Last Catholic Adoption Agency in UK Refuses to Compromise with Caesar

They refused to offer the sacrifice to the emperor

"Catholic Care" is a wonderful outreach of the Catholic Church operating primarily in the Diocese of Leeds. They were in their own words, "the longest established adoption agency in the area. The Catholic Church in Leeds has cared for children disadvantaged by separation from their birth parents since 1865. We have been directly involved in placing children for adoption since 1926 when the first Adoption Act made it legally possible to adopt children." Now these good people can no longer place children for adoption. Why? Because they refused to compromise with the new Caesar.

P>LONDON, England (Catholic Online) -"Catholic Care" is a wonderful outreach of the Catholic Church operating primarily in the Diocese of Leeds. They were, in their own words, "the longest established adoption agency in the area. The Catholic Church in Leeds has cared for children disadvantaged by separation from their birth parents since 1865. We have been directly involved in placing children for adoption since 1926 when the first Adoption Act made it legally possible to adopt children."

Now, these wonderful people can no longer even place needy children for adoption. Why? Because they refused to compromise with the new Caesar - an intolerant secularist governmental agency which insists that they deny their deeply held convictions. Those convictions are rooted in the Natural Law and based upon a concern for the best interest of children. And, yes, they are informed by their Catholic Faith. Is that a crime? It may soon become one! They want to continue their charitable work for the true common good but they are being denied that opportunity. Why? They simply refused to offer the sacrifice to the emperor and they are suffering the consequences.   

They were the last Catholic Adoption Agency left standing in the wake of the revolutionary tidal wave unleashed by the  "Equality Act Sexual Orientation Regulations" which were passed in 2007. Eleven other Catholic agencies either closed down or severed their ties with the Catholic Church. In other words, either submit to Caesar or close your doors.  
 
"Catholic Care" filed an Appeal to the High Court seeking to amend its charter to limit its services to heterosexual married couples. They tried to argue under Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights that there were 'particularly convincing and weighty reasons' for such "discrimination", which is the standard. If it seems obtuse and vague, that is because it is. This is how tyrants work. They make their unjust positions all sound so "just" and enforce their will with the police power of the State. 

The Charity commission would have none of their argument about the best interest of children or their insistence upon their fundamental human right to religious freedom. Oh, they worded their opinion in the high sounding language of cultural revolutionaries. However, it was clear, they were apologists for the new regime. It has its own "religion", and it calls for worshipping the new Caesar.  

The Charity Commission is the enforcement arm of a regime in the United Kingdom which now equates homosexual sexual activity, engaged in over a long period of time, with authentic marriage. This is profane and perverse. They insist that homosexual practices, disordered sexual acts, be given protected legal status as a fundamental human right. In other words, unnatural acts between two men or two women must be protected by the law in the same way as race, creed or natural origin. 

The Commission gave several purported "reasons" in their opinion to not allow the Catholic Adoption Agency to continue its wonderful work. However, the most disturbing is the following:  "The High Court judgment had found that respect for religious views could not be a justification for discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation in this case, because of the essentially public nature of adoption services."

They opined, "In certain circumstances, it is not against the law for charities to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation. However, because the prohibition on such discrimination is a fundamental principle of human rights law, such discrimination can only be permitted in the most compelling circumstances. We have concluded that in this case the reasons Catholic Care have set out do not justify their wish to discriminate."

The implications are frightening. What is next for Catholics, other Christians, other people of faith and people of good will? Everything has a "public nature" in this arena of the culture. I use that word "arena" intentionally. We have headed into a new phase in what is a Cultural Revolution involving two competing visions of the human person, what constitutes human flourishing, the true nature of marriage - the family and society founded upon it - and the true definition of the common good.

These two visions are in direct conflict and the future of the West is at stake. One is a throwback to ancient paganism which calls itself "progressive" when it is regressive. The other is the path to a future of true freedom, the Christian vision. 

On January 22, 2007 Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor sent a letter to the then prime minister and Cabinet concerning the legislation which would force all adoption agencies to place children with cohabiting homosexuals or stop their charitable work. Here is an excerpt:

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"Dear Prime Minister and Members of the Cabinet,

"It has always been the wish of the Catholic Church in this country to work with the government for the common good of its people. We believe we do this in matters of social care, education and in many other ways. Catholic teaching urges us to do this, and we do it gladly in a spirit of cooperation.

"We would, however, have a serious difficulty with the proposed regulations on discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation in the provision of goods and services if they required our adoption agencies to consider homosexual couples as potential adoptive parents.

"The Catholic Church utterly condemns all forms of unjust discrimination, violence, harassment or abuse directed against people who are homosexual. Indeed the Church teaches that they must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. We, therefore, recognize many elements of recent legislation -- including much in the Northern Ireland regulations -- that takes steps to ensure that no such discrimination takes place.

"What, then, is the problem? It is that to oblige our agencies in law to consider adoption applications from homosexual couples as potential adoptive parents would require them to act against the principles of Catholic teaching. We require our agencies to recruit and approve appropriate married and single people to meet the needs of children in local authority care for whom adoption has been identified as being in their best interest.

"We place significant emphasis on marriage, as it is from the personal union of a man and a woman that new life is born and it is within the loving context of such a relationship that a child can be welcomed and nurtured. Marital love involves an essential complementarity of male and female. We recognize that some children, particularly those who have suffered abuse and neglect, may well benefit from placement with a single adoptive parent.

"However, Catholic teaching about the foundations of family life, a teaching shared not only by other Christian Churches but also other faiths, means that Catholic adoption agencies would not be able to recruit and consider homosexual couples as potential adoptive parents.

"We believe it would be unreasonable, unnecessary and unjust discrimination against Catholics for the government to insist that if they wish to continue to work with local authorities, Catholic adoption agencies must act against the teaching of the Church and their own consciences by being obliged in law to provide such a service...."

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The Cardinal's letter was reasonable. But reason does not matter when tyranny is released from its restraint, masquerading as tolerance. Clearly, Caesar would not listen, at least in the United Kingdom. This awful, regressive, and discriminatory legislation passed. Caesar has little tolerance for dissent. 

Now, the last Catholic Adoption Agency left standing in the entire United Kingdom can no longer continue its important work. What is ahead for the United States as the New Cultural Revolutionaries continue to plunder the American Republic?  That depends on you and me. These may be challenging times, but they are our times. We must rise to the challenge.

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