Democratic vice presidential nominee U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, a Roman Catholic who recently suggested the Vatican would change its position on homosexual “marriage,” received a stern rebuke from his bishop over those comments.
Diocese of Richmond Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo’s “statement on the Catholic Church’s teaching regarding marriage” didn’t specifically single out Kaine, but it was clear that was who he was responding to with the document.
“More than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage, and despite recent statements from the campaign trail, the Catholic Church’s 2,000-year-old teaching to the truth about what constitutes marriage remains unchanged and resolute,” he wrote. “As Catholics, we believe all humans warrant dignity and deserve love and respect, and unjust discrimination is always wrong.
“Our understanding of marriage, however, is a matter of justice and fidelity to our Creator’s original design. Marriage is the only institution uniting one man and one woman with each other and with any child who comes from their union. Redefining marriage furthers no one’s rights, least of all those of children, who should not purposely be deprived of the right to be nurtured and loved by a mother and a father.
“We call on Catholics and all those concerned for preserving this sacred union to unite in prayer, to live and speak out with compassion and charity about the true nature of marriage — the heart of family life.”
