From Dominic Holden at Slog:
That was fast. When I went to Sunday mass last week as St. James Cathedral, their leadership was evasive and downright elusive when asked about the local Catholic Church's new campaign to oppose a same-sex marriage bill. But this week, the Catholic Church's position was in black and white.
Inside every bulletin at St. James Cathedral, the laity received marching orders today to begin pressuring their state lawmakers to stop the marriage equality measure in Olympia. In fact, Archbishop J. Peter Sartain disseminated the message to all 175 parishes under his jurisdiction of Western Washington and instructed them to print it in their bulletins. Here's the entire statement:
ARCHBISHOP SARTAIN HAS ASKED THAT THE FOLLOWING ANNOUNCEMENT BE PUBLISHED IN ALL PARISH BULLETINS THIS WEEKEND
PROTECT MARRIAGE Legislators will be voting soon on whether to the change current law defining marriage. Marriage between a man and a woman is essential for family life and the foundation of any society. Please call, email or write your state Senator and two Representatives urging them to support the current law and defend marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Call 1-800-562-6000 to leave a message for your legislators. Go to the Washington State Legislature website at http://apps.leg.wa.gov/... to find your legislator and to write or email a message to them.
That wasn't all: Copies of a more detailed anti-gay proclamation, issued by Sartain and three other Washington State bishops on January 13, were tucked into the vestibules of St. James. "Upholding the present definition of marriage," the decree warned, is necessary for the "continuation of the human race."
The Slog posted a pdf of the letter.
The good new is the choir the Bishop is preaching too is small. An ABC/Washington Post poll taken in March 2011 showed that (pdf):
Support is up by a striking 23 points among white Catholics, often a swing group and one that’s been ready, in many cases, to disregard church positions on political or social issues. But they have company: Fifty-seven percent of non-evangelical white Protestants now also support gay marriage, up 16 points from its level five years ago. Evangelicals, as noted, remain very broadly opposed. But even in their ranks, support for gay marriage is up by a double-digit margin.
If only LGBT Washingtonians could compel their allies to show up every Sunday for a pep talk and to pass the donation plate it might be a fairer fight.