Same-sex wedding cake. / Sara Valenti/Shutterstock
Bern, Switzerland, Sep 27, 2021 / 05:00 am (CNA).
Switzerland voted Sunday to legalize same-sex marriage.
Around 64% of voters backed the measure in a referendum on Sept. 26, making Switzerland the world’s 30th country to approve gay marriage.
The country bordering Italy, France, Germany, Austria, and Liechtenstein has recognized civil unions for same-sex couples since 2007, following a 2005 referendum.
In December 2020, the Swiss parliament approved a bill, called “Marriage for All,” legalizing same-sex marriage and introduced it into the Swiss Civil Code.
In April this year, Campaigners gathered enough signatures to secure a referendum. More than 61,000 valid signatures were submitted in favor of giving the country’s 8.5 million population a final say on the law.
CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, reported that the referendum result was tight in some areas of Switzerland, a federal republic officially known as the Swiss Confederation.
In the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden, which is traditionally Catholic, 50.8% of voters backed the proposal, which will come into effect from July 2022.
CNA Deutsch said that Simone Curau-Aepli, president of the Swiss Catholic Women’s Federation (SKF), welcomed the referendum result.
“I am really happy that everyone has said yes to marriage for all. For us this is a highly emotional moment,” she commented.
“We at the Swiss Catholic Women’s Association have been fighting for this for 20 years and stand for equal dignity and equal rights.”
Switzerland’s Catholic bishops said in December that legalizing same-sex marriage was “fraught with numerous administrative, legal and ethical difficulties.”
“[T]he Catholic Church is primarily entrusted with the sacrament of marriage. She celebrates before God the union of man and woman as a common, stable, and reproductive life laid out in love,” the Swiss bishops’ conference said in a Dec. 4 statement.
“This is why [we are] convinced, also with regard to civil marriage, that the use of the term ‘marriage’ should not be extended to any connection between two people regardless of their gender. Such a use of the term would bring about an equality that, in [our] opinion, cannot exist.”
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Tony Dungy speaks at the March for Life on Jan. 20, 2023. / EWTN YouTube
Washington D.C., Jan 20, 2023 / 15:25 pm (CNA).
Former head coach and NFL analyst Tony Dungy told a crowd gathered at Friday’s March for Life that the answer to the traged… […]
When Pope Pius IX declared the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary on December 8, 1854, he had a golden crown added to the mosaic of Mary, Virgin Immaculate, in the Chapel of the Choir in St. Peter’s Basilica. / Daniel Ibañez/CNA
The Catholic Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, is sparing no effort in addressing that through its new, seven-part video series “Mary, Explained.”
In preparation for its upcoming golden jubilee in 2024, the diocese has launched a three-year effort to prepare for the celebration.
Year One, which began in November 2021, focused on the theme of the Eucharist. Out of that theme the diocese produced a series called “The Mass, Explained,” which received much positive feedback.
This year, the second year of preparation, the theme for the diocese is “rejoice,” and the focus is Mary’s perfect example of joy.
Kerry Nevins, multimedia producer for the Arlington Diocese, told CNA: “‘Rejoice’ is centered around Mary’s response to the Annunciation when she is told that she’s going to be the mother of God.” He explained that this was their call from Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, who leads the diocese.
Bishop Michael F. Burbidge shares his thoughts in the “Mary, Explained” series on the importance of Marian theology and why the diocesan faithful ought to see Mary as our model disciple. Photo courtesy of Diocese of Arlington
As Burbidge, Nevins, and their Arlington Diocese team continued to explore the theme, they decided to create a video series about Mary.
The seven-part series will unpack the Marian dogmas month by month by way of addressing the following topics: Who is Mary? (May); Was she the mother of God? (June); Was she immaculately conceived? (July); Was she assumed into heaven? (August); Was she ever-virgin? (September); Why do Catholics pray and have devotions to Mary? (October); and How can we embrace Mary as our model disciple? (November).
Nevins explained that the mission of the series is to “dive into who she is, what Catholics believe about her, what Catholics don’t believe about her, and why we should even be looking to her in the first place.”
