Bishops Issue Statement on Ads Promoting Adultery
11/14/08 Filed in: Massachusetts
The following statement was released today by the Roman Catholic Bishops in Massachusetts:
We, the Roman Catholic Bishops in Massachusetts, as pastors and teachers, are compelled to speak in support of marriage in light of a recent advertising campaign promoting adultery in the Commonwealth.
The ads encourage the use of an online dating service for married persons contemplating adulterous relationships. This wrongful enterprise threatens not only the oldest and most foundational of human institutions but also the common good of all.
Marriage requires honesty, loyalty, trust, self-sacrifice, personal responsibility, respect, and commitment. Marriage is a vocation that benefits all of society by building and strengthening human relationships within the family home and beyond with relatives, neighbors and one’s community. Marriage is the basis for the family, the fundamental human society. A healthy committed marriage helps to insure the well-being of children, create social stability and improve the quality of life for all citizens.
The activity promoted by this advertising effort will not benefit families and the ads send the wrong message to our young. The ad campaign will further erode the unique and important role that marriage has in contributing to the common good. Where marriage is weakened the social cost is enormous. We commend those media outlets that have refused this advertising and ask that other media outlets do the same.
We honor and support those couples who have committed themselves to each other in the vocation of marriage and offer prayers that they remain strong in the face of increasing social pressures to abandon their promise of fidelity.
We, the Roman Catholic Bishops in Massachusetts, as pastors and teachers, are compelled to speak in support of marriage in light of a recent advertising campaign promoting adultery in the Commonwealth.
The ads encourage the use of an online dating service for married persons contemplating adulterous relationships. This wrongful enterprise threatens not only the oldest and most foundational of human institutions but also the common good of all.
Marriage requires honesty, loyalty, trust, self-sacrifice, personal responsibility, respect, and commitment. Marriage is a vocation that benefits all of society by building and strengthening human relationships within the family home and beyond with relatives, neighbors and one’s community. Marriage is the basis for the family, the fundamental human society. A healthy committed marriage helps to insure the well-being of children, create social stability and improve the quality of life for all citizens.
The activity promoted by this advertising effort will not benefit families and the ads send the wrong message to our young. The ad campaign will further erode the unique and important role that marriage has in contributing to the common good. Where marriage is weakened the social cost is enormous. We commend those media outlets that have refused this advertising and ask that other media outlets do the same.
We honor and support those couples who have committed themselves to each other in the vocation of marriage and offer prayers that they remain strong in the face of increasing social pressures to abandon their promise of fidelity.
Iowa Catholic Conference Releases Newsletter
11/13/08 Filed in: Iowa
In this newsletter …
- Election news: Pope congratulates Sen. Obama; Democrats increase majority in the Iowa General Assembly
- Iowa Catholic Conference board approves resolution on Postville, releases legislative concerns
- U.S. bishops address Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA); issues statement on the economy
- Study finds lower income Iowans pay a greater percentage of their income in taxes
- Alliance for School Choice begins campaign
- Read more . . .
Statement on Passage of Proposal 2
11/05/08 Filed in: Michigan
(Lansing) – Michigan Catholic Conference Vice President for Public Policy
Paul A. Long made the following comments today after Proposal 08-2 passed
by a vote of 52-48:
"The margin of victory for Proposal 2 undoubtedly would have been much
wider if it were not for the dedicated opposition of the Catholic Church in
Michigan. Every priest, deacon, religious and layperson who helped spread
the Church's teaching that all human life, no matter how small, must be
protected and defended, is to be praised for their courageous witness and
dedication to the Truth. Michigan Catholic Conference is honored to have
served with several hundred individuals and prominent grassroots
organizations, medical professionals and elected officials through the
MiCAUSE coalition in an effort to protect and preserve life in this great
state.
"Regrettably, we exist in a society that seeks immediate gratification and
pleasure, with a damaging tendency to fall victim to emotional appeals that
lack any notion of good public policy. Enshrining in the state
constitution a measure that prohibits the legislature from enacting any
oversight or accountability measures related to the destruction of human
embryos has unsettling consequences for the future. Considering embryonic
stem cell research was legal and ongoing in Michigan before the passage of
Proposal 2, it is impossible not to view this measure as anything but the
creation of a new industry structured around the unregulated destruction of
human life.
"The Church’s teaching in support of stem cell research that does not
destroy the human embryo is clearer today than it was before this campaign
began. Despite the passage of Proposal 2, Michigan Catholic Conference
will continue to advocate before our elected officials for the promotion of
ethical and proven stem cell research that today is benefiting those who
are ill and suffering. Yet any attempt within the Legislature, whether by
statute or appropriation, to expand further the destruction of human life
in the name of research will meet the immediate opposition of the Michigan
Catholic Conference."
Michigan Catholic Conference is the official public policy voice of the
Catholic Church in this state.
Paul A. Long made the following comments today after Proposal 08-2 passed
by a vote of 52-48:
"The margin of victory for Proposal 2 undoubtedly would have been much
wider if it were not for the dedicated opposition of the Catholic Church in
Michigan. Every priest, deacon, religious and layperson who helped spread
the Church's teaching that all human life, no matter how small, must be
protected and defended, is to be praised for their courageous witness and
dedication to the Truth. Michigan Catholic Conference is honored to have
served with several hundred individuals and prominent grassroots
organizations, medical professionals and elected officials through the
MiCAUSE coalition in an effort to protect and preserve life in this great
state.
"Regrettably, we exist in a society that seeks immediate gratification and
pleasure, with a damaging tendency to fall victim to emotional appeals that
lack any notion of good public policy. Enshrining in the state
constitution a measure that prohibits the legislature from enacting any
oversight or accountability measures related to the destruction of human
embryos has unsettling consequences for the future. Considering embryonic
stem cell research was legal and ongoing in Michigan before the passage of
Proposal 2, it is impossible not to view this measure as anything but the
creation of a new industry structured around the unregulated destruction of
human life.
"The Church’s teaching in support of stem cell research that does not
destroy the human embryo is clearer today than it was before this campaign
began. Despite the passage of Proposal 2, Michigan Catholic Conference
will continue to advocate before our elected officials for the promotion of
ethical and proven stem cell research that today is benefiting those who
are ill and suffering. Yet any attempt within the Legislature, whether by
statute or appropriation, to expand further the destruction of human life
in the name of research will meet the immediate opposition of the Michigan
Catholic Conference."
Michigan Catholic Conference is the official public policy voice of the
Catholic Church in this state.