Texas Cardinal Elected to Lead U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

HOUSTON, Texas — A Texas cardinal has been elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston was elected by Catholic Bishops at their annual meeting in Baltimore on Tuesday.

Cardinal DiNardo will take the helm after Archibishop Joseph Kurtz who has served his term of three years.

The election is probably a hint of the direction that the Bishops want the church to go.

After the U.S. Supreme Court opinion in June 2015 in Obergefell v. Hodges, the gay marriage case, Cardinal DiNardo was quoted by LifeSiteNews as saying the decision was “gravely unjust, as it attempts to change the nature of marriage.” DiNardo added, “No one and no court can make what is false true.”

The opinion by the nation’s highest court held that the states must recognize same-sex marriage and local governments within the states must issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

DiNardo was also reported to have said, “Children have a basic right, wherever possible, to know and be loved by their mother and father together. The law has a duty to support every child in this most basic right.”

He promised at that time, “Our Church will continue its efforts to support public policy issues, including a version of the Marriage and Religious Freedom Act, which would prohibit the government from discriminating against those who act in accordance with a religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is the union between a man and woman.”

Two years ago, leaders of Houston’s LGBT Catholic community were celebrating a statement from the Vatican that said “homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer the Christian community,” reported the Houston Chronicle. The article noted that 200 bishops met in Rome to discuss issues related to the family, including divorce, common-law relationships, and arranged marriages and polygamy.

Breitbart News reported in September 2015 that Pope Francis warned family bonds had seen “unprecedented changes.” The pontiff said that traditional marriage had been misinterpreted to the point that it no longer resembled anything similar to the Christian sacrament of matrimony.

“Until recently, we lived in a social context where the similarities between the civil institution of marriage and the Christian sacrament were considerable and shared. The two were interrelated and mutually supportive.” “This is no longer the case,” he said.

Lana Shadwick is a contributing writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as a prosecutor and associate judge in Texas. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2.