The other shoe has dropped here in Washington, D.C., in a long conflict between the local Catholic diocese and the District of Columbia.
After warning for months that the District’s pending same-sex marriage law—slated to go into effect March 2—put its 80-year-old foster care program in jeopardy, the Archdiocese of Washington formally ended its program February 1.
It is the third Catholic diocese in the country to do so. The archdioceses of San Francisco and Boston stopped their adoption programs in 2006 after their respective states legalized gay marriage (California has since repealed its law) and made it clear that local Catholic Charities affiliates would have to work with homosexual couples.
The District’s law would obligate all outside contractors working with the city to recognize gay couples by giving spousal benefits to such couples and allowing them to adopt available children. The Archdiocese of Washington refused to do this. Its Catholic Charities affiliate has turned over its caseload of 43 children with 35 foster families—along with 7 staff members—to Bethesda, Maryland-based National Center for Children and Families so as not to disrupt client care.
The foster care and adoption programs were among the 63 social service programs that the District paid Catholic Charities about $22.5 million to run. Of that amount, $2 million went to the foster care program. Because of the large amounts of money involved, it is highly unlikely that Catholic parishioners could raise enough funds to make up the difference.
When Donald Wuerl became the archbishop of Washington in 2006, many of us thought his main battle would be dealing with pro-choice Catholic politicians. Instead, his Rubicon has proved to be the D.C. marriage issue, a battle I am guessing he did not anticipate. He is now caught between the proverbial devil and the deep blue sea. The Vatican is adamant against allowing gay couples to adopt. As for the District, one of the most liberal areas in the country, it is not surprising that, with a Democrat in the White House, local gay activists began pushing for the right to legally marry.
When the D.C. city council passed a bill allowing gay marriage in fall 2009, the archdiocese served notice that the bill did not contain a meaningful religious exemption for contractors who believe marriage is solely between a man and a woman. A storm of invective ensued, mostly from politicians and activists who blamed Catholics for manipulating the political process. Two hundred local clergy, including the local Episcopal bishop, banned together to denounce the archdiocese. Most of the local media trashed Archbishop Wuerl for his stand.
Wuerl and his bishops fought back, insisting they were not abandoning the city’s poor nor its children by threatening to pull out of its social service programs. They pointed out the city had changed the rules on the ground, making them ineligible for contracts, grants, and licenses for programs ranging from immigration services to foster care.
The outlook for religious organizations involved in charity work is not good. The Salvation Army lost $3.5 million in social service contracts with the city of San Francisco because it would not provide health benefits to gay employees’ partners. The Boy Scouts are not allowed to meet in government-owned buildings because of its stance on gay Scout leaders. A spokesman for a D.C. Catholic Charities affiliate told me that coupled gays are employed among its 850-member work force, so that it’s a matter of time—after March 2—before someone threatens a lawsuit unless his or her gay partner gets health insurance. The juggernaut is here.
There is much strong sentiment on this issue. When I wrote a front-page piece on the issue last week, I got 57 comments off the bat, the majority of which criticized Catholics. An anonymous local Catholic blogger set out the issue quite clearly by saying that the question is not if, but when the archdiocese is going to end up in court over this.
Catholic dioceses around the country undoubtedly are watching what happens in Washington. The city council has rammed through the legislation—which it refused to put to popular vote—even though they knew this would tie up the more conservative religious groups. Meanwhile, most observers in D.C. agree that Archbishop Wuerl was left with no morally acceptable choice but to withdraw the foster care and adoption programs, which are on the front lines of this debate. Expect him to eventually pull out of the other $20.5 million worth of contracts as well.
