Cardinal Barbarin on the Folly of Queer Marriage

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Before reading His Eminence’s remarks, perhaps a review of the meaning of the word “queer” is in order, since some may find its use inappropriate. When two men or two women “marry” each other, such an act is rightly said to be queer by virtue of the first definition given the word by Dictionary.com: “1. strange or odd from a conventional viewpoint; unusually different; singular: a queer notion of justice.”

queer [kweer] Show IPA adjective, queer·er, queer·est, verb, noun
adjective
1. strange or odd from a conventional viewpoint; unusually different; singular: a queer notion of justice.
2. of a questionable nature or character; suspicious; shady: Something queer about the language of the prospectus kept investors away.
3. not feeling physically right or well; giddy, faint, or qualmish: to feel queer.
4. mentally unbalanced or deranged.
5. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive .
a. homosexual.
b. effeminate; unmanly.
6. Slang . bad, worthless, or counterfeit.

The Cardinal’s grave critique, below, has apparently caused quite a rage in France. The last sentence we’ve quoted, about “the circumstantial or passing decisions of a Parliament,” is worthy of a great churchman.

(Rorate Caeli) “This has many consequences that cannot be numbered. Afterwards, they will try to create ‘couples’ of three, or of four. After that, one day, perhaps, the prohibition of incest will fall. … A marriage is a name that implies a bulwark, in order to allow the most fragile spot in society, that is, a woman who gives birth to a child, to have all conditions established so that it may take place with the best available resources.

“For us, the first page of the Bible has a little more strength and truth, that will traverse the cultures and the centuries, than the circumstantial or passing decisions of a Parliament.”