By Michael F. Flach
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 2/12/04)

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court granting same-sex couples the right to marry under Massachusetts law "is part of an alarming trend in recent judicial rulings to undermine the institution of marriage," said Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde.

"These increasing efforts to redefine marriage completely by extending it from the union of one man with one woman to include the union of two men or of two women run counter to the core teachings of the Catholic faith, which teach that marriage is the union of one man with one woman," he said.

The bishop said the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us: "The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator. Marriage is not a purely human institution despite the many variations it may have undergone through the centuries in different cultures, social structures and spiritual attitudes. These differences should not cause us to forget its common and permanent characteristics. The well-being of the individual person and of both human and Christian society is closely bound up with the healthy state of conjugal and family life."

Bishop Loverde said the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith responded in 2003 to this moral crisis in our country and beyond by articulating the "inalienable characteristics" of marriage, establishing reasoned arguments against the legal recognition of homosexual unions, and challenging Catholic elected officials to "oppose the legal recognition of homosexual unions.

"At the federal level," he said, "there is a bill in the House of Representatives calling for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a male and female. I have supported that effort since its birth and I call on fellow Catholics and persons of goodwill to speak to their legislators, make their voices known on this critical debate, and defend the sanctity and dignity of marriage lest it be redefined by court rulings like this week’s in the Massachusetts Supreme Court.

"As we Catholic bishops of the United States said in our recent statement, Faithful Citizenship, ‘[r]esponsible citizenship is a virtue. Participation in the political process is a moral obligation. This is particularly urgent in light of the need to defend marriage and to oppose the legalization of same-sex unions as marriages,’" the bishop said.

Other pro-family groups have spoken out against the court decision as well.

The Massachusetts ruling "is the second act in a carefully orchestrated plan of judicial tyranny in that state," said Tom Minnery, vice president of Focus on the Family. "It is the constitutional duty of the Legislature, the elected representatives of the people, and not the courts, to decide the social policy for the state."

Minnery called on state legislators and Governor Mitt Romney to protect marriage "from this radical redefinition."

The Alliance for Marriage called upon Congress to pass the Federal Marriage Amendment. "The constitutional problem created by almost a decade of activist lawsuits to destroy our marriage laws demands a constitutional fix," said Matt Daniels, president of AFM.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, agreed with Daniels’ assessment. "This decision leaves no doubt that we must, immediately, pass a federal marriage amendment," he said.

"We are not just fighting to preserve marriage in Massachusetts. This case will determine the future of marriage throughout America."