Catholic bishops stay course on gay marriage fight
BALTIMORE (AP) - A subdued U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops acknowledged Monday that voters rejected the stands they took against gay marriage and birth control, but church leaders gave no sign they would change their strategy ahead.
Same-sex marriage supporters made a four-state sweep of ballot measures last week, despite intensive advocacy by Roman Catholic bishops in favor of traditional marriage. Bishops also spoke out sharply against President Barack Obama's mandate that most employers provide health insurance that covers artificial contraception. Critics accused the bishops of going so far that they appeared to be backing Republican Mitt Romney.
The bishops insist their complaints were not partisan. Still, they now face four more years with an administration many of them characterized as a threat to the church.
"We've always maintained our openness to dialogue, and that will continue," said Baltimore Archbishop William Lori, who leads the bishops' committee on religious liberty. Regarding the birth-control mandate, Lori said, "As this evolves, as rule-making gets a little more clear, then our range of options will be clearer."
None of the bishops who spoke Monday directly mentioned Obama. Lori only noted that "the political landscape is the same." The bishops instead reviewed plans they developed well before Election Day to expand outreach to Latino Catholics on traditional marriage and organize events on the importance of religious freedom.
Obama won the overall Catholic vote, 50 percent to 48 percent, but Catholics split on ethnic lines. White Catholics supported Romney, 59 percent to 40 percent. However, Latino Catholics went for Obama, 75 percent to 21 percent.
Last week, Maine, Maryland and Washington became the first states ever to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote. In Minnesota, voters rejected a proposal to place a ban on gay-marriage in the state constitution, a step taken in past elections in 30 other states.
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, the newly installed leader of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, said gay marriage opponents were outspent by gay rights groups, and bishops are grappling with how they can be more persuasive. Surveys by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life have found that the number of Americans who say they have no religion is at a high of 20 percent, while the number of former Catholics is so large that ex-Catholics collectively include more people than many denominations.
"The election is a symptom of a much larger problem," Cordileone said. "Most people don't understand what marriage is."
Equally Blessed, a coalition of Catholic groups that advocate for gays and lesbians, including Dignity USA and New Ways Ministry, said it had hoped that the votes on gay marriage last week would "drive home the need for the bishops to take seriously the concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Catholics and their families." The group said Monday that it was "profoundly disappointed" that the bishops plan to continue their current approach to advocacy.
On health care, the Obama administration's birth control requirement exempts houses of worship, but does not exclude religiously affiliated hospitals and nonprofits. Obama promised to change the requirement so that insurance companies and not faith-affiliated employers would pay for the coverage. But details have not been worked out. And not only the bishops, but Catholic hospitals and some other religious leaders generally supportive of Obama's policies are saying the compromise appears to be unworkable.
Dozens of dioceses and Catholic nonprofits are suing the Obama administration over the mandate, arguing the requirement violates religious freedom.
Steve Schneck, a political scientist at the Catholic University of America who campaigned for Obama, said the bishops need to quickly reach out to the administration because the opportunity to strike a compromise will be limited once the court cases move forward.
"It's something that I think the bishops should be working for if they're serious about trying to win exemptions for hospitals and charities and similar nonprofit institutions," Schneck said. "It's in the interest of the administration to resolve this thing ahead of the lawsuits."
Same-sex marriage supporters made a four-state sweep of ballot measures last week, despite intensive advocacy by Roman Catholic bishops in favor of traditional marriage. Bishops also spoke out sharply against President Barack Obama's mandate that most employers provide health insurance that covers artificial contraception. Critics accused the bishops of going so far that they appeared to be backing Republican Mitt Romney.
The bishops insist their complaints were not partisan. Still, they now face four more years with an administration many of them characterized as a threat to the church.
"We've always maintained our openness to dialogue, and that will continue," said Baltimore Archbishop William Lori, who leads the bishops' committee on religious liberty. Regarding the birth-control mandate, Lori said, "As this evolves, as rule-making gets a little more clear, then our range of options will be clearer."
None of the bishops who spoke Monday directly mentioned Obama. Lori only noted that "the political landscape is the same." The bishops instead reviewed plans they developed well before Election Day to expand outreach to Latino Catholics on traditional marriage and organize events on the importance of religious freedom.
