New Jersey's Catholics Asked To Pray Against Marriage Equality Today

The Catholic priests of New Jersey have been instructed by their bishops to ask their congregations to pray against the passage of same-sex marriage today.

The bishops’ letter restates Catholic teachings that marriage should be allowed only between a man and a woman. It says prayer is timely "because marriage faces challenges from a society more focused on individual satisfaction than on the Gospel. "One of the most serious challenges," it continues, "is the current effort to pass Bills in the New Jersey legislature that would change the very definition of marriage as a union of one man and one woman in order to allow same-sex ‘marriage.’ We must not stand silent in the face of this serious challenge." The letter also asks Catholics to "pledge their personal support" for family members, including those "who choose to remain single" -- a reference to gay people and heterosexual people, according to James Goodness, a spokesman for the Newark Archdiocese.