Bishops: Same-Sex Unions Not Equivalent To Marriage

By JERRY FILTEAU, CNS

Published: November 20, 2003

WASHINGTON (CNS) — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops overwhelmingly approved a short teaching document Nov. 12 on why same-sex unions should not be given the social or legal status of marriage.

Meeting in Washington, the bishops adopted the statement, “Between Man and Woman: Questions and Answers About Marriage and Same-Sex Unions,” by a vote of 234-3.

Introducing the statement the day before, Bishop J. Kevin Boland of Savannah, Ga., chairman of the USCCB Committee on Marriage and Family, said it was intended, “first and foremost, to help our Catholic people participate in the current social debate about marriage.”

The 2,000-word statement says marriage between a man and a woman is God’s plan, seen in nature and in divine revelation.

“Marriage, whose nature and purposes are established by God, can only be the union of a man and a woman and must remain such in law,” it says.

“A same-sex union contradicts the nature of marriage,” it says. “It is not based on the natural complementarity of male and female; it cannot cooperate with God to create new life; and the natural purpose of sexual union cannot be achieved by a same-sex union.”

Speaking of the social importance of preserving marriage, it says: “Across times, cultures and very different religious beliefs, marriage is the foundation of the family. The family, in turn, is the basic unit of society. Thus, marriage is a personal relationship with public significance.”

It adds, “The state rightly recognizes this relationship as a public institution in its laws because the relationship makes a unique and essential contribution to the common good.”

The bishops had to make an exception to their usual rules of procedure to put the marriage statement on the fall agenda on an expedited basis, barely two months after the decision to write it. Ordinarily it takes six months to a year to develop such statements under standard conference procedures.

Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of Belleville, Ill., USCCB president, told the bishops that “rapid developments, both social and legal, which attempt to equate such (same-sex) unions with marriage between a man and a woman” led the USCCB Administrative Committee in September to seek development of the statement in time for the November meeting.

The 47-bishop Administrative Committee, the highest body in the USCCB short of a general assembly of the bishops, issued a public policy statement in September calling for a constitutional amendment to protect the unique social and legal status of marriage as a union of a man and a woman.

The committee also recognized “the importance of restating in a clear, understandable and unequivocal way the meaning of marriage, its purposes and its value to individuals, families and societies,” Bishop Gregory said.For that reason it asked Bishop Boland’s committee, in consultation with the Committee on Doctrine, to draft a statement in which the bishops could explain the church’s stand to Catholics and other Americans.

In a preliminary presentation of the statement Nov. 11 Bishop Boland said, “This statement has one main purpose, namely, to express the Catholic Church’s core belief and teaching about marriage and then apply it to the current debate about extending marriage to include the legal recognition of same-sex unions.”He said the proposed statement was “educational and catechetical” and was “not meant to be a detailed theological treatise, public policy statement or legal argument.”

“It strives to show that marriage is directly related to the common good of society,” he said. “This point is essential. Marriage, by being true to its God-given nature and purposes, makes a unique and irreplaceable contribution to the common good.

“It is a public institution, not simply a lifestyle choice made by two people who can give it whatever meaning they wish,” he added.

The statement is to be published in brochure form, with plans for wide distribution in parishes.

Initiatives to change the traditional legal definition of marriage have arisen in several U.S. states and in a number of other countries in recent years.In 2000, a Vermont law established same-sex civil unions as the legal equivalent of marriage after the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that it was a violation of the state constitution to deny same-sex couples the benefits that married couples have. In a similar legal challenge the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld same-sex marriage Nov. 18.

In response to an increasing number of such initiatives around the world, the Vatican July 31 declared that same-sex unions were contrary to human nature and ultimately harmful to society. The statement adopted by the U.S. bishops addresses the same question.

“It is not unjust to deny legal status to same-sex unions because marriage and same-sex unions are essentially different realities,” it says.

“To uphold God’s intent for marriage, in which sexual relations have their proper and exclusive place, is not to offend the dignity of homosexual persons,” it adds. “Christians must give witness to the whole moral truth and oppose as immoral both homosexual acts and unjust discrimination against homosexual persons.”

“The state has an obligation to promote the family, which is rooted in marriage,” it says. “Therefore, it can justly give married couples rights and benefits it does not extend to others. ... It would be wrong to redefine marriage for the sake of providing benefits to those who cannot rightfully enter into marriage.”