Stop The Federal Government From Forcing Homosexual ‘Marriage’ On The States! Tell Your Senators To Vote NO.
(LifeSiteNews) – Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone and Bishop Joseph Strickland are urging Congress to reject a bill that would enshrine same-sex “marriage” into federal law and threaten the religious liberties of millions of Americans.
In a letter dated July 22, Archbishop Cordileone urged the Senate to vote against the so-called Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA), which passed the House last week with unexpectedly strong Republican support.
READ: The Republican Party is about to betray Christians and destroy the traditional family
The San Francisco archbishop, who penned the letter in his role as chairman of the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), warned that the consequences of the bill could be “disastrous” and stressed that the traditional definition of marriage is still “best for society in a concrete sense, especially for children.”
“The health and socioeconomic benefits of stable family life with a mother and a father are well-established, as are the positive outcomes for children raised in such a home,” and children have a “basic right” to be raised by a mother and father in an exclusive, lifelong marriage whenever possible, he wrote.
“Same-sex civil marriage has further diminished the fulfillment of that right, both directly and indirectly as it further disassociates marriage and sexual actions from the responsibilities of childbearing,” Archbishop Cordileone lamented.
The RFMA would accelerate the decline of the family by opening the door to federal recognition of polygamy and forcing states recognize new redefinitions of “marriage” adopted by other states, he added.
“The ‘Respect for Marriage Act,’ would do the opposite of what its name implies, codifying a demand for states and the federal government to honor whatever may be deemed ‘marriage’ by any other state,” the prelate wrote, noting that three cities in Massachusetts have already granted legal recognition to polygamous partnerships.
“By making federal recognition of such relationships automatic upon their recognition by any state,” he continued, “the bill would create a massive incentive for radical activists to concentrate their efforts in a single state – further lending plausibility to this potentially disastrous scenario.”
The Respect for Marriage Act, also known as HR 8404, requires every state to grant “full faith and credit” to same-sex “marriages” and other civil marriages “between two individuals” performed in another state, while forcing the federal government to recognize “marriages” of any number of people if considered valid by any state, as LifeSite has reported.
The bill passed the House in July with the support of all Democrats and 47 Republicans. House GOP leaders Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise notably did not push Republican lawmakers to vote against it, instead allowing them to “vote their conscience.”
Along with the implications of the RFMA on marriage and the family, Archbishop Cordileone warned that the bill poses a serious danger to religious freedom, noting that governments have used laws that redefine marriage “to threaten the conscience and religious freedom of individuals such as wedding vendors, and entities such as foster care and other social service providers, who seek to serve their communities without being punished for their longstanding and well-founded beliefs.”
“This bill would lend weight to those efforts and further marginalize millions of ‘reasonable and sincere people,’” he said.
Archbishop Cordileone and Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, the chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, previously sent a similar letter to representatives in the House.
Bishop Strickland: Same-sex ‘marriage’ bill is ‘in direct opposition’ to God’s Law
Bishop Strickland of Tyler, Texas, also strongly denounced the Respect for Marriage Act last week and insisted that those who seek to follow God “must go on record opposing this travesty.”
“The irony of the ‘Respect for Marriage Act’ now before Congress is tragic,” he tweeted on Tuesday. “It is in truth a blatant denial of God’s plan for humanity & places us in great peril. All who love God & seek to live His Commandments must go on record opposing this travesty & denial of God’s Law.”
The irony of the “Respect for Marriage Act” now before Congress is tragic. It is in truth a blatant denial of God’s plan for humanity & places us in great peril. All who love God & seek to live His Commandments must go on record opposing this travesty & denial of God’s Law.
— Bishop J. Strickland (@Bishopoftyler) July 26, 2022
In a blog post addressing the legislation, Bishop Strickland wrote that Congress “is well on the way to making a human law of the land that denies God’s Law.”
“All people of faith will agree that this is a perilous plan and can only bring more heartache,” he said, noting that compassion toward “all of our brothers and sisters” must never involve violating God’s commands.
“Let us pray that our national leaders in Congress will not codify a law that is in direct opposition to the Law of God,” the Texas bishop urged. ‘To continue down this path is destructive to the human community now and puts our eternal salvation in jeopardy.”
“Pray that Congress will act with the compassion of God’s Truth.”
May people of faith speak up for the Sanctity of Marriage and urge Congress not to codify a denial of this Truth as the law of the land. Let us show true compassion to every son and daughter of God. https://t.co/y7RUj3VC5v
— Bishop J. Strickland (@Bishopoftyler) July 26, 2022
Respect for Marriage Act on verge of passage
Since the House passed the Respect for Marriage Act, five Republican senators have either pledged to vote for the measure or suggested that they would do so if it comes before the Senate: Susan Collins of Maine, Rob Portman of Ohio, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.
Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin said last week that an additional five Senate Republicans have privately indicated to her that they would likely support the bill.
Democrats need 10 Republican votes to overcome the Senate filibuster and send the RFMA to Joe Biden, a longtime backer of same-sex “marriage,” who has vowed to sign it.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has not announced a public position on the measure, and Sen. John Thune, the Senate GOP whip, has said that Republican leaders will probably not urge senators to oppose it, despite mounting pushback against the bill and the Republican congressmen who voted for it in the House.
Archbishop Cordileone’s concerns about the Respect for Marriage Act mirror those raised by prominent conservative groups, including Alliance Defending Freedom, the Heritage Foundation, and Family Research Council, in a July 26 letter addressed to McConnell.
“HR 8404 would require federal recognition of any one state’s definition of marriage without any parameters whatsoever,” including “plural marriages, time-bound marriages, open marriages, marriages involving a minor or relative, platonic marriages, or any other new marriage definition that a state chooses to adopt,” the organizations warned.
Moreover, the bill “effectively deputizes activist groups to sue religious individuals, organizations, and businesses that operate according to their sincerely held religious belief that marriage is between one man and one woman and also act ‘under color of state law,’” which could include faith-based foster care agencies, social service groups, and other religious organizations that contract with the government.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) could additionally use the RFMA to strip faith-based institutions of their tax-exempt status if they uphold traditional marriage, the groups’ letter added. “As such, anyone who supports this measure is crossing a line into aiding and abetting the persecution of people of faith.”
Catholic lawmakers have ‘moral duty’ to oppose same-sex ‘marriage’
The Catholic Church continues to reject homosexuality and same-sex “marriage” as grave, intrinsic moral evils.
“There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family,” the Church teaches. “Marriage is holy, while homosexual acts go against the natural moral law.”
Catholics lawmakers have a “moral duty” to oppose legislation that would grant recognition to homosexual unions, and voting in favor of any such law is “gravely immoral,” the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has specified.
Nearly 90 self-identified Catholics in the House, including 14 Republicans, voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, and Sens. Collins, Murkowski, and Tillis are also professed Catholics.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that Sacred Tradition “has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered,’” in line with Scripture, which “presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity.”
“They are contrary to the natural law” and “do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved,” the Catechism adds.
LifeSiteNews is running a Voter Voice campaign alerting senators about the Respect for Marriage Act. The USCCB and several social conservative groups, including Family Research Council, the American Family Association, and the Centennial Institute, have also launched campaigns opposing the bill.
READ: Cdl. Müller: ‘Nobody can change’ Catholic doctrine that homosexuality is ‘grave sin’
Stop The Federal Government From Forcing Homosexual ‘Marriage’ On The States! Tell Your Senators To Vote NO.