March 11, 2009
WTF is going on in Connecticut?
Some bright light apparently introduced a bill to strip Catholic bishops of control over parish property. It has since been withdrawn after the electorate when batshit. Via Hot Air.
Yips! from Robbo: I noticed this the other day and I'm happy to see that it has apparently died out so quickly. From what I understand, the flap originated in Darien, where a local parish priest seems to have rooked his flock out of a considerable wodge of dosh from the collection plate. The furor enabled somebody to tee this thing up in Hartford. I believe that there is a history of significant discord between the Connecticut legislature and the Church. Whether the sponsors actually thought their effort would pass and survive constitutional scrutiny, or whether they were looking just to score a few cheap political points on a piece of crap bill they knew to be doomed from the start, I couldn't say.
Posted by LMC at March 11, 2009 05:17 AM | TrackBackIt was a brief but intense storm. The archbishop was immediately steamed, and he sent a letter to all parishes. Our priest - a generally low-key guy who is certainly no apologist for the hierarchy's problems and the shortcomings of our Church overall - also spoke out in extremely strong terms about how this was a resurgent anti-Catholic move that should be vigorously opposed. He printed out the Archbishop's letter, and urged parishoners to write, call, email, and go to the state capitol (about 4 miles away) for the hearing. He got a round of applause, which doesn't happen very often in our restrained parish. Folks got motivated, and reportedly the state legislature couldn't run away from this fast enough once people started paying attention.
Oh, and the fact that it was so blatantly unconstitutional appeared to dawn on our fine elected officials.
Posted by: tdp at March 11, 2009 08:00 AMIn Rowayton, where I grew up, next to Darien, the disparaging collective epithet for our neighbors was Darien Daps.
Posted by: Ed Flinn at March 11, 2009 11:31 AMWho will rid us of this troublesome legislature.
Posted by: rbj at March 11, 2009 12:28 PMThe finances were a stalking horse. While there have been two notable cases of financial mismanagement in recent memory, they were already illegal. This bill would allow parish councils to block legal acts like that cafeteria Catholics disagree with, like supporting pro-life causes.
The bill would have made it illegal for the bishop or any priest to vote on the parish council, and would have made it possible for a parish to reject the bishop's choice of pastor (sure, the bishop could appoint him, but we can withhold his salary and lock him out of the rectory) and it would allow the laypeople to sell the church buildings. Or hospitals that refuse to provide abortions.
The proponent of the law is a well known "reformer" and this seeds the ground for a breakaway, a la the ECUSA troubles. The legislators pushing this are strong proponents of gay marriage and virulently hate Catholics. They don't care about reforming the Church but want to bankrupt it or extort it into silence.
It's bigotry plain and simple.
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