Los Angeles bishops issue message of reassurance to homosexuals

December 09, 2008

In a pastoral letter released December 6, Cardinal Roger Mahony and his auxiliary bishops in Los Angeles have offered reassurance to homosexual Catholics. The pastoral letter said that homosexual persons are "cherished members of the Catholic Church," and Catholic support for a referendum to end legal recognition for same-sex marriage in California should not be interpreted as an indication that the Church is hostile to them. The bishops explain that they favored Proposition 8 because they wanted to uphold the age-old understanding of marriage. They said that they hoped to "find ways to eliminate discrimination against homosexual persons, and to help guarantee the basic rights which belong to each of us.”

 

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Further information:

• Bishops of Los Angeles issue letter reassuring gays in the wake of Prop. 8 (CNA)
• A pastoral message to homosexual Catholics in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles (The Tidings)