 |
Nov. 2, 2006
|
 |
Priest Alliance opposes
death penalty referendum |
|
Raises questions, concerns about marriage amendment |
|
|
|
ST. FRANCIS — Members of the Milwaukee Archdiocese Priest Alliance have voiced their opposition to the death penalty and have raised questions about a proposed constitutional amendment defining marriage in a statement approved at their recent fall general assembly.
“We priests work daily with the joys and sorrows of marriage and family life,” they wrote in the statement released Oct. 7. “We try to uphold a consistent ethic of life in our preaching and programs of religious instruction. Because we have a stake in policies that touch on these matters, we wish to join in the public debate stirred up by the November ballot measures.”
The Priest Alliance is an association of more than 100 priests that was formed in 2003 as a vehicle through which they could express concerns about issues facing the church.
The priests said the death penalty is contrary to their deeply held belief in a consistent ethic of life and do not believe its restoration will stop brutal crimes that prompt calls for its return. Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan and the state’s other bishops have also voiced opposition to the death penalty in a letter to Wisconsin’s Catholics released in July. “We are writing to ask that you affirm Wisconsin’s 153-year commitment to human life by voting ‘No’ on the upcoming advisory referendum to restore the death penalty.”
While in agreement with the bishops on the death penalty referendum vote, the Priests Alliance questions the bishops’ support for a proposed amendment defining marriage as one man and one woman.
The statement issued by the alliance stops short of urging a no vote on the amendment, but states “our pastoral experience tells us that the prospect of gay union is not a chief cause of marital instability and family dissolution.”
The Priest Alliance affirms “the call of our bishops to work for the strengthening of marriage and family. We are especially grateful that they have urged that a vote on the defense of marriage amendment be accompanied by a repudiation of ‘words and deeds that demean individuals with a homosexual orientation, many of whom are our brothers and sisters in Christ.’ Many gays and lesbians are a part of the Catholic family and we do not want to see them marginalized or driven away.”
The Wisconsin bishops, in a letter released in July, urged Catholics to vote to support the amendment, calling marriage and family life fundamental to the moral and social well being of the community.
“The witness of Scripture and our Catholic tradition teach that marriage, as instituted by God, is between one man and one woman,” they wrote.
Citing a guest opinion piece in the Sept. 21 issue of your Catholic Herald by Fr. Bryan Massingale, the Priest Alliance echoes Fr. Massingale’s concern “that the amendment may be construed to deny rights and services, including health care, not only to those in civil unions but many other citizens of Wisconsin as well, irrespective of their marital status.”
In their statement, the Priest Alliance concludes by calling on public officials to ensure that public policies strive for economic justice and the common good, and they pledge their continued efforts to encourage marriage and stable family life.
The bishops, in their letter, wrote that their support of the proposed amendment “has as its only motive the strengthening and defense of marriage, and should not be interpreted as hostility to any group.”
In an interview with your Catholic Herald at the time the letter was released, Archbishop Dolan expressed frustration that those defending marriage are put on the defensive.
“… Really, those who should be on the defensive are those who want to change something that has been at the very core of human understanding for as long as that human understanding has been articulated,” he said.
The archbishop also said he and the other signers, Bishops Robert C. Morlino of Madison; David A. Zubik of Green Bay; Raphael M. Fliss of Superior and Jerome E. Listecki of La Crosse, were trying to remind society that close to its core and identity as a civilized people is the fact that marriage needs to be protected and “whenever you have the idea of marriage diluted or cheapened or expanded beyond recognition, society itself is in peril.” |
|
|
|
