Catholics in Connecticut Must Act

In an attempt to silence the Catholic Church in Connecticut the Judiciary Committee of the Connecticut State Legislature, which is chaired by Sen. Andrew McDonald of Stamford and Rep. Michael Lawlor of East Haven, introduced a bill that directly attacks the Roman Catholic Church.


This bill violates the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. It forces a radical reorganization of the legal, financial, and administrative structure of our parishes. This is contrary to the Apostolic nature of the Catholic Church because it disconnects parishes from their Pastors and their Bishop. Parishes would be run by boards from which Pastors and the Bishop would be effectively excluded.

Once this was exposed, with outcry, it caused those responsible to back off and the bill quietly drifted away. But with all issues such as this you just can bet it will re-surface in another manner aimed against the Church. This recently occurred with "officials" who told the Church it needs to register as a lobbyist to hold rallies at the state Capitol and use its Web site to oppose legislation. These officials are apparently Thomas Jones and Carol Carson, from the Office of State Ethics. This was followed by Rep. Chris Caruso of Bridgeport, the former chairman of the legislature’s Government Administration and Elections Committee, who said the Church has a right to rally and assemble and the state has the right to regulate it. He said the church can't have it both ways. Thank you Rep. Caruso, voters need to remember you.

Just imagine if this were any other religion, other than Catholic. First, those named above would never even dare to introduce such a bill, and secondly, if they did there would be such outcry by the media and those affected it would quickly become a national issue with major repercussions.

Here is what Catholics in Connecticut are urged to do. First, write, call, E-mail, contact by whatever means the Governor and all your state representatives. Flood the media with letters, call ins, etc. and voice your strong objection. Most importantly exercise your right as an American and vote all of those mentioned above out of office. They are attacking YOUR Church and violating your rights, don't let them get away with this.