By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Catholic dioceses across the state of Maine are actively raising money and support for a November ballot initiative to reverse a law allowing same-sex marriage in the state.
According to a report by WMTW News 8 in Maine, Catholic churches across the state have been taking up second collections to help defray the cost of media buys and other programs aimed at convincing the public that traditional marriage must be protected.
This past Sunday, a second collection was taken at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in the Diocese of Portland. Parishioners were asked by Rev. Louis Phillips what would Jesus do about the issue of same-sex marriage.
“Marriage pre-dates government, and since the beginning of time, marriage has been understood by people of every faith and culture to be the union of a man and a woman,” Fr. Phillips said.
Marc Mutty from Stand For Marriage Maine, the campaign working to overturn the same-sex marriage law, said 140 churches across the state took double collections on Sunday and he expects anywhere from $100,000 to $300,000 to be raised through the effort.
“We don’t have endless resources and we are scrambling to put the resources together to fund our media buy,” Mutty told News 8.
Thus far, groups in favor of repealing the same-sex marriage law are raising twice as much money as those interested in protecting the law.
According to WashingtonBlade.com, a national gay news source, recent campaign finance reports show that Catholic groups from across the nation are major supporters of the effort to overturn the law.
For instance, the dioceses of Evansville, Indiana and Santa Fe, New Mexico each contributed $1,000 toward the effort and the Knights of Columbus donated $50,000 thus far.
But not all Catholics are supportive of the move to save traditional marriage. During last Sunday’s collection at Portland’s Cathedral, two Catholic nuns who belong to a group called “Catholics for Marriage Equality” expressed their disappointment over the Church’s involvement in the campaign.
“The fact that the bishop and the Catholic Church is coming out to help reverse the law for same-sex marriage is just appalling to me,” Kathy Tosney told News 8. “It doesn’t feel right, feels very unjust, feels very discriminating.”
However, most of the parishioners inside agreed that marriage was in need of protection.
“I hope we can go back to the tradition as it was,” said parishioner Jane Roy. “Marriage should be between a man and a woman, at least in the state that I live in.”
© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace® http://www.womenofgrace.com
