BELLEVUE, Wash. (CNS) — Bishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of Oakland, Calif., urged his fellow bishops June 15 to fight back in the war of words over efforts to redefine traditional marriage.
The chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage said organizations advocating the legal redefinition of marriage have been using words like “human rights” and “hate” in discussions of same-sex marriage.
“Strategies of language are crucial here, and what we see happening in the marriage debate with terms such as ‘equality’ is similar to the manipulation of language found in the pro-abortion rhetoric of ‘choice,’” Bishop Cordileone said.
“Many of our young people have now come to see what ‘pro-choice’ really means, and embrace instead a culture of life,” he added. “A similar task lies before us in our efforts to protect marriage.”
As one weapon in the war of words, he cited the video series “Marriage: Unique for a Reason” that is being produced by the USCCB in English and Spanish. He announced completion of the second video in English, called “Made for Life,” which focuses on the indispensable place of both mothers and fathers in the lives of their children.
“Our culture is one that often forgets the sacred gift of the child, and in so doing it also fails to recognize the vital importance of a mother and a father together for the life and upbringing of that child,” Bishop Cordileone said. “In contemporary debates about the meaning of marriage, the rights and dignity of the child should be at the forefront.”
Two other videos in English – called “Made for the Common Good” and “Made for Freedom” – will be completed in 2012, he said, and a Spanish-language, “telenovela”-style video is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Bishop Cordileone said the final video, “Made for Freedom,” will stress the important connection between marriage and religious liberty.