Same-sex ruling undermines democracy: Cardinal George

Nov 24, 2003 / 22:00 pm

According to the Archbishop of Chicago, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's recent decision to allow same-sex marriage could cause people to lose their faith in government and in the democratic process, reported the Journal Star.

Francis Cardinal George received the Spalding Medal at the Catholic Diocese of Peoria's annual Honors Mass on Nov. 22 at the Peoria Civic Center. The award, named after Peoria's first bishop, John Lancaster Spalding, recognizes extraordinary service on a national level.

"If this is a democracy, then it is legislatures that make the laws. ... If people don't like the laws, they can recall their legislators," the archbishop of Chicago is quoted to have said. "But we can't touch judges, so it's a dictatorship of judges.

"If that continues, then I think people will lose faith in our own system of government, because it's clearly not democratic."

In its 4-3 decision, the court gave the state Legislature six months to rewrite the state's marriage laws in favor of same-sex marriage – a decision, which Archbishop George called terrible.

The Archbishop also delicately addressed the recent ordination of a gay bishop in the Episcopal Church.

"An active homosexual lifestyle is contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ,” the Journal Star quoted him as saying. “So when a church creates a man a bishop who is dedicated to that, it creates enormous problems in that church, and the rest of us look on with some consternation and with prayers that it will be able to resolve itself."

The diocese also honored 98 people with the Pere Marquette Medal for their contributions in Catholic education, health care and social services to the poor.