Do Not Let Marriage Fade Away in Pennsylvania!

Just last October, Governor Christie of NJ - a self-identified Catholic and up till then a self-identified defender of marriage - dropped his challenge to a court decision declaring that "marriage" could NOT be limited to opposite sex couples.  This past week, Governor Corbett of Pennsylvania - a self-identified Catholic and up till then a self-identified defender of marriage - dropped his challenge to a court decision declaring that "marriage" could NOT be limited to opposite sex couples (Gov Corbett has up until June 19th to appeal Judge John Jones' horrendous decision.)....

It is dismaying to now search the web sites of our neighboring Diocese of Trenton and the NJ Catholic Conference.  If you can now find anything to indicate that the Diocese or the NJ Catholic Conference objects to what has happened to "marriage," please let me know!  To paraphrase the words of a favorite Jersey son - a one time Catholic and supporter of both abortion and the redefinition of marriage - it almost appears that marriage - as we have heretofore known it - is being allowed to "fade away"....  

DO NOT LET MARRIAGE/FAMILY FADE AWAY IN PENNSYLVANIA

5/20/14 Statement of Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. Regarding Marriage Ruling Pennsylvania:

"Laws that defend the traditional definition of marriage were enacted for sound reasons-namely to defend the rights of children and contribute to the well-being of the larger community.  Marriage is more than a private arrangement between two people. It's a public commitment of love and fidelity, and it's ordered not just to companionship but to creating and rearing new life. This is why every child deserves a mother and a father in a loving marriage, and the child is the fruit of that love.  All men and women are formed in the image of God and deserve our respect. But attempts to redefine the nature of marriage, no matter how well intentioned, damage a cornerstone of our human interaction and ultimately work against human dignity itself."

 

5/21/14 press release from the USCCB:

"Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, said, 'We stand in solidarity with the Oregon and Pennsylvania Catholic Conferences and all the people of both states. These court decisions are travesties of justice'....In the afternoon of May 21, Governor Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania announced that the state would not appeal the federal court’s decision."

 

5/21/14 posting by the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference:

"Governor Tom Corbett, whose administration had been defending the law, announced he will not appeal the ruling."  The Pa Catholic Conference has a web site to facilitate messages to the governor: https://www.votervoice.net/PACC/Campaigns/32995/Respond

 

5/23/14 posting by the Pa Family Institute: "ATTN: Gov Corbett: Marriage is Key Issue for Voters" 

 

5/23/14 flyer and press release from the Pro Life Coalition of Pennsylvania....

5/24/14 - Pennsylvania Family Institute radio broadcast 

As per an email update, "Randall Wenger, chief counsel for Pennsylvania Family Institute, will be appearing this Saturday, May 24th on the Spotlight Radio Program with Greg Barton. Wenger will be talking about this week's Federal court ruling overturning Pennsylvania's marriage law, and Governor Corbett's decision not to appeal the case....The program can be heard on WDAC 94.5 FM (Lancaster) at 12:30p.m. and on WBYN 107.5FM (Boyertown) at 2:00 p.m. You can also listen online at  www.wdac.com or www.1075alive.fm."

6/7/14 - "The Pill Kills"

All hormonal "contraceptives" can work as abortifacients. On June 7, the American Life League's STOPP International, is urging law-abiding, peaceful, prayerful local efforts to focus "on the death and damage heaped upon women and babies by [so-called] contraceptives" (cf., http://www.stopp.org/article.php?id=13684). Almost every pharmacy (including those in department stores and supermarkets) sells abortifacients/contraceptives.  Two of the world's "leading" manufacturers of "the Pill" are headquartered in our own backyard: Teva of North Wales and Wyeth of St. Davids (See http://contraceptive.ippf.org/search and www.thepill.com.).

6/8/14 Trinity Sunday - "Marriage Sunday"

As per the Pennsylvania Pro Life Coalition, "The observance of Trinity Sunday...provides a very appropriate and timely opportunity for clergy to educate on the true nature of marriage and to urge contact with Gov. Corbett....This Sunday can also serve to promote attendance at the June 19, 2014 March for Marriage in Washington, DC....Please ask your Bishop and Pastor to conduct such activities on this Sunday, respectively, in their Diocese or Church."

6/19/14 - Gov. Corbett's deadline for appealing the decision and the March for Marriage

"The origin of human life has its authentic context in marriage and the family, where it is generated in an act which expresses the reciprocal love between a man and a woman" (Dignitas Personae, 9/8/08).  The rights of kids to a mom and dad (married to each other) was the message of the 2013 March for Marriage.  This is a social justice issue!  It takes nothing away from the heroic struggle of "single parents" abandoned by spouses, to acknowledge that:

1. children have the right to both a mom and a dad, and 
2. children have the right for their mom and dad to be married to each other. 

Info about the 2014 March for Marriage is available from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/march-for-marriage#home.  Info from the USCCB is available at www.marriagemarch.org.  

7/25/14 - 46th Anniversary of Humanae Vitae
"Responsible men can become more deeply convinced of the truth of the doctrine laid down by the Church on this issue if they reflect on the consequences of methods and plans for artificial birth control. Let them first consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings—and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation—need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law." 

DON'T FORGET THE FEDERAL LEVEL....

Mike Fitzpatrick has NOT signed on as a co-sponsor of HJRes51 (an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage), HR3133 (the Marriage and Religious Freedom Act), NOR HR 3829 (the State Marriage Defense Act).