Catholic Church Under Attack by State of Connecticut

The culture war on faith and religion is ratcheting up several notches.

The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States declares that Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution, are considered fundamental, priority rights that event the separate states cannot violate (and their assent to them came when they accepted the Constitution at the time of their statehood).

So why is the legislature of the state of Connecticut attempting to restructure the Roman Catholic Church, at least as it operates in that state? Because the church is a target of opportunity. According to the Diocese of Bridgeport:

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 pretext for the state action is that it is "responding" to the complaints of Catholic dissidents who complain that the Church's hierarchical structure is not democratic and has led to abuses of various sorts. Nevermind that these dissidents are certainly free to exercise their right to withdraw from the church. No one is forcing them to remain. The real agenda is that these people want to change the belief system of the church to one that mirrors theirs: acceptance of homosexuality, gay marriage, abortion, a female priesthood, etc.

In other words, if the ancient Church won't change itself to the world, then by golly they'll get the worldly government to change it for them.

We expect this effort to fail. The fact that it is even taking place is a sign, however, that the old constitutional safeguards soon may not be enough to protect traditional Christian organizations.

Every person of faith, be they Christian, Jew, Hindu or Muslim, should realize that if Connecticut succeeds in taking out the Catholic church, then any state can do the same to a Baptist church, a mosque, a synagogue, an ashram, or reading room.

UPDATE -- Tom Hoopes at the National Catholic Register gives more details, including how the dissident Voice of the Faithful is in league with certain politicians to attempt a political power grab with the Catholic church as as the spoils. Some politicians, he says, want payback for the bishops support of the defense of marriage act. The good news, Hoopes says, is that this is a legislative battle the Church should win on both grounds of both constitution and faith.