The campaign to overturn Maine's new gay-marriage law is heating up within the Catholic Church.The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland asked parishioners to donate in a second collection on Sunday.
Church officials said they need money to help repeal the state's same-sex marriage law.
Officials said donations like the ones collected at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception will go to pay for television ads aimed at overturning the state law that legislators passed last spring.
Outside the church, two former nuns who now belong to a group called "Catholics for Marriage Equality" said they are disappointed by the church's decision to ask for a second collection.
"The fact that the bishop and the Catholic Church is coming out to help reverse the law for same-sex marriage is just appalling to me," Kathy Tosney said.
"It doesn't feel right, feels very unjust, feels very discriminating."
Back inside the church, the pastor asked parishioners to ask themselves, what would Jesus do?
The Rev. Louis Phillips said, "Marriage pre-dates government, and since the beginning of time, marriage has been understood by people of every faith and culture to be the union of a man and a woman."
Parishioners News 8 spoke with said they believe the new law is not in keeping with what God would want.
Parishioner Jane Roy said "I hope we can go back to the tradition as it was, marriage should be between a man and a woman, at least in the state that I live in."
Marc Mutty from Stand For Marriage Maine, the campaign working to overturn the same-sex marriage law, said 140 churches across the state took double collections on Sunday.
Mutty said by the end of the day, the churches could have collected as much as $100,000 to $300,000.
Mutty said, "We don't have endless resources and we are scrambling to put the resources together to fund our media buy."
Along the church fence, a handful of protestors dressed as angels carried signs.
One read: For Heaven's sake, all love is divine - Vote No On 1.
On Nov. 3rd, voters in Maine will vote "yes" to repeal the marriage equality law or "no" to keep it on the books.
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