Catholic Cardinal Francis George, the Cardinal-Archbishop of Chicago, told 400 couples he had gathered to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversaries yesterday that their marriages are real but the marriages of same-sex couples are not, and, in fact, same-sex marriages are merely “friendships.” Cardinal George went on to add that if same-sex marriage become legal, “society will be the worse for it.”
“I thank you for the way in which you are open to others in Christ’s name,” the Cardinal told the couples. “I thank you for the way you raised your children, and now love your grandchildren in his name. This is a marvelous moment, and I thank God for being with you today, as you celebrate it.”
“Marriage is what it is, what Jesus said from the beginning: Two in one flesh, for which man leaves his family and joins himself to his wife; and wife leaves her family, and joins herself to her husband. There must surely be ways in our civil society, where we can honor friendships, where we can respect other people, without destroying the nature of marriage. It is very important, for your whole lives, give witness to what marriage truly means. And while civil laws might change – if they do – then society will be the worse for it.”
Last year, Cardinal George warned a gay pride parade scheduled to pass by a Catholic church might “morph into something like the Klu Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism.â€
Cardinal George was the president of the USCCB, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, from 2007 to 2010, until he was replaced with Timothy Dolan — a surprise choice, but one made because of Dolan’s extreme anti-gay policies and rhetoric. George’s words on same-sex marriage and homosexuality, despite how vulgar and hateful they are, are actually mild in comparison to those from Dolan and Pope Benedict XVI.
Image via Wikipedia, by Photobra Adam Bielawski
Hat-tip: Joe.My.God.