.- Bishop
William Skylstad, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is
calling on all bishops across the country to mobilize their dioceses
and urge the U.S. government to establish a federal constitutional
amendment protecting marriage as an institution between one man and one
woman.
In a letter,
made public yesterday, Bishop Skylstad, who also oversees the Diocese
of Spokane, Washington, said that “there is a growing sense shared by
many people, including a wide range of religious leaders, that a
Marriage Protection Amendment is the only federal-level action that
ultimately will protect and preserve the institution of marriage.”
Addressing
the bishops specifically, he wrote that “timely and focused efforts are
needed to help the Catholic faithful form their consciences on such an
important matter.”
In June, the drafted Protection of Marriage Amendment (S.J. Res. 1) is slated to be brought before the U.S. Senate.
At that time,
said Bishop Skylstad, the Church “will have the opportunity once again
to stand publicly in support of marriage as the God-given union of a
man and a woman.”
He also said
that he is “aware that the time is short for taking action”, and so
urged the bishops “to do whatever you can, given the situation and the
resources available to you.”
Because “in some
states there are upcoming votes for either legislation or
constitutional amendments defining marriage,” Bishop Skylstad admitted
that “We are challenged…to give attention to the interplay of state and
federal level policy as well as to focus our efforts where they are
most needed and can do the most good.”
Calling married
love “a gift of God to humankind and to his Church,” the bishop said
that “It needs to be promoted, preserved, and protected now and for the
future. Indeed, in his first encyclical letter, Deus caritas est, Pope
Benedict XVI places the highest value on love between a man and a woman
‘where body and soul are inseparably joined and human beings glimpse an
apparently irresistible promise of happiness.’”
On March 14th,
the USCCB’s Administrative Committee formally reaffirmed its support
for a federal marriage amendment in the document ‘Promote, Preserve,
Protect Marriage.’
U.S. Bishops urge national Catholic support for federal marriage amendment
Related news
- Marriage: a lifelong union of a man and a woman joined in an intimate community of life and love, say Arizona Bishops
- More than 50 percent of marriages in which the couples lived together before they married end in divorce, James Healy, director of the Office of Family Ministry for the Diocese of Joliet, told a group
- Measure to protect marriage dies in Maryland
- Church in Costa Rica extends pre-marital preparation to help prevent failed marriages
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