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By MAUREEN CLARK Associated Press Writer ee aa ee same marriage “an oxymoron,’ Alaska’ s Roman Catholic bishops have released a pastoral letter supporting a ballot initiative that defines marriage as being be tween one man and one woman. “We decided to speak on the issue for the benefit of our people. There’s nothing telling anybody how to vote,” said An chorage Archbishop Francis Hurley. The three-page document, ti tled ‘Marriage: One Man and One Woman” was by Hurley, Bishop Michael Warfel of Juneau and Bishop Michael Ka niecki of Fairbanks. 4 proposed amendment to the state constitution would ban same-sex marriage. It could go before the voters in November, depending upon the outcome of an appeal to the Alaska Supreme Court .We personally give a firm and unqualified ‘yes’ to that amend ment because the amendment gives a firm and unqualified ‘yes’ to marriage as marriage has been and is understood in our state and our nation and in our church,” the bishops wrote in their letter. The letter was being mailed to parishioners throughout Alaska. There are about 40,000 Catholics in Alaska, Hurley said. The same-sex marriage init tive was passed in the final ac utes of the legislative session last May. It was introduced in re sponse to a February by state Superior Court Judge Peter Michalski. Michalski ruled against a 1996 law that banned same-sex marriage. Jay Brause and Gene Dugan of Anchorage challenged the law, along with Baptist minister Howard Bess of Wasilla and his wife, Darlene. Michalski’s decision didn’t le galize gay marriage. But it or dered the state to prove that the government has a compelling reason to regulate the right to choose a life partner. In their letter, the bishops wrote that the court’s decision “opens the door to change the nature of marriage. It dismisses male and female sexuality as in tegral to marriage. It eliminates the unique intimacy of a man and a woman that is achieved in no other setting. It discards consid eration of the procreation of children. It changes, also, the meaning of family.” Hurley said the letter to Cath olics was important, because of the unusually low voter turnout during last month’s primary elec tion. He hoped the issue would motivate people to go to the polls. “People have a moral obliga tion to vote,”’ Hurley said. While the pastoral letter sup ports a ban on same-sex mar riage, it also says Catholics “must recognize that homosexual people are part of our Catholic community. We must extend our arms to embrace them just as Jesus Christ extended His arms from the cross to embrace all people.’
Newspaper Details
Fairbanks Daily News Miner
Fairbanks, Alaska, US
Tue, Sep 08, 1998
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Jakob D.
GB 10 Jun 2026
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