WASHINGTON, D.C. – His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, issued a statement today in support of a letter from the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to U.S. President Barack Obama, urging President Obama to call off his administration’s attack on the constitutionality of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as between one man and one woman.
His Excellency, the most Reverend Timothy Dolan, USCCB President, sent the September 20, 2011 letter to the White House along with an accompanying analysis of the administration’s efforts to redefine marriage. To read both the letter and the analysis, go here: http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/marriage-and-family/marriage/promotion-and-defense-of-marriage/upload/dolan-to-obama-doma-letter-sept-20-2011.pdf
Archbishop Broglio said:
“Archbishop Dolan has effectively given voice to a concern deeply felt not only by members of the Catholic Church, but also by men and women of good will who in twenty-nine states have affirmed marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Anywhere that the people have been allowed to decide, marriage has been reaffirmed as that union made clear by nature itself. Furthermore forty-one states have statutory or constitutional ‘Defense of Marriage Acts.’
“Fundamentally the current position of the Justice Department seeks to subvert the clear will of the majority, whose unquestionable sovereignty has the last word in the system of government enshrined in the Federal Constitution. It cannot be forgotten that the federal DOMA, passed only fifteen years ago, was due to the efforts of a substantial, bi-partisan majority in Congress and to then-President Clinton. As a Nation we walk down a dangerous path when appointed officials are allowed to arrogate to themselves the right to call bigotry whatever does not correspond to their agenda.
“The women and men I am privileged to serve place their lives on the line every day to defend the Country whose government is of the people, by the people, and for the people. Let us pray that the millions who have died to ensure those liberties did not die in vain.”
