Catholic Mom Takes on U.S. Bishops

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has launched an on-line advocacy campaign directed to Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, asking church leaders to back away from their expensive campaign against marriage equality.

James Servino (center) poses with siblings and his mother, Barbara Servino (second from right).

James Servino of HRC launched the campaign, which features a letter to Cardinal Dolan written by his mother, Barbara Servino.  He explains the campaign’s origin:

“My mother is amazing. She’s had my back from the second I came out to her – and long before that.

“When she heard that the leaders of our Roman Catholic Church had spent $2 million on anti-gay marriage ballot campaigns in this election, she wrote a letter to the top Catholic bishop in the U.S., sticking up for people like me. I think it’s a message he desperately needs to hear.”

You can join the campaign by adding your signature to Mrs. Servino’s letter, which reads:

To: His Eminence Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York

Your Eminence,

I’ve been going to Catholic mass almost every week since I was a little girl. My aunts and uncles are nuns and priests. My husband was a member of the Knights of Columbus. We raised our kids in our parish community and sent them to Catholic schools. Catholicism is more than just a belief for me — it’s a deep seed of my identity.

And it has always taught me that God made us all, and loves us all the same. The same way I try to love all my kids. That’s why, when my incredible son told me he was gay, it didn’t change my love for him one bit.

He’s always my child.

That’s why I was outraged to learn that the leadership of our Church just spent $2 million on anti-gay marriage ballot campaigns. Think of all the positive things that $2 million could have accomplished. Think of the hungry fed, the sick comforted, the homeless sheltered. Instead you chose to use parishioners’ donations like mine to divide and discriminate.

Catholicism teaches us to love one another — not to attack our sons and daughters for simply wanting to make lifelong commitments and start families. You won’t have to ever marry a same-sex couple, but it makes no sense to deny them the right to be married under the law. And your parishioners aren’t going to stand for it much longer.

I think it’s time we all got on the right side of history. I hope you do, too.

Sincerely,
Barbara Servino

The deadline for the letter is this week, so sign it soon!

Another recent HRC blog post, from Anne Underwood, founder of Catholics for Marriage Equality, makes the case for why Catholics are supporting this cause.  Entitled “Pro-Equality and Roman Catholic Is Not an Oxymoron,” the essay explains why marriage equality is a Catholic issue:

I am pro-equality because I am a Catholic committed to freedom and fairness for all God’s people. The majority of U.S. Catholics — anywhere from 53% – 73%, according to 2012 polls — are like me.

Most people recognize that marriage equality could not have prevailed in ME, MD, MN and WA this fall if a majority of Catholics hadn’t voted for justice over their hierarchy’s preference for dogma. Over $2 million for dogma notwithstanding, Catholic faithful were not persuaded that their consciences were “improperly formed.” . . .

Vatican II confirmed Jesus’ teaching — it is the people of God, not their rulers, who represent the Kindom of God. We Catholics in the pews, the voting booths, at our lesbian and gay family and friends’ weddings – we are the Church. We are speaking proudly and increasingly loudly as Church.”

Though we’ve had our recent four-state success, there are still many more states to go before equality is the law of the land, and Catholics will play a decisive role in many of those struggles.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

 

 

 

 

 

MD Catholics Light Up Marriage Equality Message at Basilica & in Newspapers; Baltimore Pastor’s Pro-Equality Sermon Is Removed from the Web

Maryland Catholics who support marriage equality had a busy weekend showing their support for their state’s referendum on the issue which will be on the ballot tomorrow.

Catholics for Marriage Equality vigil outside Baltimore’s Basilica of the Assumption.

On Saturday evening, November 3rd, about 40 Catholics in the state stood outside the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Basilica of the Assumption holding lighted signs which read “Catholics for Marriage Equality.”

On Friday, November 2nd, a half-page ad appeared in The Baltimore Sun signed by over 340 Catholics expressing their support for the state’s Question 6, which will ratify the marriage equality law passed in the spring.   The same ad appeared in The Star Democrat, a newspaper on the state’s Delmarva peninsula.  The ad’s statement read:

“As Catholics, we believe that all God’s children are created equal and have inherent dignity. We believe every member of our family and our community should enjoy the same opportunities, freedom, and fairness in life. Therefore, we support the Civil Marriage Protection Act signed into state law on March 1, 2012. The Civil Marriage Protection Act preserves religious freedom and protects civil liberties in a manner that respects the diversity of our great state.

