US BISHOPS CRITICIZE "CIVIL UNION" LAW

BOSTON (CWNews.com) - The Catholic bishops of the New England region issued a joint statement this week, expressing their opposition to Vermont's recently passed "civil union" law which sets up a parallel system of same-sex partnerships that are the legal equivalent of marriage.

The statement, issued by the Archdiocese of Boston and signed by the sixteen New England bishops, said: "We act not to deprive any group of their rights, but to protect the existing rights of men and women to join in a sacred union ... We should be doing everything possible to strengthen the family as the basic unit of any society and the primary building block of the whole Christian community."

The bishops also warned that civil unions are on the slippery slope toward same-sex marriage. "The legislature of the State of Vermont, by passing the civil unions bill, has attacked centuries of cultural and religious esteem for marriage between a man and a woman and has prepared the way for an attack on the well-being of society itself," they said.

They also criticized supporters of same-sex unions for "trying to impose their values on the rest of the population" and urged Vermonters to reverse the law, perhaps even amending their constitution to block any further attempts to impose the idea.

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