Thousands of Roman Catholics descended on the Connecticut statehouse Wednesday, as simmering resentment over bills they consider anti-Catholic reached a boiling point with a recent legislative attempt to give parishioners more say over parish financing.The sponsors of the now-withdrawn proposal, both Catholics themselves, have received thousands of mostly angry e-mails from across the country, as well as threats on their lives, state Capitol police said.
Leaders of the General Assembly's Judiciary Committee pulled the bill from consideration Tuesday, but an estimated 3,500 people -- led by the archbishop of Hartford and the bishops of Bridgeport and Hartford -- rallied on the Capitol steps, demanding religious freedom.
"No other church or religion in this state is being subjected to this maltreatment," said the Rev. Michael R. Cote, bishop of Norwich. "Today it is the Roman Catholic Church. Who will be next?"
| For some strange reason the two legislators didn't propose to take control of the mosques in the state away from the congregations and put lay people in charge of the finances. Instead they confined themselves to the Catholic Church. Pro'ly because the good Rev. Cote hasn't threatened to behead anyone ... |
Catholics were also angered by a failed attempt in 2002 to require priests to report sexual abuse -- even if they learned about it during confession -- if a child was in imminent danger.
State Rep. T.R. Rowe, R-Trumbull, a Roman Catholic, said many of his fellow faithful feel the latest bill meddles in church business and is "the straw that broke the camel's back."
"Traditional values promoted by the church and by the average citizen have been disregarded and ignored and reversed, frankly, over the past few years," he said in an interview.
The newest bill would have changed a little-known 1866 law that sets out rules for religious corporations. Under the proposal, each individual church's board would include seven to 13 lay members, giving them the power to control parish finances. The archbishop or bishop of the diocese would serve on the board but could not vote on issues.
| Sorta missing the whole point of an apostolic church ... |