Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Today's Victorious Catholic Rally at the Capital!


"More than 5,000 Catholics attended a rally for religious freedom at the State Capitol in Hartford today. The rally, which featured the state's bishops and Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, came a day after a bill that would strip Connecticut Catholic bishops and priests of their administrative powers was abruptly withdrawn by its legislative sponsors..." (Continued here at the Knights of Columbus)

PLEASE ALSO CHECK OUT THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS LINK (above) TO VIEW SOME GREAT VIDEOS OF CONNECTICUT'S BISHOPS AT THE RALLY TODAY - VERY MOVING AND AWESOME!



More news:

"More than 4,000 Catholics from around the state stood in the drizzle on the north lawn of the state Capitol this morning to protest a bill that would have changed the way the church governs itself.

The bill, initially scheduled for a public hearing today before the legislature's judiciary committee, was pulled amid questions over its constitutionality.

But an informal hearing on the bill was called by Republican legislative leaders.

'The co-chairs decided for whatever reason to cancel everything ... but there are an awful lot of folks who feel very passionately about this issue," Sen. John Kissel of Enfield, the ranking Republican on the judiciary committee, said. "We don't have the authority to call a formal hearing. But we felt it would be good for those folks who wanted to come down here to express their views...' (Continued here in the Hartford Courant)


More news here:

"Legislators in the Constitution State, Connecticut, have declared war on the First Amendment. The attack was launched in the form of a bill that exclusively targets the Catholic Church and would strip bishops and priests of their ability to administer dioceses and parishes.

The bill (Raised Bill No. 1098) -- under consideration by the state's Judiciary Committee -- would wrest authority over church affairs from pastors and bishops and instead turn over control to a series of elected boards, explicitly excluding the bishops and pastors from voting.

The bill was written and rushed before committee without even the courtesy of a call to or request for input from any of Connecticut's Catholic bishops.

Of course, the First Amendment couldn't be clearer in its guarantees. It states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof "¦ ." That protection was extended to every citizen of the United States, in every state, with the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868..." (Continued here at the Stamford Advocate)

3 comments:

Therese said...

This bill is shocking and I am praying that it cannot get passed.

Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle said...

Thanks for stopping by, Therese. Thanks for your prayers. The Bill 1098 got BURIED - a real victory today for Catholics! Check out the video footage in this post and ones below this to get a better idea of things.

God bless!

Donna

EC Gefroh said...

Donna, although this is good news for now. Catholics better remain vigilant. This was too close. TY for sharing.