Catholic Church Abandons Foster-Care in D.C. Citing Gay Marriage
The Catholic Church has chosen to cease working with Washington, D.C. children in need of good homes rather than place some of those children in loving, qualified homes that are headed by same-sex couples.
Instead, the church has given over the 43 children with whom it was working, and the seven people who had been on the staff of its charitable organization, to a secular organization, the National Center for Children and Families. The reason for the switch? The Church teaches that gays are "disordered" people whom God calls to lead celibate lives. But the counsel of Washington, D.C. approved a policy late last year that would extend marriage equality to gay and lesbian families. Rather than compromise in its belief by being required to follow the same anti-discrimination laws that apply to other, similar organizations, the Church is stepping out of the game altogether.
The Church had administered its program for 80 years through Catholic Charities, reported Feb. 17 Washington Post article. Catholic Charities, which is funded in part by $20 million per year in taxpayer funds, runs about 20 service programs in all; the other programs will be affected insofar as the organization is looking at ways to get around the requirement that same-sex spouses of gay and lesbian employees receive the same benefits as spouses of heterosexual employees. Catholic Charities CEO and president Edward Orzechowski indicated that the group would be seeking means to not have to pay those benefits, as well as writing their benefits policies in a manner that would avoid acknowledging the status of gay and lesbian married couples.
Catholic Charities officially ended its work with foster children on Feb. 1. "We regret that our efforts to avoid this outcome were not successful," read a statement from Orzechowski, a Feb. 18 Washington Times article reported. "Foster care has been an important ministry for us for many decades," the statement continued. "We worked very hard to be able to continue to provide these services in the District." In addition to discontinuing its work with children needing foster homes, the organization has also stopped placing children with adoptive parents, lest it place children with committed couples of the same gender.
The Boston branch of Catholic Charities had followed local law regarding anti-discrimination policies and occasionally placed children with same-sex adoptive parents until the Church's hierarchy put a stop to the practice ion 2006. At that point, the Boston branch ceased working with adoptions--a result that anti-gay activists point to in arguing that marriage equality constitutes a violation of religious freedom. The Catholic Charities in San Francisco stopped working with adoptions, for the same reason, noted the article.
Catholic figures were quick to cast blame on the Washington, D.C. council. The president of the anti-gay Catholic League, Bill Donohue, issued a statement that read, "District lawmakers could have granted the kind of religious exemptions that would have ensured a continuation of services, but instead they sought to create a Catch-22 situation for the archdiocese." Added the statement, "Surely, they knew that Archbishop Wuerl was not going to negotiate Catholic Church teachings on marriage, yet that hardly mattered to them. The real losers are the children who were served by the Catholic Church."
Donohue also had sharp words for critics of the Church's decision,. "Those who say Wuerl is throwing the kids overboard are phonies," he opined. "If Planned Parenthood were told that as a condition of public funding it had to refer Catholic women having second thoughts about abortion to a crisis pregnancy center, it would scream violation of church and state, refuse the money and end this program."
But some secular organizations praised the decision as the correct thing to do. The Rev. Barry Lynn, the executive director of Americans United, a watchdog organization dedicated to issues of church-state separation, said in a statement, "If faith-based charities cannot or will not obey civil rights laws, they ought not benefit from public funds."
The new policy takes effect Mar. 2, after a Congressional review period. The policy does not attempt to force religions into offering marriage services to gays and lesbians, exempting churches from anti-discrimination laws out of sensitivity for their religious views. However, the law requires that churches follow the law in the same manner as everyone else when it comes to matters of employment and serving as contractors for local government.
Even before the law was approved by a margin of 11-2, Washington, D.C. Archbishop Donald Wuerl had warned that unless the Church were given additional special exemptions, its role as a service provider could be modified in response to the legalization of marriage parity. "Catholic Charities and the Archdiocese of Washington are committed to continuing to serve the people of the District as we have for many decades," Wuerl told the Washington Post, reported a Dec. 3 article at Examiner.com. "Unfortunately, the D.C. Council is considering legislation that could end these kinds of partnerships."
For a time, it seemed as though the Church might reconsider its threat to turn its foster care services over to someone else. After the first of two required votes on the matter, noted GLBT site Queerty in a Dec. 16 article, a letter from the Archdiocese offered assurances that the Church would not forsake its charitable missions. "Today the District of Columbia joined a handful of states where legislatures or courts have redefined marriage to include persons of the same sex," the letter read. "Since this legislation was first introduced in October, the Archdiocese of Washington opposed the redefinition of marriage based on the core teaching of the Catholic Church that the complementarity of man and woman is intrinsic to the definition of marriage. However, understanding the City Council was committed to legalizing same sex marriages, the archdiocese advocated for a bill that would balance the Council's interest in redefining marriage with the need to protect religious freedom. Regrettably, the bill did not strike that balance.
"The Archdiocese of Washington and Catholic Charities are deeply committed to serving those in need, regardless of race, creed, gender, ethnic origin or sexual orientation," the letter went on. "This commitment is integral to our Catholic faith and will remain unchanged into the future.
"Religious organizations have long been eligible to provide social services in our nation's capital and have not been excluded simply because of their religious character. This is because the choice of provider has focused on the ability to deliver services effectively and efficiently. We are committed to serving the needs of the poor and look forward to working in partnership with the District of Columbia consistent with the mission of the Catholic Church," the letter added.
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