Diocese of Bridgeport Conn. needs our support in fighting a bigotted bill

  • Thread starter Thread starter stbruno
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
S

stbruno

Guest
Diocese of Bridgeport Connecticut needs our help in fighting a bigotted bill!.
bridgeportdiocese.com/Fight_1098.shtml
or www.bridgeportdiocese.org

**Statement of the Diocese of Bridgeport **
on Proposed Legislative Bill # 1098 / 2009
http://www.bridgeportdiocese.com/images/_layout/icon_pdf.gif [.pdf"]Diocesan Statement ]("http://www.bridgeportdiocese.com/folder_bridgedocs/Dioc_Statement_on_Leg_1098[1)
This past Thursday, March 5, the Judiciary Committee of the Connecticut State Legislature, which is chaired by Sen. Andrew McDonald of Stamford and **Rep. Michael Lawlor **of East Haven, introduced a bill that directly attacks the Roman Catholic Church and our Faith.
This bill violates the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. It forces a radical reorganization of the legal, financial, and administrative structure of our parishes. This is contrary to the Apostolic nature of the Catholic Church because it disconnects parishes from their Pastors and their Bishop. Parishes would be run by boards from which Pastors and the Bishop would be effectively excluded.
This bill, moreover, is a thinly-veiled attempt to silence the Catholic Church on the important issues of the day, such as same-sex marriage.
The State has no right to interfere in the internal affairs and structure of the Catholic Church. This bill is directed only at the Catholic Church but could someday be forced on other denominations. The State has no business controlling religion.
The Pastors of our Diocese are doing an exemplary job of sound stewardship and financial accountability, in full cooperation with their parishioners.
For the State Legislature — which has not reversed a $1 billion deficit in this fiscal year — to try to manage the Catholic Church makes no sense. The Catholic Church not only lives within her means but stretches her resources to provide more social, charitable, and educational services than any other private institution in the State. This bill threatens those services at a time when the State is cutting services. The Catholic Church is needed now more than ever.
We reject this irrational, unlawful, and bigoted bill that jeopardizes the religious liberty of our Church.
We urge you to call and e-mail Sen. McDonald and Rep. Lawlor:
**Senator Andrew McDonald: **
Capitol phone: (800) 842-1420; Home phone: (203) 348-7439
**E-mail: McDonald@senatedems.ct.gov **
**Representative Michael Lawlor: **
Capitol phone: (800) 842-8267; Home phone: (203) 469
 
OK, I’m not American, so perhaps I misunderstand yr Bill -]O’Reilly/-] O’
Rights.

Doesn’t your First Amendment prohibit the enactment of these laws?
 
I’ve been arguing against this bill on two other threads already. It’s bad news for many reasons including incompatiblity with canon law and just bad business practices.

But, can someone explain this?
This bill, moreover, is a thinly-veiled attempt to silence the Catholic Church on the important issues of the day, such as same-sex marriage.
Click to expand...
For all the nonsense the bill contains, I don’t see how it is an attempt to silence the Church. More of an attempt to separate parishes from the whole Church.

Can someone explain this to me?
 
How many Catholics, so called, voted to put these legilator dudes in power in CT? A. Plenty. In fact, they wouldn’t be in power without Catholic votes.

How many Bishops, Priests do next to nothing to resist all this for years and years? A. Plenty.

Now they’re shocked.
 
Corki said:
I’ve been arguing against this bill on two other threads already. It’s bad news for many reasons including incompatiblity with canon law and just bad business practices.

But, can someone explain this?

For all the nonsense the bill contains, I don’t see how it is an attempt to silence the Church. More of an attempt to separate parishes from the whole Church.

Can someone explain this to me?
Click to expand...
I just heard Bishop Lori on the radio this morning and he answered this question. This bill was introduced in retailiation for the Bishops of Connecticut opposing the same-sex marriage bill these two (McDonald and Lawler) championed. As someone mentioned in another thread on this legislation, these two are homosexual activists and have been targeting the Church for quite some time. They probably know its unconstitutional but think they can dilute the Bishops’ message. Let’s hope that the opposite is true and this is a rallying call for Catholics in CT.
 
It has just been announced that the hearing in the Judiciary Committee for this bill has been cancelled and this outrageous and bigotted bill has been killed.

But we all need to keep our guard up for future attacks against the Catholic Church.

