Please read the commentary by Alice Slattery that follows the statement of the Bishops

Will this statement be read from the pulpits of :

Massachusetts Catholic Bishops' Joint Statement

on the Definition of Marriage

It is time that the leaders of VOTF tell the public, especially the Globe,

exactly what their position is on this issue

To Be Read May 31-June 1, 2003, in all parishes

Dear Catholic Faithful in Massachusetts:

Our public officials are debating the definition of marriage. As the Bishops of the four Catholic Dioceses in Massachusetts, we wish to offer some reflections on this debate. We want also to ask for your help. This is a critical time in our Commonwealth!

First, we will describe what is happening in the state courts and at the State House in Boston. Second, we will share an overview of Church teaching on marriage. Third, we will urge you to contact your state legislators to support the Marriage Affirmation and Protection Amendment.

Let’s start with the marriage debate in our courts and legislature. The state Supreme Judicial Court has a case before it asking the judges to change the legal definition of marriage. The case is called Goodridge v. Department of Public Health. The court may issue its decision sometime this summer.

Under present state policy, only a man and a woman can apply for a marriage license. The plaintiffs want the court to declare that this policy violates the state constitution. They want this policy struck down so that any two adults, regardless of gender, can get married.

Many experts on both sides of the debate think the odds are high that the plaintiffs will get what they want, a ruling redefining marriage. Such an outcome will have devastating consequences here and nationally.

In response to the Goodridge case, state lawmakers in Boston have filed the Marriage Affirmation and Protection Amendment. This proposal would amend the state constitution. It would reaffirm the legal definition of marriage as the union between one man and one woman. It would reverse any decision in Goodridge that changes this definition. We strongly support this amendment.

The Church’s teaching on marriage remains constant and clear. We would like to share with you a summary of our teaching, as issued on behalf of all the Catholic Bishops in the United States in a “Statement on Same-Sex Marriage”. The Statement, issued in 1996, reads as follows:

“The Roman Catholic Church believes that marriage is a faithful, exclusive, and lifelong union between one man and one woman, joined as husband and wife in an intimate partnership of life and love. This union was established by God with its own proper laws. By reason of its very nature, therefore, marriage exists for the mutual love and support of the spouses and for the procreation and education of children. These two purposes, the unitive and the procreative, are equal and inseparable. The institution of marriage has a very important relationship to the continuation of the human race, to the total development of the human person, and to the dignity, stability, peace, and prosperity of the family and of society.

”Furthermore, we believe the natural institution of marriage has been blessed and elevated by Christ to the dignity of a sacrament. This means that Christian marriage is more than a contract. Because they are married in the Lord, the spouses acquire a special relationship to each other and to society. Their love becomes a living image of the manner in which the Lord personally loves his people and is united with them. Living a Christian sacramental marriage becomes their fundamental way of attaining salvation.

”Because the marital relationship offers benefits, unlike any other, to persons, to society, and to the church, we wish to make it clear that the institution of marriage, as the union of one man and one woman, must be preserved, protected, and promoted in both private and public realms. At a time when family life is under significant stress, the principled defense of marriage is an urgent necessity for the wellbeing of children and families, and for the common good of society.

”Thus, we oppose attempts to grant the legal status of marriage to a relationship between persons of the same sex. No same-sex union can realize the unique and full potential which the marital relationship expresses. For this reason, our opposition to "same-sex marriage" is not an instance of unjust discrimination or animosity toward homosexual persons. In fact, the Catholic Church teaches emphatically that individuals and society must respect the basic human dignity of all persons, including those with a homosexual orientation. Homosexual persons have a right to and deserve our respect, compassion, understanding, and defense against prejudice, attacks and abuse.

”We therefore urge Catholics and all our fellow citizens to commit themselves both to upholding the human dignity of every person and to upholding the distinct and irreplaceable community of marriage.”

That is the end of the Statement. In light of this teaching, we are very concerned about what the court may do this summer in the Goodridge case. If legal marriage is redefined in Massachusetts so that any two people regardless of gender can be married, then the state will no longer be able to promote the union of a man and a woman as uniquely beneficial to society. The Catholic Church and other private institutions with moral objections will be forced to change their employment and other policies to recognize other relationships as marriage, or face discrimination lawsuits.

The stakes are very high. Marriage as we know it will be irreparably harmed if we don’t respond quickly. We face a critical moment in Massachusetts, requiring our urgent attention. How can you help?

We ask everyone in the church to write, call or e-mail your State Senator and State Representative, and to get your friends to do the same. Letters are especially effective. Urge your legislators to support House Bill 3190, the Marriage Affirmation and Protection Amendment. The House and Senate must meet together in joint session to approve the amendment twice before 2006. Getting the first favorable legislative vote in 2003 would send a strong signal to the courts—to let the people decide! Time is of the essence, so please act quickly, and pray for success!

