A Bill removing control of parishes from bishops has been introduced in the Connecticut General Assembly. Raised Bill 1098 has no stated sponsor, but according to staff at the Senate Judiciary Committee was a concept raised in the committee itself.
The bill establishes that Catholic churches in the state shall have a board of directors made up of 7 to 13 lay members elected by the congregation. The bishop or his designee shall be an ex-officio non-voting member.
All general administration and financial functions of the parish fall to the authority of the board including, establishing the budget, developing and implementing strategic plans and developing outreach plans and services to the community. Under the bill, the pastor would report to the board on all financial and administrative matters.
The bill says it leaves in tact the authority of the bishop or pastor “in matters pertaining exclusively to religious tenets and practices.”
A public hearing has been set for March 11.
The Catholic Key blog has some reactions to the bill and will be maintaining coverage. Tom Hoopes at NCRegister reacts:
“I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a bill that’s so blatantly unconstitutional,” Anthony Picarello, General Counsel of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told the Register. “It targets the Catholic Church explicitly and exclusively, and attempts to use the civil law to alter Church governance, particularly to divest the bishop of authority.”
This is an attempt to silence the Church on moral truths. So much for the Contitution.
30 comments
I don’t see how this bill can pass; the government does not have the right to determine the inner workings of a religious organization. I don’t know that anyone has tried this before but it seems discriminatory on its face to me.
We already have this at the parish in this Connecticut town.
Lay boards are the work of the enemy within.
Mary: Actually, lay boards are absolutely essential for the proper administration of a parish.
The important thing to keep in mind is that they’re “advisory” boards, meant for consultation. Ultimately, the final “yay/nay” vote comes down to the pastor, who answers to the bishop.
That legislators in Connecticut think this is a good idea? That is the work of the Enemy, and should this pass, I hope each and every priest and bishop in the state will – in acknowledgment of both tradition and canon law – engage in active civil disobedience.
This is both interesting and disturbing. Does this proposed law target only the Catholic Church or does it encompass other religious bodies?
Either way, this adamantly non-lawyer sees this as crossing the separation of Church and State that the same liberals so often seem to worship.
Either way, this adamantly non-lawyer sees this as crossing the separation of Church and State that the same liberals so often seem to worship.
You forget that the “separation of church and state” only works one way: that is, keep religion out of the public sphere.
Otherwise, the state can interfere because it’s politically correct. Or whatever.
I hope the hobbits throw the ring into the fires of mount doom soon. The attack on middle earth is getting hard to bear. The attacks on Catholics specifically are becoming more mainstream and blatant. The ladies on “The View”, the amount of practicing Catholics that now hold public office yet are obviously against the Church’s teachings and now this. Very disturbing.
We need to stand up to the MINORITY out there who manage to make so much noise as to be heard everywhere. WE are the MAJORITY, Christian God Fearing Good Law Abiding Americans. I think it’s time – no, I know it’s time we unite and put an end to this assault once and for all. Who’s country is this anyway?
I’m mad and I’m not going to take it anymore.
The Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, The Most Rev. William E. Lori, has issued a letter to be read at every parish in the Diocese this weekend, encouraging the defeat of this legislative action. After stating that the proposed bill is a veiled attack on the teachings of the Catholic Church, Bishop Lori then singularly cites “same sex marriage” as an objective which the bill attempts to promote. Is it not more plausible that the bill, though wildly unconstitutional, seeks to address the Connecticut bishops’ ineffective administration of parish finances and the damage resulting from sexual abuse by clergy? One doesn’t have to look further than the Bridgeport Diocese to find that both these situations have been rampant at the parish level in recent years. Why grasp at a political issue in conflict with the moral teaching of the Church, if not to deflect the attention of the faithful from what the bill really seeks to address? The Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) have more likely been vocal supporters of this bill, in their efforts to correct the errors promulgated by Catholic bishops. Apparently, convincing the Connecticut faithful to defeat this bill would not be as easy without the spectre of same-sex marriage taking a front seat over financial and clergy mismanagement by the Catholic hierarchy.
