“Pope Francis has forcefully reminded us that we are to show love and
respect to all people and to seek their greatest good, and he therefore
continues to clearly promote and defend marriage and family, recognizing
that this is in everyone’s best interest as members of a common
society,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, chairman of
the U.S. bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of
Marriage, said Nov. 20.
The archbishop noted that Pope Francis opposed the redefinition of
marriage in Argentina as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, where the future
Pope said, “The identity of the family, and its survival, are in
jeopardy here: father, mother, and children … At stake is the total
rejection of God’s law engraved in our hearts.”
The Pope has also encouraged Catholics to “propose to all people, with
respect and courage, the beauty of marriage and the family illuminated
by the Gospel.”
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed a bill to recognize same-sex unions as marriages on Nov. 20.
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan had justified support for the
bill by citing the Pope’s July comments on the flight from World Youth
Day in Rio de Janeiro to Rome.
“If a person is gay and seeks the Lord and has good will, well who am I
to judge them?” the Pope had said, in response to a question about the
“gay lobby” in the Vatican. The Pope had also said that lobbies “are not
good.”
Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, a Democrat from Aurora, said she voted for the
bill “as a Catholic follower of Jesus and the Pope,” the Chicago Tribune
reports.
Archbishop Cordileone said that in light of the Pope’s criticisms of
same-sex unions, it is “disgraceful that some legislators would
manipulate the words of Pope Francis to suggest that he would support
marriage redefinition.”
The archbishop said this redefinition is “a serious injustice.” The law
exists to protect “authentic rights, especially the right of children to
have a married mother and father.”
The law could create more religious freedom threats to business owners
in the wedding industry, such as florists, photographers and wedding
planners, who cannot in good conscience participate in same-sex
ceremonies. Lawsuits have targeted similar businesses in other states.
“The bill is called the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act. But
this act is neither free nor fair for people of religious convictions,”
Peter Breen, vice president and senior counsel of the Thomas More
Society, said Nov. 20.
A group of legal scholars said that the Illinois bill’s vague and
undefined terminology will require litigation to determine what
religious liberties are protected.
Sixteen states have legally recognized “gay marriage,” particularly in
the northeast U.S.
Marriage law was initially redefined by the courts
before several legislatures passed bills recognizing the unions.
Same-sex “marriage” ballot measures did not succeed until 2012.
Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage,
suggested that activists for redefining marriage have “run out of easy
targets.”
The activists targeted the “most liberal” states and “barley
eked out some incredibly narrow victories,” he said Nov. 20 in a
statement to his organization’s supporters.
Amendments defining marriage as a union of one man and one woman exist
in 30 states, he noted, saying that there is a “false narrative” which
asserts that the redefinition of marriage is inevitable.
Archbishop Cordileone praised the “courageous efforts” of those who helped defend marriage in Illinois.
“The defense of truth and goodness is never in vain,” he said.