Catholic Transcript Online

This time, I express deep sentiments of gratitude for your faxes, e-mails, phone calls, and other messages which radically changed Senate Bill 899, intended to codify the Connecticut Supreme Court decision in 2008, which, by a vote of 4 to 3, legalized same-sex marriage in the State.

Because of the Supreme Court decision, same-sex marriage in Connecticut is legal. We could not do anything about that. As Senate Bill 899 attempted to codify that decision, what we had to protect were the religious freedoms of individuals, religious organizations, and related societies. I wrote to all the parishes of the Archdiocese a message, to be delivered on the weekend of April 18/19, explaining that as of that date, the bill did not protect those religious freedoms and requesting that you urge our legislators to vote against the bill.

Your response was so superbly emphatic that both the Senate and the House of Representatives voted to amend it substantially. As a result, the following three important exemptions were provided:

• First, a religious organization or an entity controlled by or in connection with a religious organization would not be required to provide services or facilities for or relating to a marriage that violates the religious beliefs and faith of that organization. Any refusal to provide such services and facilities will not subject that religious organization or entity to any penalty and will not establish a civil cause of action. This exemption not only recognizes the Church’s right to refuse to participate in the solemnization of a homosexual union, but it also ensures that no action can be taken against the Church and its related entities when they deny use of their facilities for such occasions.

• Second, religious organizations may continue to provide adoption and foster care services as they deem appropriate provided they do not receive state or federal funds for such programs. Our Catholic Charities’ adoption and foster care services do not receive state or federal funds for their programs. This exemption, therefore, preserves Catholic Charities’ ability to operate its adoption program pursuant to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, rather than face closure, as was the fate of the Catholic Charities’ adoption program in the Archdiocese of Boston.

• Third, fraternal benefit societies, such as the Knights of Columbus, are able to retain control over the admission of their members and the scope of their beneficiaries, and are not required to provide insurance benefits to persons if to do so would violate that fraternal benefit society’s free exercise of religion.

With these exemptions included, the bill was passed by an overwhelming and bipartisan vote in both the Senate and the House.

As I wrote in my letter to our parishes on the weekend of April 25/26, the inclusion of the exemptions for religious organizations and their affiliated entities in the same-sex couples bill is a clear recognition by the State of Connecticut that religious freedoms must be preserved. The final bill is not 100 percent to our liking, but it is a significant accomplishment, particularly given the tight time frame in which we had to work.

Of course, we continue to maintain and hold fast to our traditional teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman and that this principle is bedrock to society.

I express once again my gratitude to our clergy for their invaluable work on this as on so many other matters. I appreciate in a special way the help of the Knights of Columbus on these issues. We also acknowledge with gratitude the collaboration of ecumenical and interfaith communities. I have written individual thank-you letters to those legislators who supported our initiatives to amend the bill. Again, dear people, allow me to express my continually growing appreciation and esteem for you.

As of this writing, the results of the 2009 Archbishop’s Annual Appeal show a total of $7,049,919. This represents an increase of $160,933 over the total at this stage of the 2008 appeal. You continue to amaze! While the financial situation in our society shows ongoing deterioration, you realize that many people are suffering more acutely than others, and you are making an enormous difference in helping them meet basic human needs.

We still have many months to go, but your generosity is heartwarming for all seasons. Be assured of my most grateful appreciation and very fervent prayers.