Pastoral Councils and Finance Boards are generally accepted lay advisory bodies to help the pastor do long range planning. That’s not disturbing, it’s what most dioceses require (canon law requires finance boards). What’s disturbing is the State telling the Church how to organize iteself, a power the State simply does not have! Separately incorporating each parish is an idea some dioceses have chosen in order to separate out all Church assets so a lawsuit against the “diocese” doesn’t allow people to dig deep into the pockets of parishes, schools, and other institutions. But the history of lay trusteeism in early American history shows how dangerous a “board of directors” with anything more than a consultative role can be. I am against the State telling the Church how to organize, and I am certainly against giving authority to a democratic lay body calling the shots. Protestant churches are organized this way and are far from perfect too.
If you want to see Michael Lawlor (who introduced the bill in CT) in action against Brian Brown of the Ct Family Institute now at National Organization for Marriage see this video It shows how desperate he is in trying to silence the religious objection to Gay Marriage. Is this his motive for introducing this crazy bill?
Ave Maria!
Please pray for Bishop William Lori of Connecticut during these troubled times. He began a valiant attempt when it came to forcing Catholic hospitals to administer the Morning After Pill, but gave way to the government when the pressure mounted.
He is more than the Bishop of Connecticut, he is the Supreme Chaplain of the Knights of Columbus. He has a heavy cross to bear, his example for good or for ill will lead many in the same direction.
I thought that they want separation of Church and State. Or at least they don’t want the Church interfering on State affairs. But now, they want the State to interfere with Church affairs? What’s going on with the world?
It would seem to me that this should be listed as a hate crime and prosecuted against the authors of this bill, who are specifically attacking the Catholic Church as a religion.
http://www.cga.ct.gov/2008/rpt/2008-R-0276.htm
It seems to me there is a clear intent to intimidate each individual Catholic in Connecticut, though this attack on their Church, since they are part of its communion of saints, and since this communion of saints involves all Catholics, who are one body and across state and country lines, this should, perhaps also fall under the RICO Federal Statutes and any Federal hate crime legislation that there might be.
Just a thought. It seems this is strong arming by the legislature, which is little different than doing what the mob does.
It is time some Catholic attorneys and catholic lawmen start become serious in their examination of this ever increasing anti-Catholicism in government at all levels.
Not only does the bill single out the Catholic Church but it is specific to the [I]Roman[/I] Catholic Church so I guess our Eastern Rite brothers get a pass.
Stephen could not possibly be more wrong. He says:
“Is it not more plausible that the bill, though wildly unconstitutional, seeks to address the Connecticut bishops’ ineffective administration of parish finances and the damage resulting from sexual abuse by clergy? One doesn’t have to look further than the Bridgeport Diocese to find that both these situations have been rampant at the parish level in recent years.”
The embezzlement in Greenwich helped push forward all the MASSIVE new financial requirements put in place by Bishop Lori. We couldn’t BE any more transparent! In fact it is almost overkill – no one can turn around now without people peering down your financial records! You seriously are misinformed about what Bishop Lori has done to clean up this diocese.
And the sex-abuse scandals? Please. Once again, CT is in the forefront since Bishop Lori too k over. You have NO IDEA. You are thinking of the former bishop and many years ago. Lori has been GREAT – I know this personally – with people who have been abused. Additionally, even teenagers HAVE to take training in recognizing abuse and abusers before they work with kids; there must always be two people with the kids, etc. ad infinitum.
Interestingly – and this is a FACT – ONLY VOTF has refused to take the training! Yes, the training isn’t the best in the world – parts are pretty lame – but VOTF refuses!
Finally – you know absolutely nothing about this violently anti-Catholic Judiciary Committee, if you honestly believe they are good people who are worried about Catholics getting fleeced.
You ought to see Mike Lawlor in action, foaming at the mouth, attacking and ridiculing Catholics
(“Doesn’t your Church teach you to hate?” ) at hearings. And the other committee head was one of the first gay men to get “married” in CT. They are record for DESPISING the church and wishing it to be destroyed – NOT for tender concern for Catholic parishioners!
