Tough Questions, Timeless Moral Truths

Tough Questions, Timeless Moral Truths | Jim Graves | Catholic World Report

An interview with Fr. Brian Mullady about same-sex marriage, contraception, the death penalty, and other pressing moral issues

Father Brian Mullady is a priest of the Western Province of the Dominican Order. Ordained in 1972, he has served as a parish priest, high school teacher, seminary professor, retreat master, and mission preacher. He has been featured on EWTN, and is a prolific author who has for many years penned a question-and-answer column for Homiletic & Pastoral Review. He is not only well-grounded in the teachings of the Catholic Church, but also has a special talent for articulating them to the faithful. He recent spoke with Jim Graves for CWR, offering the Catholic perspective on some key moral issues currently being debated in American society. 

CWR: The states of Washington and Maryland recently allowed same-sex couples to obtain marriage licenses, becoming the seventh and eighth states in the union to do so. Initiatives are underway to legalize same-sex marriage in additional states. Critics of the Catholic Church's position against same-sex marriage argue that it wants to deny equal rights to people who identify themselves as homosexual. How do you respond? Father Brian Mullady: There are no rights to things that are contrary to the natural law, and same-sex marriage is contrary to the natural law. Homosexual activity is a sin. It's not the same as racial equality.

In lieu of marriage, some support civil unions for same-sex couples, basically granting same-sex couples the same legal standing as married couples without calling it marriage. Is that an acceptable alternative for Catholics?

Father Mullady: The state may choose to recognize something as marriage in regards to the civil effects of marriage, such as property sharing, or common insurance or retirement, but that would be silly to do so. It isn't the same as marriage. The civil effects should be connected to the true nature of marriage for the law to be correct and to encourage proper marriage in society.

Some states, like California, not only allow same-sex couples to adopt children but even encourage it. Is this something Catholics can accept?

Father Mullady: To have a child adopted by a couple in a same-sex relationship is also contrary to the natural law and the true nature of marriage. It's not a healthy way for a child to first observe marriage.

The Catholic bishops have been outspoken in their opposition to the recent Health and Human Services mandate that Catholic employers offer contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs to their employees in their health insurance policies. The mandate and the surrounding controversy have brought the issue of contraception into presidential politics. Why does the Church teach that artificial contraception is wrong?

Read the entire interview...