By Elizabeth Gresosky
In a video titled “This Election Season is Different,” Bishop Barry Knestout of the Diocese of Richmond and Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington gave clear direction to Catholics in Virginia when approaching the ballot box in the coming weeks.
“In the upcoming election, September 18th to November 3rd, the decisions we make will shape the future of our Commonwealth in unprecedented ways,” Knestout said.
Proposed Amendments 1 and 2 “concern fundamental matters of right and wrong,” Burbidge added. Amendment 1 would enshrine abortion as a “right” in Virginia’s constitution and allow for policies such as abortion until birth and for minors to obtain an abortion without parental consent.
Amendment 2 would “affirm” marriage in Virginia’s constitution for any two adults, a preemptive action in case Obergefell is overturned by the US Supreme Court. Obergefell is the case that legalized same-sex marriage at the national level.
Bishop Burbidge calls on his flock to do prayerful tasks this October to coincide with nonCatholic ballot initiatives in Virginia. Our church shepherds should be calling us to prayer and to make sure we have a Catholic conscience when at the polls. https://t.co/Lr93TEA6rB
— Catholics for Catholics 🇺🇲 (@CforCatholics) September 30, 2026
Bishop Knestout described Amendment 1 as “extreme, dangerous, radical, and horrific.” As for Amendment 2, “we proclaim the truth that marriage created by God is and will always be the union of a man and a woman,” Bishop Burbidge said.
“As Catholics, we have a sacred duty to form our conscience prayerfully and correctly and to vote no on ballot question one and ballot question two,” the bishops stated.
Concerning the third proposed constitutional amendment which would amend how restoration of voting rights to felons is handled, the bishops shared that the “issue is a matter of credential judgment upon which people of goodwill can disagree,” but noted that the Virginia Catholic Conference supports the measure.
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