“As Catholics, we will follow our consciences and vote FOR Question 6 on November 6, 2012 to support the Civil Marriage Protection Act.”

The statement was a condensed version of a pledge to support marriage equality.  The full text of the pledge can be found on the Catholics for Marriage Equality Maryland website.  You can visit the website to make a donation to the Catholic campaign to support marriage equality.

A news story on Washington DC’s Metro Weekly website quoted two of the ad’s organizers:

” ‘Catholic lay people in Maryland are voting their consciences to make sure that our state’s laws treat all people equally and fairly, and that all families in Maryland are strengthened and protected,’ said Francis DeBernardo, a spokesman for the coalition and the executive director of New Ways Ministry, a coalition partner, in a statement announcing the ad.

“The statement also quoted Ryan Sattler, one of the ad’s signatories: ‘While we respect our church’s leaders, we disagree with them about this issue of public policy. Our Catholic faith impels us to work for justice and dignity for all people, and supporting marriage equality is the right way to secure those values, and that is why as Catholics we are proud to be voting for Question 6.’ “

This weekend it also became known that the online video and audio recordings of a Baltimore Catholic pastor who preached in support of marriage equality had been taken down.

Who withdrew the video and audio recordings of Father Richard Lawrence’s October 28th sermon at St. Vincent dePaul parish?  Dan Rodricks, a Baltimore Sun reporter has a theory:

I inquired about what had happened, but the pastor declined to comment and I haven’t heard back from St. Vincent’s. I assume Lawrence’s superiors might have had something to do with the removal of the video. The same day it disappeared, a message about “the teaching role of priests” appeared on the archdiocesan web site. “

As part of that statement, Archbishop William Lori said:

“Preaching the word of God requires subordination of personal views to the word of God as taught by the Catholic Church. This was my promise when I became a priest, as it is the promise of every priest at his ordination. … No bishop, priest or deacon has the right to use the pulpit to advance his personal opinions. … May all priests, including myself, be mindful of their obligation to preach the Gospel even when it is unpopular with prevailing culture.”

Rodricks commented:

“None of this surprised me — not Father Lawrence’s courage in speaking from conscience, not the church’s predictable position against such a challenging expression from the pulpit. The church feels empowered to press its views about a civil matter, to lobby and to influence representatives, to campaign, to be a player in the democratic process that culminates in Tuesday’s election. And yet the church is itself no democracy; it refuses to hear dissent, even from one of its most eloquent and faithful servants speaking about a matter of civil justice.”

The actions of Maryland Catholics described at the beginning of the post, and the fact that Fr. Lawrence had received a standing ovation from his congregation, reveals that the laity do not agree with suppressing discussion of this issue in the church.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

 

 

 

 

Maine Catholics Urge Others to Vote Their Consciences on Marriage Equality Referendum

As we come into the final week before Election Day, Catholics in Maine are becoming more public about their support for the state’s referendum to legalize marriage equality, while the Catholic bishop there is becoming more vocal about his opposition.

Catholics for Marriage Equality, the state’s organization of Catholic in favor of the referendum, took out quarter-page ads in three Maine newspapers this past Sunday urging people to vote for marriage equality.  100 Catholics across the state put their names to the ad to show their support.

In a Boston Globe news story, Anne Underwood, the lead organizer of Catholics for Marriage Equality, explained the background for the ad statement:

Anne Underwood

‘‘ ‘The premise is we support marriage for same-sex couples because it’s a matter of conscience,’’ said Underwood, an attorney from Topsham. ‘’And Catholics have an obligation to form their own consciences, especially on political issues and issues of morality.’ ’’

(You can view a video clip of an interview with Underwood by clicking here.)

The same news story quotes former governor of Maine, John Baldacci, a Catholic who is a strong supporter of marriage equality:

‘‘While we’re tremendously respectful, we also recognize that God gave us the ability of free choice and to be able to follow our hearts. When we see people who want to make a lifelong commitment to each other, that’s something we should be praising and supporting.’’

Baldacci recently hosted two spaghetti dinners to raise awareness for the marriage equality referendum.

Meanwhile, the state’s Bishop Richard Malone, the state’s Catholic ordinary who is governing the diocese from his new diocese in Buffalo, New York, issued a statement that any Catholic who votes for marriage equality is opposing Catholic doctrine.  He stated, in part:

Bishop Richard Malone

‘‘A Catholic whose conscience has been properly formed by scripture and church teachings cannot justify a vote for a candidate or referendum question that opposes the teachings of the church. The definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman, open to the birth of children, is a matter of established Catholic doctrine.’’