Thankfully the Church is not a building (except in the mystical sense as a temple of the Holy Spirit). If things get so bad that the government strips away the patrimony of the Church then, well, it won’t be the first time. And the Church will go on proclaiming the truth stronger than ever.
If and when the day comes when our pastors have to beg for their sustenance and our sacraments have to be done in the homes of the faithful, it will be then that the anti-Catholic bigots in the various branches of government will discover how very vibrant the Catholic Faith can be.
Yes, lay boards are essential.And so is all the irreverence???…. if the Pastor listens to the Bishop and the Bishop listens to the Pope, why than are most of the Churches in my Connecticut diocese allowing such rude behaviour to go on in the Churches and the people just say”times have changed” According to the above logic, we should be following the Pope.It is really a disgrace to see what goes on and the kids are taught to do the same.
The bill is patently unconstitutional. It is hard to imagine how it could be changed in a way that would render it permissible.
But, this is beside the point.
The point SHOULD be that a legislative body crafted a bigoted attack and no one noticed. How can this be?
If the same bill had attacked the structure of any other organized body of churches, say the Seventh Day Adventists for example, it would have been front page news across the country. Here… not a peep.
Our churches are vandalized… We do nothing. Good Religious are pilloried and slandered… We do nothing. Our Faith’s teachings are misrepresented and we sit on the sidelines, waiting… hoping… that one of our Bishops will set the record straight. WE, the faithful laity, DO NOTHING!!!!!
Look, the Church thrived under state-sponsored persecution but that doesn’t mean, to me, that we ought to invite that state of affairs to return.
Christ drove the money-changers from the Temple. Anger CAN be just.
Enough grousing… WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT!?!!!
Isn’t it time for a truly Catholic form of the Anti-Defamation League? Shouldn’t the Truth be widely published and our faith defended?
Any ideas on how we can do more than write ignored letters to the media and our representatives? Surely a credible Catholic force of lay persons exists that can wage a just fight against those who seek to destroy us?
bottom line they should focus on other state issues (excessive spending ect) and not worry about the church. The churches should run the goverment and then we would see a positive change.
The legislation is fundamentally illegal. The state has no authority to dictate the inner structures of any independent organization.
Dioceses are not a democratic structures. They are centrally commanded and that fact predates any governmental involvement with them.
The anti-Catholic politicos will likely refer to public funds being used by diocesan programs as their “stake” and therefore they can claim right to dictate operations as “stakeholders”, but the structures and lines of authority were in place at the various times they “staked”. Therefore, their lack of authority to exert this sort of influence within the organization was pre-established.
Further their stake could only be construed as minority, if at all, which is vetoable by the organizations majority. As we willingly accede our authority to the Bishop, he thereby wields a “proxy” equivalent to the Catholic populace, which is easily majority “stake”.
The public purse is partly filled by the Catholic populace, and the way it is wielded must be agreeable to the Catholic populace, particularly as it effects Catholic operated structures and programs.
For politicos to even propose this “illegislation” is a de facto dereliction of their responsibility to their legitimate constituents. They are mere stewards of the public purse. The tabled bill itself is illegal.
I’m with Steven here, although I am Canadian. Secondly where I am (on the east coast of Canada which isn’t much different from the east coast of the USA) the average faithful lay person has far more orthodox views and a much keener sense on how to not run a church into the ground than any of our mincing ninny, prancing fairy bishops.
At the end of the day I don’t think they have a right to impose this by law but it sounds like something that should be implemented.
the trustee controversy returns!
Great, they want us to become congregationalists.
Nice SOCAS there…only one way.
Ok, here’s the real story.
Church leaders are angry over a proposed bill, which has already died before its hearing today, that would have taken financial power from the Catholic bishops and turned it over to the parishioners. The measure would have created lay councils of seven to 13 people to oversee the business affairs of local parishes.
Though the proposal will not move forward, 4,000 Catholics still gathered to make the point that the bill was an inappropriate state involvement with the church.
Rep. Michael Lawlor and Sen. Andrew McDonald had introduced the plan after concerns from Catholic constituents about the balance of power between the laity and the church leadership.
