Church support for marriage among poor and middle class Americans can play a key role in combating income inequality and providing a good environment for children, a sociologist told the U.S. bishops. “If you care about bridging the marriage divide, you should care about economic justice, cultural change, and the renewal of civil society,” Professor W. Bradford Wilcox, a University of Virginia sociology professor, told the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ general assembly in New Orleans on June 12.