In response to the bishop’s statement, a Catholics for Marriage Equality spokesperson encouraged Catholics to vote as their conscience directs them:

“ ‘Emotionally, I have to say I’m disappointed and embarrassed a little bit that he would put out a statement like this,’ Frank O’Hara of Catholics for Marriage Equality said Thursday in a telephone interview. ‘In some respect, I think the bishop is overstepping the bounds of church teaching by telling Catholics how we should vote on an issue.’ ”

“O’Hara, 62, of Hallowell said he and other Catholics who support same-sex marriage will be voting their consciences on Election Day.

“’The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “man must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience,’” O’Hara said in a statement issued late Thursday afternoon by Catholics for Marriage Equality. ‘Bishops cannot ask Catholics to vote against their consciences. No council has ever given them the authority to dictate obedience in matters of politics and civil government.’

“O’Hara agreed with Malone that Catholics for Marriage Equality does not speak for the Catholic church or every Catholic in Maine.

“ ‘We do, however, speak for an important group of Catholics, all of whom are part of the universal church,’ he said. ‘In this perspective, the bishop does not speak for all Catholics either, at least insofar as politics and government are concerned.’ “

In a related item, the Knights of Columbus have recently donated $100,000 to the campaign in Maine opposed to the marriage equality referendum, according to a news story in the Kennebec Journal. 

--Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

Catholic Campaigns for Marriage Equality in Maine and Maryland Intensify

Seventeen days remain until voters in four states will cast ballots regarding marriage equality’s future in their respective states. In Maine and Maryland, Catholic leaders on each side of the ballot questions are intensifying their efforts to turn Catholics out.  New Ways Ministry had public roles in the campaigns in both states this week.

In Maine, where a third of the population are Catholic, former Governor John Baldacci hosted a spaghetti dinner fundraiser in conjunction with Catholics for Marriage Equality to urge Mainers to vote Yes on Question One.

Governor John Baldacci (center) with New Ways Ministry’s Francis DeBernardo and Sister Jeannine Gramick.

Catholics for Marriage Equality, the Religious Coalition Against Discrimination, and Catholics United invited New Ways Ministry co-founder, Sr. Jeannine Gramick, and Executive Director, Francis DeBernardo, to speak at the dinner. The dinner also fundraised for a local homeless shelter defunded by the US bishops’ Catholic Campaign for Human Development after the shelter came out in support for equality in 2009.

Sr. Gramick told those gathered:

“It is not just a vote for lesbian and gay couples and their right, because they do have the right to get married. It is a vote to support families. You can be a good Catholic and vote with your conscience and vote for marriage equality.”

You can watch a news video of the event, including interviews with Governor Baldacci and Sister Gramick by clicking here.

One priest in Maine has recently noted how hard it is for Catholics to speak together about marriage equality.  Fr. Seamus Griesbach of Bangor referenced the emotional damage caused by a 2009 Catholic bishops’ campaign against gay marriage that saw significant financial and staff investments. Fr. Griesbach told National Public Radio:

” ‘We have both perspectives in the church, and they’re very inclined to really get pretty nasty,’ says Griesbach. ‘So I think the church said, wait a minute, we cannot allow the Gospel to be limited to some kind of slogan.’ “

Sister Jeannine speaks at the Maryland press conference.

Meanwhile, Maryland Catholics joined with other faith communities in encouraging residents to vote for Question 6 and uphold a pre-existing marriage equality law. Religious leaders,  including Sr. Jeannine Gramick, gathered on Thursday, October 18th at an interfaith press conference to express their support for Question 6.

Sister Jeannine spoke at the conference and was quoted in the Washington Blade :

“As we grow in the moral right, we sometimes have to make conscience decisions that are at odds with the leaders of our religious denomination…I do respect the position of the Catholic bishops on this question, but I disagree with them and I disagree with them because my conscience tells me so. My conscience tells me that social justice teaching in my church… supports equality and dignity for every individual. And so I can apply that social justice teaching of my church to the question of civil marriage for lesbian and gay people. This is not a question of church doctrine. It’s a question of public policy. And in this area of public policy I respectfully disagree with the bishops of my church.’”

–Bob Shine, New Ways Ministry

Maine’s Former Governor Serves Up Spaghetti to Raise Awareness of Marriage Equality

Maine’s former Governor John Baldacci serves spaghetti at one of his famous fundraisers.

