Britain's Archbishops Respond to Gay Marriage Legalization

Britain's top Roman Catholic archbishops have spoken out against the new law that officially legalized same-sex marriage, saying that it undermines the traditional family unit.

"The new Act breaks the existing legal links between the institution of marriage and sexual complementarity. With this new legislation, marriage has now become an institution in which openness to children, and with it the responsibility on fathers and mothers to remain together to care for children born into their family unit, are no longer central. That is why we were opposed to this legislation on principle," Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster and Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark, president and vice president of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, respectively, said in a joint statement.

Queen Elizabeth II gave the royal stamp of approval to the new law on Wednesday. The law will go into effect next summer. Read more