The U.S. Bishops are encouraging Catholics throughout the country to offer their Friday acts of sacrifice and penance for the protection of Life, Marriage, and Religious Liberty.
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Marriage: Start with Who We Are
To understand what marriage is, the best place to start is with the human person. We must ask, "What does it mean to be a human person, as a man or as a woman?" First, men and women are created in the image of God, with great dignity and worth. Also, since "God is love," (1 Jn 4:8) each person finds fulfillment by loving others. Second, men and women are body-persons. The body is an essential part of being human and shapes what it means to love.
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Catechesis Corner
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No member of the faithful could possibly deny that the Church is competent in her magisterium to interpret the natural moral law. It is in fact indisputable, as Our predecessors have many times declared, that Jesus Christ, when He communicated His divine power to Peter and the other Apostles and sent them to teach all nations His commandments, constituted them as the authentic guardians and interpreters of the whole moral law, not only, that is, of the law of the Gospel but also of the natural law. For the natural law, too, declares the will of God, and its faithful observance is necessary for men's eternal salvation.
In carrying out this mandate, the Church has always issued appropriate documents on the nature of marriage, the correct use of conjugal rights, and the duties of spouses. These documents have been more copious in recent times.
--Pope Paul VI,
Humanae Vitae
, no. 4.
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For news and current events pertaining to marriage, visit the
page on the For Your Marriage website.
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Stay Connected
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Interview with Bishop Conley
In February, Subcommittee chairman Bishop Conley of Lincoln answered questions from Catholic News Service about the open letter, "
Created Male and Female."
He noted, "
This false belief [gender ideology] of relatively few individuals has been raised to a heightened level of publicity through social activism and an aggressive push for special recognition and rights. At the center of this activism is a rejection of the truth about human sexuality and our goodness of our bodies: That we are created male and female and ordered toward relationship with one another."
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MUR's very own podcast
Made for Love debuted on January 8, 2018. It is available on
iTunes (search for
USCCBClips at the iTunes store and find all the USCCB audio) and on
our website via
SoundCloud!
Made for Love highlights the joys and struggles of real people when it comes to love, marriage, and sexuality. Episodes will surround various teachings of the Church and show how people deal with various situations in real time.
These are the episodes out now:
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FYM Mobile Redesign!
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Also check out the
Religious Liberty podcast!
Current episodes feature the work of
USCCB Government Relations
, the wisdom of
Archbishop Lori
of Baltimore,
Montse Alvarado
from Becket, and more!
Click here
to listen to all the episodes!
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U.S. Supreme Court
On February 26, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge of an Arizona woman who argued that, after divorcing her same-sex partner, the rules of shared custody that normally apply in divorces should not apply in her case, since the child born during the "marriage" is not related to the other woman. By refusing to hear the case, the court allows the ruling that shared custody applies to stand.
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
On February 26, 2018, in a 10-3 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in Zarda v. Altitude Express that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, by barring sex discrimination, also bars discrimination based on "sexual orientation." This furthers the circuit split, since an appeals court in Atlanta ruled in the opposite direction.
Illinois
On January 31, 2018, the ACLU filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Illinois Department of Corrections on behalf of six inmates with gender dysphoria, claiming that the prison system denied them medical treatment.
North Carolina
On February 7, 2018, a federal judge in North Carolina ruled in Myrick v. EEOC that the state violated civil rights laws when it forced a magistrate to resign because of her beliefs about marriage. In the settlement, the state agreed to pay the magistrate the salary and retirement benefits that she would have earned or accrued during the time she was off work.
Missouri
On February 12, 2018, a federal judge in Missouri ordered the Missouri Department of Corrections to provide an inmate with hormone therapy for an inmate with gender dysphoria. In addition, the state must allow permanent body hair removal and access to "gender affirming" bathrooms.
And in the Executive Branch...
In February 2018, the Trump administration's Department of Education announced that it would no longer take complaints of "transgender" students regarding access to bathrooms or locker rooms. The spokesman for the agency replied to reporters that, "Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, not gender identity."
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Legislation in the 115th Congress
The USCCB continues to support the First Amendment Defense Act, the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act, and the Healthy Relationships Act in Congress.
Take Action Now! by visiting this link and urge your representatives to support and co-sponsor this vital legislation.
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