USCCB Chairman Responds to U.S. Court of Appeals Decision

WASHINGTON—Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, said that the decision on October 7 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit striking down marriage laws in Nevada and Idaho was “astonishingly dismissive” of the rights of children and detrimental to the democratic process.

Archbishop Cordileone said, “In the words of Pope Francis – ‘we must reaffirm the right of children to grow up in a family with a father and a mother.’ When striking down the marriage laws of Nevada and Idaho that were approved by the direct vote of large majorities, the Court of Appeals undercut democracy and was astonishingly dismissive of the rights of children as merely being a ‘justification for discrimination.’” The Archbishop continued, “Authentic marriage as the union of one man and one woman is the only institution that unites a man and a woman with each other and with any child who comes from their union. It is rather remarkable that the Court of Appeals was so contemptuous of this fundamental and obvious truth.”

Archbishop Cordileone concluded, “The Church will never cease proclaiming the truth about the human person, created male and female, and the gift of marriage. We will continue to profess these truths with humility but without apology, and we call on the faithful to continue their efforts in this regard.”

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Keywords: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Subcommittee on the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, federal court, marriage amendment, marriage, federal appeals court
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