Episcopal Church Slams SCOTUS Decision Siding with Catholic Foster Agency
by David Virtue, Virtueonline:
House of Deputies President called the action “bigotry,” “discriminatory”, “homophobic” and “exclusionary”.
In a predictable response, the Episcopal Church’s presiding bishop, Michael Curry and HOD president Gay Jennings slammed a decision by the Supreme Court which sided with a Philadelphia-based Catholic foster agency denying the right of homosexual couples to adopt children.
The 9.0 ruling devastated Episcopal church leaders who called the action by the Supreme Court “bigotry”. On June 17, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Catholic Social Services in its suit against the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which ended its contract with CSS to provide foster care because CSS refused to work with same-sex couples. It violated the First Amendment, the court said.
“Scholars can debate the broader legal implications of the decision, but as a Christian, I continue to be alarmed by the bigotry that lies at the case’s heart,” Jennings said in a statement to Episcopal News Service. “Religious liberty is a bedrock of our country and a right cherished by Americans of many faiths. But disguising homophobia as religious freedom, as the plaintiffs in this case have done, is not only a dangerous legal precedent, it is a gross distortion of the teachings of Jesus.”
Chief Justice John Roberts (a Roman Catholic) wrote, “The refusal of Philadelphia to contract with CSS for the provision of foster care services unless it agrees to certify same-sex couples as foster parents cannot survive strict scrutiny, and violates the First Amendment.”
The city of Philadelphia created an issue where there wasn’t one because Catholic Social Services says no same-sex couples ever asked to work with them. CSS says if that did happen, they would refer the couple to another group. Due to its biblical beliefs, the Catholic agency also does not certify unmarried couples.
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