Bishop Richard Malone, who leads the Diocese of Buffalo has angered Buffalo area activists with a “bitter” statement opposing today’s decision by the Supreme Court to legalize same sex marriage. Malone’s statement appears below and was widely circulated on Twitter and social media.
I am bitterly disappointed that the majority of justices of the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to overturn the definition of marriage, which has remained unchanged for more than two millennia. Marriage is the lifelong exclusive union of one man and one woman, a font of unitive life and love as well as the foundation of a stable family and society.
Marriage is rooted in creation: God created marriage in the very same breath as He created the human person, and for the Catholic Church, that will not change.
It is my prayer that despite today’s developments, we will embrace anew the truth, beauty and goodness of marriage as it has always been and always will be, between a man and a woman.
Malone is, presumably, celibate — as required by church doctrine. His praise of traditional marriage has activists wondering why he didn’t chose to marry, and they want a public explanation.
Many activists are raising questions about Malone’s sexuality, and how a presumably celibate man would identify. Does the absence of sex make him “hetrosexual” or “homosexual” or altogether “non-sexual”?
Passing judgement on people may be a longstanding church practice, but it makes the institution increasingly irrelevant in a modern, educated, diverse, and tolerant society. It is unclear how Malone’s comments will affect attendance levels at area masses. The Buffalo Diocese has long struggled to keep parishioners and has had to close both dozens of catholic schools and churches across the region. The comments come at a time when Pope Francis has made overtures towards the gay community, promoting a theme of inclusion.
Malone has been more politically active than most of his predecessors on issues like tuition tax credits for parochial schools, and has made several trips to Albany to actively lobby the state legislature on a range of issues.
It’s unclear if rank-and-file Catholics will begin speaking out against Malone’s leadership.
