Taking back marriage

Richard A. Sokerka

Out of the ashes of the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage, a new organization has arisen whose aim is to help Catholics and others renew the vision of marriage between one man and one woman as the bedrock of society.

The Marriage Reality Movement was launched Sept. 30 in Philadelphia during the World Meeting of Families. Sponsored by Catholics for the Common Good Institute, it aims to build a coalition to promote effective educational materials about marriage.

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, the chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, gave the keynote speech at the movement’s launch. The archbishop said people should look for why marriage exists in nature: “to bring new children into the world and unite the man and woman to each other and to those children they bring into the world.”

“It is about formation for the evangelization of culture starting around the family dinner table,” Bill May, president of Catholics for the Common Good Institute, said. “We start by helping people reintroduce marriage to the culture in non-religious language that precisely reflects the teachings of the Church. Marriage is an integral part of God’s creation, May said.

He said the Marriage Reality Movement aims to promote the human right of children “to be born into a family and to be raised in a family with their mom and dad united in marriage. It aims to help young people to discover the truth of love, marriage, sexuality and family,” May said.

Although the movement is still in its initial stages, it is already providing marriage educational pamphlets for distribution in parishes or other organizations. The movement’s website, www.takebackmarriage.org, also provides materials for study. Given the current state of marriage in our nation, this organization’s success is vital to “taking back” marriage.