Maine’s former governor, John Baldacci, a Catholic, will be hosting  spaghetti dinners in Bangor  and Portland to raise awareness about marriage equality and to raise funds to help the homeless.   Maine is having a referendum on marriage equality on Election Day.

New Ways Ministry’s Sister Jeannine Gramick, co-founder, and Francis DeBernardo, executive director, will be featured guests at the Bangor event, on October 17th, co-sponsored by Catholics for Marriage Equality and the Religious Coalition Against Discrimination.

According to the Bangor Daily News, Baldacci has been a firm supporter of marriage equality both in this campaign and in the previous referendum in 2009, when the proposal was defeated:

“ ‘I’m very committed to this issue because I believe in civil same-sex marriage,’ Baldacci said Monday in a telephone interview. ‘I know how important it is for Mainers to stand up against discrimination. My way to get involved was with these fundraisers. All I asked was that all the proceeds go to charity so that we put others before politics.’ “

Spaghetti suppers were a standard fund-raising event for Baldacci in all his political campaigns.  In the Bangor Daily News, he explains his support for marriage equality:

“Baldacci said Monday that his decision to sign the gay marriage bill into law was rooted in the Maine Constitution, not his Catholic upbringing.

“ ‘We grew up with President Kennedy running for office where he had to draw a very strict line between church and state,’ the former governor said. ‘[Protestant] ministers felt the pope would dictate policy. When I assumed office, I represented all people, regardless of their or my religious backgrounds.’

“In his weekly radio address that aired shortly after he signed the bill three years ago, Baldacci cited the Maine Constitution, which says that “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor be denied the equal protection of the laws, nor be denied the enjoyment of that person’s civil rights or be discriminated against.”

“The last spaghetti supper Baldacci hosted also was prompted by the battle over gay marriage in Maine. It drew more than 900 people. . . “

It’s no accident that the events are raising funds for the homeless.  The money raised will go to homeless shelters whose funds from the Catholic church were cut in 2009 because of their support for marriage equality.

Anne Underwood

Anne Underwood, the founder of Catholics for Marriage Equality, is one of the organizers of the event, and she explains her activism on the marriage issue as based on the social justice tradition of Catholicism:

“ ‘The liturgy forms for me a spiritual foundation to go forward with my social justice work,’ she said. ‘What I really loved when I converted was that, especially in the 1990s, the Catholic Church was such a wonderfully big tent. I could testify against [other Catholics] in Augusta on Wednesday and take communion with them on Sunday. We transcended all that political stuff.’ ”

“[Bishop] Malone’s activism in the 2009 campaign spurred her and other Catholics to action. She said Monday that her decision to go against the official teaching of the church was made after searching her conscience.

“ ‘The undergirding of Catholic intellectual history is the primacy of the conscience,’ she said. ‘There is an obligation on the part of Catholics to form one’s own conscience based on one’s own reading and one’s understanding of the Gospel and church teaching. If one’s conscience says I can’t do that, then one is obligated to follow one’s own conscience.

“ ‘How we live within the institution enriches us but also challenges us,’ Underwood continued. ‘If we go against the church, we must do so carefully, conscientiously and prayerfully. It is the duty of a Catholic to inform his or her conscience and follow it.’ ”

Both spaghetti suppers begin at 5 p.m.   The firs one is Wednesday, Oct. 17, at Bangor High School, 885 Broadway, Bangor.  The second one is Friday, Oct. 26, at the Maine Irish Heritage Center, 34 Gray St. in Portland. Suggested donation is $5 person, but larger donations are accepted.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

In Washington State and Minnesota, Catholics Can Make the Difference on Marriage Questions

Despite the fact that the bishops of Washington State have recently issued a pastoral letter against Referendum 74 which would legalize marriage equality in that state, polls are indicating that voters are not heeding that message.

According to a Seattle Post-Intelligencer blog:

“Referendum 74, legalizing marriage equality, is leading 56-38 percent in the latest SurveyUSA poll of Washington voters for King-5 News, after being up by a narrower 50-43 percent margin six weeks ago.”

The polling is not as optimistic in Minnesota, which has a constitutional amendment to ban same-gender marriage on the ballot:

“. . .results of a new Public Policy Polling survey show a dead heat:  48 percent support, and 47 percent oppose a state constitutional amendment that would define “marriage” as exclusively between a man and a woman.”

