“Pope Benedict on marriage: key to world peace”

That’s the title of a recent article in MercatorNet by Maggie Gallagher . Gallagher, the President of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, is quite simply the most effective spokesperson making public arguments in defense of marriage today. Not surprisingly, she’s also a First Things contributor.

In her article, Gallagher describes a new report she has just released:

A new analysis carried out by myself and Joshua Baker entitled Pope Benedict XVI on Marriage: A Compendium and published by the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy on the eve of Benedict’s historic U.S. visit, finds that in less than three years of his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI has spoken publicly about marriage on 111 occasions. His pronouncements connect marriage to such overarching themes as human rights, world peace, and the conversation between faith and reason.

Over and over again he has made it clear that the marriage and family debate is central — not peripheral — to understanding the human person, and defending our human dignity.

Her short article and the report are well worth reading.

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