Boston Archbishop O’Malley Says Gay ‘Marriage’ and Civil Unions Pose Grave Threat to Religious Liber

BOSTON, March 11, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As the Massachusetts legislature considers proposals regarding the definition of marriage, Boston’s Archbishop Sean O’Malley has issued a strong statement giving the reasons for the Catholic teaching that marriage is the exclusive reserve of one man and one woman. The Massachusetts proposal employs the “compromise” of creating legal “civil unions” and retaining the traditional definition of the word “marriage”. The Pope has expressly condemned the so-called civil unions “compromise”.  Speaking for the Catholic Church in Massachusetts, O’Malley wrote, “We support the Marriage Affirmation and Protection Amendment as it has been presented, without the introduction of civil unions language.” The Archbishop warned that the proposal represents a threat to the freedom of religious communities. We are concerned with proposals to give same-sex couples identical benefits and protections to those given to husbands and wives that pose a grave threat to religious liberty and the freedom of conscience.”  To read Archbishop O’Malley’s statement in full:  https://www.rcab.org/News/statement0400311.html