“Catholic lay people provide all the funds for the running of the parish, but they have absolutely no executive authority for how those dollars are spent,” Paul Lakelan, director for the Center of Catholic Studies at Fairfield University told the Courant. “That’s a situation that increasing numbers of people are unhappy with.”
A push to reform the governance of the Catholic Church has been a long-time struggle for many Catholics.
“I love the church, but there is a need for reforms,” John Lucarelli told the Courant. Lucarelli is a member of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Greenwich, Conn., where a former pastor was forced to resign after an audit showed $400,000 of the diocese’s funds were missing and that he kept two bank accounts a secret.
Lucarelli, who is also active with a group called Catholics for Better Governance, said he tried to convince church leadership to reform itself, but it never happened.
“You keep banging your head against the wall, but you’ve got to stop and try a new tack,” he said.
Church leaders were predictably upset at the possible state intervention into church affairs, and they tried to deflect attention from church financial scandals by bringing up bogus charges of government censorship. Bridgeport Bishop William Lori, on his blog, said this bill was “a thinly veiled attempt to silence the Catholic Church on important issues of day, such as same-sex marriage.”
That’s absurd. The proposed legislation, however misguided, was intended to prevent clerical misuse of church funds. It had nothing to do with the hierarchy’s ability to speak out on public issues.
Why couldn’t the bishop stick to the legitimate constitutional issue at hand?
State officials can — and often do — prosecute misuse of non-profit funds for personal gain. If Connecticut laws preventing this kind of fraud are inadequate, perhaps the legislature should tighten them up.
But that’s quite different from a gross governmental intervention into the internal structure of a church. The Constitution simply doesn’t permit that kind of entanglement between religion and government. Moves to reform churches must come from inside them, not from elected officials.
Said Bishop Lori, “It is time for us to stop this unbridled use of governmental power. It is time for us to defend our First Amendment rights.”
We say amen to that, Bishop! Now, if only
Mary-Lee,
The problem with your analysis is that the bill was specific to the Roman Catholic Church. To suggest that its intended reach was broader and, therefore, more palatable, is absurd since it specifically targeted the Church.
I appreciate the distinction you are trying to make but the ever increasing assaults and rhetoric against the Church justly has us up in arms.
Let me ask you, if a bill was crafted that specifically targeted the African Methodist Episcopal Church for state-sponsored reorganization, do you truly believe that the action would have gone as unnoticed by the popular media as this did? Are you willfully ignoring the implications of directed assaults on our faith?
The key point is, and must remain, that the Voices of the Faithful are on an all-out war against their own church. They push for eliminating statutes of limitation so that the Church will be bankrupted and for suits directly against the Vatican. They protest in front of our Cathedrals so that, on our Holy Days, we must contend with the press rather than concentrating on the Lord. They pretend to speak for us but they have no such authority and represent nothing more than a fringe, however loud and obnoxious, group who want to dismantle the Church and put in its place some bastardized version of the Episcopal or Anglican churches.
This incident is but another of a long line of such affronts.
It is about time we stopped hoping they went away and came out fighting.
We, as Catholics who recognize the primacy of Rome and the unalterable nature of the authority invested in the Church by God Himself, must stand up to these heretics and refuse to let them control the public face of our faith.
This is not some easily dismissed incident that, because it was withdrawn after it became a public embarrassment to the CT legislature, should be ignored.
There has been much calling to the Catholic Church to engage the political process across the USA. Prayer for the faithful is always helpful but now is the time to ban together and go on the offensive. Passive actions do not resinate with this administration because this is internal terrorism within our government.
The Church is the most feared entity to the radical liberals. The violence against womens act has been the earmark spending package that has attacked the most dedicated followers of the Church through its systematic destruction of traditional marriage and the family.
It is no accident that families are broken up at the rates we see today. Billions is filtered into the radical liberals pockets under the guise of helping battered women. This money is not used to help families and women. The money is used to set of political action fromts across America as we the people believe it is there to help families.
Today our President announced a full cabinet, staffed with the same radicals that are anti men, anti children, anti church and anti traditional marriage.
