Catholic Bishops: Gay Marriage Will Destroy American Society

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a 60-page pastoral letter condemning same-sex unions as a "threat to the fabric of society."

"We have the need to defend marriage within our culture," said Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, a member of the committee that wrote the document. "This pastoral letter will also serve as a foundational document as we seek a direction and a strategy to defend marriage over these coming years." Before the session, the bishops circulated statistics showing that American couples have grown less likely to marry and more likely to live together. Those who do marry tend to do so later in life, and the probability that they will divorce or separate is between 40 and 50 percent, according to a University of Virginia report.

The letter defines marriage as "a natural institution established by God the Creator" and called it "a permanent, faithful, fruitful partnership between one man and one woman" that has two purposes: "the good of the spouses" and "the procreation and education of children." It says "Male-female complementarity is essential to marriage" and "attempts to make same-sex unions the equivalent of marriage disregard the nature of marriage. "Since marriage and same-sex unions are different realities, it is not unjust discrimination to oppose the legal recognition of same-sex unions," the letter says. "These unions pose a serious threat to the fabric of society that affects all people."

Ho hum. Nothing surprising here.