Archbishop William E. Lori, Archbishop of Baltimore and Chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty, issued the following statement today regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on marriage:
“Today’s ruling does not just affect one law but in fact hundreds, if not thousands, of federal, state, and local laws and regulations that implicate marriage, spouses, and so forth. We may very well see a difficult road ahead for people of faith who believe in the true definition of marriage. As Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, President of The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in his statement earlier today, we ‘ask [that] all in positions of power and authority…respect the God-given freedom to seek, live by, and bear witness to the truth’ about marriage.”
“The decision makes a nod in the direction of religious liberty but not enough of one. It recognizes free speech rights of religious people to speak and advocate but does not acknowledge the free exercise of religion, the right to implement church teaching and the right to follow church teaching when interacting with the broader society. Today’s decision, I believe, will give rise to many challenges and legal controversies and we will do our best to protect ourselves in terms of how we organize and run our ministries and to advocate for protections at the state and local levels.”