We’ll spite everybody rather than give anything to gay people – Catholic Church in Washington DC
When the District of Columbia in the USA announced that it intended to legalise gay marriage, the Catholic Church immediately said that it would withdraw all its welfare services in protest. The Church obviously expected the legislature of DC to capitulate to this blatant blackmail. But it didn’t work, and gay marriage was legalised on Wednesday this week.
On Tuesday, however, Catholic Charities — which provides a large proportion of DC’s “faith-based welfare” — decided to modify its personnel policies, ending health benefits to the spouses of those it employs. Although the memo from Catholic Charities’ president announcing the new policy doesn’t mention gay marriage, he says it has been brought about because of a “change in law.”
“We sincerely regret that we have to make this change… but it is necessary to allow Catholic Charities to continue to provide essential services to the clients we serve in partnership with the District of Columbia while remaining consistent with the tenets of our religious faith,” read the memo. Because Catholic Charities cannot legally discriminate against gay married couples, it has decided that, rather than treat everyone fairly, it will treat everyone unfairly.
Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of DignityUSA, a group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Catholics, called the Catholic Charities’ decision “appalling.”
“It’s a two-tier system among its workers,” Ms. Duddy-Burke said. “It violates every principle of the dignity of work and justice for workers that the Catholic Church has stood for for years and it makes employees of Catholic Charities a sacrificial lamb to prove a political point.” She said the choice to cut spousal benefits in these economic times imposes a burden on new Catholic Charities’ employees. She said this would cause “more damage to their families than a same-sex marriage”.
D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson said the Catholic Charities choice struck him “as unnecessary, given that other archdioceses have been able to continue to provide benefits.”
This is the second time Catholic Charities has changed its rules in opposition to gay marriage. The group previously ended its foster care programme when the law obliged it to recognise same-sex marriages. However no more modifications are expected. “These were the only changes that we knew were going to be required to meet the requirement,” a spokesman for Catholic Charities said. “We anticipate no other changes in either program services or employee benefits as a result of this legislation.”
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The Vatican is not a religious institution, it is an organ of power