Our public policy office, the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, has launched a legislative alert for the marriage amendment through MCC-Net, our Catholic legislative action network. Be sure to look in your parish bulletin to find more details on how to reach your legislators, how to join MCC-Net for email updates, and how to access the Catholic Conference website for even more information on the marriage issue. Again, please act soon, before it is too late.

Bishop Richard G. Lennon, Apostolic Administrator, Archdiocese of Boston

Bishop Daniel P. Reilly, Diocese of Worcester

Bishop Thomas L. Dupre, Diocese of Springfield

Bishop-Elect George W. Coleman, Diocese of Fall River

Massachusetts Catholic Conference

West End Place, Suite 5

150 Staniford Street, Boston MA 02114-2511

(p) 617-367-6060 (f) 617-367-2767

(e) staff@macathconf.org

www.macathconf.org

Alice@FaithfulVoice.com

From Alice Slattery

You probably already saw this announcement about the "Catholic Bishops Issue Statement to be read at all parishes on defining Marriage" (www.macathconf.org). In light of this statement one wonders what the position of VOTF will be. On the first page of their website they still have Svea Frazier's report on Fr. Cozzens lecture 3/12/03 at B.C.. Going into her report shows that she is in full agreement with Fr. Cozzens. A few of his "insights" and recommendations are:

Under Part one: "9. The importance of emotional and psychosexual maturity stressed(the current feudal system might be working against this-infantalizing seminarians, thwarting their growth.)

Under Part two: "A noticeable absence of a theology of sexuality as it applies to celibacy. Nor is the issue of sexual orientation raised(and these are significant issues.)" My note on this- Hasn't he ever heard of the pope's work,The Theology of the Body? !!

Part three: .... "This, coupled with the universal call to holiness,makes mandated celibacy unnecessary and even unjust."

Under Conclusions: "He had strong remarks about the possible decision in Rome to ban homosexuals from the priesthood-unjust, and an affront to the gay men in ministry. Very difficult for gay priests right now. orientation not the issue unless a man thinks of himself primarily in terms of his homosexuality. We are "adult" children of god first and foremost."

"Celibacy could in fact be contrary to the Gospel. Celibacy can't be both a charism and a discipline. The present seminary system works against maturity."

These statements of Fr. Cozzens appear to be totally approved by Svea Frasier in her words:"Father Cozzens himself is a man of great warmth, insight, humility and integrity, for which we don't need to give him a medal. But i did give him a Voice of the faithful button, which he did put on his lapel and wore during the question and answer period! I highly recommend his books:"Spirituality of the Diocesan Priesthood","The Changing Face of the Priesthood","Sacred Silence:Denial and the Crisis of the Church"."

From this report ,it appears to me that both Fr. Cozzens and Svea Frasier think that it would be much more "mature" if the seminarians were trained in the ways of homosexuality and not in the ways of celibacy. If this is true then what is their position regarding the current issue addressed by the four Bishops? if they think that priests who are gay should get the support of the Catholioc Church and if they think that celibacy should not be expected ,then can we conclude that they will take a contrary position from that of the Bishops regarding the Marriage Affirmation Protection Amendment which would not allow the union of two people of the same sex to be recognized as being equivalent to the union of a man and a woman in heterosexual marriage? It is time that the leaders of VOTF tell the public, especially the Globe, exactly what their position is on this issue. ---Alice Slattery

AliceSlattery@FaifhfulVoice.com

ARISE, REJOICE, GOD IS CALLING YOU

(Commencement Address at Georgetown University,

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 17, 2003)

God be praised for this major event today in the life of Georgetown University. Near a thousand young people are graduating. To you, dear young friends, I say: Allow serious religion to lead you to lasting joy. Happy parents and friends surround their loved ones. With them I say: Let us thank God for the gift of the family. The Company of Jesus, the Jesuits, initiated and nourish this University. With them I rejoice at the patrimony of St. Ignatius and especially that the Catholic Church is God’s gift to the world. To all I say: Arise, rejoice, God is calling you.

1. Serious Religion leads to lasting Joy.

My dear graduands, at this turning point in your lives, it is helpful to keep to essentials. One of them is to locate in what

happiness consists. Everyone wants to be happy. Every human being desires lasting joy.

