Catholic bishops in New Jersey launched an energized effort to defeat marriage equality momentum over the weekend, reports The Star-Ledger , issuing a letter and other materials in churches statewide that called for marriage to remain strictly a heterosexual institution. "We must protect and promote marriage," said "The Call to Marriage," as reported by The Star-Ledger.
"God himself is the author of marriage. Marriage as union of man and woman existed long before any nation, religion, or law was established ... Governments, therefore, have a duty to reinforce and protect this permanent institution and to pass it on to future generations, rather than attempt to redefine it arbitrarily for transitory political or social reasons."
The bishops also plan a petition drive to state legislators to be held on Sundays in September, reports a Catholic news source from the Diocese of Metuchen.
Marriage equality is widely expected to come up for a vote in the lame-duck legislative session between the November election and the January swearing-in of the new legislature.
The issue could also become more prominent in the final weeks of the heated gubernatorial race between incumbent governor Jon Corzine, an outspoken marriage equality advocate, and former U.S. attorney Christopher Christie, a Republican who supports the current civil union law.
As the result of a 2006 state supreme court ruling, which was left to the legislature to implement, same-sex couples in New Jersey currently are entitled to civil unions, which were intended to provide all the same benefits as marriage.
However, a 2008 report from a state commission found that civil unions failed to fulfill that mandate, creating a second-class status for same-sex couples.
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