J. Peter Sartain, the Roman Catholic
archbishop of Seattle, on Wednesday warned that society would be
harmed “beyond repair” if Washington state voters approve
Referendum 74, which would uphold a gay marriage law approved by
lawmakers.
Sartain called on Catholics to reject
the law in a lengthy 4-minute video posted on the church's website.
“We urge our Catholic people to
uphold our consistent Catholic teaching on marriage for the good of
the Church, society, husbands and wives and their children,”
Sartain said. “Therefore, we bishops reject the redefinition of
marriage as a 'civil contract between two persons.'”
Sartain argued that marriage cannot be
redefined because God is the “author of marriage.”
“Thus, marriage is not a purely human
institution. It springs from God's own plan for the world, for the
good of married couples, for the birth and rearing of children and
for the good of all society.”
Sartain said that the church is opposed
to discrimination based on sexual orientation but then added:
“However, redefining marriage as a means of dealing with important
issues of equality and respect for all persons will not achieve the
goal of defending the rights of all and would overturn centuries of
common law.”
“To suddenly change the God-given and
time honored understanding of marriage would be a very harmful thing
for our state and for the world. … Should marriage be redefined in
our state the very foundational nature of marriage for the good and
strength of human society would be harmed beyond repair,” Sartain
added. (The video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)