Response: Connecticut Seeks to Regulate the Catholic Church

[ladychi]

I don't talk very often about being Catholic -- well, I mention it a lot, but I try not to be very in-your-face about it, but recent events demand a response from me and my limited sphere of influence.

Comments

[unfolded73]

Wow. That's shocking. It does appear to be pretty clearly in violation of freedom of religion, unless there's something I really don't understand about this bill.

So am I reading correctly that the reason for this is parishioners feel like they have no recourse if the church misuses funds? Obviously if it's criminal misuse of funds, they have the legal system, but there could be other ways to misuse funds that aren't criminal. If it were a Baptist church (just for example), you could just pick up and join a different church. Or start a new church. But with the parish system, that's not an option? I guess I can understand the parishioners' frustration, but the state can't mandate how a church is run if it's not violating the law. I guess I'm asking, what recourse would a parishioner have in the current system?

You know I'm an atheist, but I firmly believe churches have the right to operate the way they want to operate. I may disagree vehemently with their choices, but tough titty.

[ladychi]

You can't really go off and start your own parish, no. You could start to attend a different parish, or you could contact your bishop's office and he would be obligated to investigate. If you're upset with your bishop, then you could contact Rome. You might not be heard, but you could try that. There's always canon courts, too, if they get enough complaints. It's not like they're without recourse in the Catholic system, y'know?

[sheerpoetry]

I seriously doubt that has any hope of passing, unless CT is largely anti-Catholic.

Seriously, though, how did they come up with this brilliant plan? We're regulated and governed by the Vatican. The Catholic Church is older and better organized than pretty much anything in the US.

And why is it that when the government (or anyone) goes after a religion is it usualy the Catholics?

Sorry. Mini-rant there. Thanks for the news!

[katmorning]

Or if CT has very good spin doctors to convince the people voting on this monstrosity that churches are no different than any other non-profit organization, which can be regulated by government law, I believe.

But then you can bet the federal government and the Supreme Court would get involved, and it would fail.

I'm not Catholic, I'm a Mormon, but the repercussions this could have are utterly frightening. As well as pretty unmanageable. This isn't just a few branches of a church solely in Connecticut. This is the Roman Catholic Church. CT doesn't have any jurisdiction whatsoever on the vast majority of it.

[sheerpoetry]

I can only hope it won't pass.

If it does,and they've gone after the Catholic Church first, who or what is next?

[plaid_slytherin]

Wow. That is so not separation of church and state. Do people think that that doesn't work both ways? Is it suddenly only to protect the state from the church instead of the other way round?

[wickedgillie]

Fellow Catholic chiming in here to say that bill is un-frakkin-real. And I think that any person of faith (or person of conscience who supports the actual Constitution as written) SHOULD be appalled and very concerned about this. Church and State--separated with good reason. I am already unhappy about government taking over my bank, my mortgage brokerage, and the company that built my car. Why would I want them to mismanage my church as well??

::boggles::

[spikewriter]

Earlier this year, Connecticut proposed legsliation that would seek to regulate the nature of the Catholic Church. It would "force" the Church to be regulated by a council of parishoners, who would hold the bishop and the priests responsible for actions they decide to take.

Okay, Episcopalian here, so we have a similar apostolic set-up on some levels, though the parishioners are far more involved in the running of the parish. But, uh, no. That is definitely a violation of separation of church and state; it's not up to the government to tell any church how it must run its business as long as they're not currently violating existing laws. Besides, getting the parishioners involved doesn't mean it'll cut out misappropriation of funds; it just gives them a chance to participate. (Oh, like we had our our church a few years back.)