“The real purpose of this bill is payback to the bishops and pastors of the Roman Catholic Church in Connecticut for opposing gay marriage,” writes State Sen. Michael McLachlan of Danbury.

“Unfortunately, I think some well-intentioned, unhappy Catholics from Darien are being used as pawns by Senator McDonald and Representative Lawlor in a thinly-veiled attack on the Church.”

The Register is checking to see if Californians are also trying out this “Voice of the Faithful” method of payback over the Church’s defense of marriage.

McLachlan is writing about the Church Attack Bill, No. 1098, in Connecticut. “The stated purpose of this bill is ‘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,’” he says.

”This legislation seeks to eliminate bishops and pastors from all financial decisions of the Church,” he adds. “This proposal turns the Catholic Church of Connecticut into a congregational church structure.”

Here is his post: http://senatormclachlan.blogspot.com/2009/03/judiciary-committee-run-into-ditch.html

Here is how Connecticut Catholics can help stop it: http://www.votervoice.net/Core.aspx?AID=274&APP=GAC&IssueID=16729&AdminPreview=True&SiteID=-1

(And here’s the hat tip to Catholic Key for finding the Voice of the Faithful connection: http://catholickey.blogspot.com/2009/03/trusteeism-bill-introduced-in.html)