Senate Bill 143: Sorting through the evasions
Second, along with a sincere commitment to helping abuse victims, Catholics must also protect their life as a community and defend the means that ensure a future for their children. The current debates over HB 1088, HB 1090 and especially SB 143 have shown very clearly that some people would like to cripple that life and that future.
On Feb. 2, during a break in hearings on HB 1088, an angry member of the Colorado General Assembly verbally slandered the Catholic Church to staffers of the Colorado Catholic Conference. The member later apologized. But on the same day, abuse victim Patrick Chappell — testifying on behalf of Catholic concerns — was repeatedly interrupted and ignored by House committee members, and an Assembly member later tried to have Mr. Chappell and his father removed from the Capitol.
Let me repeat that. A people’s elected official, doing the people’s business in the people’s house slandered the entire Catholic community. Other officials effectively dismissed an abuse victim seeking to recount his experience and voice his opinion. The lesson here is simple. Catholics need to fully understand the level of irrational hostility the Church now faces from a few select members of their own legislature. And they need to make their displeasure known
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