1. Paul, John, II.

"Section Two: The Seven Sacraments of the

Church." Catechism of the Catholic Church. Vol. Two. N.p.: n.p.,
n.d. N. pag. Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Vatican. Web.
27 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c
3a7.htm>.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church was written by Pope John Paul
the II, and is the base of the churchs everything. It has all the set
beliefs and fundamental principles for the church and its happenings. It
goes into detail about every aspect you could imagine about marriage,
including what a real marriage consists of, the precedent God set for
marriage, and all aspects of the sort. The archive is a reliable source,
since it is a direct copy of the Catechism itself. I believe it is a very
helpful source and gave me a solid definition of marriage, and all the
rules and regulations behind the sacrament. Father Winslow, my
mentor for my profiles in humanity project, also recommended it.
2. Catholic Teaching. 2015 United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops, 2015. Web. 28 Apr. 2015. <http://www.usccb.org/issuesand-action/marriage-and-family/natural-family-planning/catholicteaching/>.
I found this a good reliable source since its publisher and creator is
a Catholic Organization of Bishops who wrote the material. The cite
itself is a huge collection of Catholic articles and viewpoints, but the
particular one I used discussed the creation of marriage by God, and
how it was meant to be between a man and a woman. Sin damaged

marital relationships, so God raised it to a sacrament and made it so

man and woman become one flesh through holy matrimony.

3. "U.S. Bishops Urge Constitutional Amendment to Protect

Marriage." Americancatholic.org. Copyright 2003 Catholic News
Service, U.S. Catholic Conference., 2003. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.americancatholic.org/News/Homosexuality/>.
This news article in my opinion is credible, and a trustworthy source
since it is another Catholic online organization, not just a .com cite. The
Catholic Church opposes homosexual relationships and marriages, but
does not oppose homosexuals themselves. The negative Catholic view
on gay marriage doesnt apply to the people wanting that particular
type of marriage themselves. In fact they call for respect towards those
individuals, and pastoral care for them, not as if they have a problem
but as another regular parish member. I think online publications like
these are important because they set the record straight when it
comes to stereotypes posed on the church.
4. "Should Gay Marriage Be Legal?" ProConorg Headlines. 2015
ProCon.org, a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit | 233 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 200,
Santa Monica, CA 90401 | Tel: 310-451-9596, 28 Apr. 2015. Web.
30 Apr. 2015. <http://gaymarriage.procon.org/>.
This particular website had both a positive and negative outlook on
gay marriage. It was a huge list of pros and cons, and goes on a couple

tangents about it being against human rights and the Constitution, but
also reverts to nature a couple times to be the negative side of it. In
nature, there are no homosexual relationships for a reason; species
cannot reproduce in those cases. For the most part I would consider it
a positive article for gay marriage since it refers to times changing
from what they once were, and this is a new era. Approaching
something from one side is incorrect, and this cite shows both sides of
the story, and presents them with accurate and appropriate
information. Also, this is information posted from a non-profit
organization, which normally proves credibility, and reliability.
5. "I Believe Gay Marriage Should Be Legal." This I Believe.
Copyright 2005-2015 This I Believe, Inc., All Rights Reserved.,
1 June 2009. Web. 30 Apr. 2015.
<http://thisibelieve.org/essay/66997/>.
Natalies blog entry in thisibelieve.com is based upon her belief that
gay marriage should be legalized, and that despite other factors such
as religion, individuals should be free to do as they please with their
relationships. She also goes into how her brother is gay, and after
hearing his side of the story, she fully understands and supports his
decisions. Of course I understand where both come from, and it is very
important for people to speak out like this so people can see from both
sides of the spectrum. As far as credibility on the source, I trust the cite
since it was recommended to me by a professor, but since it is an
opinionated blog I am not questioning factual reliability.

6. "Divorce and Remarriage in the Catholic Church for Catholics."

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Atlanta. Copyright 2002-2014
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta. Web. 1 May 2015.
<http://www.archatl.com/offices/tribunal/drm_c.html>.
This essay on divorce and remarriage in the Catholic Church gives
an overall view of the entire sacrament of Holy Matrimony, and
touches on all the points of marriage, from the actual marriage, to
divorce, then annulments, and remarriage. For an annulment to
happen a marriage must be declared invalid, which can be done for
instance if a spouse did not follow the Canonical form of marriage.
Divorced Catholics are not treated any differently in the church, but if
divorced and remarried without a Decree of Invalidity, and their spouse
is still alive, then it becomes an issue. Even though there was no listed
author, I assume it was the Bishop and advising priests that came up
with a factually correct essay on this subject, and then had someone
post it to the site. The source has good credibility since the website is
sponsored by the Diocesan in Atlanta, and contains information that
comes straight from the priests. I feel not many active Catholics know
the specifics and crucial points of divorce in the Catholic church, and
that it is much more controlled that other religions, so an article like
this is a good information source that I feel should be published in
more places than just a website.

