Bishops Decry Court’s Support of Gay Marriage

The state’s Roman Catholic bishops are telling parishioners that a state court decision supporting gay marriage is a “national tragedy” that could “erode even further the institution of marriage.”

In a strongly worded letter to be read at Mass this weekend, the bishops also said the Supreme Judicial Court’s mid-May deadline for the Legislature to rewrite marriage laws to provide benefits for gay couples is too rushed.

The bishops said that the state high court ruling promotes “divisions in society by villainizing as bigotry the legitimate defense of thousands of years of tradition.”