BishopAccountability.org
	Connecticut Lawmakers Bow to Pressure By Joe Murray The Bulletin March 11, 2009 http://thebulletin.us/articles/2009/03/11/news/nation/doc49b74527ab942975473386.txt A bill that would order the reorganization of the Catholic Church in Connecticut has been postponed after news of the bill created a civil rights firestorm that spread across the country. Connecticut Bill No. 1098 is pushing the church/state line, as the bill would require Catholic parishes to elect a board of laypeople to govern the day-to-day affairs of the parish. Such a role is traditionally reserved for the parish priest and/or bishop under Church law. The concept surrounding Bill No. 1098 is not new, however, as Voice of the Faithful, a left-wing Catholic group, has previously supported stripping the Catholic hierarchy of their control of local churches and the current bill is modeled after its rhetoric. Members claim the sex scandals serve as evidence the Catholic hierarchy is not fit to run the parishes and a board of laypeople should be required. In explaining his support of the bill to the Catholic News Agency, Dr. Paul Lakeland, a Fairfield University Chair of Catholic Studies and Voice of the Faithful member, explained the concept “grew up in response to the sex abuse scandals here. One of the things that became rapidly apparent, among both liberals and conservatives, was the sense that the bishops hadn’t done a very good job of handling this.” Because of the sex scandal, Dr. Lakeland, who intends to testify on behalf of the bill, and other supporters, concludes the state has authority to dramatically interfere with the operations of a religious organization and push the boundaries of church/state relations. The push for the bill’s passage is connected to a Connecticut attorney Tom Gallagher. An article addressing the prospects of Bill No. 1098 was published by the National Catholic Reporter, and Mr. Gallagher was quoted extensively. Civil rights advocates, however, argue the move to have a state-ordered reconstruction of the Catholic Church constituted an unconstitutional coup that demands the removal of the two Democratic lawmakers introducing the bill, state Sen. Andrew J. McDonald and state Rep. Mike Lawlor. “The big losers are the Catholic left-wing activists who pushed for this measure,” said Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League. “To be specific, Voice of the Faithful, a dissident Catholic group comprised mainly of senior citizens, has been promoting a lay Catholic takeover of the Catholic Church for many years.” Opponents of the bill also charge the attempted overreach by liberals is motivated less by past abuses of the church and more by the church’s role in public policy. “The stated purpose of this bill is ‘to revise the corporate governance provisions applicable to the Roman Catholic Church and provide for the investigation of the misappropriation of funds by religious corporations,’” said state Sen. Michael McLachlan, R-Conn. “The real purpose of this bill is payback to the bishops and pastors of the Roman Catholic Church in Connecticut for opposing gay marriage.” The public outcry over the bill caused the Judiciary Committee to cancel the bill’s public hearing scheduled for today and the two men introducing the bill to back peddle. “For reasons that are unclear, Connecticut has had generations-old laws on the books singling out particular religions and treating them differently from other religions in our statutes. That doesn’t seem right,” the two men said in a joint statement. “With that in mind, it would serve no useful purpose to have a conversation about changing the laws that govern existing Roman Catholic corporations until we know if any of these existing laws are constitutional.” The bill was tabled pending a review from the state’s attorney general, but a rally opposing the bill was still planned in order to remind voters just because the bill is tabled does not mean it is dead. Joe Murray can be reached at jmurray@thebulletin.us
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