Cardinal says marriage amendment an opportunity not to be squandered

Published: 2006-06-05

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- As President George W. Bush called on the Senate to pass the Marriage Protection Amendment, Philadelphia Cardinal Justin Rigali said the vote was "an opportunity which should not be squandered." In a June 5 event at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next door to the White House, Bush said amending the Constitution was the only way to "take this issue out of the hands of over-reaching judges and put it back where it belongs -- in the hands of the American people." Cardinal Rigali was among a coalition of religious and civic leaders who attended the White House event. Bush called marriage between a man and a woman the most enduring and important human institution. He noted that 45 states have passed laws or constitutional amendments defining marriage as only between a man and a woman. The bill on the Senate calendar for a June 6 vote would add a two-sentence amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It reads: "Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any state, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman."

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