The Catholic Church versus the D.C. Council
By: Michael Neibauer
Examiner Staff Writer
November 13, 2009
D.C. Catholic leaders say forcing the archdiocese to provide adoption services for gay couples, health benefits for gay workers or space for gay events puts at risk services the church gives thousands of poor residents.
"We're not threatening to withdraw services," said Susan Gibbs, archdiocese spokeswoman. "We're not going to be allowed to provide services. We need to be certified, and to get certified you need to say you followed D.C. law."
The same-sex marriage legislation, as amended and adopted by the D.C. Council's judiciary committee, poses far-reaching consequences, the archdiocese claims.
It would put homelessness services, crisis assistance for teenagers, and adoption and foster care programs all at risk, because the Catholic Church will not abide by a D.C. law requiring it to promote gay marriages, church officials said. The archdiocese receives roughly $18 million a year to provide those services and more to District residents.
It "appears to leave religious institutions susceptible" to lawsuits and the loss of government funding for a church's refusal to provide benefits for the spouse of a gay employee, to facilitate an adoption or foster care by a same-sex couple, and to make church halls available to gay couples for non-wedding-related events, Archdiocese Chancellor Jane Belford wrote to Councilman Phil Mendelson, judiciary committee chairman.
Catholic Charities served 68,000 D.C. residents in 2008, Gibbs said, and claims to be "the largest provider of beds for the homeless in the District," serving more than 1,400 people every night.
Its programs include health and dental care for the poor, vocational training, child care and after-school care, mental health and substance abuse treatment, crisis assistance, and foster care support and adoption counseling.
D.C. Clergy United for Marriage responded Thursday that the Catholic Church was running a "cynical political ploy" by threatening to "turn their backs on thousands of D.C. Catholics" and other residents. Mendelson called it, simply, "rhetoric."
"I don't want to be cavalier in dismissing them," he said. "On that other hand, I don't think the council will legislate by threats." He added, "I certainly don't want to drive anybody out of business. But equality is equality." The original legislation drafted by at-large Councilman David Catania exempted all religious societies from the "promotion" of any gay marriage-related activities that ran contrary to their beliefs, provided those same services were not available to the general public. The amended bill, which is expected to garner final council approval before Christmas, provides a blanket exemption for churches from any activity directly related to a gay wedding ceremony, as well as from the promotion of same-sex marriage through "religious programs, counseling, courses, or retreats." The church is not required to teach gay marriage in a classroom, for example, but it must provide adoption services for a gay married couple. "We can't," Gibbs said. "We just can't."
