Awhile back, I posted about Archbishop Patrick Dolan who commented that gay marriage would lead to a conflict between church and state. In a recent proclamation, the good shephard made a decree (as reported by ThinkProgress) that prohibited “any Church personnel or property from being utilized for same-sex marriage ceremonies under penalty of ‘canonical sanctions,’ calling  [New York’s] new marriage equality ‘irreconcilable with the nature and the definition of marriage as established by Divine law.’”

In his decree, Archbishop Dolan outlined the following restrictions:

1. No member of the clergy (priest or deacon) incardinated or assisting in the Archdiocese of New York, or any person while acting as an employee of the Church, may participate in the civil solemnization or celebration of a same-sex marriage, which includes but is not limited to providing services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods or privilege for such event. Ecclesiastical solemnization or celebration of same-sex marriages is expressly forbidden by Canon law.

2. No Catholic facility or property, including but not limited to parishes, missions, chapels, meeting halls, Catholic educational, health, or charitable institutions or benevolent orders, or any place dedicated, consecrated, or used for Catholic worship may be used for the solemnization or consecration of same-sex marriages.”

While his decree isn’t surprising, I find it quite sad.

I’m a firm believer in the separation of the church and state, and I in no way believe that any church should be forced to break their canonical laws. To do so would violate the basic tenets of our Constitution. Every church has the right to their rituals and beliefs, and no government should ever infringe upon that. After all, one of the reasons the Pilgrims came to this country was because their beliefs were being violated by the monarchs in England.

In his quest for new brides, King Henry XIII fractured the Catholic Church and began a long bloody battle between Catholicism and Protestantism, where the only people who suffered were those who didn’t follow the religion of the crown.

Separating church and state was the only way to ensure the safety of the people. No one would have to worry about being oppressed for religious beliefs if those beliefs didn’t match the individual in charge.

With that said, Archbishop Dolan’s decree basically outlines that the church will actively discriminate against homosexuals and those who might disagree with the church’s stance.

It seems to me we are moving in the wrong direction here.

I’m no religious scholar, but I thought Jesus created his church for all–the mighty and the meek, the poor and the down trodden, the saint and the sinner. I don’t recall stories of Jesus decreeing that anyone was not welcome in his church. He reached out to the outcasts, those who were shunned by a polite society and he sought to bring them closer to God through his loving embrace.

Archbishop Dolan’s proclamation does the exact opposite. It pushes away a section of His people, telling them they will not be welcome and they will not receive the blessings of others.

To me, that sounds extremely anti-Christian and actions unbecoming of a truly good shepherd.