Like clockwork, demonstrators show up at bishops' meeting

Published: 2003-11-12

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Protesters outside the hotel where the U.S. bishops meet each fall has now become nearly as predictable as the swallows returning to Capistrano. Whatever their issues -- this year it was abortion, homosexual rights and clergy sex abuse -- the demonstrators bear a largely silent witness to their cause. During the bishops Nov. 10-13 meeting, the gay Christian group Soulforce was outside the hotel before the bishops' morning sessions began. Members of the group expressed wariness about the bishops' proposed pamphlet-style document on marriage, "Between Man and Woman: Questions and Answers About Marriage and Same-Sex Unions," as well as a proposed constitutional amendment that would define marriage as being between one man and one woman. The bishops' document, which was to be debated and voted on Nov. 12, says marriage between a man and a woman is God's plan, seen in nature and in divine revelation, and that "a same-sex union contradicts the nature of marriage."

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