Document defines marriage as a "lifelong union" for a man and a woman.

Homosexuality and same-sex "marriage" have ripped apart the Episcopal Church ?and now Roman Catholic bishops are dealing with the same issues.

A draft document, titled "Between Man and Woman: Questions and Answers about Marriage and Same-Sex Unions," defines marriage as a lifelong union of a man and a woman. It also unequivocally states that approving same-sex

unions contradicts the nature of marriage.

The Rev. Owen Kearns, publisher of the National Catholic Register, thinks it's a good document.

"All of the parameters that measure social well-being have told us that the best place for a child is a family with a mother and a father, and this will guarantee that that kind of a family is privileged as it should be in law and in society," Kearns said.

Keith Fournier, founder of Your Catholic Voice, said this is one of the most important issues facing us as a civil society.

"The natural structure of human sexuality, the bishops say, makes man and woman complementary partners for the transmission of human life," he explained. "A same-sex union cannot be equivalent to marriage."

The bishops' statement, he added, goes further.

"There is no such thing as gay 'marriage.' The phrase itself is an oxymoron," Fournier said. "The bishops clearly lay out why and they also lay out why it's important to promote the common good: That we support and defend marriage and family because marriage is the foundation of the family."

The document concludes marriage must remain only the union of a man and a woman because its nature and purposes are established by God.

14 Novemmber,2003

Family News in Focus