Now that nearly one out of every four states has legalized gay marriage, and now that the Supreme Court is on the verge of releasing its decisions on Prop 8 and DOMA, US Catholic bishops are sending out an insert to drop in bulletins in Catholic churches nationwide, ThinkProgress reports. The insert reads, in part:

The Court is expected to rule on both cases by the end of June. A broad negative ruling could redefine marriage in the law throughout the entire country, becoming the “Roe v. Wade” of marriage. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has joined with many other organizations in urging the Supreme Court to uphold both DOMA and Proposition 8 and thereby to recognize the essential, irreplaceable contribution that husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, make to society, and especially to children.

The insert includes information about what Catholics can do to fight gay marriage, including "PRAY, FAST, SACRIFICE," and "ADVOCATE FOR MARRIAGE." The thing that strikes me about this insert is how helpless it sounds. The avenues for doing battle with gay marriage are quickly closing up, and all the fasting in the world isn't going to change anyone's mind on the matter.

Zach Ford at ThinkProgress sees this language as the Church preparing to take action against gay marriage the way it has done battle with abortion, by slowly stripping rights away, piece-by-piece. But I just don't think that's going to be possible with same-sex marriage. Once the world doesn't end in states that legalize gay marriage, and once more examples of happily married gay couples are seen in the media, this is going to be a dead issue for all but the wingnuttiest of Jesus freaks.