Hawaii legalizes same-sex marriage
November 14, 2013
Following votes of 30-19 in the state house and 19-4 in the state senate, Governor Neil Abercrombie signed legislation that makes Hawaii the fifteenth state to legalize same-sex marriage.
“It is very sad that many of our State legislators and our Governor have confused a manufactured civil right with a true civil right based on the centuries-old respect for marriage as a stable union between one man and one woman established and publicly recognized primarily for the welfare of children,” Bishop Larry Silva of Honolulu, who had issued an impassioned letter against the measure in August, said in a statement.
“This manufactured world view is not what God, our Maker, has revealed to us, and it is symptomatic of a profound misunderstanding of the purpose of human sexuality,” he continued. “This misunderstanding is manifested, not only in this legislation, but in the many ways that we all fail to live as God has designed us. We pray that we will be able to restore marriage and family to their true place in God’s plan for humanity.”
“The decision in Hawaii is disappointing and shows the need for rebuilding a culture of the family in our country,” said Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, chairman of the US bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, said in a separate statement. “Changing the meaning of marriage in the law does not promote the common good or protect authentic rights.”
“When referring to the family, Pope Francis put it this way: ‘I think first and foremost of the stable union of man and woman in marriage,’” Archbishop Cordileone added. “The very point of marriage having the unique status in the law that it has is to promote the right of children to have a mother and a father. Only a married man and woman can provide that. The question we need to ask ourselves is this: How can we honestly justify a law that in principle denies children this right?”
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Further information:
- Hawaii becomes 15th U.S. state to legalize gay marriage (Reuters)
- USCCB Chairman Responds to Marriage Redefinition in Hawaii (USCCB)
- Statement of Most Reverend Larry Silva, Bishop of Honolulu Regarding the passage of the Same-Sex Marriage Bill in the State Legislature (Diocese of Honolulu)
- Hawaii bishop, in impassioned letter, urges prayer, action to prevent same-sex marriage (CWN, 8/26)
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