That reasonable Washington Post editorial

Rick:

I think the Washington Post is right in suggesting that the controversy about Catholic Charities in Washington, DC is about religious liberty concerns, not the definition of marriage; but the claim at the beginning of the editorial that the Catholic Church is "not trying to prevent the legalization of marriage in Washington, DC" is misleading.  I suspect that the Post's editorialists are doing some political spinning.  For better or worse (I say for better), the Church in the District, like the Church everywhere else, opposes the re-definition of marriage to eliminate the requirement of sexual complementarity. Catholic leaders and others in the District know that supporters of re-defining marriage have the votes on the City Council to accomplish their goal.  Their hope, however, is that the matter will be put to the residents of the District in a referendum.  The result in that event could well be a different one.  The effort to gather signatures for a referendum is being led mainly by ministers of historically black churches (such as the Church of God in Christ); but I believe it has the support of the Catholic archdiocese.