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The history of the Catholic Church in the state of Connecticut has never been pretty. Until 1818, the Congregational Church was the official religion, and the few Catholics who lived in the state were obliged to pay taxes toward its support. They were also forbidden to own land and under the auspices of Know-Nothing Party Governor William T. Minor, the Church suffered greatly. Yet faithful Catholics and other freedom-loving citizens of Connecticut saw to it that those wrongs were eventually righted.

Indeed, Article VII of the Connecticut Constitution reads, in part: "No preference shall be given by law to any religious society or denomination in the state. Each shall have and enjoy the same and equal powers, rights and privileges, and may support and maintain the ministers or teachers of its society or denomination, and may build and repair houses for public worship."

Unfortunately, our local lawmakers, much like their federal brethren, seem to have trouble processing certain multi-syllabic words and phrases like "equal powers, rights and privileges" and "prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Because the Judiciary Committee of the Connecticut State Legislature, which is chaired by Sen. Andrew McDonald, have proposed Bill No. 1098, which seeks to remove financial control of Catholic Church parishes from the Church itself.

Yet in an almost comical attempt at placating the Church, the bill includes this line: "Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit, restrict or derogate from any power, right, authority, duty or responsibility of the bishop or pastor in matters pertaining exclusively to religious tenets and practices." What too many legislators and far too many Catholics fail to realize, is that this very law abrogates the Church's "religious tenets and practices" The Catholic Church is, "one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic;" that is, it must be guided by bishops who can trace their succession back to the Apostles.

Equally absurd is that the section (33-280) immediately following the one to be amended, is to be left in tact. It reads in part: "Such corporation may receive and hold all property conveyed to it for the purpose of maintaining religious worship according to the doctrine, discipline and ritual of the Roman Catholic Church, and for the support of the educational or charitable institutions of that church." I don't want to bore anyone with tiresome details, but those interested in this "doctrine, discipline and ritual" as it pertains to the conduct of parish financial affairs may dive into the Church's Code of Canon Law, beginning with Canons 1284-1287.

Nearly four days after details of the proposed bill--which was issued without a statement of authorship or sponsorship--were released, McDonald and his Judiciary Committee cohort, Rep. Michael Lawlor, released a statement saying that the bill was "proposed and written by a group of faithful Catholic parishioners from Fairfield County who asked the Judiciary Committee to consider giving the subject a public hearing." Here, they refer to some of the unfortunate parishioners of St. John's Church in Darien, whose homosexual pastor was convicted of robbing the parish to the tune of seven figures and was the subject of endless news coverage.

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