Chicago Cardinal Francis George says
his opposition to gay marriage stems from gay and lesbian couples not
being able to consummate their unions.
Illinois lawmakers, who legalized civil
unions for gay couples 2 years ago, are expected to take up the issue
when they reconvene for a lame-duck session in January.
Speaking to the Chicago
Tribune, George, the head of the Catholic Conference of
Illinois and the Archbishop of Chicago, said such unions violate
natural law.
“Marriage comes to us from nature,”
he said. “That's based on the complementarity of the two sexes in
such a way that the love of a man and a woman joined in a marital
union is open to life, and that's how families are created and
society goes along. … It's not our doctrine. It's not a matter of
faith. It's a matter of reason and understanding the way nature
operates.”
“You want to be sure that everybody
has a chance at happiness. That's a very persuasive argument,”
George continued. “But we all want that, and nobody should be
disdained or persecuted because of their sexual orientation. … But
when we get behind the church and behind the state, you've got a
natural reality that two men or two women … cannot consummate a
marriage. It's a physical impossibility.”
George apologized in January for
comments he made comparing
gay rights activists to the Ku Klux Klan.