Catholics for ProtectMarriage.com identified as leader

Contact: Jennifer Kerns, 916-446-2956, Jennifer@ProtectMarriage.com

SACRAMENTO, California, Aug. 12 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Yes on Proposition 8, ProtectMarriage.com campaign – also known as the California Marriage Protection Act – announced today that Catholics for ProtectMarriage.com, led by the Knights of Columbus, California Catholic Conference and Catholics for the Common Good, has been established as the official Catholic grassroots effort dedicated to passing Proposition 8. All lay Catholic organizations and individuals are invited to join.

Catholics for ProtectMarriage.com is inspiring Catholics across the state to stand up for restoring marriage in California. "Our strong Catholic faith teaches us the importance of treating all of God's children with love and respect, it also teaches us that marriage between a man and a woman is the foundation of the family – the first school of love, peace and justice," said Bill May, chairman of Catholics for ProtectMarriage.com. "The ruling by the California Supreme Court nullifying the legal definition of marriage in state law was a shock to Catholics and other citizens who are concerned about how this will affect their own children's understanding of marriage."

May also serves as chairman for Catholics for the Common Good, a lay Catholic apostolate founded on the social teachings of the Catholic Church.

Catholics have a long history of supporting marriage as being between a man and a woman. They played a key role in passing Proposition 22 in 2000, in which more than 61% of California voters overwhelmingly supported upholding the definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman. Catholics for ProtectMarriage.com joins the growing list of religious and non-religious groups working to pass Proposition 8.

"The fight to protect marriage is an all-encompassing effort that affects everyone in California," said Ron Prentice, chairman of the ProtectMarriage.com initiative. "We're honored to have Catholics for ProtectMarriage.com offer us their assistance and to add them to our diverse list of supporters. We expect they will help us motivate a groundswell of support for Proposition and we're confident that with that support we will restore the definition of marriage in California, come November."

Catholics for ProtectMarriage.com supports a wide variety of volunteer activities in parishes and surrounding communities including distribution of literature and phoning. For information on how Catholic organizations can join and individuals can volunteer, visit http://catholicsforprotectmarriage.com.

Bill May, chairman of Catholics for ProtectMarriage.com is available for media interviews at (415) 615-4171.

About Us:

Knights of Columbus is the world's foremost Catholic fraternal benefit society. The Order has contributed time and energy worldwide to service in communities.

The California Catholic Conference is the public policy office for the Cardinal Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the Bishops of the Dioceses of Fresno, Monterey, Oakland, Orange, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Jose, Santa Rosa and Stockton. For more information visit: http://cacatholic.org/.

Catholics for the Common Good is a new Catholic action based on the social teachings of the Catholic Church. It is founded in response to the call of Pope John Paul II for the evangelization of culture, and the U.S. bishops' call for faithful citizenship. For more information visit: http://ccgaction.org/.

ProtectMarriage.com, is a broad-based coalition of California families, community leaders, religious leaders, pro-family organizations and individuals from all walks of life who have joined together to support Proposition 8. For more information visit: www.protectmarriage.com.