A Catholic group in Minnesota has returned more than 3,000 anti-gay marriage DVDs to the Minnesota diocese that produced them.

The DVD Preserving Marriage in Minnesota was distributed to more than 400,000 homes across the state before the midterm elections. The mailer implicitly called on Catholics to reject lawmakers who support gay marriage.

Organizers behind ReturnTheDVD.org, a self-described group of “mostly suburban, mostly middle aged, married Catholics, who are concerned about the priorities of the leaders in the Catholic Church in Minnesota,” objected to the church's stance on the issue.

The group returned the DVDs to the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, which includes 222 parish churches in twelve counties, on Friday, but Archbishop John Clayton Nienstedt refused to meet with them.

“We couldn't get a meeting with the Archbishop, so as requested, we brought along a letter voicing what our mission was and how this DVD campaign affected many of us,” the group said on its website.

In its letter to the archbishop, the group said the DVD's message “conflicts with core Christian values of love, compassion, tolerance and respect” and “constitutes an attack on human dignity.”

Out-of-state anti-gay marriage groups, including the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), invested heavily in Minnesota, and they cheered a November 2 GOP takeover of the Legislature, which turned the tables on gay marriage supporters. Incoming Republican leaders now say they'll press for a gay marriage ban.