Philadelphia cuts ties with Catholic Charities over gay foster parenting refusal
The city of Philadelphia will no longer place foster children with parents through the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Catholic Social Services (CSS) because the archdiocese won’t place kids with same-sex couples.
“A short time ago, the City ceased new foster care child intakes with CSS,” Kenneth Gavin, the archdiocese’s chief communications officer, told LifeSiteNews via email. “CSS is, at its core, an institution founded on faith based-principles. As such, CSS conducts its operations based upon deeply held religious beliefs and principles.”
The archdiocesan program “recognizes the vital importance of the foster care program in our city and is proud to provide safe and nurturing foster environments to young people in need,” said Gavin. “Given the longstanding partnership between CSS and the city, we hope to continue our productive relationship with the City of Philadelphia to serve those among us in need.”
As same-sex “marriage” was introduced and eventually imposed on the U.S., Catholic charities in Boston, Washington, D.C., Illinois, and San Francisco have had to stop facilitating adoptions rather than place children with same-sex couples.
“A man and a woman united in marriage, together with their children, form a family,” the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches (CCC 2202). “This institution is prior to any recognition by public authority, which has an obligation to recognize it. It should be considered the normal reference point by which the different forms of family relationship are to be evaluated.” On the subject of homosexual activity, the Catholic Church teaches that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” and “under no circumstances can they be approved.”
This is because “they are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity” (CCC 2357).
The Catholic Church’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in a document titled Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons, instructs Catholics:
“In those situations where homosexual unions have been legally recognized or have been given the legal status and rights belonging to marriage, clear and emphatic opposition is a duty. One must refrain from any kind of formal cooperation in the enactment or application of such gravely unjust laws and, as far as possible, from material cooperation on the level of their application. In this area, everyone can exercise the right to conscientious objection.”
A “married” lesbian couple is currently suing the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the federal government because Catholic Charities of Fort Worth, Texas, wouldn’t place a child in their fatherless home. The women are Texas A&M instructors.
Alabama, Michigan, North Dakota, and Texas all protect adoption agencies from being forced to give kids to same-sex couples.
“It is important to note as a matter of process that CSS would not receive referrals from DHS for adoptive couples,” Gavin explained. “Rather, The City’s Department of Human Services (DHS) would ask CSS to find foster placement for young people and CSS finds those families on its own.”
“The foster care program operated by CSS is, at its root, one designed to provide services to vulnerable children and young people,” he concluded. “Meeting those needs in a safe and caring environment is at the heart of this ministry. Care is provided for all those in need with dignity, charity, and respect regardless of their background.”
There are over 5,000 children and youth in Philadelphia’s foster care system, according to the city. The Pennsylvania State Adoption & Permanency Network says there are approximately 15,000 children in foster care in the state.
