Bishops across the country weigh in on SCOTUS ruling [UPDATED]

Today, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, released the following statement about the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage:

Regardless of what a narrow majority of the Supreme Court may declare at this moment in history, the nature of the human person and marriage remains unchanged and unchangeable. Just as Roe v. Wade did not settle the question of abortion over forty years ago, Obergefell v. Hodges does not settle the question of marriage today. Neither decision is rooted in the truth, and as a result, both will eventually fail. Today the Court is wrong again. It is profoundly immoral and unjust for the government to declare that two people of the same sex can constitute a marriage.

The unique meaning of marriage as the union of one man and one woman is inscribed in our bodies as male and female. The protection of this meaning is a critical dimension of the “integral ecology” that Pope Francis has called us to promote. Mandating marriage redefinition across the country is a tragic error that harms the common good and most vulnerable among us, especially children. The law has a duty to support every child’s basic right to be raised, where possible, by his or her married mother and father in a stable home. 

Jesus Christ, with great love, taught unambiguously that from the beginning marriage is the lifelong union of one man and one woman. As Catholic bishops, we follow our Lord and will continue to teach and to act according to this truth.

I encourage Catholics to move forward with faith, hope, and love: faith in the unchanging truth about marriage, rooted in the immutable nature of the human person and confirmed by divine revelation; hope that these truths will once again prevail in our society, not only by their logic, but by their great beauty and manifest service to the common good; and love for all our neighbors, even those who hate us or would punish us for our faith and moral convictions. 

Lastly, I call upon all people of good will to join us in proclaiming the goodness, truth, and beauty of marriage as rightly understood for millennia, and I ask all in positions of power and authority to respect the God-given freedom to seek, live by, and bear witness to the truth.

Across the US, Catholic bishops have released statements on the historic ruling. Below are links to statements of individual bishops as well as several statewide bishops’ conferences (did we miss your bishop’s statement? Leave a link in the comments and we’ll include it in this post). [Updated]

Archbishop Gregory Aymond, New Orleans

Bishop Michael Burbidge, Raleigh, North Carolina

Archbishop Robert Carlson, St. Louis

Archbishop Charles Chaput, Philadelphia

Archbishop Paul Coakley, Oklahoma City

Bishops of the Colorado Catholic Conference

Bishop Robert Cunningham, Syracuse

Archbishop Blase Cupich, Chicago

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, Galveston-Houston

Bishop Kevin Farrell, Dallas

Bishop John Folda, Fargo, North Dakota

Bishop Daniel Flores, Brownsville, Texas

Archbishop José Gomez, Los Angeles

Archbishop Wilton Gregory, Atlanta

Bishop Robert Guglielmone, Charleston

Bishop Gregory Hartmayer, Savannah

Bishops of Iowa

Bishop Michael Jarrell, Lafayette, Louisiana

Bishop David Kagan, Bismarck, North Dakota

Archbishop Jerome Listecki, Milwaukee

Archbishop William Lori, Baltimore

Bishop Richard Malone, Buffalo

Bishop Robert McElroy, San Diego

Bishop Patrick McGrath, San Jose

Bishops of the Michigan Catholic Conference

Bishop Robert Morlino, Madison

Bishop William Murphy, Rockville Centre, New York

Bishops of the Nebraska Catholic Conference

Bishop John Noonan, Orlando

Bishops of the Catholic Conference of Ohio

Cardinal Sean O’Malley, Boston

Bishop Thomas Paprocki, Springfield, Illinois

Bishop Glen John Provost, Lake Charles, Louisiana

Bishop Edward Scharfenberger, Albany

Archbishop Dennis Schnurr, Cincinnati

Bishop Michael Sis, San Angelo, Texas

Bishop Edward Slattery, Tulsa

Bishop Joseph Strickland, Tyler, Texas

Bishop Thomas Tobin, Providence

Bishop Robert Vasa, Santa Rosa

Bishop Joe Vásquez, Austin

Bishops of the Virginia Catholic Conference

Archbishop Thomas Wenski, Miami

Archbishop John Wester, Santa Fe

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Washington

Bishop David Zubik, Pittsburgh