In a statement, Bishop Glen John Provost, Bishop of Lake Charles, said, "On Wednesday, June 26, 2013, the United States Supreme Court, for the first time in our nation’s history, handed down rulings that impact the definition of marriage. As Christians we believe that everyone has inviolable dignity and is entitled to love and respect, and we are committed to protecting the basic human rights of all. The ability for individual States to redefine marriage serves no one’s rights and further endangers the dignity of all men, women, and children. The society risks doing grave harm to its spiritual well-being and the common good when it presumes to redefine what God has ordained. Our present Holy Father, Pope Francis, as Archbishop of Buenos Aires and as recently as his meeting last Friday with the new Archbishop of Canterbury, has communicated the Catholic Church’s consistent teaching on the sanctity of marriage. In 2010 commenting on the redefinition of marriage, he stated, 'At stake is the total rejection of God’s law engraved in our hearts.'”
