By Angela E. Pometto
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 7/15/04)

"Barring some sort of grassroots revival, we’ll lose this," Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., said referring to the federal marriage amendment. Santorum addressed Catholic families at the National Association of Catholic Homes and Educators convention last weekend at Metz Middle School in Manassas.

Santorum said that most of his colleagues don’t want to discuss this issue, much less vote on it, and they will wait to let the courts decide. According to Santorum, one justice said that marriage is a "scourge on our laws that must be eradicated." The senators also claim that it is not a big enough issue to amend the constitution. The last constitutional amendment concerned pay raises for congressmen.

"If you’re for traditional marriage, that equals hate," Santorum said explaining that it is now an issue of tolerance. "It is a mindset that is affirmed by popular culture, affirmed by the national media that traditional marriage is a discriminatory, hate-filled institution."

This vote is a tipping point. People wonder how the culture suddenly changed to allow this sort of debate, but in reality, it has been a gradual progression of accepting evil as the norm, Santorum said.

Maggie Gallagher, nationally syndicated columnist and author of several books, spoke on the importance of the gay marriage issue.

"In every way possible, children are better off if the mother and father are married and stay that way," Gallagher said. "It has nothing to do with gays and lesbians but everything to do with our cultural idea that children should be raised by a man and a woman."

According to Gallagher, the current public debate reduces marriage to a set of legal benefits or rights and forgets that marriage is the oldest institution of society — present even before the fall of Adam and Eve.

"Unions make children, society needs children and children need a mother and father," Gallagher said. "Societies that fail to do this die out and are replaced by societies who honor marriage."

Gallagher said that Europeans are experiencing a drop in their population. There are 1.5 babies per woman when 2.1 babies per woman are needed to replace a generation. Massachusetts is also beginning to feel the impact of its decision. In their marriage certificate, it now says partner A and partner B instead of husband and wife. So when a child is born, it will now be born to parent A and parent B on the birth certificate. Mothers and fathers are irrelevant, she said.

"In a culture where marriage is whatever the adults want, children are secondary," Gallagher said. "No same sex couple can give a child a home with a mother and father."

Santorum emphasized that the senators do rely on the amount of calls they receive from voters to determine how important an issue is. In the first two weeks after the amendment was suggested, senators received calls five to one in favor of the amendment. Last week, the calls coming in were two to one against. Santorum encouraged attendees to contact their senators and allow them to feel the pressure.

In the Arlington Diocese last weekend, parishioners joined together to gather signatures to petition support for this amendment. After receiving petitions from 19 parishes, the Family Life Office had collected approximately 10,000 petitions. These were forwarded to the Virginia senators before the vote.

On a broader political discussion, Santorum compared two politicians: St. Thomas More and Pontius Pilate. He referred to how Pilate was portrayed in Gibson’s "The Passion of the Christ" as someone who was in doubt — not about whether or not Jesus was innocent, but about how the truth affected him. Santorum related Pilate’s answer to this dilemma in a familiar way: "While I am personally opposed to the execution of this man, I will wash my hands."

When Sen. John Kerry says he believes that life begins at conception, but he is willing to wash his hands of their death, the country sees this as a moderate position, Santorum said.

"It’s a tyrannical evil that we live with in this country every day," Santorum said. He remembered all the many blessings this country has been given. "To whom much is given, much is expected," Santorum said, quoting the Gospel of Luke. He said that American Catholics need to raise the bar in order to save the country. Santorum feels that there a radical transformation is about to occur.

"How blessed we have been this morning to be exposed to and to have listened to a real Catholic public servant in Rick Santorum," said Wilmington Bishop Michael Saltarelli, who celebrated Mass with conference participants.

"We’re on the verge of a new springtime," said Bishop Saltarelli, agreeing with the senator. Bishop Saltarelli said that it is during the most difficult times in the Church’s history that the saints emerged, for "the gates of hell will not prevail."