Let's Hear it for Marriage and for a Bishop Proclaiming It!

Archbishop John Nienstedt of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has a great article on marriage in the Star-Tribune. Here are a few paragraphs that show this shepherd is on target about the proper nature of marriage. (You would think that was a given for a Catholic bishop, but we've seen too often that one can't take it for granted):

Throughout history, human beings in virtually every society have recognized that, to make a marriage, one needs a man and a woman. What is more, it has long been acknowledged that marriage is not just about the happiness of adults but concerns the well-being of society -- that is, the common good. Marriage exists in civil law primarily in order to provide communal support for bringing mothers and fathers together to care for their children. Same-sex unions cannot serve this public purpose....

Marriage is the way a man and woman bind their love into a lifelong commitment that is mutual, exclusive, and open to new life -- where they promise not only to love each other, but to love any children whom they create together. With that vow, the die is cast and the adventure of receiving and raising the next generation has begun.

The archbishop also takes a swipe at the disaster of no-fault divorce which has "liberated" so many single family households led by women into poverty:

Back in the early 1970s, the experts told us that no-fault divorce would liberate women from bad marriages without affecting anyone else. We now know that as many as one-third of women fall into poverty with their children as a result of divorce. Social science caught up late with the common-sense wisdom that children need a mom and a dad working together to protect them.

In other words, changing the law of marriage to enshrine no-fault divorce had unintended consequences that few predicted. Same-sex marriage represents an even greater challenge.

Congratulations to Archbishop Nienstedt for taking on this politically incorrect view of marriage. Let
 us hope the people of Minnesota are listening. And pray for the archbishop who is under attack by the gay cabal.