SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CNA/EWTN News)—Bishops in three Illinois dioceses announced Nov. 14 that they have dropped their lawsuit against the state and will shut down their adoption and foster-care programs, after a civil-union law required them to provide their services to same-sex couples.
“The decision not to pursue further appeals was reached with great reluctance, but was necessitated by the fact that the state of Illinois has made it financially impossible for our agencies to continue to provide these services,” said Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Bishop Edward Braxton of Belleville and Bishop R. Daniel Conlon of Joliet.
“Since we now need to close offices and lay off employees, further appeals would be moot,” the bishops said.
Catholic Charities branches from the Dioceses of Belleville, Springfield, Peoria and Joliet had filed a lawsuit in June against the Illinois Attorney General’s Office and the state’s Department of Children and Family Services to prevent them from ending state contracts for foster care and adoption programs with the charities.
The department told the agencies that it was ending their contracts over their alleged refusal to obey the 2011 Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act, which established legal privileges for same-sex and opposite-sex couples in civil unions.
Peter Breen, an attorney with the Thomas More Society, which represented the charities in their lawsuit against the state, called the news “tragic.”
In a Nov. 14 statement, Breen said the situation “stands as a stark lesson to the rest of the nation that legislators promising ‘religious protection’ in same-sex ‘marriage’ and civil-union laws may not be able to deliver on those promises.”
In their remarks, the bishops noted how the Church has “successfully partnered with the state for half a century” and lamented the fact that the “the losers will be the children, foster-care families and adoptive parents who will no longer have the option of Catholic, faith-based services.”
“We are sad to lose the dedicated employees who have served our Catholic foster-care and adoption services so faithfully for so many years,” the bishops added. “We are grateful to them and reluctantly bid them farewell with our prayers and best wishes.”
Bishop Paprocki clarified that despite the loss of foster care and adoption services in his diocese, “our Catholic Charities in the Diocese Springfield in Illinois will continue to address the basic human needs of the poor in central Illinois in other ways.”
“The silver lining of this decision is that our Catholic Charities going forward will be able to focus on being more Catholic and more charitable,” he said, “while less dependent on government funding and less encumbered by intrusive state policies.”
The news of the decision to close the programs follows the Nov. 11 announcement by the Catholic Social Services of Southern Illinois that it will separate from the Belleville Diocese and offer adoptions and foster-care services to same-sex couples.
The Catholic Social Services agency, which had been operating in the Belleville Diocese since 1947, said that it will now be called Christian Social Services of Illinois.
Gary Huelsmann, the agency’s executive director, called the move a “solution” that will be “best for the children,” as it ensures “their continuity of care.”
The Diocese of Belleville said in a Nov. 11 statement that the agency was unable “to remain faithful to the moral teaching of the Catholic Church” while adhering to the state’s civil-union law enacted in June.
Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Peoria announced in October that it will withdraw from all state contracts and transfer its staff to a new nonprofit organization with no affiliation to the Catholic Church.
The new organization, titled the Center for Youth and Family Solutions, will take on the caseload of foster children from Peoria Catholic Charities starting Feb. 1.
Robert Gilligan, executive director of the Illinois Catholic Conference, summarized what he believes to be the underlying problem in remarks to CNA on Nov. 11: What “you’re seeing at the state level in Illinois, what you’re seeing at the national level in Washington, D.C., is a consistent promulgation of policies and laws that are making it very difficult for faith-based agencies that believe that marriage is between one man and one woman.”
Joan Frawley Desmond: Bishop Braxton on Belleville Diocese's Catholic Charities
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How about calling in the Alliance defense Fund (as seen on EWTN’s Sunday Night Prime with Fr. Groeschel last Sunday night? They have a great record in this kind of defense of faith activities. They are at http://www.alliancedefensefund.org
Were these Catholic adoption and foster-care programs allowed to refuse to place children with families where the parents were divorced and remarried? By Catholic standards, such a marriage is no more valid than a same-sex marriage or a civil union. If they were allowed this exemption, I’m amazed that it was never challenged. If they weren’t, how was it moral to place children in homes where the parents weren’t married according to Catholic morality?
Spinning off the agencies is a false ‘solution’ that undermines out faith and is the ‘cheap grace’ (after Bonhoeffer) alternative. Why not keep the agency as Catholic and reject all public money? you will hear “But we can’t afford it!!” Oh, is that so? How much property does the Church own in that area? How about selling off some to help pay? How about using cheap folding chairs for Mass instaead of refurbishing old pews at much greater expense, or, more likely, building cheaper, inglorious new buildings when we need them? Or asking Catholics for a one time contribution in addition. We say ‘the beautiful buildings’ etc are needed for the faithful to comprehend the “fullness of the Church” Really? How about the Chinese and African Catholics hoveling in secret for Mass because they value it so much? How about Jesus saying “The Son of Man has no place to lay his Head”. Our priorities are mixed up. Comments?
How very, very sad. And it’s just the first, with more to come.
We all need to be VERY careful how we vote next year. The decisions we make affect other people, and we will have to answer to God.
