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State Attacks Church in San Francisco

The city's Board of Supervisors takes a stand against the Archdiocese in an internal church matter
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The city of San Francisco passed a resolution condemning Catholic Archdiocese for archbishop’s order that Catholic schools be faithful to Catholic doctrine. Excerpt:

“These actions really conflict with the values of San Francisco,” said Supervisor Mark Farrell, who introduced the resolution. “In San Francisco, we stand up for everyone. We stand up for our LGBT community and honor and embrace those who do the same.”

The morality clauses include language against homosexuality, same-sex marriage, abortion, contraceptives and artificial insemination.

Farrell, a practicing Catholic, said on Tuesday that they create “a culture of fear that has no place in our schools right now.” He has previously said city officials are considering legal action to prevent what he described as Cordileone’s discriminatory measures from going into effect.

Farrell needs to practice his Catholicism a bit harder; maybe he’ll improve. Interesting how “we stand up for everyone” in San Francisco … except Catholics who believe what their church teaches.

Look, I don’t have much problem with people who think the Archbishop is wrong, and say so. Eighty percent of the teachers and staff in the archdiocese’s schools have rejected the archbishop’s proposal. I think they’re wrong, but hey, it’s their school system, and their church, not mine.

But shouldn’t it bother people that a government body is taking a public stance criticizing a church for deciding to run its own schools in accordance with its teachings? What business is it of the government’s? If this was a conservative city government, and a local religious school decided to make gay rights part of the curriculum, I would be appalled if the city council took a position on it.

I would remind the San Francisco Board of Supervisors that when New Orleans Archbishop Joseph Rummel ordered the integration of parochial schools in his archdiocese, it was a widely unpopular move, and a number of segregationist Catholics led a campaign of resistance. Some Catholic lawmakers in the state legislature considered legislation that would forbid the Catholic schools from integrating — a move that was both shocking in its moral stance, and shocking in its attempt to use state power to compel religious authorities to run their schools as the state saw fit. Archbishop Rummel eventually excommunicated several of the most prominent Catholic segregationist leaders. He didn’t excommunicate them because they were racists. He excommunicated them because they were trying to undermine, and even destroy, the church’s legitimate authority over its own schools.

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