Ruling against Prop. 8 makes marriage unconstitutional, Archbishop Kurtz says

Washington D.C., Aug 12, 2010 / 16:57 pm

In an exclusive interview, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz spoke to CNA about the decision of District Judge Vaughn Walker to overturn California’s Proposition 8, which defined marriage as being between one man and one woman. Archbishop Kurtz remarked that the ruling against the proposition “in a sense … declared marriage to be unconstitutional.”

Archbishop Kurtz, who is the Chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage and Family Life, stated in his interview with CNA that Judge Walker’s decision “to say that marriage as the union of one man and woman is now to be considered unconstitutional ... precisely because as he said, he could not find a compelling rational purpose for marriage,” could truly be considered "outrageous."

He also affirmed interviewer Dr. John Haas’ statement that, “in a sense, he has declared marriage to be unconstitutional, because there is no such thing as ‘gay marriage’,” since true marriage requires a man and a woman.

Describing the implications of the ruling, Archbishop Kurtz recalled a reaction he heard to it, saying, “marriage has simply become a governmental registry of friendships. It’s simply looking at adult friendships and turning them in a sense into what we call marriage.”

The archbishop also noted that the Catholic Church’s teaching on the nature of marriage is based in the natural law and not on the popular vote or on polls. However, he did mention that in every single state where marriage has been “brought before the people, they have all confirmed, in every state, the fact, the conviction, that marriage is the union of one man and one woman.”

It is still imperative to fight for marriage, Archbishop Kurtz declared, saying also that the Church must continue her efforts to pastorally support married couples “so that they could live the fullness of their married life.”