7. Terkel, Amanda. "Gay Teacher Fired After Posting Marriage

Announcement On Facebook." The Huffington Post. Copyright

2015 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc., 14 Jan. 2015. Web. 2 May

2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/14/lonniebilliard_n_6472566.html>.
Earlier this year at a school in the Charlotte area, a gay substitute
teacher was fired due to their post on Facebook about marrying their
gay partner. The school has a policy on that particular subject that he
broke, which led to him being forced to leave. The teacher expressed
his thoughts by saying he was too old to go back into the closet. He
also told of an account after he was fired of a gay child going to the
counselor and asking if he was going to be expelled since he was gay.
The article sends the message that people need to take acts like this
into more consideration as to how it well affect all, but at the same
time I agree that as teachers, their personal lives should stay just that,
personal. The Huffington Post is a well-known online news source, and
of course I trust the information to be reliable. I just hope that issues
such as this one will lead to further thought and more consideration
before actions as serious are taken in the future.
8. Mena, Adelaide. "Catholics Continue to Have Lowest Divorce
Rates." National Catholic Register. Copyright 2015 EWTN
News, Inc. All Rights Reserved., 2 Oct. 2013. Web. 3 May 2015.
<http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/catholics-continue-tohave-lowest-divorce-rates/>.
The Catholic divorce rate, although still a higher number than most
would like to acknowledge, is still the lowest of religions in America,
sitting right at around twenty eight percent of the total ever married

being divorced. There are now fewer annulments due to poor reason
for divorce, and the U.S Catholic population accounts for half of the
divorces in the church worldwide. As depressing as these statistics are,
they are still true and reflect how some Catholics really do not
understand the true value and principles of marriage. This should serve
as a wake up call to the American Catholic, and hopefully changes will
be made. As far as the accuracy of this statistic, I trust the source since
it is directly from a Catholic Registrar.
9. Merritt, Jonathan. "If the Supreme Court Legalizes Gay Marriage
in 2015, How Will Evangelicals Respond?" Religion News Service.
2015 Religion News LLC. All Rights Reserved, 5 Jan. 2015.
Web. 3 May 2015.
<http://jonathanmerritt.religionnews.com/2015/01/05/supremecourt-legalizes-gay-marriage-2015-will-evangelicals-respond/>.
This article from The Religion News Service addresses the Supreme
courts possible decision at the time to legalize gay marriage in the
entire U.S, and how Evangelicals will respond to the act. Of course
something of this caliber will have an enormous impact on the
Christian population in America, and is definitely something to consider
when choosing what to do. Personally I think the Supreme Court should
really think about how people will react and respond to their decision,
and that it doesnt just affect homosexuals being able to get married,
but it will play a huge role in everyones life. That being said I prefer to
remain neutral on the topic. However, articles like this one will

hopefully arise the attention of the court and help them make the best
decision.

10.
Winslow, Patrick. "Catholic Marriage." Personal interview.
24 Apr. 2015.
Patrick Winslow is the current Parochus Pastor at St. Thomas
Aquinas, and was my interviewee for this very reliable source. He is
an expert on marriage since he serves as a tribunal worker for
marriage cases in the diocesan, and clearly explained to me the
reasons behind Catholics disagreeing with gay marriage. In short,
Catholics do not dislike, or oppose homosexuals, we treat them just
as any other individual, and are there for counsel if needed. We do
however disagree with homosexual relationships and marriages.
The reasons behind it are nature and faith. Nature looks to reason,
such as the need to reproduce. Faith looks to scripture, which states
that marriage is not a construct of man, but of God. So the question
then becomes, who is man to change what marriage is? Most do not
know what we use as reason for our opinion on the matter, so there
are some beliefs that we hate homosexuals. People need to know
the facts, and who better to hear it from than the man in charge of
his church. I even used his responses to my questions as a
reference of accuracy when searching for other sources.