New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan says the American debate over gay marriage is not over, but the Catholic Church may have been “out-marketed.”
Dolan explained the complicated battle in a weekend interview on NBC’s Meet the Press when asked why the church is losing the argument on gay marriage.
“Sometimes we’ve been caricatured as being anti-gay. And as much as we say, ‘Wait a minute, we’re pro-marriage. We’re pro-traditional marriage—we’re not anti-anybody, I don’t know, when you have forces like Hollywood, when you have forces like politicians, when you have forces like some opinion molders that are behind it, it’s a tough battle,” he said.
Despite the difficulty, Cardinal Dolan said the Catholic Church will not give up its position on the issue.
He also expressed concerns with the president’s Affordable Care Act. Dolan said that while the Catholic Church has championed health care, its bishops cannot support President Barack Obama’s plan as long as it includes abortion coverage.
Dolan said his message to the president would be:
“Mr. President, please, you’re really kind of … pushing aside some of your greatest supporters here. We want to be with you, we want to be strong. And if you keep doing this, we’re not going to be able to be one of your cheerleaders,” he said. “That, sadly, is what happened.”
