St. Paul, Minn., Sep 25, 2010 / 16:15 pm
Archbishop John Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis has released a video, in which he explains how new definitions of marriage could seriously harm society. He also propossd that an amendment to his state's constitution be put before the state's voters, “to put the one-man, one-woman definition of marriage beyond the reach of the courts and politicians.”
A DVD incorporating the presentation was mailed to Catholics throughout Minnesota, in response to several bills that would redefine “marriage” to include homosexual partnerships.
Throughout the six minute presentation, Archbishop Nienstedt emphasizes that the definition of marriage, as a lifelong and potentially procreative union between one man and one woman, is not something exclusive to the Catholic Church or any other religious group.
Rather, he teaches, it is a matter of natural law-- which can be known even apart from faith, and which cannot be redefined, democratically or otherwise. Attempts to change such an essential human institution, he maintains, go against the grain of human nature itself, and will contribute to alarming trends toward family and social breakdown.