Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz Echoes Pope Benedict’s Message to Embrace Religion

November 8, 2010

For Immediate Release

Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz Echoes Pope Benedict’s Message to Embrace Religion

New York State Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx) has issued the following statement:

“During Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Spain this past weekend he defended traditional families and the rights of the unborn.  He spoke clearly against Spanish laws that allow gay marriage, fast-track divorce and easier access to abortions. He reminded all that religion must not be 'banished to the shadows' and that religion should not be confined to the private sphere.  He encouraged all to be open to God and to embrace religion and renew their Christian roots.  He spoke of the growing anti-church sentiment.

The Pope was grotesquely protested.

Thousands rallied against the Pope’s visit before he even arrived in Spain and others continued to protest him throughout his visit. A public performance “kiss-in” greeted the Pope, calculated to make headlines to attack the Catholic Church’s position that supports marriage between a man and a woman and opposes homosexual marriage.

This aggressive anti-church sentiment is not isolated in Spain.  Sad to say, it is alive and growing in New York.

Our State government's campaign for secularization reforms so far include easier access to abortion and fast-track divorce.  The battle to legalize homosexual marriage is looming ahead. 

As a Pastor, as an Evangelical Christian, and as a Senator, I celebrate the effort of Pope Benedict to spread faith, hope and love to all.  I echo his message against homosexual marriage – that families are built on the "indissoluble love of a man and a woman".  I share his love for all human life and reaffirm his message against abortion, that "the life of children (must) be defended as sacred and inviolable from the moment of their conception."

Pope Benedict’s call for the embrace of God "at a time in which man claims to be able to build his life without God, as if God had nothing to say to him" is something we in New York can take inspiration from.

I call upon an all Catholics, Protestants, and people of good will throughout New York State to join me in fighting the intolerant enemies of the church who seek to persecute and denounce and undermine their leaders locally, nationally and internationally.

I also call upon these same people of good will to protect the institution of the family, and to protect those moral and traditional values that our ancestors left us and that the Bible teaches us.”