Catholic Children's Society official statement

The Catholic Children's Society has published a statement indicating its intention to comply with the Equality Act 2006 and the Sexual Orientation Regulations. This involves accepting the requirement not to "discriminate" against same-sex couples when considering couples as adoptive parents.

The statement avoids the canonical implications of this decision. As an organisation it can no longer be considered Catholic. As I reported before, (Cabrini Children's Society and More on the "Cabrini Children's Society") the proposal is to change the name, removing the word "Catholic" and replacing it with "Cabrini".

But then there is the question of the money that the society holds which has been donated by the Catholic faithful in good faith, believing that they were donating money to a charity that would act in accordance with the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Should this money be transferred to the new non-Catholic charity? The Society states:
Non compliance with the law could also lead to withdrawal of funding by local authorities as we would not be adhering to their mandatory equality and diversity policies.
Compliance with the law will ensure that this large stream of revenue continues. So could the Catholic money be applied to Catholic purposes? As I have suggested before, the Good Counsel Network would be a worthy beneficiary applying the money for the purposes for which it was given.

For further comment, see Fr Steven Fisher: Cowardice in my own diocese and Fr John Boyle: Betrayal by the "Catholic" Childrens Society of Southwark and Mulier Fortis: Stand Up For The Truths Of Our Faith? Don't Be Silly...

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