Boston Catholic Charities Stop Adoptions Because of Gay Parent Law

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Boston Catholic Charities Stop Adoptions Because of Gay Parent Law

BOSTON — The [Boston Archdiocese’s Catholic Charities](javascript:siteSearch(‘Boston Archdiocese’s Catholic Charities’)😉 said Friday it would stop providing adoption services because state law requires them to consider gays and lesbians as parents.
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 	   		    			 			 				   The social services arm of the Roman Catholic archdiocese has provided [**adoption services**](javascript:siteSearch('adoption services');) for about two decades and said it would discontinue once it completes its contract with the state. But it says state law allowing gays to adopt runs counter to church teachers on [**homosexuality**](javascript:siteSearch('homosexuality');).

		 			   				   			 			 				   "The world was very different when Charities began this ministry at the threshold of the twentieth-century," the [**Rev. J. Bryan Hehir**](javascript:siteSearch('Rev. J. Bryan Hehir');) and trustees chairman Jeffrey Kaneb said in a joint statement. "The world changed often and we adapted the ministry to meet changing times and needs. At all times we sought to place the welfare of children at the heart of our work.

		 			   				   			 			 				   "But now, we have encountered a dilemma we cannot resolve," they said.
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Good ! That’ll show the state that the Church will not back down on her stand ! Let them enjoy the workloads that will head their way ! Who’s afraid of whom now…hmm! :mad:
 
Bravo. But I think they should have sued for the right to place adoptions with proper families with good male and female role models.
 
Good for them…A church group actaully standing up for church values and not changing because of wordly pressures.
 
Thank God! I first saw this story on Yahoo news. I looked at some of the responses and almost threw up. It just shows how anti-Catholic this country still is and how the media has portrayed every member of the Clergy as being a pedophile. You should see how many comments there are about that. One guy even said, “Catholics just seem like such dirty people.” The Devil has a grip on this country and he isn’t letting go.
 
I think it is time we go on the offensive. Sue the states for violating the First Admendment right to Freedom OF Religion and ignoring those laws.

PF
 
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St.BJLabre:
Thank God! I first saw this story on Yahoo news. I looked at some of the responses and almost threw up. It just shows how anti-Catholic this country still is and how the media has portrayed every member of the Clergy as being a pedophile. You should see how many comments there are about that. One guy even said, “Catholics just seem like such dirty people.” The Devil has a grip on this country and he isn’t letting go.
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Sad…

When it comes to morality, there are too many nutheads to count…
 
Okay guys - let’s make sure and write to these Bishops and commend them on their decision and pray for them. They need to know there are lots of Catholics out there who are willing to stand with them and who want this kind of backbone and leadership from our clergy. Bravo!
 
This was the morally correct response by the bishop and Catholic Charities. It could have been resolved if the board of Catholic charities had shown some unity and if the legislature had shown a willingness to grant an exemption to the organization on religious grounds. But in this state too often right is wrong and visa versa. The predominantly Catholic legislation is extremely liberal and progressive in their outlook and the eight board members who resigned in protest were just another predictable bunch of dissenters. I feel like an island of sanity in a state of crazies - most pundits and people I know in this state think that the church is dead wrong on this issue and this just pours gasoline on their already flaming anti-catholicism. We need to continue to be strong, counter-cultural and stand up for the truth. It’s getting scary out here. Pray that people will come to know the truth.
 
Maybe they should of continued and ignored the law. This would set up a confrontation in the courts and show the violation of the Constitution by Massachssetts.

As far as I am concerned the is a victory for the Culture of Perversion.

PF
 
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WanderAimlessly:
Maybe they should of continued and ignored the law. This would set up a confrontation in the courts and show the violation of the Constitution by Massachssetts.

PF
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This is an interesting point - never though of it.
 
Riley- I too am from Massachusetts, and feel your indignation, but you are completely off-base if you don’t see that it has been the Church, itself that got itself into this situation. Boston Catholic Charities has recieved up to 80% of its’ annual budget from STATE AND FEDERAL money, and has been performing at their behest for at least 25 years. I am very glad that this situation is changing, but it is not really being generated by the bishops, but rather, I believe, from fed-up Catholics who no longer wish to fund this secular institution as a ministry of the Church. A quick look at the structure of the RCAB will show you that the Archbishop is in charge of everybody, and it has been severely wanting for moral leadership for a long time. ( I would direct you towards the Harold Brown incident to enlighten you about how far-fetched this can become.) I have worked for two dioceses in MA, and can tell you that the tide only turned when the light began to shine on the Church during the scandal, and without this, I am completely sure that this situation would have stayed within the status quo of the social service business otherwise. My heart ached constantly over the abuses of morality I saw with no one to turn to at all. Some bishops are afraid to lead, even when the most outrageous things go on.

