June 23, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Responding to the push for legalized same-sex “marriage” in the United States and throughout the world, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has launched a new initiative to protect and support true marriage, entitled “Marriage: Unique for a Reason.”
The initiative aims to catechize and educate Catholics on the meaning of marriage as the union of one man and one woman and seeks to “fully answer the false claim of discrimination” with regards to the Church’s stance against same-sex “marriage.”
Last June, the USCCB released the first of five videos, called “Made for Each Other”, which explores sexual difference and the complementarily between man and woman in marriage. A newly released second video, Entitled “Made for Life,” features married couples reflecting on topics related to the gift of children and the indispensable place of fathers and mothers. Later videos will cover topics of marriage related to the common good and freedom.
“The ancient answer to the question of marriage is just as true and applicable and life-giving as ever: marriage can only be between one man and one woman. Everything else falls short. Efforts to redefine marriage misunderstand marriage or sex differences or sex itself,” says a guide accompanying the first video, intended for use by priests, deacons, catechists, teachers and other leaders
Bishop Salvatore Cordileone of Oakland, California, chairman of the Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, said while announcing the release of the second video that modern culture “forgets” the gift of children and as a result “fails to recognize the vital importance of a mother and a father together for the life and upbringing of that child.”
“In contemporary debates about the meaning of marriage, the rights and dignity of the child should be at the forefront,” he added.
The videos invite “a renewed appreciation for the child, for mothers and fathers, and for the bond between love and life in marriage—a bond only possible through the sexual difference of husband and wife,” he said.
“The video also addresses a real gap today in public awareness, namely, the close connection between a culture of life and a culture that promotes and protects marriage,” he concluded. “The two cannot be separated.”
The materials are available online here.