The blog post cites Archbishop John Nienstedt of the Archdiocese of St. Paul as the strongest opponent of marriage equality in Minnesota.  Catholic institutions have donated $1 million to the campaign to defeat marriage equality.

As we’ve reported before, Nienstedt has forbidden the priests of his archdiocese to publicly express any dissent on this matter.  But that has not seemed to stop some priests from staging a passive protest against the archbishop’s campaign.  When Nienstedt issued a letter against marriage equality this month, 17 parishes, including the Basilica of St. Mary, refused to read the letter at Mass.

The Post-Intelligencer blog points out that Nienstedt seems to have softened his rhetoric even though he has not changed his message:

“But the hard-line archbishop has softened his tone.  As recently as 2010 he warned that anyone who ‘actively encourages and promotes homosexual acts  formally cooperates in a grave evil, and . . . are guilty of mortal sin.’

“In his latest missive, however, Nienstedt speaks of those with ‘same sex attractions’ as ‘productive citizens, community servants, good friends and our beloved family members.’ ”

Of course, Nienstedt is not the only Catholic voice active in Minnesota.  There is the good work of Catholics for Marriage Equality Minnesota,  which is working to oppose the ban on marriage equality.  They been distributing yard signs that say “Another Catholic Voting No” for parishioners to display.  And 102 retired and resigned priests have signed statements urging Catholics to vote “no.”  (Because the ballot question in Minnesota is designed to block marriage equality from being legalized, a “no” vote is a vote in support of marriage equality.)

Catholics for Marriage Equality are active in all four states where marriage equality is on the ballot this fall:  Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Washington State.

Political experts know that ballot initiatives are won or lost not by poll numbers, but by voter turnout.  The side who gets the most people to the voting booths on election day wins, regardless of what polls say.  If Catholics want to make a difference in these four states, they have to get to the polls that day and get their friends, Catholic and otherwise, to do the same.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

 

Maine Catholics Line Up on Both Sides of Marriage Equality Debate

 

Earlier this year, Bishop Richard Malone of Portland, Maine, announced that the diocese would not take an active political role in the campaign to defeat the marriage equality referendum that state voters will decide in November.

Instead, he said, the diocese planned to educate people on the meaning of marriage according to the magisterium of the church.  He issued a pastoral letter about marriage in March, entitled “Marriage: Yesterday, Today, Always.”

With just about nine weeks to go before the election, the diocese has decided to set up a series of lectures to promote the pastoral letter–just when the state’s debate about marriage equality is heating up in anticiapation of the referendum.

The lecture series is described in a news article in the Kennebec Journal:

“Suzanne Lafreniere, associate director of public policy for the diocese, said the speakers will ‘promote the principles of the faith’ in nine lectures that begin Saturday and are open to the public.

” ‘The big take-away is marriage is the union of man and woman and any children born of that union,’ she said. ‘This is part of our communications effort. We’ll be continuing our educational efforts after the election.’ . . . .

“Lafreniere said she has lined up theologians from around New England to speak at the events and that clergy will serve on the question-and-answer panel. Because the sessions are open to the public, they could draw same-sex marriage supporters, and she said they will be prepared for give and take ‘so long as people are respectful.’

” ‘Even Catholics don’t always agree with the church on it,’ she said.”

Some of those Catholics who don’t agree with the the church hierarchy on the issue are the members of Catholics for Marriage Equality, led by Anne Underwood and Charles Martel.  A spokesperson for their organization commented on the diocese’s lecture series:

“Frank O’Hara, a former speechwriter for Democratic governors and spokesman for Catholics for Marriage Equality, said he’s glad the diocese has moved its message ‘out of the middle of the Mass,’ an approach that drew complaints in 2009. Still, O’Hara said, the forums won’t provide the kind of discussion necessary to address the issue.

” ‘It would be better if it was an invitation to Catholics to dialogue about marriage,’ he said. ‘All Catholics share the values of fidelity, love, faithfulness. These (forums) are designed to tell us what to believe and how to vote.’ “

The Portland Daily Sun reports that faith supporters of marriage equality are planning an weekend-long event to show how and why their religious beliefs lead them to this position:

“. . .[O]n Sept. 15-17, a ‘faith weekend’ is planned throughout the state to promote ‘Yes on 1,’ the initiative to legalize gay marriage. Mainers United for Marriage will conduct the “faith weekend” for those of the Protestant, Jewish and Catholic faiths to support ‘marriage equality,’ according to David Farmer, spokesman for Mainers United for Marriage. Fifty congregations around the state will hold services or activities supporting the freedom to marry for same-sex couples, the coalition announced.”

