Bishops endorse constitutional ban on gay marriage

WASHINGTON — Top leaders of the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops Sept. 10 endorsed efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution to prohibit gay marriage. The bishops’ 47-member administrative committee said it strongly opposes “any legislative and judicial attempts, at the state and federal levels, to grant same-sex unions the equivalent status and rights of marriage — by naming them marriage, civil unions or by other means.” The bishops’ statement echoes a July 31 statement from the Vatican that found “absolutely no grounds” for gay marriage and warned Catholic politicians that a vote in support of gay unions would be “gravely immoral.” The bishops said marriage, as understood by Christian teaching and social history, “is not just any relationship or just another institution.” The prelates called heterosexual marriage “a unique, essential relationship.”