Bishop Olson’s Statement regarding Pope Francis’ Comments Recorded in Francesco.

The Church is obliged to hand on faithfully what she has received from Christ. It is the mind of Christ that marriage is an indissoluble bond between one man and one woman. The Church preaches and acts upon this truth, regardless of the passing opinions of nations, states, or cultures.

Comments recently recorded in the making of a documentary about Pope Francis regarding civil recognition of “unions” between homosexual couples appear to have led some to the erroneous conclusion that the Church’s teaching on marriage has changed or is about to change. Considering the above, faithful Catholics must insist that the Church’s teaching on marriage has not changed and cannot change.

In a 2014 interview published in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Pope Francis was asked about moves across Europe to legalize gay marriage or adopt civil union laws.

“Marriage is between a man and a woman,” he said. “Secular states want to validate civil unions to regulate different situations of cohabitation, driven by the need to regulate economic aspects between people, such as ensuring health care. These are cohabitation pacts of various kinds, of which I could not list the different forms.”

It is a misunderstanding of rights to suggest or infer that legal arrangements of civil societies can confer a status equivalent to marriage to couples who do not conform to God’s intention and design for marriage.