Cardinal George: If Gay Marriage Is Legalized, "Society Will Be The Worse For It"
By Samantha Abernethy in News on Sep 24, 2012 4:00PM
Cardinal Francis George
“There must surely be ways in our civil society," George said, "where we can honor friendships, where we can respect other people, without destroying the nature of marriage. It is very important, for your whole lives, give witness to what marriage truly means. And while civil laws might change - if they do - then society will be the worse for it.”
Quoting from the Bible, George said marriage has always been a union between one man and one woman, and should not change.“Marriage is what it is, what Jesus said from the beginning: Two in one flesh, for which man leaves his family and joins himself to his wife; and wife leaves her family, and joins herself to her husband,” he said.
This isn't George's first anti-gay comments. Last November Cardinal George and Catholic bishops criticized Gov. Pat Quinn for presenting a leadership award a rape victim-turned-victim’s advocate. Then in December he compared Chicago Pride Parade organizers to the Ku Klux Klan, as the organizers bowed to George's request to change the parade start time. The outspoken religious leader chimed in on the Chick-Fil-a controversy and Mayor Rahm Emanuel's "values" comment in August:
"I was born and raised here, and my understanding of being a Chicagoan never included submitting my value system to the government for approval. Must those whose personal values do not conform to those of the government of the day move from the city? Is the City Council going to set up a ‘Council Committee on Un-Chicagoan Activities’ and call those of us who are suspect to appear before it? I would have argued a few days ago that I believe such a move is, if I can borrow a phrase, ‘un-Chicagoan.’”