GOLDEN — The common goal of defending traditional marriage and family life brought together leaders of two markedly different religions Tuesday night.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Colorado presented its 2007 Family Values Award to Archbishop Charles Chaput of the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver.
LDS Elder Steven E. Snow, a general authority of the Utah-based church whose followers are called Mormons, said Chaput was “a voice of courage, for whom we are grateful.”
The LDS Church has 130,000 members in Colorado.
About 55,000 live on the Front Range.
At the Colorado LDS Stake Center, Chaput and LDS officials acknowledged their “serious theological differences,” but they said they were unified in respecting the paramount importance of the institution of marriage, between a man and a woman, and in securing the loving family as the foundation of society.
“On some key issues facing Americans today – the nature of marriage and family and the sanctity of human life, among others – Catholics and Mormons have the same concerns and similar values rooted in our belief of a loving God,” Chaput said. “It makes sense to work together and support each other whenever we can, and the Catholics warmly welcome that.”
The Colorado Family Values Awards recognize community leaders who are not members of the LDS Church but who are “striving to advance standards and values that are consistent with the church’s position on the family,” according to LDS literature.
LDS Elder Randy Funk praised Chaput as “a clear, articulate and courageous” advocate for marriage and family.
LDS President Gordon Hinckley, in 1995, proclaimed: “The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity.”
Chaput said that the LDS award was important to him because the family is important.
“The sincerity of the LDS commitment to family life makes this award especially meaningful,” Chaput said.
Chaput said Mormons and Catholics could acknowledge their differences and still share genuine respect and friendship. Christian views on the family would be harder to push aside if different faiths worked together, he said.
“Religion is constantly under pressure today from critics who portray it as dangerous and divisive and seek to push it out of American public life,” Chaput said. “Different religious communities working together are even more effective in defending their common beliefs.”
The LDS Church also honored Dixie van de Flier Davis, president of The Adoption Exchange, which helps families find and adopt children in foster care. Since 1983, the organization has helped find permanent homes for more than 4,700 children.
Past recipients of the 3-year-old award include former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton, Brothers Redevelopment Inc., Friends First founder Lisa Rue and Colorado Habitat for Humanity.
Electa Draper: 303-954-1276 or edraper@denverpost.com
