I have lived in New York state for 72 years, and I have been reading The Catholic Messenger for the past 46 of them. Thus, I have to respond to the New York bishops reaching the misguided conclusion that “both marriage and family will be undermined” by our state’s legalizing same-sex marriages.
They can never offer evidence to support this prediction. When we tell the bishops, “God doesn’t make junk,” it is hard to transcend the Vatican’s put-down, “Homosexuals are intrinsically disordered.” So much, I guess, for an inclusive “speaking the truth in love.”
Even in New York the people are the Church, yet our bishops do not listen to us. We point out that homosexuals are citizens, and are entitled to all the civil rights of any other citizens. The sacrament of marriage is not affected. Our same-sex marriage law is exclusively a civil matter. Basically, our bishops are anxious that the discrepancy between ecclesial and civil law will abet a cultural slide toward permissiveness. Dialogue with the laity in each diocese could alleviate their anxiety.
James Magee
New Rochelle, N.Y.
