Posted on 03/08/2009 10:51:42 AM PDT by Oakleaf
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.
I'll post information on the bill's background and true sponsorship when I find it. It is an idea that's been floating around VOTF circles in Connecticut.
[This is the hotlink for 'floating around VOTF circles in Connecticut' above: http://www.votf.org/parishvoice/votf-to-ask-at-conference-who-owns-our-church/21]
Text from Above Link:
VOTF TO ASK AT CONFERENCE: "Who Owns Our Church?" Printer-friendly versionAffiliate Location: Bridgeport. Connecticut “Who Owns Our Church?” will be the topic of a conference at Fairfield University on Saturday, April 26, 2008 sponsored by Voice of the Faithful in the Diocese of Bridgeport and The Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J., Chair of Catholic Studies.
David O’Brien, the keynoter, will speak on: “Who Owns Our Church? Trustees and Trusteeism in the American Church.” In the early nineteenth century boards of lay trustees owned parish churches and hired pastors. Conflicts between pastors and people, pastors and bishops eventually led the bishops to demand absolute ownership of parish churches. The battle over trustees was so intense that the term “trusteeism” has a decidedly negative connotation among bishops and clergy today. In the State of Connecticut, ownership is now vested in the parish corporation consisting of the bishop, the vicar-general, the pastor, and two lay trustees appointed by the clerical members.
David O’Brien, professor emeritus of American Church History and former director of the Center for Religion and Ethics at the College of the Holy Cross, recently retired as a member of the Board of Trustees of Voice of the Faithful. His many books include: Public Catholicism (1996); From the Heart of the American Church: Catholic Higher Education and American Culture (1994); Isaac Hecker, an American Catholic (1992); The Renewal of American Catholicism (1972); and American Catholics and Social Reform: The New Deal Years (1968).
In addition to Professor O’Brien, Paul Lakeland, who holds the Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J., Chair of Catholic Studies at Fairfield University, will speak on “Who Owns Our Church? A Theological Perspective.” Professor Lakeland, a long-time supporter of Voice of the Faithful, is well known as the author of the seminal book, The Liberation of the Laity (2003), and of Catholicism at the Crossroads: How the Laity Can Save the Church (2007).
Finally, speakers representing VOTF’s three study groups will briefly address the issues of Church governance, the role of women in the Church, and Church finance. A free and open discussion of these matters by the speakers and the audience will follow.
The conference will open at 9:30 a.m. and conclude with mass at 4 p.m. All sessions will be held in the Oak Room of the Barone Campus Center. For further details and information about registration please see www.votfbpt.org.
What coward introduced this illegal, unconstitutional encroachment of government authority into the realm of religion?
Is this a bad joke?
I was going to ask the same — since when can the Government tell any religion how to run its internal affairs? And to single out the Catholic faith is completely unconscionable.
I think your tag line about covers it.
It won’t matter anyway. The USA will be communist in 4-8 years.
Not without a little argument
I look for the O’s secret police to sit in the pews with the parishioners soon so that they can keep an eye on them for “national security” reasons.
No sponsor. So no one can be impeached for this tyrannical, inconstitutional move? Impeach everyone on the committee.
>And to single out the Catholic faith is completely unconscionable.<
No it’s not, it should be expected. Now let’s see how our “Catholic” politicians will react.
That’ll be temporary. Then we’ll be a Muslim nation.
It was introduced by two legislators, McDonald and Lawlor, who are targeting the Church because of its opposition to gay “marriage” last year. The people of CT got gay marriage forced on them anyway, and McDonald “married” his boyfriend.
VOTF is very pro-gay, so I’m sure they had a true meeting of minds over this one. McDonald introduced the bill as a form of pay-back to the Catholic Church for opposing gay “marriage.”
How many regions of the former Soviet Union are now Muslim? I know Chechnya is one...
>>It was introduced by two legislators, McDonald and Lawlor<<
They should be impeached for violating their oath of office.
Don’t know offhand. But they want to convert the “great satan”.
Any "Catholic" legislature that votes for this bill should be automatically excommunicated.
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