Maryland's Catholic bishops back effort to define marriage

Published: 2006-01-26

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Maryland's Catholic bishops are supporting a bill introduced in the House of Delegates that would amend the state constitution to define marriage as being between one man and one woman. Their action came in the wake of a Baltimore Circuit Court judge's ruling that Maryland's ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional. Judge M. Brooke Murdock ruled Jan. 20 that Maryland's current prohibition against same-sex marriage "cannot withstand" constitutional challenge. Richard J. Dowling, executive director of the Maryland Catholic Conference, was disturbed by the judge's ruling and pledged to work to see it overturned. "It is regrettable in the extreme that the judge could not discern in the history of the human race or in contemporary society a compelling state interest in limiting marriage in its full context to a man and a woman," said Dowling, who represents Maryland's bishops in Annapolis, the state capital.

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