Tucson Will Incorporate Its Parishes

KVOA, Sept. 6 — The Diocese of Tucson, Ariz., plans to separately incorporate its 74 Catholic parishes in order to prevent them from being sold to pay diocesan debt, reported KVOA-TV.

Tucson Bishop Gerald Kicanas said that he expects that the incorporations will not have any effect on parishioners. Last year, the Tucson diocese became the second diocese to seek bankruptcy protection in the face of rising sexual abuse lawsuits. The incorporation of parishes had been written into the bankruptcy plan approved by federal Judge James Marlar.

At least seven U.S. dioceses have taken similar action. They include Baker, Ore., Davenport, Iowa, Lincoln, Neb., Stockton, Calif., Rhode Island and the archdioceses of Milwaukee and New York.

“Making them individual corporations gives them a structure that's external and legal and much closer to the canonical world,” said Baker Bishop Robert Vasa, who incorporated 60 parishes and missions in 2002.

Kansas Attorney General Seeks Abortion Records

KANSAS CITY STAR, Sept. 4 — Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline's request for abortion records is being taken to the Kansas State Supreme Court, said the Star.

Kline is seeking the medical records of 90 women and girls who received abortions in Overland Park and Wichita. He has argued that the records will allow him to go after child rapists and abortion businesses that provide illegal late-term abortions. The businesses filed a lawsuit to prevent Kline from acquiring the records.

In 2004, 79 girls under the age of 15 received abortions in Kansas. Kansas law requires medical providers to report suspicions of child molestation and bans abortions after the 22nd week of pregnancy.

California Lawmakers Snub People's Will on Marriage

ASSOCIATED PRESS, Sept. 7 — Members of the California Legislature who helped pass a bill allowing same-sex “marriage” received this reaction from Republican Assemblyman Jay La Suer, according to the Associated Press: “History will record that you betrayed your constituents and their moral and ethical values.”

Both the state Senate and Assembly passed a same-sex “marriage” bill that had been defeated earlier in the year. It was reintroduced using the bill number of a fish-and-game marine research bill.

But Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Sept. 7 he would veto the legislation. In a statement, he cited Proposition 22, a ballot initiative voters approved five years ago that said, “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”

The statement said Schwarzenegger believes the matter should be determined by a court decision or another plebiscite. “We cannot have a system where the people vote and the Legislature derails that vote,” it said.

The California Supreme Court is likely to decide next year whether Proposition 22 is constitutional, said the Los Angeles Times Sept. 8. California already gives same-sex couples many of the rights of marriage if they register with the state as domestic partners.