A Catholic bishop was heralded for his overt political messaging in the wake of a deep-blue state attempting to rewrite its Constitution through two separate amendments facing voters on the issues of abortion and marriage. The video followed up an earlier letter written by Bishop Michael Burbidge urging more than 430,000 Catholic Virginians spread out over 70 parishes.
For context, Virginia voters elected radical leftist Abigail Spanberger in November of 2025 to serve as their next governor. Alongside a Democrat-led state legislature, the far-left governor began ramming through a woke agenda with little ability for Republicans to push back. Now, unable to blatantly rewrite the state’s guiding laws, Democrats are proposing constitutional amendments to radically alter the landscape even further.
One such amendment would open up pathways even further than the already-extreme abortion laws on the books. The amendment would seek to allow unregulated, unlicensed providers to perform these actions at any point during pregnancy. What’s more, it would also remove parental consent to minors. As Burbidge stated, “abortion is already legal in Virginia, but what is on the ballot this fall would expand abortion beyond what most citizens recognize as reasonable limits.”
The other amendment on the ballot, this one appearing as question two, would redefine marriage from being a union between a man and a woman and open up any union of any kind between any two people, thus enshrining woke Democrats’ gender ideology into law at the state level.
“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us in the Commonwealth of Virginia will soon face very serious legal threats to the sacredness of human life and the sanctity of marriage during the upcoming election season, from September the 18th to November the third. Two dangerous ballot initiatives will be brought before all voters,” the bishop began in his exhortation to reject these proposals.
“One amendment, which will appear as ballot question one, proposes an extreme and vague change to the Virginia Constitution, and would create a legal right to unregulated abortions performed by unlicensed practitioners at any time during pregnancy, this threatens the health and safety of mothers and would allow for abortions targeting healthy babies all the way up to birth,” he said of the proposed change to abortion law.
“The amendment extends this so-called right even to minors, it would remove the role of parents concerning life-altering and irreversible decisions for their minor daughters. Unfortunately, abortion is already legal in Virginia, but what is on the ballot this fall would expand abortion beyond what most citizens recognize as reasonable limits. The proposed amendment is extreme. It is unnecessary, and it is wrong,” he declared.
“Another amendment, which will appear as ballot question two, would remove from our state constitution the truth, as Jesus taught, that marriage is between one man and one woman. It would also enshrine gender ideology by falsely separating the reality of one’s sex and gender, obscuring the truth that we are created in the image and likeness of God, yet with God’s grace there is always hope,” he said of the second change being proposed.
“We, the people can unite to defeat these dangerous amendments to our commonwealth’s constitution. The church is not partisan. The church never advocates for or against specific candidates or parties. At the same time, the church in fidelity to the gospel and her mission, always speaks clearly, faithfully, and truthfully concerning matters of faith and morals in public life. An issue of fundamental moral justice confronts each one of us. The church boldly proclaims its yes to the protection of the unborn and the sanctity of all human life. For us to speak this yes, we must together proclaim no to these radically unjust ballot initiatives, infidelity to God, and for the good of all in our society,” he added.
🚨A RARE MOVE by a Virginia Bishop Ahead of Election Day
"Catholic Bishop Michael Burbidge says he has never before asked every priest in his diocese to do what he requested this weekend: read a letter at Mass urging Catholics to oppose two Virginia constitutional amendments on… pic.twitter.com/FI8LOZRIyv
— Virginia News Vanguard (@VaNewsVanguard) September 14, 2026
Featured image: Screen shot from embedded video