Posted on 06/02/2009 4:04:21 AM PDT by Man50D
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport in Connecticut has filed a federal lawsuit following assertions by a state official that rallying church members at the Capitol in Hartford constitutes a violation of lobbying law.
Six weeks after 4,000 Catholics in Connecticut rallied in opposition to a proposed state law known as Bill 1098, which dictated local parishes reorganize their governing structures to substitute lay leaders for priests in oversight of finances , the Diocese of Bridgeport received a letter from Connecticut's Office of State Ethics informing it that an investigation was underway to ascertain if the diocese had violated state law by failing to register as a lobbyist organization.
"Following the surprise introduction of Bill 1098," said Diocese Bishop William E. Lori in a statement, "a proposal that singled out Catholic parishes and would have forced them to reorganize contrary to church law and the First Amendment, our diocese responded in the most natural, spontaneous, and frankly, American, of ways: we alerted our membership – in person and through our website ; we encouraged them to exercise their free speech by contacting their elected representatives; and we organized a rally at the State Capitol. How can this possibly be called lobbying?"
Nonetheless, the lawsuit states, in a meeting with church representatives one month following the investigation letter, the ethics enforcement officer of the state OSE, Thomas K. Jones, told church representatives that the rally in Hartford and statements on the diocese website constituted a sufficient basis to file a complaint.
Consequently, a complaint from Jones could lead to imposition of a $10,000 fine and even possible criminal charges against the diocese. Furthermore, to become a registered lobbyist, the diocese would have to comply with reporting requirements, submit to audits and wear badges at the Capitol.
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...
Homo?
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:
Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of interest.
Obama Says A Baby Is A Punishment
Obama: “If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”
Then call the Thomas More law center, and start a counter offensive.
Stop being nice, start being good.
Here we go again. I thought they learned their lesson the first time around.
Oh btw, I bet the mosques will not be affected.
OT,
POTUS speaks Arabic in Riyadh
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2263825/posts
- Sigh, I know, anyone can know a few words... take this:
Obama: Man of the World
Snip:
“I was a little Jakarta street kid,” he said in a wide-ranging interview in his office (excerpts are on my blog, www.nytimes.com/ontheground). He once got in trouble for making faces during Koran study classes in his elementary school, but a president is less likely to stereotype Muslims as fanatics — and more likely to be aware of their nationalism — if he once studied the Koran with them.
Mr. Obama recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to prayer, reciting them with a first-rate accent. In a remark that seemed delightfully uncalculated (it’ll give Alabama voters heart attacks), Mr. Obama described the call to prayer as “one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset.”
Moreover, Mr. Obama’s own grandfather in Kenya was a Muslim. Mr. Obama never met his grandfather and says he isn’t sure if his grandfather’s two wives were simultaneous or consecutive, or even if he was Sunni or Shiite. (O.K., maybe Mr. Obama should just give up on Alabama.)
http://select.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/opinion/06kristof.html?_r=1
Figures, an article yesterday stated O wants to split Jerusalem.
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