There is an interesting article in the Buffalo News today regarding the Roman Catholic Church and adoption services.
Buffalo has two venerable institutions that have provided adoption services forever, Catholic Charities and the Father Baker Homes (Baker-Victory). Just an aside, Baker-Victory was founded by Fr. Nelson Baker who has been declared venerable by the Holy See.
As you may know, the states provide some funding for adoption services and the process of adoption has changed over the years. Catholic groups who wish to provide adoption services, with government funding, must abide by state guidelines, including “non-discrimination” provisions that require them to provide adoption services to homosexuals.
The Church has clearly stated that allowing homosexuals to adopt would be “gravely immoral” and “would actually mean doing violence to these children.”
I agree.
Part of the duty of the Church is to look after and defend those who cannot speak for themselves (children, the poor, the elderly, and the unborn). It must also hold society accountable for what is right and proper according to natural law and God’s plan for humanity.
The real key is whether the Church’s cozy relationship with government must end.
Catholic institutions generally provide a better level of service and as the article states, are professional at their job. As in the business world, Catholic organizations who provide quality and professional services will make out better than organizations that do the job poorly or simply rely on a token infusions of money from the government. These institutions can well stand on their own, provide services legally, and not kowtow to immoral government regulations.
Some pertinent parts of the article Catholic agencies face dilemma are as follows:
Vatican stance against allowing same-sex couples to adopt children conflicts with state anti-bias law
A 3-year-old Vatican document that condemns the adoption of children by gay couples appears to put some area Catholic human service agencies at odds with state anti-discrimination laws.
The document characterizes the adoption of children by same-sex couples as “gravely immoral.”
Some states, including New York, prohibit discrimination against gay couples trying to adopt children.
Catholic Charities of Boston already decided to pull out of adoption services because it was unable to reconcile church teaching with Massachusetts law.
In this area, two Catholic agencies – Catholic Charities of Buffalo and Baker Victory Services in Lackawanna – appear to face the same dilemma.
“This is one of our seminal services. We’ve been doing it since we started,” said Dennis C. Walczyk, chief executive officer of Catholic Charities of Buffalo. “If it ever came to that point with us as it had in Boston, my hope would be that there could be a reconciliation between the teachings of the church and the regulations that govern adoption.”
State law now bans Catholic agencies providing foster care adoption services from discriminating against same-sex couples, adoption and legal experts say.
State law is a law. It is not the Law. What we should be seeking is not a ‘reconciliation of teachings’ but rather an acknowledgment by the State that the Church not be coerced.
All Catholic human service agencies comply with state adoption regulations, and no statewide policy on same-sex adoptions has been discussed, said Dennis Poust, spokesman for the New York State Catholic Conference, the church’s lobbying arm in Albany.
But exceptions should be made, he said.
“We certainly feel the church ought to be exempt from any requirement to place children in same-sex households,” he explained.
Bishop Edward U. Kmiec of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo has not commented publicly on the decision in the Archdiocese of Boston or its effect here.
Through diocesan spokesman Kevin A. Keenan, Kmiec said Catholic Charities fully complies with state guidelines on adoptions.
The adoption program, Keenan added, may be reviewed at some point.
Now?
…
“We’re not in a position to question their belief systems, but they would have to comply with the laws and regulations that the county requires,” said Pat Dietrich, adoption supervisor for the county Social Services Department. “By law, we can’t differentiate between a same-sex couple and a heterosexual couple.”
A policy prohibiting same-sex foster care adoptions “would be contrary to the law,” said Rudy Estrada, a lawyer with Lambda Legal, a national organization that handles gay and lesbian civil rights litigation.
Estrada said he wasn’t aware of any such policies at Catholic agencies in this state.
No Mr. Estrada, a law, not the Law.
Agencies lack official policies
The heads of Catholic Charities of Buffalo and Baker-Victory Services, nonetheless, expressed concerns about the fate of their foster care adoption programs, funded in part with state contract money and, therefore, subject to anti-discrimination laws.
…
“So far, this has not been an issue with us,” said James Casion, chief executive officer of Baker Victory Services. “We don’t currently have a policy [on same-sex adoptions]. It’s not come up. I guess we hadn’t really thought about it. . . . If the bishop makes a proclamation about it, it will be law then. Whatever the bishop says will be the position.”
Catholic Charities also does not have a policy on same-sex adoptions.
Casion noted that the state has made religious exemptions in other cases, and he was optimistic that a resolution could be reached.
“They don’t require that we provide birth control for people who ask us,” Casion said. “They’ve allowed us to maintain a particular posture as long as the clients’ needs are met.”
Actually, the states are trying to require Catholic institutions to provide “emergency contraception” and are reaching well above and beyond in forcing certain issues onto faith based organizations. All in the name of money.
Some professionals in the adoption field expressed concern that the Vatican teaching could lead other Catholic agencies to drop high-quality adoption programs.
“I hope that this doesn’t start some kind of sweep throughout the country,” said Judith O’Mara, director of adoption and foster care at Baker Victory Services.
Erie County handles most of its foster care adoptions in-house and contracts with several agencies for the rest.
Losing the services of Catholic Charities and Baker Victory Services “would certainly be difficult for us,” Dietrich said.
“They’re both fine agencies, and they’ve both been involved in adoption programs for many years.”
Ms. O’Mara is wrong. It should sweep through this country as fast as possible. I hope she understands that she needs to have the children’s best interests at heart. Placing a child in a, dysfunctional at its core, homosexual home is not in their best interest.
I love it when people who get their take home pay from a Catholic institution begin this process of questioning the beliefs of their employer. Suddenly they realize that unlike other employers, the bottom line is different. It’s eternal.
