St. Bonaventure, and St.Bridget—upon whose feast days these petition and thanksgiving prayers begin and end. God help us!!! Amen.”
Before each act of sacrifice (eg. Holy Mass,Holy hour, Rosary, Divine Office, Divine Mercy chaplet, fast, abstinence, etc.):
Lord, please accept this (act of sacrifice) for the repeal of the NY state “marriage equality act” before it ever goes into effect.
Thank you for your prayers and sacrifices, and PLEASE spread the Word. God bless you and yours!
Personally, I don’t agree with gay marriage. But I’m not interested in the morality of immorality here; I’m interested in the legality or illegality. This country’s laws aren’t meant to be based on religion. Certainly, the Church should continue to grant marriages within the Church only to heterosexual couples. That’s a big part of Church teaching. But believe it or not, there are an awful lot of people who think the Church’s desire to ban to gay marriage is just as messed up as we think others’ desire to allow it is.
The morality of the legal situation here is not the type of morality that should be dictated by religion. It’s not one of those things that’s a grave injustice on a basic human level- lying, theft, murder, rape, etc. It’s simply about two people who want to be together, and it shouldn’t be the business of the law to decide who can and can’t be together so long as both parties are of age and of sound mind.
The average gay couple really isn’t hurting anyone else. Maybe it would be a bit weird for a kid to be raised in that kind of household, but not every gay couple is going to adopt anyway. For those who are, there are worse things they could do than give a kid a home with love, structure, discipline, and food on the table. Especially when there are SO many children in the foster care system, being shuffled from one house to the next, feeling unloved and unwanted and angry. Besides, straight parents can screw their kids up just as badly as gay parents can, and neither type of parent intends to do it. I think we, as Catholics, should be more concerned with promoting our views on the subject in a loving way than with attacking gay marriage advocates and demanding that gay marriage be thrown out. No one who’s being attacked will ever want to hear the other side of the story.
If you want a really serious injustice of the law to talk about, let’s consider the TSA’s refusal to admit that the unwanted viewing of or contact with an American citizen’s genitals is in fact sexual assault, even if it is committed by government officials. Now THAT’S a problem we should confront.
@ Anonymous 7/11: 6:56
There are several errors in your thinking and I won’t attempt to refute all of them but the most pervasive one is that we should allow by law
the gays to marry…and that there would be no serious consequences. We should just allow them to proceed, as they are not hurting anybody.
That itself is just plain wrong-headed. To re-define marriage, which is the legal support (leaving for now religion out as you requested )for the family, our basic unit of society for centuries, will affect every aspect of our culture and mores. Homosexuality is not just another life style but a direct violation of the NATURAL law…goes against nature itself. Already we are seeing the dire consequences of this dis-ordered behavoir
in the enormous increase in related diseases and effects. Aids is sweeping away whole generations in other countries, particularly Africa, and there is an enormous increase in STD’s in the world’s population. Families are left devastated with children orphaned and no one to care for them…and the costs for all this is an added burden on bloated budgets. Also there has developed in societies around the world an
attitude of casualness about sexual relations. Most destructive and pervasive among our youth who are no longer allowed a period of innocense that every child is entitled to experience for proper development. Instead we are having forced upon us early and harmful forms of sex education as early as pre-school that heretofore where not introduced until a child was mature enough to absorb. This whole atmosphere has created a psychic malaise that is reflected in increased anxiety which has resulted in an enormous increase in the ingestion of mood altering drugs..some legal but much not. I could go on with many more horrible consequences of this disordered life some want to legalize but for the sake of time and space, I will leave it to you…to contemplate what I have already pointed out. Your kind of illogical and self-absorbed thinking is leading our planet towards disaster..more than any of the environmental issues confronting us. SSM will destroy society as we have known it in such a way that all those other issues pale by comparison.
ThirstforTruth: I was tempted to respond to the post by Anonymous, however, the enormity of wrong-headed positions put forth was of such gallactic proportions I did not know where to begin. Anonymous indicates he/she is Catholic thus confirming what is happening within the cultural tide of society. Even the Christian church (Catholic and Protestant alike) has been affected by a societal shift to post modernism. We should really not be shocked to see such a mindset presented by Anonymous and even by many others inside the church since his/her positions only portend as a forerunner of the spiraling downslide to the end times. We only rejoice in that true followers of Christ will never accept the deception of the secular world view even though it has weaved its way into our churches.
There’s something in a name. If I may attempt amateur translation of the most literal kind - Salvatore (Savior) Cordileone (Heart of a lion) is an impressive and fitting thing for this man to be called.
@ anonymous: “This country’s laws aren’t meant to be based on religion.” Okay, what about having some basis in reality whatsoever, then? “But believe it or not, there are an awful lot of people who think the Church’s desire to ban to gay marriage is just as messed up as we think others’ desire to allow it is.” I take issue with the word you use. No one can BAN something that never has and never will exist. A supposed marriage of two men or two women is no marriage at all. Every current law I am aware of does not “ban” anything, but merely reinforces a proper understanding of terms.
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