Obama won the overall Catholic vote, 50 percent to 48 percent, but Catholics split on ethnic lines. White Catholics supported Romney, 59 percent to 40 percent. However, Latino Catholics went for Obama, 75 percent to 21 percent.
Last week, Maine, Maryland and Washington became the first states ever to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote. In Minnesota, voters rejected a proposal to place a ban on gay-marriage in the state constitution, a step taken in past elections in 30 other states.
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, the newly installed leader of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, said gay marriage opponents were outspent by gay rights groups, and bishops are grappling with how they can be more persuasive. Surveys by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life have found that the number of Americans who say they have no religion is at a high of 20 percent, while the number of former Catholics is so large that ex-Catholics collectively include more people than many denominations.
"The election is a symptom of a much larger problem," Cordileone said. "Most people don't understand what marriage is."
Equally Blessed, a coalition of Catholic groups that advocate for gays and lesbians, including Dignity USA and New Ways Ministry, said it had hoped that the votes on gay marriage last week would "drive home the need for the bishops to take seriously the concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Catholics and their families." The group said Monday that it was "profoundly disappointed" that the bishops plan to continue their current approach to advocacy.
On health care, the Obama administration's birth control requirement exempts houses of worship, but does not exclude religiously affiliated hospitals and nonprofits. Obama promised to change the requirement so that insurance companies and not faith-affiliated employers would pay for the coverage. But details have not been worked out. And not only the bishops, but Catholic hospitals and some other religious leaders generally supportive of Obama's policies are saying the compromise appears to be unworkable.
Dozens of dioceses and Catholic nonprofits are suing the Obama administration over the mandate, arguing the requirement violates religious freedom.
Steve Schneck, a political scientist at the Catholic University of America who campaigned for Obama, said the bishops need to quickly reach out to the administration because the opportunity to strike a compromise will be limited once the court cases move forward.
"It's something that I think the bishops should be working for if they're serious about trying to win exemptions for hospitals and charities and similar nonprofit institutions," Schneck said. "It's in the interest of the administration to resolve this thing ahead of the lawsuits."
I for one am thankful, there is a church that is willing to stand up for what they believe in and for what is clearly stated in the bible that God say. God says, several times in the bible in fact, both old and new testament, that same sex relations are a sin. So because we as a society decide it is ok, that makes you think it is ok to GOD? That's what sodom and gommorah believed too. Now they are beneath the dead sea. If you want to be gay, or bi, that is you business and between you and God, and I have friends who are bi, and my daughter thinks she might be bi, and my niece is bi. I don't judge them for the life they live. I love them just as much as I did before I found out.. But if you believe in God, read your bible, and pray, PLEASE don't tell me it is ok because you are invalidating scripture and invalidating the work my Jesus did on the cross! So many churches would rather be politically correct now days than morally right. and it sickens me. It is the beginning of the on world religion spoke of in prophesy.
And no I am NOT catholic, but I do attend church regularly. And I think it is great they are standing up on the birth control issue too. I don't view it the same way but I am glad to see they are standing up for their beliefs.
It is one thing to oppose the Catholic Church, and quite another to oppose God Himself, and the Church needs to reconsider its ideas on sexuality. We do have the right to express our beliefs and opinions in this country, providing one has any. It wasn't until very recently blood donated by homosexuals was accepted at blood banks, and for a good reason. If the whole population became infected, they would all likely die, and the danger did not stem from heterosexual people but homosexual people. Of course you may do with your genitals what you please, but there are some limits imposed by our society. Underage people are not fair game, and one is supposed to mate with one's significant other, and to do otherwise risks the spread of diseases which can kill. As for the Church insisting on a particular view point amongst its voters, it went a bit far as far I am concerned; I do not remember the Church getting that exercised in past elections. As for the Church being so outspoken, it needs to address its problem with clergy having sexual relations with minors before it opens it mouth to anyone else. Permitting marriage of its clergy will not cure the problem; deeper investigation of candidates for priesthood might root out pedophiles, provided those in a position to examine candidates actually speak up about known pedophiles and prevent them from being ordained. We Catholics are still waiting for that to happen. To be fair, however, it isn't only the Catholic Church that has the problem, it seems to be a problem in other denominations as well, and stems from the ideas and attitudes of people in general. The idea that anything goes, is at the heart of the problem, and not denominations or religion in general, since the people perpetrating these crimes come from all parts of society, including very religious people and very atheistic rationalists. It is my view that people can be decent toward one another and should be, regardless of their sexuality. It is also my view that there is a God and that He has expressed His views on the control of human sexuality and what He considers good human behavior. People who defy Him risk losing His mercy, though perhaps do not lose it altogether. I would urge people to encounter God in their lives and see what they think of Him, and not reject Him because of the churches.
