ATLANTA, Georgia, JUNE 14, 2012 (Zenit.org).- This week, from Wednesday to Friday the bishops of the United States have been meeting together in Atlanta for their biannual general assembly. Today, Bishop Salvatore Cordileone, chairman of the Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, presented a report regarding marriage.
The subcommittee continues to advance its initiative, “Marriage: Unique for a Reason,” he explained. They are working on a Spanish-language video titled “El matrimonio: Hecho para el amor y la vida” (Marriage: Made for Love and Life).
The video, about 15 minutes long, will use a telenovela-style format and will present a story based on a 50th wedding anniversary.
Following the release of the Spanish-language video, the subcommittee plans to complete the Marriage: Unique for a Reason project with the production of two additional English videos, the first on marriage and the common good and the second on marriage and religious liberty, he explained.
The video on the common good will aim to introduce the broader social context and meaning of marriage, grounded in an authentic anthropology. It will also seek to address arguments that falsely employ the language of equality, rights, fairness, and non-discrimination. The core message will be the meaning of marriage and its significance for the rights and best interests of children and for the common good.
The video on religious liberty will be developed in close collaboration with the ongoing efforts of the Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty. Marriage and religious liberty stand or fall together, said Bishop Cordileone.
“The redefinition of marriage in the law is not, and never will be, inevitable,” he said. “But ongoing vigilance and effort are needed,” he urged.
Maine, Minnesota, Maryland and Washington State will vote on this subject in November.
“At the federal level, recent negative court decisions concerning both the federal Defense of Marriage Act as well as California’s Proposition 8 now open the door for both DOMA and Prop 8 to go before the Supreme Court,” he said.
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