By Jenna Murphy
Phoenix, September 15, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a video posted online yesterday, Phoenix Bishop Thomas Olmsted has urged Catholics to vote in support of Proposition 102 on November 4th. Proposition 102 is an amendment to the Arizona constitution that, if passed, will define marriage as being a union between a man and a woman.
Bishop Olmsted emphasized that there are some issues where Catholics may use “prudential judgment” and arrive at different conclusions, but there are also “non-negotiable” moral stands that Catholics must take. “The definition of marriage as the union between a man and a woman,” he says, “is one such issue” upon which Catholics “cannot legitimately disagree.”
The Bishop then quoted Pope Benedict XVI’s message for the January 1 World Day of Peace in 2007.
“Whoever, even unknowingly, circumvents the institution of the family undermines peace in the entire community, national and international, since he weakens what is in effect the primary agency of peace,” the Pope wrote.
“Everything that serves to weaken the family based on the marriage of a man and a woman, everything that directly or indirectly stands in the way of its openness to the responsible acceptance of a new life, everything that obstructs its right to be primarily responsible for the education of its children, constitutes an objective obstacle on the road to peace.”
The Bishop then referenced recent the California Supreme Court decision to override state statutes on the definition of marriage, despite the deciding vote of the people in 2000 to uphold marriage as being between a man and a woman. The Bishop asserted that voting ‘yes’ to Proposition 102 would avoid such “unjustness.”
“By placing this definition in our states constitution,” Bishop Olmsted said, “we can avoid the unjust scenarios that are occurring elsewhere in our country. Where courts are overturning the will of the people and declaring marriage statutes to be unconstitutional.”
“As a matter of fairness, this decision will be decided by ballot vote not by courts; decided by Arizona voters not courts or even future legislature,” said Bishop Olmsted.
“We Catholics have an obligation to exercise our faith in everything that we do. When it comes to voting on November 4th, I urge you to vote yes to marriage, yes to proposition 102. God bless you.”
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