QUOTE TO NOTE: Marriage Equality in Minnesota

As the campaign to defeat a proposed constitutional amendment to ban marriage equality winds down in Minnesota, the role that Catholics will play in this decision continues to be strong.

In an Associated Press story entitled “Minnesota gay marriage fight cuts deep for Catholics,” there were several quotable gems about the struggle in that state, especially because Archbishop John Nienstedt of St. Paul has been so vocally opposed to marriage equality.

One Minnesota Catholic responded to the archbishop’s aggressive stand on the issue:

” ‘Here I thought we were supposed to feed the hungry and clothe the naked,’ said Terrence Glarner, a retired venture capitalist and lifelong St. Paul Catholic who said he’s stopped donating money to church causes if he thinks it would go into funds accessible by the archdiocese. Glarner, a former seminary student, said he’s known many gay priests, church employees and churchgoers over the decades who are hurt by the decisions of the hierarchy.”

Jenny Haigh, another Minnesota Catholic, described an unusually addressed letter she received from Nienstedt, as well as explaining why so many Catholics are supporting marriage equality and opposing the constitutional amendment:

“As members of a St. Paul Catholic Church, Haigh and her partner, Aileen Guiney, recently got a letter in the mail from Nienstedt asking them to vote for the marriage amendment. It was addressed to ‘Ms. and Ms. Aileen Guiney.’

‘Haigh said the church has always been like an extended family. She said the message from the top of the hierarchy belies the values learned in her own Catholic education.

” ‘There are a lot of Catholic people that support same-sex marriage not in spite of their faith, but because of it,’ she said.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry