November 6, 2006
Catholic News Service

Same-sex marriage support an "act of disobedience," bishop warns priests before vote

MADISON, Wis. (CNS) -- As the Nov. 7 election approached, Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison warned his priests that he would consider "any verbal or nonverbal expression of disagreement" with church teaching on same-sex marriage "as an act of disobedience, which could have serious consequences."

The bishop directed that each Mass during the Nov. 4-5 weekend include a 14-minute tape-recorded message from him in place of the homily. The message urged Catholics to support traditional marriage and to oppose the death penalty and embryonic stem-cell research.

A constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriages and an advisory measure asking whether capital punishment should be reinstated were before Wisconsin voters Nov. 7.

Bishop Morlino said his office had received reports "that in isolated cases priests have refused to cooperate with my requests in terms of preaching in defense of marriage and have even expressed disagreement with my clear wishes in this matter."

"At the moment I am giving the priests involved the benefit of the doubt," he added. "But it would be less than fair for me to leave any lingering ambiguity in anyone's mind about my seriousness in this particular matter."

In a note on his diocesan Web site, Bishop Morlino expressed disappointment at an ad placed in the Wisconsin State Journal Nov. 2 by several dozen Catholic families and individuals who called the bishop's stand on the proposed constitutional amendment "dangerous and wrong."

"We Catholic families of the Madison Diocese want to publicly express our disagreement with your position statement... in which you equated the right of a loving gay couple to enjoy the legal benefits of a civil union similar to marriage with a 'Satanic plan to destroy family life... and our country from within,'" the ad said.

"We believe you have done a great disservice to the church and mission of Christ by issuing such an incendiary call to arms," the ad continued. "We believe our Christian faith requires us to stand up for the rights of those who choose commitment over convenience, love over prejudice, and family stability over selfishness."

Bishop Morlino said he knew some of the ad's signers, "and I respect and love all of them in the Lord, as women and men of good will."

"I pray that God will heal their consciences," he said, adding that some of the ad's claims reflected misunderstanding of a talk he gave last March.

"Let us pray together that the bitterness which this whole matter has stirred in the hearts of some will be healed soon by the power of the Holy Spirit," the bishop said in the Web site note.

In June, the heads of Wisconsin's five Catholic dioceses issued joint letters in support of the marriage proposal and against reinstatement of capital punishment in the state.

In his tape-recorded message, Bishop Morlino said there were "three major sources of confusion" in the diocese at the present time. "No Catholic or anyone who claims to be with us should cause confusion," he added.

One source of confusion was from those who say opposition to same-sex marriage is discriminatory, "unfair or unloving," the bishop said. "I am so tired of reading that.... Nobody has a right to redefine marriage."

On the death penalty, some argue that it "is necessary to protect people from heinous criminals," Bishop Morlino said. But instead of making society more safe, capital punishment "increases the climate of violence and terrorism," he said.

The stem-cell question is causing "the most confusion," the bishop said, with ads depicting a young child with juvenile diabetes and implying his or her only hope for a cure came from embryonic stem cells.

"That's baloney," Bishop Morlino said. "The people who like baloney are having a feast."

Embryonic stem cells "have not caused one disease to be cured or one injury to be healed," he said, while adult stem-cell research has had many successes.

"And why are we being pressured on this?" the bishop asked. "There are big bucks in this for someone."

Some Catholics walked out of Masses while the tape recording was being played.

In the Wisconsin governor's race, Democratic incumbent Jim Doyle supports using state funds to promote embryonic stem-cell research, while Republican Mark Green opposes it. On the death penalty, Doyle opposes its reinstatement and Green supports it. Both Doyle and Green are Catholics. The stem-cell issue is also playing a role in some legislative races.

Stem-cell research is on the ballot only in Missouri, where the Catholic bishops have strongly opposed an initiative that they say will make human cloning a constitutional right in the state.

"Does the church's total opposition to Amendment 2 mean that we are insensitive to those who believe such research may one day be the answer to their debilitating diseases? Not at all," said a Sept. 30 letter from the state's six Catholic bishops. "On the contrary, we support the aggressive pursuit of stem-cell research which respects the moral law and has genuine promise."

A group called Catholics for Amendment 2 urged approval of the stem-cell proposal, saying that "over the years churches have struggled with many moral issues surrounding science and medicine."

"We have wrestled with the issues surrounding this initiative and conclude that our support for Amendment 2 is wholly consistent with our faith," said the group, co-chaired by former U.S. Sen. Thomas Eagleton and Dr. Virginia Weldon, a retired professor of pediatrics at Washington University in St. Louis.