Pope defends ‘sexual differences’ in marriage, calls Church teaching ‘countercultural

 “Sexual differences cannot be dismissed as irrelevant to the definition of marriage.”

The Pope spoke to visiting U.S. bishops encouraging them to stand strong against “powerful political and cultural currents seeking to alter the legal definition of marriage,” and to pass on the faith “countercultural” as it may seem, especially to youth.

The Washington Post reports:

“Bishops have been at the forefront of the campaign against same-sex marriage, with at least five U.S. states scheduling ballot measures on the issue in coming months. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the head of the U.S. conference of bishops and archbishop of New York, unsuccessfully lobbied against the legalization of gay marriage in his state. 

The entire Christian community, he said, must recover an appreciation of the virtue of chastity. 

“Young people need to encounter the church’s teaching in all its integrity, challenging and countercultural as that teaching may be; more importantly they need to see it embodied by faithful married couples who bear convincing witness to truth,” he said.