".... "The election is a symptom of a much larger problem," Cordileone said. "Most people don't understand what marriage is ...."
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What a arogant ASS! People DO understand what marriage is - the problem is the RCC has a set view & they are unwilling and unable to consider any other perspective, any other way but "THEIR" way.
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I am SO happy that my LGBTQ friends finally have the same right to leggaly marry - it is LONG overdue (and should never have been illegal or opposed or voted on to begin with).
 @LocalLady the cahtolic church is still living in the time period when it ruled all of Europe
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Known as the dark ages -Â a thousaand years of zero social and economic progress and a lord and serf society
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which began to end and brought forth the kangaroo courrts and toruture and burnings of the HOLY inquisition.
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Diederot - a french philsosopher had it right in 1789 Â as the people worked to free themselves from a cabal of kings and priests
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"Mankind will be free when the last king is strangled with the guts of the last preists.
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its a pity we ran out of kings so we didnt finish the job on the priests /. vatican.
So who is silly enough to take marriage advice from a group of people who pledge never to get married?
 @therunner But how seem to think its ok to "marry" little kids .
Dear Catholic Church: You have no room to talk. Between a tranished image of priests molesting children, telling women they can't use any form of birth control becuase they can't decide for themselves how many children they and/or spouse/partner want, balking at encourageing and teaching people in nations with out of control STD and HIV rates to use condoms and practice safe sex, denying women to become members of the clergy and/or not allowing priests to marry when virutally every other relgion on earth does, you are a lifetime behind the times. Get with the program. What you are telling your flock to do is not what they are doing. I'm sorry to break the news to you, the leaders of the Catholic Church but you and your members are no longer on the same page.Â
 @BlueJedi the /VAtican is the wests Mecca.
Tax them.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/06/17/1100892/-71-Billion-Forget-the-Corporations-Tax-the-Churches
"Irrelevance stays on course on Progress fight.."
As a religious group, the Catholic leadership is allowed to have thier own opinion and beliefs of gays and contraception.  However, in America, they have no right to force others to follow the rules they have for themselves. They have the right to tell us what thier rules are. But not to do so in a manner than is bigoted, hateful, villifying, dehumanizing, etc.
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It's very simple - we are a nation founded, in part, on the freedom of Religion. That means I can believe in whatever version of the Christian religion that I want to - and it is legal. I can ignore certain parts of the Bible should I chose to - or I can live my life my strictly adhering to all parts of the Bible as I understand them -even the parts that contradict each other (although I don't know how anyone could actually achieve that level of adherence). And it would be legal no matter which way I went - as long as my observance of my interpretation of my religion _does not_ interfere with other people's rights. Â
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That is how our Constitution works. If you don't like it, live with it or please move to a country who's rights fit the model that you want to be forced upon you (but be aware, you could be forced to live your life in a way that you don't want because whomever is in power in a country like that sets the rules - and if your guy isn't in power, you could be in lots of trouble - which is why our system is so great - because here, you can follow your own religion/morals/values without anyone forcing you otherwise).
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 @FormerMarineSgt Very nicely stated. Of course if the voting population shifts to more people with views similar to the Catholic church then our laws will follow. However, I think it is obvious from this years election that the people are getting pretty tired of this petty religious squabble.
 @FormerMarineSgt I am thinking those who continue with oppression, suppression and outright "hate" need to pack up their belongings and move to Rome.
 @Funky-Munky  @FormerMarineSgt Borneo where the going religion as I remember from my youth in school, was head hunting white people.
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Or maybe set up one state for all these evil people who always need someone to hate. You can bet your last $$ that they will soon find reason to hate each other.