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Dolan: Catholic Church was ‘outmarketed’ on gay marriage

New York’s Timothy Cardinal Dolan says the Roman Catholic Church has been “outmarketed” on the issue of gay marriage and has been “caricatured as being anti-gay.”

Dolan discussed the Church’s positions opposing same-sex marriage and abortion in an interview with “Meet the Press” moderator David Gregory that is scheduled to air Sunday on WNBC/Channel 4.

Gregory noted that Illinois just became the latest US state to legalize gay marriage and asked, “Regardless of the church teachings, do you think this is evolving in such a way that it’s ultimately going to be legal everywhere?”

Or, he asked, will there be “a backlash” against gay marriage?

“I think I’d be a Pollyanna to say that there doesn’t seem to be kind of a stampede to do this,” Dolan said. “I regret that.”

Asked why the Church is losing the argument on gay marriage, Dolan responded, “Well, I think maybe we’ve been outmarketed sometimes. We’ve been caricatured as being anti-gay.”

He said the church supports “traditional marriage and is not “anti-anybody,” adding, “When you have forces like Hollywood, when you have forces like politicians, when you have forces like some opinion-molders that are behind it, it’s a tough battle.”

But, he said the Church will not give up on the gay-marriage issue.

On another divisive issue, Dolan said the Catholic Church has long championed comprehensive health care, but he said US Catholic bishops cannot support the Affordable Care Act as long as it includes coverage for abortion.

He said the bishops started “bristling” at the legislation pushed by President Obama because “it’s excluding the undocumented immigrant and it’s excluding the unborn baby.”