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The church under attack in Connecticut? In a stunning disregard of the Constitution of the United States, the Connecticut Judiciary Committee recently proposed a bill stripping Roman Catholic bishops of their authority to govern fiscal and administrative diocesan affairs, according to a report by Fox News. The action is seen as an unprecedented attempt to regulate the Catholic Church. Critics are calling the action “payback” for the Church’s efforts to prevent the legalization of same-sex “marriage” in the state, according to an article on LifeSiteNews.com. The stated intent of the legislation is “To revise the corporate governance provisions applicable to the Roman Catholic Church and provide for the investigation of the misappropriation of funds by religious corporations.” Referring specifically to structures of the Roman Catholic Church, the bill states: “The corporation shall have a board of directors consisting of not less than seven nor more than thirteen lay members. The archbishop or bishop of the diocese or his designee shall serve as an ex-officio member of the board of directors without the right to vote.” The legislation would effectively strip the bishops and the priests of any true authority in the 67 parishes, limiting their role to “matters pertaining exclusively to religious tenets and practices,” reported LifeSiteNews.com. In a move eerily reminiscent of the former Soviet Union’s intrusion into the life of the Russian Orthodox Church that devastated the Church’s leadership and influence for decades, the Connecticut lawmakers purport to be acting for the greater good of the citizens of the state. According to LifeSiteNews.com, Bridgeport’s Bishop William Lori said, “You have to understand how radically this departs from the teaching of the Church and the discipline of the Church, and how gravely unconstitutional it is for a state to move in and try to reorganize the internal structure of the Church. It is a violation, a grave violation of religious liberty.” “This bill was dropped into the hopper the day before the same-sex ‘marriage’ bill was to be heard,” said Lori. “This is a thinly-veiled attempt to silence the Church on important issues of the day — but especially with regard to marriage.” Both committee co-chairs McDonald and Lawler are outspoken same-sex “marriage” advocates, and have been critical of the Catholic Church’s opposition to laws dismantling the legal definition of marriage. “The real purpose of this bill is payback to the bishops and pastors of the Roman Catholic Church in Connecticut for opposing gay marriage,” said state Sen. Michael McLachlan. After a fire-storm of protests, the proposal was laid aside “at least for now,” reported the Hartford Courant on March 11. “But activists pushing for changes ... say they are not deterred by the political firestorm that the matter has sparked.” The matter is far from over. The First Amendment, religious freedom, freedom of speech, and the Roman Catholic Church are under attack in Connecticut. Is it only the opening volley of state-sponsored persecution of Christianity in the United States of America? [Father David Epps is the founding pastor of Christ the King Church, 4881 Hwy. 34 E., Sharpsburg, GA 30277, between Peachtree City and Newnan. Services are held Sundays at 8:30 and 10 a.m. He also serve as a bishop to the Mid-South Diocese and is the mission pastor of Christ the King Church in Champaign, IL. He may be contacted at frepps@ctkcec.org.] login to post comments | Father David Epps's blog
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