Pope calls on US bishops to stand firm against “gay” marriage legislation

Taking aim at attempts to legalize "gay" marriage in states around the country, Pope Benedict denounced the “powerful political and cultural currents” seeking to legalize "gay" marriage in the United States.

Just this year, two states Maryland and Washington passed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage. The Washington legislation is scheduled to take effect in June unless opponents stop it with a referendum vote. Currently "gay" marriage is legal in Massachusetts, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York and the District of Columbia.

While Colorado currently has a constitutional amendment limiting marriage to a man and woman, the Colorado legislature is debating a bill this session that would grant civil union status to same-sex couples. “Gay” activists have said this is simply a first step to repealing the amendment and formally legalizing their relationships and changing the meaning of marriage to their definition of any committed couple.

Benedict's latest comments opposing homosexual marriage came during an address to bishops from several Midwestern states on a regular visit to the Vatican. "Sexual differences cannot be dismissed as irrelevant to the definition of marriage," he said.

He added that the traditional family and marriage had to be “defended from every possible misrepresentation of their true nature” because, he said, whatever injured families injured society.”

While Protestant denominations such as the Presbyterian and Episcopal Church have bowed to public pressure and embraced "gay" and lesbian clergy, Benedict and the Roman Catholic Church have stood firm on the issue of traditional marriage.

Benedict called on the American bishops to continue defending “marriage as a natural institution consisting of a specific communion of persons, essentially rooted in the complementarities of the sexes and oriented to procreation.”

The Catholic Church's position is that while homosexual tendencies are not sinful, homosexual acts are and that children should grow up in a traditional family with a mother and father.

In the United States one of the leading opponents of gay marriage is New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who was given a Cardinal’s hat last month.

Dolan fought vigorously against legalizing gay marriage in New York, and in September he sent a message to President Barack Obama criticizing his administration's decision to actively advocate for the repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.
I'll see your Pope and raise you a quote from Thomas Jefferson: "In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot..."
Guess that pretty much speaks to what the writer of the United States Constitution thought huh?