It is a good move in the right direction, but there needs to be many more of the same, and my own jury is still way out, especially when it comes to “Catholic” social agencies.
 
The social services arm of the Roman Catholic archdiocese has provided adoption services for about two decades and said it would discontinue once it completes its contract with the state. But it says state law allowing gays to adopt runs counter to church teachers on homosexuality.
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I am also happy that this has finally been done. But why wait until it completes it contract with the state? Why not do it immediately? Sounds to me like they have been “arm twisted” to give in, so they are trying to reduce their pain (to their pocketbook) as much as possible. If following the state law runs counter to Church teaching, then there is no valid reason for them to continue for any length of time. They still don’t get that the end does not justify the means.
 
What church teaching forbids homosexual couples to adopt? I volkunteer as a represntative of foster children in court and the State of Washington permits gay couple adoptions but I have never heard this was forbidden by our church
 
jack roscoe:
What church teaching forbids homosexual couples to adopt? I volkunteer as a represntative of foster children in court and the State of Washington permits gay couple adoptions but I have never heard this was forbidden by our church
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The Church acknowledges that children need proper male and female role models for good development. These role models, parents, should be living holy lives and not living in a constant state of mortal sin which is the basis for homosexual relationship.
 
T.A.Stobie:
Bravo. But I think they should have sued for the right to place adoptions with proper families with good male and female role models.
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Stobie, I agree with you I think. (Lest anyone misinterpret my words, I believe that they are correct to refuse to participate in gay adoptions).

I am sure that the Bishop’s struggled with this decision and didn’t make it lightly. I trust that they examined all of their legal options and must have decided this was the best choice. I just hope that they didn’t make the decision because of the financial problems they face because of the priest abuse settlements and decided they couldn’t afford a lawsuit.

Now, to the issue of hte thread. I believe that adoption is a critical component to our abortion teaching. If we are going to advocate that all of these children deserve to come into the world, we need to be an instrument to see to it that these unwanted children have the chance to go to loving homes. In our diocese, we have linked our pro-life efforts, aid to single pregnant women (esp. younger women/girls), and our adoption/family counseling services. If one of the legs of the stool are removed, the effort is less successful and effective.

For this reason, while not disagreeing with the Bishops decision, I’m not jumping for joy. I fear that we have solved one problem (not cooperating in gay adoptions) and lessened our capacity to reduce abortions.
 
jack roscoe:
What church teaching forbids homosexual couples to adopt? I volkunteer as a represntative of foster children in court and the State of Washington permits gay couple adoptions but I have never heard this was forbidden by our church
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As experience has shown, the absence of sexual complementarity in these unions creates obstacles in the normal development of children who would be placed in the care of such persons. They would be deprived of the experience of either fatherhood or motherhood. Allowing children to be adopted by persons living in such unions would actually mean doing violence to these children, in the sense that their condition of dependency would be used to place them in an environment that is not conducive to their full human development. This is gravely immoral and in open contradiction to the principle, recognized also in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, that the best interests of the child, as the weaker and more vulnerable party, are to be the paramount consideration in every case.
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CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH
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 ***[CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING PROPOSALS
TO GIVE LEGAL RECOGNITION
TO UNIONS
BETWEEN HOMOSEXUAL PERSON](http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/c...cfaith_doc_20030731_homosexual-unions_en.html)***S
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Riley259:
Here’s a straightforward and cogent argument in support of the church’s stand against gay adoptions and why an exemption should have been granted - and it’s actually from someone from Boston College!

boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/03/14/state_putting_church_out_of_adoption_business/
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I like this quote-----
It seems surprising that the state would want to put the Catholic Church out of the adoption business. Corporal works of mercy are no less important to the life of the Church than its sacramental ministry. Forbidding the Church to perform them is a serious blow to its religious liberty. Why would the government do that?

One reason is that the Church refused to go along with the effort, enshrined in these regulations and blessed in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, to give gay families the same legal rights as straight families.

But Catholic Charities did not obstruct that effort; it only declined to assist it. Is our commitment to equality so strong that we are willing to put Catholic Charities out of business because it won’t promote an agenda that it views as morally wrong?
I love the fact that the church isn’t bending it’s morals for society. The church isn’t black balling or reject people or saying your not going to be a good parent or that we don’t love you. The church is saying we don’t like your lifestyle so we are not going to proceed with placing a child with you but you are free to go other places and try with them. The chruch should have the freedom to reject anyone it wants from the adoption process. No one is guarenteed a child just because you apply.
 
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