Bishops urge pulpit support for marriage amendment

Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 20, 2006 at midnight

Text size  

• 0 Comments
• Email
• Print

Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput and Colorado's other two bishops have asked priests throughout the state to read a letter from their pulpits this weekend urging Catholics to support Amendment 43, which would define marriage as between a man and a woman in the state constitution.

In the letter, Chaput, Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs and Bishop Arthur Tafoya of Pueblo also urge the defeat of Referendum I, "which begins the dangerous process of establishing domestic partnerships as an equal and parallel institution to marriage."

"As Catholics, we understand that marriage is a sacramental union, but defending marriage is not primarily a religious issue," the letter says.

"On the contrary, it is a matter of common sense serving the public good. Protecting marriage serves all Coloradans, whether they have religious beliefs or not."

Anything less than a state constitutional amendment would allow judges and legislators to redefine marriage, "even against the will of the people," the letter says. It calls Amendment 43 "vitally important" to the good of society.

Referendum I "inevitably undermines the privileged place of marriage and the family, and cannot serve the common good of Coloradans in the long run," the letter says.

The letter concludes by saying Catholics have an obligation to participate in political life.

"This is a critical year on the Colorado ballot," it says.

Featured

• DNC in Denver

  

  Complete coverage of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

• The Crevasse

  

  A five-part series that examines one tragic day on Mount Rainier.

• Deadly denial

  

  Sick nuclear workers applied for government compensation but most haven't seen a dime.

• Final Salute

  

  The Rocky followed Maj. Steve Beck as he took on the most difficult duty of his career.

• 'Colorado's burning'

  

  Coverage of the state's worst wildfires.

• Columbine shootings

  

  Coverage of the April 20, 1999, shootings at Littleton's Columbine High School.

• The Crossing

  

  Colorado's deadliest traffic accident killed 20 children on Dec. 14, 1961.

• Osveli's journey

  

  Osveli Sales left Guatemala for a better life. Two months later, he came home in a box.

• Wake for an Indian warrior

  

  Oglala Sioux bestow a tribute to the first tribal fatality in Iraq.