Minnesota Roman Catholics will receive a letter this week from the state's bishops, urging them to donate money for television ads asking voters to say yes to a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

For many of the more than 400,000 Catholic households expected to get the letter, it marks the first time they've been asked by church leadership to make a financial donation to Minnesota for Marriage, the chief group campaigning for passage of the marriage amendment Nov. 6.

... Besides asking Catholics to make contributions, bishops are encouraging them to vote yes on the amendment, according to a letter sent to priests and church administrators last week from Jason Adkins, executive director of Minnesota Catholic Conference, the public policy voice of the Catholic Church in the state.

The mailing "gives Catholics an opportunity to support the passage of the amendment and asks them to send a contribution to where it will be most effective," Adkins' letter states. -- Star Tribune