We have come to that crossroads where the Catholic Church caves into these people or stand up and fight for your God given rights.
Read…Learn… become familure with the violence against womens act AKA (VAWA). It is this Act sponsored by Joe Biden that is the most destructive force accross this country and we all just sit back and fall for the games. It not about protecting women. Families , Men and the Church has always been the protector of women and children and now the Ggovernment wants to take over and intrude on the family unit.
VAWA is nothing more than a program designed and calulated to rip appart families and redistribute family wealth to the people that surround the divorce industry.
Today we see direct attack at the functioning of the Catholic Church. The most giving orgainization throughout the world. It fiscal policies has been run for centuries and is sound today, even with law suits and meedia driven scandal and lack of government support through voucher programs.
Today , we see government mandated conrol of the Catholic Church.
We cannot sit back and assume this will go away and Catholics can enjoy their Freedoms of religion as mandated by the US Constution.
It is time to go on the offensive and call to arms all Catholics across the globe as well as other religious leaders to impeach our leaders who do not respect and honor their sworn oath to uphold the US Constution.
There has been much calling to the Catholic Church to engage the political process across the USA. Prayer for the faithful is always helpful but now is the time to ban together and go on the offensive. Passive actions do not resinate with this administration because this is internal terrorism within our government.
The Church is the most feared entity to the radical liberals. The violence against womens act has been the earmark spending package that has attacked the most dedicated followers of the Church through its systematic destruction of traditional marriage and the family.
It is no accident that families are broken up at the rates we see today. Billions is filtered into the radical liberals pockets under the guise of helping battered women. This money is not used to help families and women. The money is used to set of political action fromts across America as we the people believe it is there to help families.
Today our President announced a full cabinet, staffed with the same radicals that are anti men, anti children, anti church and anti traditional marriage.
We have come to that crossroads where the Catholic Church caves into these people or stand up and fight for your God given rights.
Read…Learn… become familure with the violence against womens act AKA (VAWA). It is this Act sponsored by Joe Biden that is the most destructive force accross this country and we all just sit back and fall for the games. It not about protecting women. Families , Men and the Church has always been the protector of women and children and now the Ggovernment wants to take over and intrude on the family unit.
VAWA is nothing more than a program designed and calulated to rip appart families and redistribute family wealth to the people that surround the divorce industry.
Today we see direct attack at the functioning of the Catholic Church. The most giving orgainization throughout the world. It fiscal policies has been run for centuries and is sound today, even with law suits and meedia driven scandal and lack of government support through voucher programs.
Today , we see government mandated conrol of the Catholic Church.
We cannot sit back and assume this will go away and Catholics can enjoy their Freedoms of religion as mandated by the US Constution.
It is time to go on the offensive and call to arms all Catholics across the globe as well as other religious leaders to impeach our leaders who do not respect and honor their sworn oath to uphold the US Constution.
There has been much calling to the Catholic Church to engage the political process across the USA. Prayer for the faithful is always helpful but now is the time to ban together and go on the offensive. Passive actions do not resinate with this administration because this is internal terrorism within our government.
The Church is the most feared entity to the radical liberals. The violence against womens act has been the earmark spending package that has attacked the most dedicated followers of the Church through its systematic destruction of traditional marriage and the family.
It is no accident that families are broken up at the rates we see today. Billions is filtered into the radical liberals pockets under the guise of helping battered women. This money is not used to help families and women. The money is used to set of political action fromts across America as we the people believe it is there to help families.
Today our President announced a full cabinet, staffed with the same radicals that are anti men, anti children, anti church and anti traditional marriage.
We have come to that crossroads where the Catholic Church caves into these people or stand up and fight for your God given rights.
Read…Learn… become familure with the violence against womens act AKA (VAWA). It is this Act sponsored by Joe Biden that is the most destructive force accross this country and we all just sit back and fall for the games. It not about protecting women. Families , Men and the Church has always been the protector of women and children and now the Ggovernment wants to take over and intrude on the family unit.
VAWA is nothing more than a program designed and calulated to rip appart families and redistribute family wealth to the people that surround the divorce industry.
