Concerned that the Catholic Church has too much influence on the Catholic Church, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has demanded that the Catholic Church disregard the teachings and doctrine of the Catholic Church, and condemned the Catholic Church for attempting to impose those teachings and doctrines upon the Catholic Church. The Board also encouraged schism within the Church, urging the Archdiocese of San Francisco to defy the ecclesiastical authority of the Pope and Curia.

San Francisco elected officials, who have tangled with the Catholic Church before, issued a blistering statement Tuesday that calls on the Vatican to overturn its edict that children waiting to be adopted should not be placed with gays and lesbians.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a nonbinding resolution that takes aim at a statement issued two weeks ago by Cardinal-elect William Levada, the former archbishop for San Francisco who now serves as second-in-command at the Vatican. Levada said Catholic agencies "should not place children for adoption in homosexual households.''

The San Francissco Board of Supervisors wasted little time chiming in, and challenged local church officials to defy the Vatican.

"It is an insult to all San Franciscans when a foreign country, like the Vatican, meddles with and attempts to negatively influence this great city's existing and established customs and traditions, such as the right of same-sex couples to adopt and care for children in need,'' the resolution stated.

On Monday, Maurice Healy, spokesman for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, told The Chronicle that adoptions into gay and lesbian households "are not in sync with church teaching, and we've committed ourselves to being in sync with church teaching.''

In other words, the city government in Sodom-by-the-Bay has gone on record condemning the Catholic Church for upholding two millennia of Christian moral teaching, and demanded that the Church change its teachings and policies to suit the government of San Francisco. Would someone care to explain to me the constitutional theory that allows for such a resolution? How can such a legislative enactment be valid under the First Amendment?

What is more shocking is that the resolution hearkens back to the rhetoric of anti-Catholic nativism from the 19th century. The reference to the Vatican as a foreign country contains in it an implicit challenge to the patriotism and loyalty of American Catholics, and was common in the writings and speeches of anti-Catholic groups such as the American Protective Association, Ku Klux Klan, Protestants and Others United for the Separation of Church and State (now known as Americans United for the Separation of Church and State) and the aptly-named Know-Nothing Party. The Board of Supervisors will be known and remembered by the company in which it has placed itself by this infamous action.

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Liberties had this to say:

“In a non-binding resolution, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors lashed out at the Catholic Church because it disagrees with the Church’s teachings on marriage and sexuality. The board, which has long shown its affinity for the radical gay agenda, has now demonstrated that it has nothing but contempt for the First Amendment provisions on religious liberty and the establishment of religion. If they had it their way, the government would dictate the teachings of the Catholic Church. “Because the Catholic Church supports the right of children to be raised by fathers and mothers, and not by various other combinations, the Board of Supervisors calls the Church’s teachings on adoption ‘hateful,’ ‘discriminatory,’ ‘insulting’ and ‘callous,’ adding that it ‘shows a level of insensitivity and ignorance.’ The group also said, ‘It is an insult to all San Franciscans when a foreign country, like the Vatican, meddles with…this city’s existing and established customs and traditions….’ “According to this logic, any religious entity that faithfully follows the tenets of its faith risks being condemned by San Francisco officials if the Board of Supervisors disagrees with its contents. The real meddlers, obviously, are government agents who seek to smash the principle of separation of church and state by seeking to inject themselves into the internal affairs of a world religion. “The new San Francisco Archbishop, George Niederauer, has his hands full with a related matter: Catholic Charities, which has been told to stop gay adoptions, refuses to cooperate. Brian Cahill, the executive director, pledges no policy changes, and Glenn Motola, the CYO director of programs and services, is a gay adoptive father. These men worked for the former archbishop, William Levada, who is now a Cardinal-elect serving in Rome in the same post formerly held by Pope Benedict XVI.”

Well said.

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