Charlottesville Churches Square Off Over Virginia's Marriage-Protection Amendment

From the Charlottesville Daily Progress:

From Rugby Road to Alderman Road, churches in Charlottesville differ on whether Virginia needs a proposed amendment to the state’s Constitution to define legal marriage.

Members of Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church Unitarian Universalist [ED.: This is the same "church" in which Sarah grew up] have voted to oppose the amendment on the Nov. 7 statewide ballot. [ED.: Shocker.]

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A mile or two to the west of the Rugby Road church, at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 401 Alderman Road, members of the Roman Catholic parish have received an insert in the church bulletin supporting the amendment. [ED.: Go Dominicans!]

The insert, adorned by photos of a happily married couple and a pair of wedding rings, quotes the Book of Genesis as saying in Chapter 2: “For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”

The insert states, “Even though a majority of Virginians support the concept of marriage as being the union of one man and one woman, many are confused about what this amendment will do and why we need to amend our constitution to define marriage.”

The insert, from a pro-amendment group, goes on to state that the proposal “will not take any existing rights away from anyone. It will not affect benefits offered by private employers. It will not affect wills, joint ownership of property, contracts or agreements between unmarried individuals. It will not change existing law; it only protects the institution of marriage from activist judges who would legislate from the bench.”

Roman Catholic parishes across Virginia will be receiving literature supporting the amendment in the form of a fall pastoral letter from Bishop Francis DiLorenzo of the Diocese of Richmond and Bishop Paul Loverde of the Diocese of Arlington, said a spokesman in Richmond.

Virginia has 650,000 Catholics, said Jeff Caruso, executive director of the Virginia Catholic Conference. “I would estimate that parishes will have it by the first week of October,” he said of the letter.

The two bishops plan to call on Catholics “to preserve marriage by exercising faithful citizenship,” according to a preview of their pastoral letter. “Scripture and tradition teach that marriage, as instituted by God, is a faithful, exclusive, lifelong union of a man and a woman joined in an intimate community of life and love.”

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