Deacon Fournier describes this as the proverbial "shot accross the bow". A priest I spoke with today said that it's an attempt to flush out the enemies of aetheism and communism, so that the hostile adminstration can deal with us. one by one. No doubt this legislation will not succeed. Yet. But this may be the beginning of the end of religious freedom in America.
This bill violates the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. It forces a radical reorganization of the legal, financial, and administrative structure of our parishes.
This is contrary to the Apostolic nature of the Catholic Church because it disconnects parishes from their Pastors and their Bishop. Parishes would be run by boards from which Pastors and the Bishop would be effectively excluded.
This bill, moreover, is a thinly-veiled attempt to silence the Catholic Church on the important issues of the day, such as same-sex marriage.
The State has no right to interfere in the internal affairs and structure of the Catholic Church. This bill is directed only at the Catholic Church but could someday be forced on other denominations. The State has no business controlling religion.
Read the entire column on Catholic Online.
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