Jul 15, 2004 / 22:00 pm
The Knights of Columbus issued a statement vowing that they “will fight as long as it takes” to protect institution of marriage.
The U.S. Senate vote July 14 on the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) “shows that the crucial effort to protect the institution of marriage in America will be a long and difficult one,” Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson said.
“But the Knights of Columbus, in solidarity with the Catholic bishops of the United States, will fight for as long as it takes in order to ensure that marriage, defined as the union of a man and a woman, is protected in law.”
Anderson said that “this courtroom battle is another Roe v. Wade in the making. Advocates of same-sex marriage are determined to get the courts to impose same-sex marriage by judicial fiat, and only a federal constitutional amendment can prevent it.”
“Amending the constitution is something that we should never take lightly, and there’s no doubt that if this could be settled at the state level, we’d all prefer it,” he continued.
“But the recent same-sex marriage decision from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has set in motion a process that is all but certain to conclude with a federal court adopting their reasoning and ending traditional marriage forever. As the largest Catholic family organization in the nation, we cannot stand by and allow that to happen.”