Democrat (Of Course) Legislators In Connecticut Seek To Reorganize Catholic Church In That State

When I first saw this I thought it was something introduced by some crank legislator that would go nowhere, turns out the state legislature is really going to debate a bill that would unilaterally restructure the governance of the Catholic church in Connecticut.

After a priest stole $1.4 million from a church in Darien, state legislators have proposed a law that would regulate how parishes are controlled and operated.

The state's Catholic bishops rallied opposition from the pulpits at weekend Masses.

The law essentially would strip the dioceses of all financial control of parishes and leave bishops and priests to oversee "matters pertaining exclusively to religious tenets and practices." A board of elected laypersons would handle parish finances.

The bill, introduced Thursday by the Legislature's Judiciary Committee, chaired by state Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, and state Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, caught many Catholics by surprise. They heard about it during Masses.

Lawlor and McDonald are now denying they had anything to do with the bill. Apparently it just wrote and introduced itself or something.

The idea that this bill ever got this far makes you wonder if people elected to high positions of authority in this country have even heard of the US Constitution, let alone read it. Contrary to popular belief, the 1st Amendment was designed to protect religion from government not the other way around (and yes, we can argue about the doctrine of incorporation some other time but right now no one claims that the US Constitution isn't binding on the states).

This bill will die a quick and unanimous death but it shows that the political class really has to be reminded there are limits to what they may do. Left to their own devices, they would regulate any and every thing they felt like.

posted by DrewM. at 01:14 PM

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