By AFRO Staff
The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. threatened to suspend local social services in an effort to convince the City Council to move away from legalizing same-sex marriage. (Courtesy Photo)
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(November 15, 2009) - The thousands of homeless and other needy people who depend on the philanthropic arm of the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. may soon find themselves out in the cold.
The church body during the week of Nov. 9 threatened to halt its social services, including the management of several homeless shelters, if the D.C. City Council does not change legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage.
Despite concerns from legal experts and religious leaders, lawmakers passed the bill out of committee, advancing it to the full council where it will be voted on—and likely passed—as early as December. The measure has received overwhelming support within the governing body and also has the support of the mayor.
The bill does not force churches to perform wedding ceremonies for gay couples. However, Catholic officials say they fear that because of their contracts with the city, they will be forced to offer employee benefits and adoption to same-sex couples.
“It is our concern that the committee’s narrowing of the religious exemption language will cause the government to discontinue our long partnership with them and open up the agency to litigation and the use of resources to defend our religious beliefs rather than serve the poor,” Edward Orzechowski, president and CEO of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington said in a statement.
Catholic Charities has contracts to serve about 68,000 people in the city each year. The city’s 40 Catholic parishes operate another 93 social service programs to provide crucial services.
Councilman Phil Mendelson told the Associated Press article that exempting the church from upholding the legislation because of its social obligations would set a bad precedent.
"Allowing individual exemptions opens the door for anyone to discriminate based on assertions of religious principle," Mendelson said. "Let's not forget that during the civil rights era, many claimed separation of the races was ordained by God."