Posted on 03/08/2009 8:30:59 AM PDT by Oakleaf
Catholic Family News • March 7, 2009
Write to the Senator and Representative - Show Up for the Rally on March 11!
See below:
• Urgent letter from Brideport Diocese Webpage • Information on March 11 Rally • Contact information for CT Senator and Representative • Statement from Father Greg J. Markey
(More details also at http://wdtprs.com/blog/2009/03/connecticut-state-legislature-introduced-bill-10982009/)
(Text of bill at http://www.cga.ct.gov/2009/TOB/S/2009SB-01098-R00-SB.htm)
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) 469-9725 E-mail: MLawlor99@juno.com
We also ask you to come to Hartford this Wednesday, March 11, to be present at the public hearing. Details on bus transportation will be available on Monday. If you would like to attend, contact your Pastor.
It is up to us to stop this unbridled abuse of governmental power
It is time for us to defend our First Amendment rights.
It is time for us to defend our Church!
- From Bridgeport Diocese webpage ALSO AVAILABLE IN SPANISH FROM Diocesean webpage
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Statement of Father Greg J. Markey
Dear Members of the Gospel of Life Society,
Just when you thought it could not get any worse up in Hartford, it has happened.
Yesterday, Connecticut Judiciary Committee of the Connecticut State Legislature introduced bill #1098/2009 that directly attacks the Roman Catholic Church .Should it pass, the bishop and pastors will be deprived of any administrative, financial and legal power over their parishes.
The Bishop is asking for statements to be read at all the Masses this weekend, and to organize a rally in Hartford on Wednesday. Each parish is to send 5 representatives. I will be leading a group from St. Mary Church in Norwalk. Most likely there will be diocesan buses.
We are asked to contact our legislators, and especially the Judiciary Committee list. Now is the time to act! Stay tuned.
In Christ,
Fr. Greg J. Markey St. Mary Church, • Norwalk, CT
When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist. When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out; I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews, I remained silent; I was not a Jew.
When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out.
Pastor Martin Niemöller
If they can do this to the Catholic Church they can do this to any Church. If they are able to do this to the Catholic Church they WILL do it to the other Churches and Temples.
I just sent the link to the text of the bill to my Pastor.
They must control EVERYTHING in our lives.....
I read it and still don’t understand what’s going on here.
Could you explain it a bit for me?
Does this apply to muslims also......I would bet not.
The real problem is far too many Catholics (and others) voting for dems who bring about laws such as this.
The Freedom of Choice Act can be summed up like this:
In the past, the government has allowed sinners to sin.
In the future, the government will force non-sinners to sin.
My best interpretation of this bill is that it would allow the liberal lay Catholics who support Obama and other liberal causes to have power in running Roman Catholic churches.
This power would be denied to Catholic clergy who believe in traditional values (anti-gay marriage, pro-life etc.) under the legislation.
Consider thst more and more traditonal values bishops and priests are standing up to oppose the anti-life and gay activist agendas. They are trying to discipline those in the church including politicians who are voting against chuch teaching.
This legislation is designed to attack traditional clergy by denying them administrative power in church affairs.
Is this bill the FOCA?
It looks like this bill is something different. I know what FOCA is. But thanks!
OH!!!!
Thanks, this is very scary.
O ne
B ig
A ss
M istake
A merica!
Can someone summarize this bill for us? I read the link but didn’t see the bill posted.
We have entered a very scary era. They’re coming for our money, our guns, our religions, our jobs and our children.
In the Catholic Church, basically, the Pope is in charge and he appoints the Bishops. Each Bishop is in charge of his Diocese and he appoints the Pastor to each Parish. The Pastor reports to the Bishop personally and is responsible for all aspects of running the Parish.
My reading of this bill is that the Holy Father and the Bishop and the Pastor are no longer in charge, they are replaced by a group of parishoners who are totally in charge of the Parish. Several leftist/liberal groups who claim to be part of the Church have been agitating for this for years. It would fit in nicely with their agenda.
This way of running a Church may be the way many Churches are run and it is fine for them if that is what they want to do. The problem, the ‘wrongness’ with this bill is that it COMPELLS the Catholic Church to be run that way. I am forced to conclude that their main reason (ignore the purpose stated at the end of the bill it is a smokescreen) that the legislators who introduced this bill did so is because don’t like the Catholic Church. I submit if this is such a noble idea why aren’t they submitting bills for the other Christian Churches or for Jewish Congreations?
Again, if they can do this to the Catholic Church they can do this to any Church. If this succeeds is a “Patriotic Catholic Church of Connecticut” run by the state just like they have in Communist China far behind?
