Vermont’s Roman Catholic bishop is organizing a rally outside the Statehouse to demonstrate opposition to same-sex marriage and domestic partnerships. ‘‘Today in Vermont, the sacredness of marriage and the family as ordered by God is in jeopardy, and we are called to defend it,’’ Bishop Kenneth Angell says in a pastoral letter to be read at all Masses throughout the state this weekend.
A paper calling for open access to abortion, same-sex marriages, gay ministers, and sex education at all ages signed by 850 religious figures was released yesterday. Notably, the petition contained no valid representatives from the Catholic, Evangelical, black Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, Mormon, Buddhist, Hindu or Muslim faiths. The Episcopal Church, the presidents of the United Church of Christ and Unitarian Universalist Association, and Protestant seminaries were well represented as supporting the paper.
Next Monday’s March for Life marking the 27th anniversary of the Roe v Wade decision legalizing abortion in the US will be without one of its main and most faithful attendees, John Cardinal O’Connor. Doctors have ordered the cardinal not to attend, so he has opted instead celebrate a pro-life Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Sunday.