Hillary Clinton's running mate Tim Kaine, who claims to be a devout Catholic, raised some eyebrows over the weekend, when, speaking at a Human Rights Campaign event he said that he thinks that the Roman Catholic Church will be changing its "current doctrine" on marriage to eventually offer the sacrament of marriage to same-sex couples.
Now, in an almost exceedingly charitable manner, Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo of the Diocese of Richmond (Kaine's home diocese) issued a statement reminding everyone that the Catholic Church's position on marriage is 2,000 years old and will not be changing anytime soon, "despite recent statements from the campaign trail."
To change the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples, Bishop DiLorenzo wrote, would not further anyone's rights and would deny children of the right to be raised by a mother and a father.
The statement also said that the Church believes in the inherent dignity contained in the human person and does not condone unjust discrimination against anybody.
It's high time the Church stepped in to (politely!) condemn Kaine's statements about doctrine and marriage. As a faithful Catholic who believes in Church teachings, it's been frustrating to see Kaine twist doctrine and confuse people about what the Church actually believes and teaches, all while describing himself as "devout." It'd be nice if Kaine would actually publicly live out all tenets of the faith he professes, but apparently toeing the party line is a more important priority.
