B
Just to clarify, the Catholic position would be that neither the Church nor the State performs marriages. The couple does. The State just takes care of the paperwork.Interesting. They have a point. Churches bless marriages, and sanctify marriages, but they truly don’t perform them. The state does. I can have all the theology degrees and but as many Pastor, Rev., Father, and other titles in front of my name that I want. I can’t marry anyone unless the state says I can and the state gives that power to duly ordained clergy, and others.
“The members of Catholics for Marriage Equality come from many different Catholic traditions, including Roman Catholic, Independent Catholic, Old Catholic, Episcopal, and Orthodox Catholic.”
“We do not represent a particular church.”
Many shoes will find that offensiveThese folks are about as Catholic as my shoe.
~Liza
That’s true. It does remind me of Catholics for Choice; however, it isn’t a group for just Roman Catholics. I do think there is a difference between these two groups but I can’t put my finger on it. Maybe someone else can…This group doesn’t surprise me. If there’s “Catholics for Choice”, why not “Catholics for Marriage Equality”?
Uh… so why did they pick Catholics? Why not Episcopals or Mixed Faith Traditions? Oh, I get it. It wouldn’t have as much impact on a bumper sticker.According to their website:
Serious question: We know that the Church teaches in the Catechism against homosexual acts, but where does it teach against homosexual marriage (as in a law allowing gay marriage)? We know the Church teaches against adultery, divorce, artificial contraception, etc but there is no teaching that states those things should not be legal.Uh… so why did they pick Catholics? Why not Episcopals or Mixed Faith Traditions? Oh, I get it. It wouldn’t have as much impact on a bumper sticker.
Anything to make obedient Catholics think there is another option regarding this issue.
God bless,
Ed
Here’s the thing: We, as Catholics, know that the Church teaches that homosexual acts are sinful. Now, same-sex marriage entails homosexual acts. Therefore, Catholics should not promote the legalization of same-sex marriage.
This Vatican document should answer your questions:Serious question: We know that the Church teaches in the Catechism against homosexual acts, but where does it teach against homosexual marriage (as in a law allowing gay marriage)? We know the Church teaches against adultery, divorce, artificial contraception, etc but there is no teaching that states those things should not be legal.
On the contrary, the Catechism does teach against legal abortion:
2273 The inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation:
"The inalienable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority. These human rights depend neither on single individuals nor on parents; nor do they represent a concession made by society and the state; they belong to human nature and are inherent in the person by virtue of the creative act from which the person took his origin. Among such fundamental rights one should mention in this regard every human being’s right to life and physical integrity from the moment of conception until death."80
"The moment a positive law deprives a category of human beings of the protection which civil legislation ought to accord them, the state is denying the equality of all before the law. When the state does not place its power at the service of the rights of each citizen, and in particular of the more vulnerable, the very foundations of a state based on law are undermined. . . . As a consequence of the respect and protection which must be ensured for the unborn child from the moment of conception, the law must provide appropriate penal sanctions for every deliberate violation of the child’s rights."81
Thank you…I’ll be sure to read this.This Vatican document should answer your questions:
vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20030731_homosexual-unions_en.html
God bless,
Ed
Gah! That is one ugly website. It looks as if it were a grade school class project.
Gah! That is one ugly website. It looks as if it were a grade school class project.
Honestly, the clashing colors (especially that blue font) hurt my eyes.
LOL!
Okay, that’s my first and second impression. A more thoughtful reaction is that the website doesn’t tell us anything about the organization: who its leaders are, how many members they have, are there chapters in any other state than California (or any other city than Sacramento?) I suspect this is a fly-by-night organization (if its even real) which consists mainly of that website.
**You’re probably right about this. **
My second reaction is that any serious organization which is trying to change the Catholic Church will not ally themselves with pseudo-Catholic denominations. Doing so would undercut their legitimacy, which will already be sorely tested by opposing the teachings on homosexuality and marriage.
I don’t get the impression that they are looking to change Church teaching either or anti-Catholic Church…unlike some of the other groups mentioned in this thread. Maybe this is the difference that I couldn’t put my finger on.
My third reaction was one of wondering… have I heard of them before? A bit of googling found the two groups I was thinking of. One is/was called “Catholics for Marriage Equality in Maine” and grew out of the ballot issue fight of last fall. The other is the more recently formed Catholics for Equality, which intends to be a national organization but is still forming. Neither group seem to be connected with the website mentioned in the first post.
Ed beat me to it.Here’s the thing: We, as Catholics, know that the Church teaches that homosexual acts are sinful. Now, same-sex marriage entails homosexual acts. Therefore, Catholics should not promote the legalization of same-sex marriage.
Even if a Catholic privately thinks that the legalization of same-sex marriage won’t be deleterious for society, or won’t harm the faithful, or whatever, s/he should keep that opinion private, pray for guidance, and maybe discuss it with a priest or other Catholics in an effort to see the truth. But s/he should not join a group that openly argues against Church teaching and indirectly makes certain sins seem more acceptable.
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Good point.Ed beat me to it.I recommend reading that document he linked to.
Keep in mind, the Catechism lays out basic Catholic doctrine. It is not intended to be a compendium to address every possible moral problem. It tends to stick with those that are of particular relevance to the present time. When the CCC was written about 20 years ago, “gay marriage” wasn’t really an issue. Now it is. Hence the release of documents (such as the one Ed linked to) to clarify. If the CCC was released today, it probably would mention it.