Catholic Bishop Dolan Forbids Same-Sex Weddings in Catholic Churches

Claiming that the civil right of marriage for gay and lesbian families contravenes "Divine law" and hinting that same-sex weddings throw the survival of the human race into question, Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, forbade any weddings between two men or two women from taking place in the state's Catholic churches, On Top Magazine reported.

"Dolan, also the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), issued a decree forbidding the ceremonies from taking place," the article said.

"The intimate partnership of life and love that constitutes the married state was established by God and endowed by Him with its own proper nature and laws," Dolan asserted in the "Decree" forbidding the weddings.

"For millennia, civil authority recognized the true nature of marriage," the decree continued. "The marital union between one man and one woman was universally accepted by civil law as a constitutive element of human society, which is vital to the human family and to the continuation of the human race.

"In a reversal of this tradition," Dolan continued, "the New York State Legislature recently enacted a law that recognized same-sex union as marriage in the State of New York. This law is irreconcilable with the nature and the definition of marriage as established by Divine law."

Dolan's then handed down the directive that no cleric or employee of the church would be allowed to "participate in the civil solemnization or celebration of a same-sex marriage, which includes but is not limited to providing services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods or privileges for such events."

The Decree went on to bar the use of any "Catholic facility or property" as well as "items dedicated, consecrated, or used for the celebration of Catholic liturgy or sacred worship" in a same-sex wedding, and threatened "canonical sanctions."

Catholic teaching acknowledges that gays and lesbians do not "choose" to be romantically and sexually attracted to members of the same gender. Nonetheless, the church also claims that gays and lesbians are "disordered" when it comes to intimate relationships and should live celibate lives without families to call their own.

Gay and lesbian Catholics, however, seemed unimpressed by Dolan's decree.

"It would be wonderful to be able to get married in the Catholic Church but I don't expect it, I don't hope for it and I don't need it because we could get married in a civil setting," Rosemary Palladino told the Staten Island Advance, the article reported.

"The bill was not about making Catholic Churches or other churches perform marriages for same-sex couples," added Palladino, an attorney. "It was about making civil marriage available to same-sex couples, regardless of what religion they follow or don't follow."

Palladino and her same-sex life partner of 38 years plan to wed now that New York is a marriage equality state, the article said.

"The Marriage Equality Act permits same-sex civil unions while at the same time protecting the right of religious groups to choose against performing the marriages," noted the Staten Island Advance.

Marriage equality in New York became legal in July. Six states and the District of Columbia currently extend equal marriage rights to gays and lesbians, as do several nations around the globe. Human reproduction has continued apace, with the seven billionth living person being born around the end of October.