How sad that those of us who are conservative are told not to ‘shove our beliefs’ down other people’s throats and yet the government is doing JUST THAT, with no regard to freedom of religion. It is adoption services that are being shut down now by the Catholic Church. If the HHS insists on forcing Catholic institutions to pay for birth control and contraceptive services through the insurance they provide and at Catholic hospitals the U.S. will know the catastrophe of having 1/3 of its hospitals shut down. The Church will NOT be bullied by a corrupt, immoral government.
A sad day…
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cowalker: other articles have stated that they would decline to place with a single parent, so it seems reasonable to think they would apply a divorce standard also—if they became aware, of course.
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Gerard: I think you would like there to be a simple solution. As would we all. I am not sure there is one.
How utterly typical of the current crop of Episcopal cowards. Cut and run. Never stand up to unjust Power. Cave-in rather than fight.
And the fascists in government win again. Disgusting.
Gerard, I understand your frustration and feel that money should not be the deciding factor in whether or not these services are offered. After all, can’t Catholic Charities work as a private agency offering services to those who wish to use them? I don’t know how the law works there, but if they’re not receiving state funds, then they should be able to offer services to whomever they wish. However, selling off property, etc. are only short-term solutions that mix up our priorities.
Our first priority is the worship of God and providing the Real Presence of the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity a suitable dwelling place among us. The beauty of Catholic churches has always been two-fold: a suitable place for God and an instructive place for His people. Having grown up in evangelical churches and attended church in places as you have described does nothing to draw a person closer to Christ. There is no beauty, no awe. It’s warehouse atmosphere. Now, if that’s all we could afford, then the Lord asks no more than that. However, we are to do the best we can for Him. A reading of the the OT will clearly explain what God expects of us in regard to a suitable dwelling for Him. And if the Christians in China and other persecuted places had their choice, their churches would be the most beautiful in the world. Anyone who loves our Lord so much so as to suffer as they have for Him would build Him the most beautiful place on earth.
The thing is, we don’t need these solutions. We have the money to support adoption services, etc. without stripping our churches to do it. It requires that we as Catholics begin to live the Gospel message of loving God and our neighbor more than our material possessions. More than computers, TV, iPods, ballgames, the latest fashions, exotic vacations, etc. I’m not saying we can’t have such things at all, but here in America we are so far overboard that few people even know what “reasonable” even means, let alone live it. How about we start divesting ourselves of our excesses first?
What would happen if every Catholic person in America tithed 10% of their income to the Church and Church-related charities and religious orders? Very quickly we would find we didn’t need the government’s help to do these things after all.
I don’t know how the law works there, but if they’re not receiving state funds, then they should be able to offer services to whomever they wish.
Not sure of the specifics of Illinois law, but most states consider orphaned or abandoned children (which is who the agency would be dealing with) in some sense a ward of the state. Even if they refused every last penny of government money, I suspect the gov’t would still be involved because the state would stand in loco parentis for the child, at least at some level. No simple solution.
Is it just me or does anyone else see us marching towards what happened in Germany with the rise of the Nazis and the mass murder of Jews? I keep thinking of that saying that basically says I kept my mouth shut when they came for all these other people and now there is no one to speak up in my defense. I don’t hear anything on conservative media speaking to defend Catholics. They came for the unborn. Then they started to come for the ill, infirm, and elderly. Now they come for the Catholics. Who’s next on this decent into hell?
Gerard, how about reading God’s Word: the Bible? Just what good would it do to sell off the Church’s assets? This would be a band-aid approach. How about if ALL Catholics would start giving their 10% of their income to the Church as God requires for starters? This action by the bishops is another sign of weakness against the evil one; but the good news that was buried in the article is that the Catholic Charities will become more Catholic once again. About time. As long as CC accepts money from the government & is runned by so-called “catholics”, I will for one, not support CC, but I will continue to support the the bona fide Catholic parts that fall under the CC umbrella. +JMJ+
Maggie, I just don’t see this as a religious liberty issue. As a Catholic I believe that our church’s teaching on compassion and justice are at play here. There simply is no rational reason for Catholic Charities to have an across the board ban for even sitting down with a gay couple to discuss being a foster parent. As a former social worker, I would have been more than happy to provide these services completely within my religious faith. I know there are others out there. In fact, some of these workers thought it was more important to serve the children that they voluntarily severed the organizations ties with the Catholic Church so that they could continue to provide adoption and foster care services to straight couples AND Gay couples. If this is such a religious liberty issue, ask yourself why the Catholic Workers in these programs haven’t come forward to make such a claim but are rather finding solutions to allow them to continue their work?
Fran— Catholic organizations should be able to say “no” to placing children with gay couples because it is against our religion. When we’re told we can’t do that, then that infringes on our religious liberty. It’s not as if there aren’t other options for gay couples who wish to adopt. Considering the number of children out there, I don’t think anyone could say they do not have opportunity. What about birth mothers who don’t want their child adopted by a same-sex couple? Do they still have that option? I certainly hope so. However, in our current political climate, that right may not be there for long.
Should a tragedy strike my family, my wish is that my children would be placed for foster care in a Catholic home. Were that impossible, I would wish that they be placed in a Christian home whose practices are not an insult to the basics of the ancient traditions and teachings of the Christian faith.
If significant numbers of parents whose children are taken and placed in foster care began insisting on those simple considerations, could the state-run foster care system in Illinois stand?
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