Spelling error, it should be Jewish Congregations. Apologies.
http://www.cga.ct.gov/2009/TOB/S/2009SB-01098-R00-SB.htm
N.B. Rather than play around with formatting these are the changes proposed to the law.
Section 1.b through 1.h is new (underlined in the original bill from CGA) as are Sections 2 and 3 entirely. The section in [brackets] in one is deleted.
General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1098
January Session, 2009 LCO No. 4528
*04528_______JUD*
Referred to Committee on Judiciary
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT MODIFYING CORPORATE LAWS RELATING TO CERTAIN RELIGIOUS CORPORATIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 33-279 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2009):
(a) A corporation may be organized in connection with any Roman Catholic Church or congregation in this state, by filing in the office of the Secretary of the State a certificate signed by the archbishop or bishop and the vicar-general of the archdiocese or of the diocese in which such congregation is located and the pastor and two laymen belonging to such congregation, stating that they have so organized for the purposes hereinafter mentioned. [Such archbishop or bishop, vicar-general and pastor of such congregation and, in case of the death or other disability of the archbishop or bishop, the administrator of the archdiocese or diocese for the time being, the chancellor of the archdiocese or diocese and the pastor of such congregation shall be members, ex officio, of such corporation, and, upon their death, resignation, removal or preferment, their successors in office shall become such members in their stead. The two lay members shall be appointed annually, in writing, during the month of January from the lay members of the congregation by a majority of the ex-officio members of the corporation; and three members of the corporation, of whom one shall be a layman, shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.]
(b) The corporation shall have a board of directors consisting of not less than seven nor more than thirteen lay members. The archbishop or bishop of the diocese or his designee shall serve as an ex-officio member of the board of directors without the right to vote.
(c) The members of the board of directors shall be elected from among the lay members of the congregation at an annual meeting of the corporation. The members of the board of directors shall serve for staggered terms of not more than three years. The members of the board of directors shall owe a fiduciary duty to the corporation and the members of the congregation.
(d) The board of directors shall meet at least quarterly. A majority of the members of the board of directors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Notice of the meetings of the board of directors shall be sent by mail or electronic mail to each member of the board of directors and be delivered or published in a manner likely to come to the attention of a majority of the members of the congregation.
(e) The general administrative and financial powers of the corporation shall be exercised by or under the authority of the board of directors. Such powers shall include, but are not limited to:
(1) Establishing and approving budgets;
(2) Managing the financial affairs of the corporation;
(3) Providing for the auditing of the financial records of the corporation;
(4) Developing and implementing strategic plans and capital projects;
(5) Developing outreach programs and other services to be provided to the community; and
(6) Any of the powers enumerated in section 33-1036.
(f) The pastor of the congregation shall report to the board of directors with respect to administrative and financial matters.
(g) Any member of the corporation is entitled to inspect and copy, during regular business hours at the corporation’s principal office, any of the business records of the corporation including accounting records and financial statements of the corporation if such member gives the corporation written notice of his demand at least five business days before the date on which he wishes to inspect and copy.
(h) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit, restrict or derogate from any power, right, authority, duty or responsibility of the bishop or pastor in matters pertaining exclusively to religious tenets and practices.
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2009) The provisions of section 33-279 of the general statutes, as amended by this act, shall apply to all corporations in existence on January 1, 2010, that were organized under subpart D of part II of chapter 598 of the general statutes prior to said date.
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2009) Any person having reason to believe that monetary contributions to a corporation organized under chapter 598 of the general statutes are being misappropriated and not being used for the purpose for which they were given may report that belief to the Attorney General. The Attorney General shall, pursuant to his authority under section 3-125 of the general statutes to represent the public interest in the protection of any gifts, legacies or devises intended for public or charitable purposes, investigate such report and take such action as he deems necessary.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2009 33-279
Sec. 2 October 1, 2009 New section
Sec. 3 October 1, 2009 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To revise the corporate governance provisions applicable to the Roman Catholic Church and provide for the investigation of the misappropriation of funds by religious corporations.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]
OMG! How is this possible in this country?
Ping ... for Christianity under assault from the government.
I’ve read this article 5 times and I still have no idea what the bill is trying to do or how it would affect the Catholic Church.
bump...
Just Wow! Maybe this will get the liberal priests off the butts!
5.56mm
Ping to you.
I think these 2 insane red sons of bitches are owed a lot more than phone calls and e-mail.
Boiling alive in hot oil, now yer talking.
Phone:
1-800-842-1420 (Capitol)
203-348-7439 (Home)
In the District:
P.O. Box 120537
East Haven, CT 06512
(203) 469-9725
How Chavez like.
