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Catholic Charities Mixes Politics with Community Services

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  • Catholic Charities Mixes Politics with Community Services

    Catholic Charities In Rockford Ending Foster Care, Adoptions Over Gay Rights
    Gay Adoption

    Rather than allow unmarried people or same-sex couples to adopt or foster children, Catholic Charities of Rockford, Illinois announced Thursday that they would stop providing foster care services.

    The move comes after months of drama in Springfield over an amendment to the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act, which goes into effect June 1. The law says that if an agency receives state money, it cannot discriminate against same-sex couples, and must treat people in civil unions as it would treat married couples.

    When the law was passed, Catholic Charities and other religious and conservative groups pushed for an amendment that would allow faith-based organizations to "decline an adoption or foster family home application" to a couple in a civil union if "if acceptance of that application would constitute a violation of the organization's sincerely held religious beliefs." A Senate committee voted down the amendment in April, and a House committee did the same this week.

    "The law of our land has always guaranteed its people freedom of religion," Penny Wiegert, the Rockford Diocese's director of communication said in a statement. "Denying this exemption to faith-based agencies leads one to believe that our lawmakers prefer laws that guarantee freedom from religion. We simply can not compromise the spirit that motivates us to deliver quality, professional services to families by letting our state define our religious teachings."

    Catholic Charities of Rockford handles about 350 foster family and adoption cases, according to the Rockford Archdiocese. They work with 11 counties in northern Illinois and have a state budget of $7.5 million. Today, the Diocese announced that they would transition out of their current contracts and terminate 58 employees when they drop the program.

    Anthony Martinez, executive director of the Civil Rights Agenda, said this is a "sad day" for the foster families and parents involved with Catholic Charities.

    "This is a sad display of bigotry by Catholic Charities, and their bigotry will now be harming children in their care," Martinez said in a statement. "It is equally sad that they would invoke 'Freedom of Religion' as they make this announcement. That freedom is granted only when the religious agency is not funded by taxpayer dollars, and they are well aware of that."
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    The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, which has been following the case closely, will make sure the displaced children are taken care of, according to DCFS spokesman Kendall Marlowe.

    "We are confident that we will be able to transition these cases to other private agencies," Marlowe said, adding that DCFS works with 45 other agencies that handle foster and adoption cases under contract.

    DCFS handled about 1,000 former Catholic Charities cases in 2007 when the Archdiocese of Chicago lost its insurance and could no longer provide the services due to a $12 million lawsuit payment. The 2001 lawsuit alleged that Chicago's Catholic Charities had licensed foster parents who went on to abuse three children placed in their care.

    So far, only the Rockford Archdiocese has announced the decision to stop its foster care program, but statewide Catholic Charities handles about 2,500 cases.

    "The Catholic Church is not going to be OK with Catholic Charities processing applications from anyone in a civil union," the head of Peoria's Catholic Charities told Chicago Public Radio earlier this month.

    If the Catholic Charities in Peoria, Joliet, Springfield and Belleville decide to drop their programs, DCFS will have a much larger caseload to pick up.

    Fortunately, Marlowe said, Illinois has a "strong, private sector child welfare community" and--thanks to people like Jane Addams--has some of the oldest child welfare agencies in the country.

    Martinez told HuffPost Chicago he was confident DCFS would "be able to quickly put those children into agencies that treat all citizens of Illinois equally."
    It's more important to stick to your bigoted political guns, than to have children be taken into healthy, stable families.

    Mean Spirited Denial of Services
    A lot of Republicans are not racist, but a lot of racists are Republican.

  • #2
    If they are required to violate their principles to fill the duty abdicated by others, why are you against them ceasing operations that force them to violate religious oaths.
    I make no bones about my moral support for [terrorist] organizations. - chegitz guevara
    For those who aspire to live in a high cost, high tax, big government place, our nation and the world offers plenty of options. Vermont, Canada and Venezuela all offer you the opportunity to live in the socialist, big government paradise you long for. –Senator Rubio

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    • #3
      Politics and religion make for a bad combination, DD. Playing politics with the welfare of children is worse.
      A lot of Republicans are not racist, but a lot of racists are Republican.

      Comment


      • #4
        That would be the Illinois government that has forced Catholic Charities out of providing the services they had been unless you can show me a Vatican directive indicating a change in attitude that would have allowed the charitable organization to do the things demanded by the state.
        I make no bones about my moral support for [terrorist] organizations. - chegitz guevara
        For those who aspire to live in a high cost, high tax, big government place, our nation and the world offers plenty of options. Vermont, Canada and Venezuela all offer you the opportunity to live in the socialist, big government paradise you long for. –Senator Rubio

        Comment


        • #5
          Wow MrFun posted another tired ass whiny story about people who aren't fans of butt sex. They're not dragging homosexuals with pickup trucks, they're just not giving babies away to gay couples. And because of new state law, they now have to shut down. Maybe it's the fault of the state law for ****ing with the status quo.

          Playing politics with the welfare of children is exactly what the gay lobby is doing here. Surely there are non-Catholic organizations they could go to for adoption and foster care services, but they'd rather make a big deal out of some petty bull****.
          John Brown did nothing wrong.

          Comment


          • #6
            Do Catholics think it's a sin for a homosexual to raise a child?

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            • #7
              Yes. Homosexuals are supposed to become priests, not parents.
              John Brown did nothing wrong.

              Comment


              • #8
                Did we want Roman Catholics running our foster homes? Look how that worked for Ireland?
                "I say shoot'em all and let God sort it out in the end!

                Comment


                • #9
                  The CC drops one of their reasons to exist and that should be a problem ?
                  With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.

                  Steven Weinberg

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by DinoDoc View Post
                    If they are required to violate their principles to fill the duty abdicated by others, why are you against them ceasing operations that force them to violate religious oaths.
                    They can be bigoted all they want. Just not with public money.
                    "The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
                    Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Felch View Post
                      Playing politics with the welfare of children is exactly what the gay lobby is doing here. Surely there are non-Catholic organizations they could go to for adoption and foster care services, but they'd rather make a big deal out of some petty bull****.
                      You've got it twisted. The Catholics are asking for an exception to a patently fair statement (public monies should not be used when they actively discriminate based on personal values) and stopping their entire foster program in protest of it. They're playing politics, not the gays.
                      "The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
                      Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Asher View Post
                        They can be bigoted all they want. Just not with public money.
                        They agreed with you. MrFun decided to whine about it.
                        I make no bones about my moral support for [terrorist] organizations. - chegitz guevara
                        For those who aspire to live in a high cost, high tax, big government place, our nation and the world offers plenty of options. Vermont, Canada and Venezuela all offer you the opportunity to live in the socialist, big government paradise you long for. –Senator Rubio

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Asher View Post
                          You've got it twisted. The Catholics are asking for an exception to a patently fair statement (public monies should not be used when they actively discriminate based on personal values) and stopping their entire foster program in protest of it. They're playing politics, not the gays.
                          Wait, so if they were entirely funded by private donations they wouldn't have to let homosexuals adopt any of their kids?

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by gribbler View Post
                            Wait, so if they were entirely funded by private donations they wouldn't have to let homosexuals adopt any of their kids?
                            I think that's fair.
                            "The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
                            Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              So basically, Catholics aren't generous enough to pay for helping foster kids unless it's receiving subsidies from the government?

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