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Monday, December 16, 2013

Pope Francis statement on Sanctity of Marriage between one man and one woman ONLY


Pope Francis: Defender of Marriage and the Family

Pope Francis I
Pope Francis
During his years of leadership in Buenos Aires, Argentinean
 Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (now Pope Francis) boldly

 defended marriage, the natural family, and the right of


 children to have a father and a mother. His courage and


 leadership were on display most vividly in the summer of


 2010, when the Argentina legislature debated, and


 ultimately passed, a law that redefined marriage to include


 two persons of the same sex.


Episcopal Leadership

Knowing that a marriage redefinition bill was on the horizon,

 in April 2010 the Argentinean Episcopal Conference, of 


which Cardinal Bergoglio was president (2005-


2011), published a statement on marriage: “On the 


Unalterable Good of Marriage and the Family.” In the


 statement, the bishops wrote that “the union of people of the


 same sex lacks the biological and anthropological elements 


that are proper to marriage and family.”
The bishops also responded to the oft-leveled charge of

 discrimination, pointing out that “the recognition of a real


 difference is not discrimination.” Continuing, they wrote,


 “Nature doesn’t discriminate when it makes us a man or a 


woman. Our Civil Code does not discriminate when it 


demands the requirement of being a man and a woman to 


contract marriage; it only recognizes a natural reality.”


Importance of Prayer

As the debate and vote on the marriage redefinition bill drew

 closer, Cardinal Bergoglio wrote a letter to Carmelite nuns in


 Argentina, enlisting their prayers and sacrifices, which he 


called “the two invincible weapons of Santa Teresa,” a 


reference to the founder of the Carmelite order, St. Teresa of


 Avila.
In his letter, Cardinal Bergoglio wrote, “In the coming 

weeks, 

the Argentine people will face a situation whose 


outcome can 

seriously harm the family.” He then detailed what was at 


stake with the bill’s potential passage:

At stake is the identity and survival of the family: 


father, mother and children. At stake are the lives of 

many children who will be discriminated against in

advance, and deprived of their human development 

given by a father and a mother and willed by God. At 

stake is the total rejection of God’s law engraved in 

our hearts.

The Cardinal also highlighted the fact that advocating 


for the authentic meaning of marriage is not just about 

politics, but is a struggle between truth and deception, a 
real spiritual warfare: “Let us not be naive: this is not 

simply a political struggle, but it is an attempt to destroy 

God’s plan. It is not just a bill (a mere instrument) but a 

‘move’ of the father of lies who seeks to confuse and 

deceive the children of God.”

Concluding, Cardinal Bergoglio implored the 


intercession of the Holy Family: “We look to Saint 

Joseph, Mary and the Child Jesus and ask that they 

fervently defend the family in Argentina at this particular 

time.”
Education and Mobilization of the People
Cardinal Bergoglio did not discount the importance of 

ongoing education of the Catholic faithful, or the need for a 


vocal, visible opposition to the marriage redefinition bill. On 


the Sunday before the legislature’s consideration of the 


marriage redefinition bill, the Argentine Bishops’ statement 


on marriage was read at masses in Buenos Aires.

The Cardinal also exhorted the Catholics of Argentina to


participate in a march and demonstration in Buenos 


Aires.He specifically appealed to parish priests, rectors, and


chaplains to encourage participation in the march. 


All Catholic participants were advised by Cardinal Bergoglio 


to maintain a positive message, carrying only Argentinean 


flags or positive slogans for man-woman marriage. The 


slogan for the march was “We Want a Mom and Dad for our 


Children.”
Opposition to the marriage redefinition bill was 

strong. Catholic News Agency reported that 200,000 


Argentineans gathered to protest the bill. Earlier in the 


month, around 635,000 people had signed petitions 


opposing the bill; their signatures were presented to the 


Argentinean Senate.

Ecumenical Cooperation

Cardinal Bergoglio collaborated with other Christians in 


Argentina to protest the marriage redefinition bill. 


Specifically, the pro-marriage march included leadership 


from not only the Catholic Church but also evangelical and 


pentecostal groups (see footnote 41 on page 9). Cardinal 


Bergoglio joined leaders from these Christian communities 


in writing a letter that was read during the demonstration.

Together, the authors wrote, “Marriage is an essential 


institution for our society and constitutes the basic structure 


upon which it is built. It is the fundamental responsibility of 


our political representatives to protect it and promote it, to 


legally preserve it as it is, the union between one man and 


one woman ordered toward mutual help, procreation, the 


fulfillment and happiness of spouses, the satisfaction of life 


in its fullness and the raising of children.”

Engaging a Hostile Culture
Unfortunately, Argentina passed the marriage redefinition 

bill by a vote of 33 to 27 in the Senate. The vote made 


Argentina the first country in Latin America to redefine 


marriage to include two persons of the same sex.

Since the passage of marriage redefinition legislature in 


2010, Argentina has supported other measures that run 


contrary to an authentic understanding of the human 


person, marriage, and the family. In 2011, the Argentinean 

governmentdistributed millions of copies of a “sexual 


education” guide produced by the United Nations, which 


taught readers about different types of families, including 


those with a father and a mother, those with only a father or 


a mother, and those with two fathers and mothers. “None of 


these families are better or worse than the others,” says the 


guide.
And in 2012, the Argentine legislature passed a bill that 

permits individuals to legally change their gender at will, 


regardless of their physiological sex, without enlisting 


surgery or hormonal treatment, and without the approval of 


a judge. The bill also included provisions for taxpayer-


covered sex reassignment surgeries at public hospitals. 


According to the bill, gender is defined under the law as 


“the experience of gender as each person feels it, whether 

or not it corresponds with the sex assigned at birth.”

Engaging an Anti-Catholic Culture
Argentina has known its share of anti-Catholic 

persecution too. In a November 2012New York 

Times article describing gay pride parades in Argentina, 

the author writes of the most recent march, “There were 

brief clashes with some Catholic activists who were 

protecting the cathedral from vandals; in 

previous years, the building had been spray-painted 


with anti-clerical slogans.” He adds, “The event was 

exhilarating.” 

[Link withheld because the article includes an 


inappropriate 

picture.]
In fact, on March 12, 2013, the day before Cardinal 

Bergoglio 

was elected Pope Francis, the cathedral in Buenos Aires 


was occupied for four hours by drum-beating protestors 


who opposed city subsidies for Catholic schools. A 

mass in honor of the Conclave had to be cancelled.
Pope Francis, then, is no stranger to engaging with a 

hostile culture and seeking to evangelize in the midst of 

worldly powers strongly opposed to key tenets of 

Catholic teaching. 

Given his demonstrated zeal for the beautiful teachings 


of the Church on marriage and the family, it will be 

exciting to see how Pope Francis continues to 

evangelize on the meaning of human love, sexuality, 

and marriage. Our prayers are with 

you, Holy Father!

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The media likes to take Pope Francis statements out of context, or leave out statements that clarify his and the Church's position on marriage from the foundation of the Church by Jesus Christ Himself.

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