Catholics for Marriage Equality recently participated in an event where they held banners proclaiming their support for the referendum on the bridge over the Damariscotta River between Newcastle and Damariscotta.

Back in June, the diocese declined to participate in an interfaith fundraising effort to defeat the marriage equality referendum organized the Christian Civic League of Maine, a political action committee in Maine.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

 

 

 

 

Maine’s Catholic Parishes Won’t Raise Funds for Marriage Equality Opponents

On Father’s Day, June 17th, the Christian Civic League of Maine, a political action committee in Maine whose goal is to defeat marriage equality in that state’s upcoming referendum, will be collecting money in approximately 200 churches, according to a report from USNEWS.MSNBC.MSN.com.  Notably and thankfully absent from the fundraising effort will be Catholic churches.  The report states:

“The Catholic Church won’t be joining the alliance, but participants include Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal, Nazarene, Church of God, Wesleyan, Evangelical Free, Advent Christian and other denominations, the league stated.

“While churches and other nonprofits may not raise money for candidates to office, they may raise money for issues important to their members.

“Father’s Day, June 17, seemed appropriate for a special church collection because of the day’s focus on family, league Director Carroll Conley Jr told the AP. Additional collections are expected in the months ahead.”

Earlier this year, Bishop Richard Malone of the Catholic diocese of Portland, Maine (which includes the entire state), said that the diocese would not be taking an active part in the referendum campaign this year, as they had in 2009 when the issue was last on the ballot.  By not participating in the fundraising effort, Bishop Malone is keeping true to his word.

The faith organizing to support marriage equality in Maine’s referendum is being led by the Religious Coalition Against Discrimination.  Catholic involvement in the coalition is represented by Catholics for Marriage Equality, which is housed in Maine.

The Catholics for Marriage Equality website contains the text of a declaration for which they are collecting signatures.  You can sign the declaration by clicking here. Since the declaration sums up Catholic pro-equality sentiments so well, it is reprinted in its entirety:

The Catholics for Marriage Equality Declaration

As faithful Roman Catholics we believe that the constitutional right to practice freedom of religion is based on respect for the dignity of each individual. We must guard against, not promote, the domination of one religious tradition over others in our civic life. Making respect for the dignity of all people not only an ideal but a living truth, we affirm civil marriage for same-sex couples throughout the United States. Our declaration of conscience is based on the following:

• The American principle of the separation of Church and State was enshrined in the Constitution to ensure that no particular religious perspective would be imposed on our pluralistic society.
• Catholic teaching on social justice has been central to the building of a just society, creating awareness of diversity in the human family, calling us to lives of respect, not simply tolerance, for one another.
• We remember that Roman Catholics were once denied civil rights, treated with suspicion, ridiculed because of our sacred rituals, and questioned as to our allegiance to “foreign authorities.” Memory challenges us to remain vigilant whenever bigotry and injustice enters into public discourse.
• Same-sex civil marriage does not in any way coerce any religious faith or tradition to change its beliefs or doctrine or alter its traditional marriage practices.

We know that God is a most gracious and wonderful Creator. Many of us have gay and lesbian relatives and friends. We value the love and commitment we witness in their relationships; their devotion to each other and their children. Civil marriage bestows the dignity and equality called for in our nation’s highest ideals, “the inherent natural rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

As Roman Catholics, we differentiate between sacramental marriage and civil marriage.Therefore, we perceive that same-sex civil marriage poses no threat to our Church. While we respect the authority and integrity of the Church in matters of faith, our prayers and discernment have brought us to a new openness on this issue. We do not ask the Church to perform same-sex marriages. We do implore the Church to honor the States’ prerogative to authorize civil marriages for our gay and lesbian family and friends. Grateful for the gift of our faith and the ways that we have been nourished by faith throughout our lives, and also grateful for our citizenship in America and in our particular state, we sign this statement as Roman Catholic citizens of the United States of America.

–Catholics for Marriage Equality

For those interested in learning more about Catholic perspectives supportive of marriage equality, New Ways Ministry offers a short book, Marriage Equality: A Positive Catholic Approach.  The book is available at no cost.  It can be downloaded in PDF format from New Ways Ministry’s website.  You can also order hard copies of the book on the website (no cost for the book; postage and handling fees apply).

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry