Calgary, Canada, Jan 17, 2005 / 22:00 pm
In a pastoral letter that will be read in parishes this weekend, Bishop Fred Henry of Calgary has stated that Catholics must resist the same-sex marriage movement, which seeks to bring the homosexual lifestyle and activity into gradual acceptance in society.
"Marriage and the family are the foundations of society, through which children are brought into this world and nurtured as they grow to adulthood," wrote Bishop Henry. According to the Canadian Press, the bishop also urged the government to “use its coercive power” to curtail activities that undermine the foundation of the family, such as homosexuality, adultery, prostitution and pornography.
The bishop said the community cannot “endorse homosexual activity or the lifestyle as normative,” he wrote. “Society is within its rights to say, ‘No, this is unacceptable behavior.’”
Marriage is not a matter of rights, he said according to CP, but of biological and psychological fact.
"The reality is that some people have same-sex attractions,” the bishop conceded. “And homosexual people, of course, have rights that must be respected, like employment rights, housing rights, pension rights.”