'Today is like 1970 for Marriage': Archbishop Kurtz Elected Vice President of USCCB

We have Bishop leaders whose committment to the entire Whole Life/ Pro-Life and Pro-Marriage and family agenda cannot be questioned

As a long time participant in the cultural struggle, a constitutional lawyer, policy activist, and writer, I  am deeply concerned that faithful Catholics recognize the moment we are in. For too long I have seen the bad effects of the "Catholic circular firing squad" in our pro-life, pro-family and pro-freedom work. We have Bishop leaders whose commitment to the entire Whole Life/ Pro-Life and Pro-Marriage and family agenda cannot be questioned. Enough of the finger wagging. Enough of "attacking" the U.S. Bishops. The challenge we now face is what are we going to do?

P>BALTIMORE, MD (Catholic Online) - I received an E mail from a friend this morning. She is one of the most popular writers on Catholic Online. She asked me if I was "still on cloud nine from yesterday". She was referring to my elation over the selection of Archbishop Timothy Dolan as the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

I wrote an enthusiastic and faith-filled response to this historic election entitled "Surprising and Historic Vote: Archbishop Timothy Dolan Elected as President of United States Bishops Conference" In response to her E-Mail I told her that I was on "Cloud Three". I meant by that to explain that the implications of this wonderful election are now as sobering to me as they are faith inducing. There is a lot of work to be done and we must put our hands to the plow.

In the euphoria of celebrating the election of Archbishop Timothy Dolan as the new President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, we must also give thanks for the election of Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky as the Vice President of the Conference. He is a wonderful, holy, faithful and courageous Bishop who has been at the forefront of the defense of true marriage and the family and society founded upon it.

On the opening day of the conference, he addressed all of the Bishops on the subject of Marriage and said "today is like 1970 for marriage."  He is absolutely correct! Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky has served as the chairman of the U.S. Bishops' Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage. Now, he has been elected to the Vice Presidency. He knows the challneges we now face. His election is no accident.

On November 15, 2010, in the opening session of this gathering where he compared the current attack on true marriage and the family to Roe v. Wade, he asked the Bishops a question which we all must now answer: "If you had seen Roe v. Wade coming three years out, what would you have done differently?" He continued, "In our Nation we find ourselves at a moment of great opportunity but also great consequence ...The urgency of our priority to promote, protect and strengthen marriage has not abated.... So, in a sense, today is like 1970 for marriage." Of course, he was referring to the years just prior to the evil Supreme Court decisions of Roe v Wade and Doe v Bolton.

The new Vice President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a warning, the current assault on marriage in the Courts, exemplified in the Proposition 8 legal proceedings, could become the Roe v Wade of Marriage. In fact, the legal strategy is quite similar. Have we learned the lessons of history?  

One has only to read the reaction in the Homosexual Equivalency community to the election of both Archbishop Timothy Dolan and Archbishop Jospeh Kurtz to see that we are in a new phase of the struggle to build a new culture of life, family and authentic freedom in the United States. We have to be honest, there is a cultural revolution underway in the West. The proponents of this Cultural Revolution not only demand a so called "right" to kill unwanted children, they now also demand a legal equivalency between homosexual relationships and true marriages. In their zeal, some actually believe they are fashioning a better world.

They reject the truth concerning marriage, the implications on the rearing of healthy and happy children, the structure of a truly just and free society and the real common good. Authentic marriage, and the family and society founded upon it are the foundation of a free society. This is not only a "religious" position, it is accepted across cultures and has informed Western Civilization. It is affirmed by the Natural law which can be known by all men and women through the exercise of reason. Marriage - and the family founded upon it - is the first society, the first church, the first hospital, the first school, the first economy, the first government and the first mediating structure of our entire social order.  

Marriage based family is the first society, first government, first school, first economy, first church and first mediating institution of civil society. When it flourishes, society flourishes. Defending true marriage is the way to defend the real common good. Through his leadership on this vital front the Archbishop of Louisville, now the Vice President of the USCCB, Joseph Kurtz,  has become a hero to the faithful. His efforts are of great importance in the unrelenting attack against authentic marriage and the family and society founded upon it. The fact of his election to such an important post of leadership is a sign of God's goodness.

Authentic marriage - and the family founded upon it - is the foundation of civil societies across ethnic, geographical, religious and racial communities. Marriage is not simply a "religious" construct. It is an institution revealed by the Natural Law which can be known by all through the exercise of reason. Homosexual sexual acts, even if engaged in with one partner for a long time, are not the equivalent of a marriage, no matter what any court or legislature may say. We cannot, we must not, allow marriage to be redefined or replaced by Cultural Revolutionaries.

At the point of the arrow in the effort to undermine true marriage are efforts by activist groups such as the "Human Rights Campaign". These very well funded and very able lawyers seek to equate in the law how one engages in non-marital sexual acts with a member of the same sex to being a member of a particular race or gender, thereby making practicing homosexuals a "protected class" for civil rights purposes. This is legally and socially dangerous. One is a status; the other involves a behavior and a lifestyle.  As a constitutional lawyer who spent much of a thirty year career defending life, marriage and freedom, I cannot overemphasize the danger that the "Human Rights Campaign" poses to the future of the West and a true understanding of human rights. 

We are engaged in another front in a protracted Cultural Revolution. Homosexual Equivalency Activists are being assisted by some in the media who support their agenda, much like they supported the so called "abortion right". All you have to do is read the Press Releases of those who oppose this recent election of a new President and Vice President of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops. Let's be honest. There is no such thing as "gay marriage!" We are in the throes of a fever pitch verbal assault against the truth about true marriage rivaled only by the horrid use of the term "choice" to hide the infamy of abortion. It must be exposed and opposed. Archbishop Kurtz's analogy is absolutely correct and his question must motivate us to action!

In his apostolic exhortation on the Eucharist, the Sacrament of Charity, Pope Benedict summarized the duty of Bishops, all the Clergy and all of the faithful when confronted with this assault on authentic marriage:  "Marriage and the family are institutions that must be promoted and defended from every possible misrepresentation of their true nature, since whatever is injurious to them is injurious to society itself. "

The selection of Archbishop Dolan and Archbishop Kurtz is a blessing  - and a challenge to all who truly care about the future. By virtue of our Baptism, we are all called into the mission of the Church. This is an exciting time, a new missionary age. This is also a challenging time. We welcome the selection of Archbishop Kurtz to the "number two" position in the leadership of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

As a long time participant in the cultural struggle, a constitutional lawyer, policy activist, and writer, I  am deeply concerned that faithful Catholics, other Christians, other people of faith and all people of good will, recognize the moment we are in. For too long I have seen the bad effects of what I call the "Catholic circular firing squad" in our pro-life, pro-family and pro-freedom work.

With Archbishops Dolan and Kurtz we have leaders whose commitment to the entire Whole Life/ Pro-Life and Pro-Marriage and family agenda cannot be questioned! Enough of the finger wagging in some of our circles. Enough of "attacking" the U.S. Bishops. The challenge we now face is what are we going to do? Archbishop Kurtz told his brother Bishops - and he tells us all - that "today is like 1970 for marriage." Now, can we stop shooting one another and begin the task we must undertake together?

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