True happiness does not consist in the accumulation of goods: money, cars, houses. Nor is it to be found in pleasure seeking: eating, drinking, sex. And humans do not attain lasting joy by power grabbing, dominating others, or heaping up public acclaim. These three things, good in themselves when properly sought, were not able to confer on Solomon, perfect happiness. And they will not be able to confer it on anyone else! (cf. Eccles1:2-3; IIKing11;1-8; Mt20:24-28; IJn 2:15-16).

Happiness is attained by achieving the purpose of our earthly existence. God made me to know him, to love him, to serve him in this world and to be happy with him for ever in the next. St. Augustine found this out in his later age after making many mistakes in his youth. He then cried out to God: "You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you" (St. Aug. Conf. I, 1). My religion guides and helps me towards this. My Catholic faith puts me in contact with Jesus Christ who is the way, the truth and the life (cf. Jn14:6). God’s grace helps me to live on earth in such a way as to attain the purpose of my earthly existence.

My dear graduands, allow your religion to give your life its essential and major orientation. In our lives. religion is not

something marginal, peripheral, additional, optional. My Catholic faith gives meaning and a sense of direction to my life. It gives it unity. Without it my life would be like an agglomeration of scattered mosaics. It is my religion, for example, that inspires my profession, that teaches me that there is more happiness in giving than in receiving (cf. Acts20:35), that helps me to appreciate that to reach the height of my growth potential, I must learn to give of myself to others as I practise my profession as lawyer, doctor, air hostess, congress member or priest (Vatican II: Gaudium et Spes, 24).

Allow your religion to give life, joy, generosity and a sense of solidarity to your professional and social engagements. In a world of religious plurity, you will of course learn to cooperate with people of other religious convictions. True religion teaches not exclusion, rivalry, tension, conflict or violence, but rather openness, esteem, respect and harmony. At the same time you should keep intact your religious identity, your distinction as a witness of Jesus Christ.

2. Thank God for the Gift of the Family.

As I see joy and just pride reflected on the faces of the parents and friends of these graduands, I think of God’s goodness in giving the gift of the family to humanity.

It is God himself who willed that a man and a woman should come to establish a permanent bond in marriage. Marriage gives rise to the family. In this fundamental cell of society, love grows. There the exercise of sexuality has its correct locus. There human maturity is nurtured. There new life utters its first cry and later smiles at the parents. There the child is first introduced to religion. Is it any wonder that the Second Vatican Council called the family "the church of the home" (cf. Lumen Gentium, 11)?

In many part of the world, the family is under siege. It is opposed by an anti-life mentality as is seen in contraception, abortion, infanticide and euthanasia. It is scorned and banalized by pornography, desecrated by fornication and adultery, mocked by homosexuality, sabotaged by irregular unions and cut in two by divorce.

But the family has friends too. It is nourished and lubricated by mutual love, strengthened by sacrifice and healed by

forgiveness and reconciliation. The family is blessed with new life, kept united by family prayer and given a model in the Holy Family of Nazareth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Christian families are moreover blessed by the Church in the name of Christ and fed by the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist. It was beautiful that at the beatification of Mr. and Mrs. Luigi and Maria Beltrame-Quattrocchi in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City on October 21, 2001, three of their children were present. May God bless all the families here present and grant our graduands who will one day set up their own families his light, guidance, strength, peace and love.

3. The Patrimony of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

We rejoice with the Jesuit Community that set up and keeps up Georgetown University. In the patrimony of St. Ignatius of Loyola, love of the Church is prominent. It is a joy, an honour and a responsibility to belong to the one, holy catholic and apostolic Church. This Mystical Body of Christ, this largest of all religious families that ever existed, is the divinely-set up family for all peoples, languages and cultures. This Church has produced Saints from every state of life, men and women who, open to God’s grace, have become signs of hope. But this same Church also has sinners in her fold. Far from discouraging and rejecting them, the Church offers them hope, wholesome Gospel teaching, saving sacraments and the invitation to abandon to food of pigs, make U-turn and return to the refreshing joy of the Father’s house, like the prodigal son (cf. Lk15:14-24).

This Church has inherited from Christ, the Apostles and her living tradition, a non-negotiable body of doctrine on faith and morals. The tenets of the Catholic faith do not change according to the play of market forces, majority votes or opinion polls. "Jesus Christ is the same today as he was yesterday and as he will be for ever" (Heb13:8). This is the Church which St.Ignatius invites all his spiritual children to love and cherish. This is the Church to which we have the joy to belong.

My dear graduands, parents and the Jesuit Community of Georgetown, arise, rejoice, because God is calling us. And may God’s light, peace, grace and blessing descend on you and remain with you always.

Frances Card. ARINZE

May 17, 2003

Full Text of Catholic Catechism Regarding Homosexuality - 1997

#2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.” They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

#2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

#2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.