After The Billings Gazette editorial board decided to go on the attack against Catholic churches and schools in Montana (a continuing part of their war on the Catholic church), I wouldn’t be surprised if they now go on the attack against a gay couple in Lewistown, Montana.
After all, if any of you say you’re opposed to gay marriage- you’re called hateful. But wait a minute…after garnering national attention, we now find out that the gay couple at the heart of the controversy in Lewistown is also opposed to gay marriage. Shall we wait for the Left to attack them for their so-called “hateful” views?
As The Great Falls Tribune reports:
When it comes to the definition of marriage, Catholic teaching leaves little room for ambiguity.
Huff and Wojtowick both said they never intended to force the issue of same-sex marriage, or to provoke a conflict with the Catholic Church. If fact, neither man is entirely comfortable in describing their relationship as a marriage, preferring instead to refer to it as a civil union or a domestic partnership.
“Neither one of us believes the term should have been marriage,” Huff said. “We understand that marriage is a union between heterosexual couples.”
CatholicNewsAgency.com- Bishop, canonist: Gay unions among sins barring Communion
The denial of Holy Communion to a same-sex couple who obtained a marriage license is in line with broader Church teaching on public grave sin and the Eucharist, explained a prominent canon lawyer.
The provision that supports this pastor’s action is Canon 915, which “directs ministers of holy Communion to withhold the sacrament from those who ‘obstinately persist in manifest grave sin’,” Dr. Edward Peters told CNA.
In light of the situation going public, Bishop Warfel defended Church teaching on marriage in an article published in the September-October issue of The Harvest, the official Catholic newspaper for eastern Montana.
Separately, here’s an interesting piece in The Washington Examiner- Pew: Americans want their churches to get political
Virtually half of the nation wants churches to get involved in politics and some even want religious leaders to endorse candidates for office, according to a Pew Research Center poll.
The poll suggests that abandoning Thomas Jefferson’s prayer for a wall between church and state could save religion, which has been losing influence on Americans lives for 12 straight years. Currently, 72 percent said religion is losing influence on American life.