A Shepherd’s Voice
By Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski
Marriage must be preserved in New Jersey
February 19, 2007 will be remembered by many as an historic day in New Jersey’s history. Same-sex couples will be allowed to enter into civil unions, through which they will receive all the benefits of a married couple. It is essential, that we as Catholics, understand the Church’s position on this issue. The Church is not seeking to withhold benefits from individuals but simply to protect marriage and the future of the family in our society. What is most troubling is that the next phase in a very well thought out plan is to change the very nature and definition of marriage.
After the passage of the Civil Unions bill, one legislator was reported as saying that once the rights (of same-sex couples) were in place, work could begin on the words . . . changing the definition of marriage. We know it will not only be some legislators, but lobbyists and advocacy groups as well, that will expend vast amounts of energy working to change the essence of marriage. If we allow this to happen; if we remain complacent; if we allow the word marriage to be altered, Feb. 19 will also become the day signaling the beginning of the end of a sacred institution.
I and the other Bishops of New Jersey are so concerned that marriage could be significantly altered or destroyed forever that we have designated Sunday, Feb. 25 as a Day of Prayer for the Preservation of Marriage. We are urging all Catholics, as well as all who believe that marriage is an institution which must not be changed, to unite in prayer that day petitioning God to help us insure that the basic meaning and structure of marriage will not be altered.
In a recent letter to all parishioners, the Bishops of New Jersey cited two Bible passages supporting the definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman. In Genesis 2:24, it is written, “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.” Then, in the New Testament, Matthew (19:5-6) tells us that Jesus reiterates the teachings of Genesis saying, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh.”
In the Bible it is clear that God divined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. It is regulated by Church laws and as a social institution by civil laws, but since it was established by God, its nature and purpose, cannot be changed by any law. This is the teaching the Bishops of New Jersey are reaffirming. The message we are exhorting our faithful to send to their local legislators and the governor, is simply, “Preserve the definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman.”
For the sake of our society and the future of the family, we must all stand firm against the forces that would destroy marriage.
+ Most. Rev. Paul G. Bootkoski
Bishop of Metuchen
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law