I saw this yesterday on another blog and I was stunned. It sets up a lay board to take over all activities and decision-making in the parish, and limits the priests or bishops to “religious matters” only (however those may be defined).
This is not a general law for all churches in Connecticut (and even so it would be appalling and a gross intrusion into religious affairs), but is specifically aimed at the Catholic Church.
I don’t see how it can stand, but anything is possible in the Obama New World Order.
A little more information about this is that both McDonald and Lawlor were very involved in the “gay marriage” push in CT, which was resisted by the Church. McDonald in particular (who “married” his boyfriend) really has it in for the Church and this is pay-back.
Ridiculous!! Under the Constitution, they have NO right whatsoever to do this. This will not pass. Amazing how many ignorant people are politicians these days...
It’s about time Christians in this country stood up and fought back for the decades of ridicule and scorn heaped on em!
This is not about FOCA (expanding abortion in all cases). This is about Catholic Bishops controlling the Catholic schools. This bill would strip them of this power in CT.
Private schools and home schooling are the 2 biggest threats to the forced indoctrination of our youth.
Bishops have been in the news a lot lately about stopping schools from honoring pro-abortion, pro-homosexual marriage, etc- speakers and politicians.
This bill will allow the local liberal Catholics to do as they please without direction from the Bishops.
We haven’t even begun to see how Christians COULD be persecuted yet. Thank God for the Constitution!
He s obviously as queer as a three dollar bill.
So imbeciles from Stamford elect a homosexual who proceeds to reinforce every stereotype about homosexual politicians by promptly introducing unconstitutional legislation to regulate not just any religion but the Catholic Church in particular.
He is such a little bitch.
That being said, it should be fought vigorously as a proposed bill.
More evidence that both local, state, and the federal government(s) are all out of control.
Catholics had a chance to stop this in November 07. The church was warned but failed to heed the warnings that were made. Perhaps the church must suffer a little in order to get their priorities right.
Nov 08, sorry
Can someone from Connecticut answer something for me? I’ve read that about 41% of CT’s population is Catholic. If this is so, I would imagine a fairly significant percentage of the CT state legislature is also Catholic. Add to that CT’s contribution to national politics by giving us (time after time after time) hardcore pro-abort “Catholic” Chris Dodd in the U.S. Senate and Rosa DeLauro and John Larson is the U.S. House. How did this happen? If that 41% had been voting according to the faith, CT Catholics wouldn’t be having to worry about this legislation, because they would have had legislators that would not have encroached upon the 1st Amendment right to freedom of religion. They wouldn’t have helped to elect men and women who oppose the right to life of the unborn, support gay marriage/civil unions, and all the other depravity that is bound to bring this country down if we don’t get it turned around.
Perhaps the old saying, “We get the leaders we deserve,” applies here. I say this as a very faithful, orthodox Catholic that believes this legislation is terribly anti-Catholic, anti-Christian. However, again, the question that needs answering is, “How did we get here?”
The majority of those who voted for Obama were CINOs -- Catholics in Name Only -- who may have grown up Catholic, but don't really know or understand or practice what the Church teaches. They usually only attend Mass at Christmas and Easter -- if at all -- but call themselves Catholic anyway. The vast majority of church-attending, full-believing Cathoics who voted in November voted for McCain.
http://kofc.org/un/eb/en/news/legislative/detail/548357.html
I think post #29 may answer the question.
Obviously what affects one church affects all of them to some extent, but looking at this from the perspective of the litigation that local Episcopal and Presbyterian parishes have had to endure when they severed themselves from the 'parent' church that has gone insane and demonic, this bill could be a good thing, in the event of a similar problem arising in the Catholic Church (not saying that it will happen).
Prima Facie, obvious fact, but the constitution is sinking in the sand these days.
Ping to post 15 to read the language of the legislation.
Neither is the eminent domain garbage, abortion, gun control, etc...
You have to be of the idea that the United States Constitution is the law of the land and not a living and breathing document that changes with whatever perversion or thought the thuggary engages in at the time.
Many Catholics in the Northeast tend to be CINOs - Catholics in Name Only. They’re cultural Catholics, and may attend Mass, but don’t necessarily support Church teachings. This seems especially so in teachings of Sexual Morality. They’re also ‘genetic’ Democrats, cause that what their Grandparents and Parents were, so that’s what they are. They’re still of the opinion that Democrats are for the ‘little guy’, especially the Unions, and the Republicans are just mean, nasty and spiteful, and they hate poor people.
Time for some sand-blasting then....
;-)
What warnings? Are you speaking specifically about this legislation in CT?
You make a good point. Every church is suffering from this problem to a degree.
Why is it they feel so comfortable identifying themselves as Roman Catholic? Your church does stress the need to not only profess faith, but to live it.
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