Boston archbishop finds expanded ruling on gay marriage 'troubling'

Published: 2004-02-06

BOSTON (CNS) -- Boston Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley said the Supreme Judicial Court's expanded ruling on gay marriage is "more troubling" than its initial decision. The court's Nov. 18 decision struck down Massachusetts' opposite-sex-only marriage laws, but the new ruling, issued Feb. 4, declared that same-sex couples have the right to get married. The 4-3 ruling, delivered in an advisory opinion sought by the state Senate, "clearly demonstrates the overly activist stance of the four-judge majority," said the archbishop in a Feb. 5 statement. He also said the justices who issued the opinion "seem determined to blur the constitutional separation of powers and to usurp the rightful role of the Legislature." After the November ruling the state Senate was considering a bill that would have given same-sex couples all the "protections, benefits and obligations of civil marriage" but would have called the unions something else. But, before voting on the measure, the Senate asked the court if the bill would comply with its Nov. 18 ruling. In its Feb. 4 opinion the court said no. "This court's majority answer deserves a commensurately strong response," added Archbishop O'Malley.

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