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	Controversial Catholic Bill Withdrawn Record-Journal March 10, 2009 http://www.myrecordjournal.com/site/tab1.cfm?newsid=20277245&BRD=2755&PAG=461&dept_id=592708&rfi=6 A public hearing on an incendiary proposal to force Roman Catholic parishes to separate religious and administrative functions has been canceled and the bill withdrawn from consideration this legislative session, its sponsors said Tuesday. "At the request of the proponents who are advocating this legislation, we have decided to cancel the public hearing for tomorrow, table any further consideration of this bill for the duration of this session, and ask the Attorney General his opinion regarding the constitutionality of the existing law that sets different rules for five named separate religions," Sen. Andrew J. McDonald, D-Stamford, and Rep. Mike Lawlor, D-East Haven, said in a release. The Judiciary Committee, which the two men chair, was to hold a hearing on Senate Bill 1098 tomorrow, which was put forth at the request of members of a Darien church whose priest was convicted of stealing up to $1.4 million from the parish. But Catholics throughout the state and region criticized the proposal, alleging that the state was singling out the religion and violating the First Amendment. Hartford Archbishop Henry J. Mansell drafted a letter that was read in churches over the weekend urging parishioners to contact Lawlor and McDonald and to attend Wednesday's hearing. Lawlor and McDonald said Tuesday they would prefer to discuss the topic of church regulation in a forum including representatives of various religious denominations, and said it would be better to have such a meeting when the legislature is not in session. The men also urged the parishioners who requested the bill to dialogue privately with the Catholic Church to seek a resolution, and said they would reach out to representatives of the Catholic Conference.
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