Today we see direct attack at the functioning of the Catholic Church. The most giving orgainization throughout the world. It fiscal policies has been run for centuries and is sound today, even with law suits and meedia driven scandal and lack of government support through voucher programs.
Today , we see government mandated conrol of the Catholic Church.
We cannot sit back and assume this will go away and Catholics can enjoy their Freedoms of religion as mandated by the US Constution.
It is time to go on the offensive and call to arms all Catholics across the globe as well as other religious leaders to impeach our leaders who do not respect and honor their sworn oath to uphold the US Constitution.
There has been much calling to the Catholic Church to engage the political process across the USA. Prayer for the faithful is always helpful but now is the time to ban together and go on the offensive. Passive actions do not resinate with this administration because this is internal terrorism within our government.
The Church is the most feared entity to the radical liberals. The violence against womens act has been the earmark spending package that has attacked the most dedicated followers of the Church through its systematic destruction of traditional marriage and the family.
It is no accident that families are broken up at the rates we see today. Billions is filtered into the radical liberals pockets under the guise of helping battered women. This money is not used to help families and women. The money is used to set of political action fromts across America as we the people believe it is there to help families.
Today our President announced a full cabinet, staffed with the same radicals that are anti men, anti children, anti church and anti traditional marriage.
We have come to that crossroads where the Catholic Church caves into these people or stand up and fight for your God given rights.
Read…Learn… become familure with the violence against womens act AKA (VAWA). It is this Act sponsored by Joe Biden that is the most destructive force accross this country and we all just sit back and fall for the games. It not about protecting women. Families , Men and the Church has always been the protector of women and children and now the Ggovernment wants to take over and intrude on the family unit.
VAWA is nothing more than a program designed and calulated to rip appart families and redistribute family wealth to the people that surround the divorce industry.
Today we see direct attack at the functioning of the Catholic Church. The most giving orgainization throughout the world. It fiscal policies has been run for centuries and is sound today, even with law suits and meedia driven scandal and lack of government support through voucher programs.
Today , we see government mandated conrol of the Catholic Church.
We cannot sit back and assume this will go away and Catholics can enjoy their Freedoms of religion as mandated by the US Constution.
It is time to go on the offensive and call to arms all Catholics across the globe as well as other religious leaders to impeach our leaders who do not respect and honor their sworn oath to uphold the US Constitution.
There has been much calling to the Catholic Church to engage the political process across the USA. Prayer for the faithful is always helpful but now is the time to ban together and go on the offensive. Passive actions do not resinate with this administration because this is internal terrorism within our government.
The Church is the most feared entity to the radical liberals. The violence against womens act has been the earmark spending package that has attacked the most dedicated followers of the Church through its systematic destruction of traditional marriage and the family.
It is no accident that families are broken up at the rates we see today. Billions is filtered into the radical liberals pockets under the guise of helping battered women. This money is not used to help families and women. The money is used to set of political action fromts across America as we the people believe it is there to help families.
Today our President announced a full cabinet, staffed with the same radicals that are anti men, anti children, anti church and anti traditional marriage.
We have come to that crossroads where the Catholic Church caves into these people or stand up and fight for your God given rights.
Read…Learn… become familure with the violence against womens act AKA (VAWA). It is this Act sponsored by Joe Biden that is the most destructive force accross this country and we all just sit back and fall for the games. It not about protecting women. Families , Men and the Church has always been the protector of women and children and now the Ggovernment wants to take over and intrude on the family unit.
VAWA is nothing more than a program designed and calulated to rip appart families and redistribute family wealth to the people that surround the divorce industry.
Today we see direct attack at the functioning of the Catholic Church. The most giving orgainization throughout the world. It fiscal policies has been run for centuries and is sound today, even with law suits and meedia driven scandal and lack of government support through voucher programs.
Today , we see government mandated conrol of the Catholic Church.
We cannot sit back and assume this will go away and Catholics can enjoy their Freedoms of religion as mandated by the US Constution.
It is time to go on the offensive and call to arms all Catholics across the globe as well as other religious leaders to impeach our leaders who do not respect and honor their sworn oath to uphold the US Constitution.