Posted on 03/16/2006 8:37:53 AM PST by serendipity_kate
On March 10, Catholic Charities of Boston had announced that it was being forced to shut down its highly regarded adoption services, since it could not in good conscience comply with the government's demand that it place children for adoption with homosexual couples. Caught between the rock of Catholic teaching, which regards such adoptions as "gravely immoral," and Massachusetts regulations, which bar adoption agencies from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, the Boston Archdiocese had hoped to obtain a waiver on religious-freedom grounds. But when legislative leaders refused to consider the request, the archdiocese was left with no option but to end a ministry it had been performing for a century.
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
"I particularly like this column because Jacoby points out that Catholic Charities "made no effort to block same-sex couples from adopting."
That line confused me - does that mean the church WAS doing same sex adoptions?
Now it looks as if there really isn't much of a religious element to this thing at all. Despite its name, Catholic Charities isn't a religious organization . . . it's basically an operating agency of the government.
The Church itself was not facilitating same-sex adoptions, but as Jacoby (and I) pointed out, they were referring same-sex couples to other agencies.
Jacoby's "no effort to block" is referring to the fact that Catholic Charities did not try to take down the legislation that prevented the 'discrimination' against same-sex adoption, but rather sought the religious exemption for themselves. They simply wanted to run their ministry in accordance with Catholic doctrine--but that wasn't possible with Massachusetts legislation.
ping!
Catholic Charities is following the law--it is not an operating agency of the government.
Just like all the "Catholic" hospitals. They live off the taxpayer teat, and then demand to be allowed to impose their specific religious beliefs to limit the types of services they provide to non-Catholic patients at general taxpayer expense.
Sadly, the Catholic Church is by no means the only religious denomination in this country that's in bed with the socialist government. No mainstream church or branch of Judaism or branch of Islam is preaching to their followers to dismantle the welfare state.
Anyone who thinks Catholic Charities of Boston is the "best Catholic organization in the nation" is nuts. The reason this became an issue is precisely because Catholic Charities of Boston was allowing homosexual couples to adopt children. The Bishops of Massachusetts said stop and seven board members of CC resigned in protest. Jacoby failed to mention that in his column. CC of Boston is an apostate organization operating under the umbrella of the Church. A situation that is, unfortunately, not unique to the Archdiocese of Boston. Hopefully CC of Boston, with the firm hand of the Bishops guiding them, will become an organization worthy of the title Catholic.
One day, some people will have to answer to a higher law the the USSM {Union of soviet socialists mass} legislators.
Typical of the turd burglar's agenda, they have no tolerance for anyone who will not submit to their every demand.
I was commending Catholic Charities as the best Catholic organization in the nation--not specifically their Boston chapter. I apologize if that was not clear.
There was a lot of controversy in the last couple of years about an attempt by the government of San Francisco to impose their nihilistic requirements for birth control and abortion insurance coverage for all employers in the city. Catholic Charities fought this on religious grounds, but lost in court. The court cited the factors I listed above in determining that CC is not a religious organization, and after reviewing the facts of the case I had to agree with the court on that one.
bump
"...and does not provide charitable services primarily to Catholics."
I assume you are not a Catholic if you think that a Catholic charity should provide charitable services primarily to Catholics.
Characterizing Catholic Charities, regardless of what diocese it is operating in, as the best Catholic organization in the country is also nuts. Lots of socialists who thumb their noses at the teachings of the Church work for Catholic Charities. Much of the good that is done is cancelled out by the bad. Also, in 20 years, Boston CC placed 13 children with homosexual couples.
That was just one of the factors used in the San Francisco case to determine that Catholic Charities is not a religious organization. Even though Catholics are expected to be charitable to others regardless of their religion, it should definitely be done in the context of Catholic doctrine and Catholic moral teachings. A person who is treated in a Catholic hospital should know that he/she is in a Catholic hospital, for example. This means a crucifix in every patient's room, constant presence of clergy and people from Catholic orders, etc.
First of all, I volunteered hundereds of hours for a Catholic children's hospital in St. Louis a few years ago. They have crucifixes in every patient room and a strong presence of clergy.
That hospital is not alone. (It is an SSM hospital, for those interested.) The majority of the hospitals in that area are Catholic and all of them live up to their name, serving "in the context of Catholic doctrine and Catholic moral teachings."
Secondly, to everyone who is quick to chastize Catholic Charities in general, I would like to share a personal story. My father is a (not-so-)small business owner, and several years ago, Catholic Charities contacted him to ask if he would offer jobs to Albanian and Iraqi refugees who were in the process of becoming citizens. My father accepted and, since then, has maintained a relationship with the extended families of those original, legal immigrants. This is just one small example, but I think it hits right at the core of what Catholic Charities is about. They facilitated a connection between a Catholic employer and immigrants looking to become true Americans, as my great-grandparents and grandparents did not so long ago.
Forget the financial connection between the state and Mass. Cath. Charities.
The reason Catholic Charities can't continue providing adoption services in Massachusetts, even without state or federal funding, without violating God's Law, is because the state licenses all adoption agencies and won't license CC because of its principled and correct stance.
The key sentence in Jacoby's story is this one:
"The church's request for a conscience clause should have been unobjectionable, at least to anyone whose priority is rescuing kids from foster care. Those who spurned that request out of hand must believe that adoption is designed primarily for the benefit of adults, not children. The end of Catholic Charities' involvement in adoption may suit the Human Rights Campaign. But it can only hurt the interests of the damaged and vulnerable children for whom Catholic Charities has long been a source of hope."
worth repeating so you never forget it:
"Those who spurned that request out of hand must believe that adoption is designed primarily for the benefit of adults, not children."
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