Catholic Charities Sues Illinois Over Non-Discrimination Rules

The Roman Catholic Church is once again demanding special rights which would allow its Catholic Charities organizations to continue to suck up millions of dollars in taxpayer funds yet indulge itself in discriminating against members of the public it prefers to persecute and stigmatize - gays, of course, being the principal target. As I have argued many times, religious groups are free to engage in their religious based bigotry as long as they stay within their own separately funded organizations. However, once they put their hand out for taxpayer funds, the rules change. If Catholic Charities refuses to abide by Illinois' non-discrimination laws, then the state needs to cut the organization off from the taxpayer teat. The Chicago Tribune looks at the lawsuit launched by Catholic Charities - wouldn't it be nice if similar vigor was put into ridding the Church of sexual predators and their enablers? Here are some story highlights:
*
Lawyers for Catholic Charities in the dioceses of Springfield, Peoria and Joliet are seeking an emergency injunction that would protect religious agencies who turn away unmarried couples who want to become foster parents -- including couples in civil unions.
*
In a petition filed today in Sangamon County Circuit Court, the three Catholic Charities agencies sued the Illinois Attorney General and Department of Children and Family Services for threatening to enforce new policies that accommodate civil unions, which went into effect last week.
*
In March, the attorney general’s office issued a letter stating that the office “received notice that Catholic Charities … discriminates against Illinois citizens based on race, marital status and sexual orientation” in the provision of foster care and adoption services and demanded that Catholic Charities turn over a wide range of documents in response.
*
The charities ask the court to declare that they are legally justified to preserve their current policy of exclusively granting licenses to married couples and single, non-cohabiting individuals and referring civil union couples to other child welfare agencies.
*
Last week, Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Rockford ended its publicly funded foster care and adoptive services. Catholic Charities in the dioceses of Peoria and Joliet temporarily suspended issuing new licenses for foster care and adoptive parents. Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Chicago ended its foster and adoption services in 2007 when it lost insurance coverage.