The leader of East Bay Catholics has gone beyond an accommodating message on same-sex marriages from bishops statewide to urge his parishioners to change the law."As faithful citizens, Catholics are called to bring our laws regarding marriage into conformity with what we know about the nature of marriage," said Bishop Allen Vigneron, head of the Oakland Diocese.
Failing to do so would make Catholic life countercultural, he wrote in a statement published in the June 9 Diocesan newspaper, the Catholic Voice.
"No government has the power to change the order which God has inscribed in our nature," Vigneron says in the letter which was meant to be read in every parish in the diocese. It appears in this month's Catholic Voice and in some church bulletins.
After the California Supreme Court on May 15 struck down the state's prohibition of same-sex marriage, the statewide Catholic Conference of Bishops issued a letter that accepted gay civil unions. "Every person involved in the family of domestic partners is a child of God and deserves respect in the eyes of the law and their community," they wrote.
Vigneron, whose statement was first issued May 16, did not suggest specific acts, but Californians will vote in November on a constitutional amendment to restrict marriage to one man and one woman.
His comments should surprise no one, said a spokesman for the diocese, which encompasses Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
"Shaping the social order is not outside the role of a bishop," said Father Mark Weisner. "One of his responsibilities is to state clearly what the church's position is. I have not heard anything from my people, I think because they understand his role and what he is doing."
The bishop's directive was both lamented and extolled — especially in the blogosphere.
"I really needed to read that letter," one poster said. "God bless Bishop Vigneron."
Others questioned why the bishop concerned himself with the law, since the church will be free to maintain its own standards.
"Clergy have always decided who they will and won't marry," said Kerry Chaplin, spokeswoman for California Faith for Equality. "Some rabbis will only marry two Jews, and that is perfectly legal. When people vote in November, they are not voting for their clergy to marry gay and lesbian couples, they are only voting to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry."
Vigneron addressed that issue in his comment: If Catholics fail to make the law conform "with what we know about the nature of marriage," the Catholic way of life "will become counter-cultural."
Not all priests read the letter to their congregants, and not all churches put it in their church bulletins.
The Rev. Brian Joyce of Christ the King Catholic Church in Pleasant Hill chose to publish the Conference of Bishops letter, but not Vigneron's.
"The (Conference of Bishops) letter spoke more to the dignity of the individual," he said.
It also "makes it clear it does not alter our norms for marriage," Joyce said. "Partnerships for same-sex couple are already legal. (The statewide bishops' letter) carefully says those two things. Even if same-sex marriage is upheld, it still doesn't change our norms, so I don't see it as the end of the world. Bishop Vigneron would say it undermines the fabric of society. There are people who will agree and people who will disagree."
Joyce said most parishioners have told him they were concerned only that the church define Catholic marriage, and that the civil issue is quite aside."
"We can have different perspectives in Catholicism, and the bishop is entitled to his," said Antonio Salas, leader of the UC Berkeley Newman Center lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Catholics.
In his letter, Vigneron tells parishioners he will do his best "to lead you in your response to this situation in the months and years ahead.
"And I know that your priests are one with me in pledging you this service."
The California Supreme Court ruling takes effect Monday.
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