“We don’t just want to know our faith for the sake of knowing our faith so we can get a couple of answers right on Catholic ‘Jeopardy,’” Nevins told CNA. “We want people to know their faith so that they can know Christ and come to be in a relationship with him, and I think the best way that you can get to know somebody is by meeting their mom.”
Dr. Matthew Tsakanikas, associate professor of theology at Christendom College who is featured in the series, expressed how this project gracefully addresses a wide audience, hearing perspectives from priests, religious, and laypeople alike. Tsakanikas told CNA: “I think it’s written so that anyone accessing it has a chance to get insights at every level.”
Tsakanikas noted how “Mary, Explained” takes what might seem like lofty ideas and brings them down to us. “These dogmas aren’t supposed to be … just looking at Mary on a pedestal but also looking at Mary in terms of how these graces were assigning her a task and mission,” he said.
Through a deeper understanding of the Marian dogmas, viewers can understand how she, too, was commissioned to bring about the kingdom of God here on earth and hopefully encourage them to do the same.
At a glance, it’s evident that the production quality was carefully considered.
“A lot of planning went into it,” Nevins said. “We really believe that … quality is credibility.”
With endless options to click through, Nevins acknowledged that the content had to be aesthetically appealing if they wanted people to consume it. “We really want to make Catholic media beautiful because we’ve got the greatest story to tell, but if the story doesn’t look good, people aren’t going to watch it,” he said.
Beyond the production quality, the mission of the series is to stoke a fire of love for the Church and deepen devotion to Our Lady.
Father Daniel Hanley, formator at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, told CNA: “Letting people know and enter into relationship with Mary as spiritual mother is hugely important. She’s a real person, she’s involved in our life, and we should recognize it and let her be.”
The bishop’s leadership and inspiration is credited with the initial vision for the series, but the diocese was well suited for the project, according to Hanley. “There’s a lot of Marian devotion in our diocese,” he added.
Those involved in the production of “Mary, Explained” are hopeful that the series will bear the fruit of Marian devotion in their diocese and beyond.
“It’s part of God’s plan for salvation that people know her and let her be part of their life,” Hanley said. “I noticed that they’ll lean in when you preach about Mary. There’s a desire to know more about her.”
Religious sisters in Ukraine deliver supplies from Caritas. / Private archive.
Zhytomyr, Ukraine, Feb 28, 2022 / 05:40 am (CNA).
For Sister Franciszka Tumanevych, the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion was the most difficult. The 42-y… […]
11 Comments
It is ever more apparent that two people of the same sex can fall in love in a deeply spiritual way that honors humanity. I truly thank God that more nations now respect this truth. I thank God even more for the wisdom that is the Separation of Church and State. I am no longer Catholic, so my view does not contradict my religion.
If you are no longer Catholic then what are you doing commenting on a Catholic forum? If you feel happy about your faith decision then obviously you would see no need to turn back and pontificate about it.
I am just a person. I may no longer be Catholic, but I will always be Catholic, I think. Just sharing my views, because I was silent and hiding for so long. I don’t mean to insult anyone. When I discovered the comment section, here, I felt strongly about sharing my opinion. A recent opinion on here (by Reilly about LGBT politics) really angered me.
You appear to be one of those people who tailor their religious views to coincide with the sins they want to commit, rather than struggling against temptations to do evil.
“It is ever more apparent that two people of the same sex can fall in love in a deeply spiritual way that honors humanity.”
Balderdash. Vile perversion doesn’t honor humanity.
What, exactly, is “spiritual” about the added homosexual version of tunnel vision, or that contradicts not only Catholic morality, but also nature?
Then there’s the question your raise about the nature of your new religion…Not exclusively Catholic (which you are “no longer”) are such biblical references as these: Noah and Ham (Genesis 9:20–27), Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:1–11), Levitical laws condemning same-sex relationships (Lev 18:22, 20:13), two Second Testament vice lists (1 Corinthians 6:9–10; 1 Timothy 1:10), and Paul’s letter to the Romans (Rom 1:26–27).
