New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan has
banned marriages between members of the same sex from taking place in
Roman Catholic churches.
Dolan, also the president of the United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), issued a decree
forbidding the ceremonies from taking place.
“The marital union between one man
and one woman was universally accepted by civil law as a constitutive
element of human society, which is vital to the human family and to
the continuation of the human race,” Dolan wrote in his official
statement issued last month.
“In reversal of this tradition, the
New York State Legislature recently enacted a law that recognized
same-sex union as marriage in the State of New York. This law is
irreconcilable with the nature and the definition of marriage as
established by Divine law.”
The Staten
Island Advance polled reaction to the move.
“It would be wonderful to be able to
get married in the Catholic Church but I don't expect it, I don't
hope for it and I don't need it because we could get married in a
civil setting,” said Rosemary Palladino, an attorney who plans to
wed her partner of 38 years.
“The bill was not about making
Catholic Churches or other churches perform marriages for same-sex
couples. It was about making civil marriage available to same-sex
couples, regardless of what religion they follow or don't follow,”
she added. “I especially wonder how many of their members approve
of the fact that their donations are being used to wage these legal
battles.”