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Denial of the legal status of marriage to forms of cohabitation that are not and cannot be marital is not opposed to justice

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) - In a denigrating, dismissive and dissenting editorial entitled “On Marriage, the Bishops should Start Over”, the “National Catholic Reporter” begins with these words: “When the U.S. bishops meet next month in Baltimore they should scrap the entire text of the proposed pastoral letter on marriage and start fresh. The primary problem with the draft - obtained by NCR and available for viewing on our Web site - is that it is not, as advertised, pastoral. In fact, it reads as if it was written by someone who has never once engaged in a marriage preparation program, let alone actually ever been married.”

Well, I had to respond to that ridiculous assertion as someone who has been married for 33 years, with five children and six grandchildren, as well as a member of the Clergy, a Deacon. “National Catholic Reporter”, you are wrong, wrong, wrong! Millions of Catholics, other Christians and other people of faith and good will join me in rejoicing over this letter once they read “Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan.”

This wonderful title summarizes the proposed “Pastoral Letter of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops” quite well. Its rich insights will be discussed and debated at the November Bishops meeting. It will be released in some form at the conclusion. It is a model of the teaching Church at its best, addressing at a critical time in history a very serious foundational cultural problem. We are desperately in need of this clear, wise and elegantly written instruction. Instead of denigrating the letter - and the Bishops - as the Editors of the “National Catholic Reporter” did, we should extend our deepest appreciation and redouble our prayer on their behalf.

I will return to this letter in several articles in the future. However, what is very clear is that the “National Catholic Reporter” particularly does not like that the US Bishops have reaffirmed the teaching of the Catholic Church concerning what the letter refers to as “Same Sex Unions.” Here is an excerpt:

Same-Sex Unions

“One of the most troubling developments in contemporary culture is the proposition that persons of the same sex can "marry." This proposal redefines the nature of marriage and the family and, as a result, harms both the intrinsic dignity of every human person and the common good of society. Marriage is a unique union, a relationship different from all others. It is the permanent bond between one man and one woman whose two-in-one-flesh communion of persons is an indispensable good at the heart of every family and every society.

“Same-sex unions are incapable of realizing this specific communion of persons. Therefore, redefining marriage to include such relationships empties the term of its meaning, for it excludes the essential complementarity between man and woman, treating sexual difference as if it were irrelevant to what marriage is.

“Male-female complementarity is intrinsic to marriage. It is naturally ordered toward authentic union and the generation of new life. Children are meant to be the gift of the permanent and exclusive union of a husband and a wife. A child is meant to have a mother and a father. The true nature of marriage, lived in openness to life, is a witness to the precious gift of the child and to the unique roles of a mother and a father. Same-sex unions are incapable of such a witness. Consequently, making them equivalent to marriage disregards the very nature of marriage.

“When marriage is redefined so as to include or be made analogous with same sex partnerships, society is effectively stating that the permanent union of husband and wife, the unique pattern of spousal and familial love, and the generation of new life are now only of relative importance rather than being fundamental to the existence and well-being of society as a whole.

“Today, advocacy for the legal recognition of various same sex relationships is often equated with non-discrimination, fairness, equality, and civil rights. However, it is not unjust to oppose legal recognition of same-sex unions, because marriage and same-sex unions are essentially different realities. “The denial of the social and legal status of marriage to forms of cohabitation that are not and cannot be marital is not opposed to justice; on the contrary, justice requires it”. To promote and protect marriage as the union of one man and one woman is itself a matter of justice. In fact, it would be a grave injustice if the state ignored the unique and proper place of husbands and wives, the place of mothers and fathers, and the rights of the child”.

The Bishops have much more to offer in this letter and I encourage every one of our readers to read it and study it. The only worthwhile thing that the editors of the “National Catholic Reporter” have done is to make the draft available: click here.

We are involved in a clash between two competing visions of the human person, human flourishing, human dignity, human family and human society. This draft letter from our Bishops presents a stellar summary and synthesis of the teaching of the Catholic Church, the champion of true and authentic freedom; the defender of the dignity of the human person; the promoter of the primacy of authentic marriage and the family and society founded upon it; and about the only institution which can point a collapsing western culture to the path to rebuilding a genuinely just society.

As for the “National Catholic Reporter”, they all too often align themselves with a very different vision than the authentic Catholic vision as taught by the Magisterium. Sadly, they often seem to champion dissent. In this editorial, they have done just that. However, since my mother always taught me to try to find something good to say about everyone, they do have John Allen. At least he is worth reading.