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Gay Catholics Demonstrate As Priests Read Anti-Gay Statement
by Michael J. Meade
365Gay.com Newscenter
Boston Bureau
Posted: June 2, 2003 12:02 a.m. ET
(Boston, Massachusetts) Priests across Massachusetts Sunday read a pastoral letter signed by the state's four bishops denouncing gay marriage and urging Catholics to lobby their legislators to support a constitutional amendment banning gays and lesbians from marrying.
At the Cathedral of the Holy Cross a dozen of gay and lesbian activists stood up and walked out of mass as the pastoral letter was read by Mons. William H. Roche.
''The church has a mandate to work for social justice, and civil marriage that protects our families is very much a civil justice issue,'' said Jeffrey Morgan, 23, one of the protestors. ''The bishops are not interested in sending that message.''
Carl Sciortino, 24, and his partner Mark Murphy, 25, said same-sex marriage is a civil rights issue and the church should not get involved.
''I feel angry,'' said Murphy, who along with Sciortino, says he's a practicing Catholic. ''I have to turn my back to the altar. I shouldn't have to do that.''
The letter, prepared by the bishops at a meeting last week, (story) tells Catholics it is their duty to support the family and oppose gay marriage.
The bishops' statement was also published in the archdiocesan newspaper, The Pilot.
The action by the bishops comes as the Supreme Judicial Court is considering whether the state Constitution allows same-sex marriage, while the Legislature is expected to consider a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as being solely between a man and a woman.
C.J. Doyle, executive director of the conservative Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, called the protest ''a bigoted expression of contempt for the Catholic bishops and the Catholic faith.''
The league is part of a coalition of groups pressuring the state to hold a referendum to amend the constitution to ban gay marriage.
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