About the separation of Church and state, is the coercive power of the state your new religion? Just askin’…
This vote was decided 2016 at the opening of the Gotthard Tunnel ceremony. “A topless woman decked as a bird hovered above actors representing the nine construction workers who died during the building of the tunnel” is cursory theatre of a radical distancing from moral good. Celebrated was the sensual, the perverse, and the theatrical though spiritually real abandonment of Christ. Some showy displays purposely satanic. As suggested in my comment on tiny San Marino gone abortion ‘crazy’, the only word that comes to mind there are consequences in rejecting Christ. We lose his divinely ordained suzerainty for the macabre devilish. Where there’s a moral vacuum, a house all tidied up the filthy denizens from Hades take residence. And how! The moral rotation is epochal, since the only gift for our salvation Christ has been rejected worldwide. Nothing historical comes close to comparison. A price to be paid is impending absent of a miraculous conversion of hearts.
Maybe they know something that we don’t. Maybe there was a mistake in the recording of God’s plan, when it come to gay relationships. Maybe we are all wrong.
But, even if God means us to avoid homosexuality completely, his followers can continue to strive to see gay people as human beings who struggle like everyone else.
It is ever more apparent that two people of the same sex can fall in love in a deeply spiritual way that honors humanity. I truly thank God that more nations now respect this truth. I thank God even more for the wisdom that is the Separation of Church and State. I am no longer Catholic, so my view does not contradict my religion.
If you are no longer Catholic then what are you doing commenting on a Catholic forum? If you feel happy about your faith decision then obviously you would see no need to turn back and pontificate about it.
I am just a person. I may no longer be Catholic, but I will always be Catholic, I think. Just sharing my views, because I was silent and hiding for so long. I don’t mean to insult anyone. When I discovered the comment section, here, I felt strongly about sharing my opinion. A recent opinion on here (by Reilly about LGBT politics) really angered me.
You appear to be one of those people who tailor their religious views to coincide with the sins they want to commit, rather than struggling against temptations to do evil.
“It is ever more apparent that two people of the same sex can fall in love in a deeply spiritual way that honors humanity.”
Balderdash. Vile perversion doesn’t honor humanity.
Thank you, Leslie.
What, exactly, is “spiritual” about the added homosexual version of tunnel vision, or that contradicts not only Catholic morality, but also nature?
Then there’s the question your raise about the nature of your new religion…Not exclusively Catholic (which you are “no longer”) are such biblical references as these: Noah and Ham (Genesis 9:20–27), Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:1–11), Levitical laws condemning same-sex relationships (Lev 18:22, 20:13), two Second Testament vice lists (1 Corinthians 6:9–10; 1 Timothy 1:10), and Paul’s letter to the Romans (Rom 1:26–27).
About the separation of Church and state, is the coercive power of the state your new religion? Just askin’…
Yes, Peter, I practice a devout adherence to the coercive power of the State.
Peter, my beliefs are different than yours.
This vote was decided 2016 at the opening of the Gotthard Tunnel ceremony. “A topless woman decked as a bird hovered above actors representing the nine construction workers who died during the building of the tunnel” is cursory theatre of a radical distancing from moral good. Celebrated was the sensual, the perverse, and the theatrical though spiritually real abandonment of Christ. Some showy displays purposely satanic. As suggested in my comment on tiny San Marino gone abortion ‘crazy’, the only word that comes to mind there are consequences in rejecting Christ. We lose his divinely ordained suzerainty for the macabre devilish. Where there’s a moral vacuum, a house all tidied up the filthy denizens from Hades take residence. And how! The moral rotation is epochal, since the only gift for our salvation Christ has been rejected worldwide. Nothing historical comes close to comparison. A price to be paid is impending absent of a miraculous conversion of hearts.
The Swiss Catholic Women’s Federation welcomes the result? And they’ve been fighting for it for twenty years, no less?
Huh?
Maybe they know something that we don’t. Maybe there was a mistake in the recording of God’s plan, when it come to gay relationships. Maybe we are all wrong.
But, even if God means us to avoid homosexuality completely, his followers can continue to strive to see gay people as human beings who struggle like everyone else.