"The vision of the Vatican and the hierarchy is that the Catholic media should support and ... promote the positions taken by the hierarchy, " said Reese, who was removed from his position as editor of the Jesuit magazine America in 2005 after it published stories on topics including gay marriage.
Since then, Pope has adopted some socially conservative positions, including opposition to gay marriage and to public funding for abortions.
Specifically, NRB wants to ensure that religious expression, including views on gay marriage and abortion, is not classified as hate speech and blocked by private companies.
Nine US states and the District of Columbia fully recognise gay marriage, including several states which legalised the unions through a popular vote in 2012.
Seventeen countries, provinces and states permit gay marriage, including such cutting-edge places as Portugal and Belgium, says Robert Wintemute, a lawyer at Kings College London who is representing the litigants.
As the backlash grew, opponents of gay and lesbian marriage, including many religious conservatives, moved quickly to put amendments on state ballots to short-circuit similar rulings from courts sympathetic to the argument that restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples was discriminatory.
But it was clear from the start of that argument in a packed courtroom that the justices, including some liberals who seemed open to gay marriage, had doubts about whether they should even be hearing the challenge to California's Proposition 8, the state's voter-approved gay marriage ban.
Other countries, such as Colombia, do not recognise gay marriage but do offer civil guarantees, including the right to draw a pension if one partner dies.
But some religious groups, including Quakers, Unitarians and Liberal Judaism, are in favour of gay marriage and are thought likely to apply to be allowed to stage ceremonies.
Prominent Tory MPs including Environment Secretary Owen Paterson, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond and backbencher Stewart Jackson have said they cannot support gay marriage, and a number of MPs have signed the "Coalition for Marriage" petition opposing it.
BBC: Gay marriage: Boris Johnson and Michael Gove give backing
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