On Friday evening, the New York State Senate passed legislation legalizing same-sex marriages with a vote of 33-29. The move to redefine the traditional and God-given meaning of marriage is disappointing and saddening.

Over the last several days, many individuals who supported the measure to give homosexuals the ‘right’ to marriage equality have begun to taunt and jeer those who stringently opposed the new law, including the Catholic Church. One report stated that the passage of the law sent a message to the Church and its bishops:

“You bunch of posturing ninnies in frocks are utterly irrelevant, and you no longer have a grip on New York!”

Well, that wasn’t very nice, now was it?

In all seriousness though, many people have misunderstood the opposition of the bishops on this matter. Their opposition to same-sex marriage does not mean that they are anti-gay; it simply means they are pro-marriage. The bishops are simply defending the beliefs of the Church, which state marriage cannot and should not be radically altered.

The bishops are stringently opposed to ALL efforts to redefine the God-given meaning of marriage. As Archbishop Timothy Dolan put it: “society and culture is at its peril if we presume to tamper with what has been…cherished through the history of civilization.” Dolan continued, describing how same-sex marriages are “not good for the common good.”

Source: Daily Herald | Brian Hill

I hope you all are having a fantastic weekend so far. I would like to take a minute to apologize for the lack of substantial posts over the last few days. I know many of you have wondered where I have been lately. Well, things have been quite busy on my end with working, getting ready for school, etc. It is so hard to believe that this summer is practically over; school is just a couple of weeks away. To be honest, I am quite excited about getting back into a normal routine.

Over the next few days, things should begin to return to business as usual and I will have some more time to do posts here and on the Catholic Vote Action blog. I thank you for patience and for your continued reading.

I know I promised some more on the federal judge’s decision to overturn Proposition 8. But, truthfully, there are others out there who are more capable of giving you information on what this decision means for us as a Church and as a country. I recommend that you check in with our good friend the American Papist for all of your news on Proposition 8.

There is one thing I will say about the decision, however:

In response to a federal judge’s decision to overturn Proposition 8, Francis Cardinal George, current President of the USCCB, has released the following statement:

Source: LA Times

WASHINGTON—Cardinal Francis George, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, decried the August 4 decision of a federal judge to overturn California voters’ 2008 initiative that protected marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

“Marriage between a man and a woman is the bedrock of any society. The misuse of law to change the nature of marriage undermines the common good,” Cardinal George said. “It is tragic that a federal judge would overturn the clear and expressed will of the people in their support for the institution of marriage. No court of civil law has the authority to reach into areas of human experience that nature itself has defined.”

Joining Cardinal George in his criticism of the court decision was Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage. Archbishop Kurtz noted that “Citizens of this nation have uniformly voted to uphold the understanding of marriage as a union of one man and one woman in every jurisdiction where the issue has been on the ballot. This understanding is neither irrational nor unlawful,” he said. “Marriage is more fundamental and essential to the well being of society than perhaps any other institution. It is simply unimaginable that the court could now claim a conflict between marriage and the Constitution.”

More to come. As always, stay tuned.

Source: USCCB

This afternoon, a federal judge in California overturned the voter approved Proposition 8 that banned gay marriage in the state. This is a major setback for efforts to support the traditional family. Below is a snippet from an Associate Press article on MSNBC.

Source: The Christian Post

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker’s decision to overturn the voter-approved ban, known as Proposition 8, came in response to a lawsuit brought by two same-sex couples and the city of San Francisco seeking to invalidate the law as an unlawful infringement on the civil rights of gay men and lesbians.

Proposition 8, which outlawed gay marriages in California five months after the state Supreme Court legalized them, passed with 52 percent of the vote in November 2008 following the most expensive campaign on a social issue in U.S. history.

Attorneys on both sides have said an appeal was certain if Walker did not rule in their favor. The case would go first to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, then the Supreme Court if the high court justices agree to review it.

Anticipating such a scenario, lawyers for the coalition of religious and conservative groups that sponsored Proposition 8 in 2008 filed a legal brief Tuesday asking Walker to stay his decision if he overturns the ban so same-sex couples could not marry while an appeal was pending. (MSNBC | Associated Press)

The Bishops are likely to issue a statement on this setback. More on that when it is released.