Thank God and the Holy Spirit for arousing Catholics across Connecticut who deluged the Legislature with indignation over this blatant attack against our Church and the Bill of Rights.
 
stanthonyserver said:
It has just been announced that the hearing in the Judiciary Committee for this bill has been cancelled and this outrageous and bigotted bill has been killed.

But we all need to keep our guard up for future attacks against the Catholic Church.

Thank God and the Holy Spirit for arousing Catholics across Connecticut who deluged the Legislature with indignation over this blatant attack against our Church and the Bill of Rights.
Click to expand...
Praise God. And thank Him for the wake-up call – timely, and ultimately gentler than it could have been.
 
stanthonyserver said:
It has just been announced that the hearing in the Judiciary Committee for this bill has been cancelled and this outrageous and bigotted bill has been killed.

But we all need to keep our guard up for future attacks against the Catholic Church.

Thank God and the Holy Spirit for arousing Catholics across Connecticut who deluged the Legislature with indignation over this blatant attack against our Church and the Bill of Rights.
Click to expand...
it’s back on, to be heard tomorrow, Wednesday, March 11, 2009.
 
Farfalla said:
it’s back on, to be heard tomorrow, Wednesday, March 11, 2009.
Click to expand...
The official hearing is cancelled. Here is the latest news from this morning:

"The church is planning a massive rally at the Capitol this morning, even though the public hearing has been called off. Hundreds of people, many of whom where angry about what they view as the state’s inappropriate and perhaps unconstitutional incursion into church affairs, are expected to attend.

Republican lawmakers, who initially urged that the hearing be canceled, will hold an “informational session” today at noon.

“The co-chairs decided for whatever reason to cancel everything … but there are an awful lot of folks who feel very passionately about this issue,” said Sen. John Kissel of Enfield, the ranking Republican on the judiciary committee. “We don’t have the authority to call a formal hearing. But we felt it would be good for those folks who wanted to come down here to express their views.”
 
stanthonyserver said:
It has just been announced that the hearing in the Judiciary Committee for this bill has been cancelled and this outrageous and bigotted bill has been killed.

But we all need to keep our guard up for future attacks against the Catholic Church.

Thank God and the Holy Spirit for arousing Catholics across Connecticut who deluged the Legislature with indignation over this blatant attack against our Church and the Bill of Rights.
Click to expand...
Unless I miss my guess, it’ll be back at a later day when everyone is thinking about something else. We must stay on our guard.
 
You can bet it’ll be back. The enemies of the Church are tireless… They’ll try again when they think no one is paying attention and they’ll give it a newspeak name, like “Bill to Protect Religious Rights” or some such nonsense.
 
Not even the ACLU crowd will countenance what CT is up to
from PrawfsBlawg:
The Connecticut Legislature’s preposterously unconstitutional attack on Catholicism
Click to expand...
. . . . .
Click to expand...
The only interesting question suggested by Bill 1098 is why the CT legislature would propose a bill that would serve only to provide some lucky lawyer with some section 1988 “prevailing party” fees during a lean period for the bar. What, in short, is the political function served by an obviously unconstitutional bill? I see three conceivable explanations: (a) The CT Assembly’s leadership is actually innocent of any familiarity with simple constitutional doctrine – even the sort of doctrine that is so basic that it normally percolates into popular culture – and therefore thinks that this bill is a serious legislative proposal; (b) The CT Assembly’s leadership wants to placate some interest group with an empty gesture by proposing a bill that it knows will go nowhere but Injunctionville after it leaves the state house; or (c) The bill was introduced with the secret support of the Catholic hierarchy as a way of exciting sympathy for Catholics by a show of anti-Catholic demagoguery. Both (a) nor (b) tend to re-enforce Fred Schauer’s jaundiced view of legislatures’ interest in honoring constitutional norms, while (c) seems too kookily conspiratorial for a state legislature.
Perhaps there is some fourth explanation that I am missing? Do any readers know the real story behind the Judiciary Committee’s constitutional tomfoolery?
Click to expand...
I think another poster already mentioned that the bill was proposed by someone connected with Voice of the Faithful.
 
didymus said:
Not even the ACLU crowd will countenance what CT is up to
from PrawfsBlawg:

I think another poster already mentioned that the bill was proposed by someone connected with Voice of the Faithful.
Click to expand...
“Voice of the Faithful.”

Be wary of any groups that claim to be Catholic, and yet have connotations to democracy in their names. The Church isn’t a democracy.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top