Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
December 07, 2009

Auxiliary Bishop Barry C. Knestout of Washington said despite news reports to the contrary, “Catholic Charities is vowing to continue its services even if a same-sex marriage bill passes” in the District of Columbia’s City Council. Bishop Knestout made the commitment in an open letter to local Catholics posted on the Web site of The Catholic Standard, Washington’s archdiocesan newspaper. The bishop said the level of services will not be the same, though, because “without a meaningful religious exemption in the bill, Catholic Charities and other similar religious providers will become ineligible for contracts, grants and licenses to continue those services.” Arch-diocesan officials and other religious leaders in the district have said that if the council is going to pass the measure despite their objections, then it must include strong protections for religious conscience. Catholic Charities currently serves 68,000 people in the city, including one-third of Washing-ton’s homeless.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

President Donald Trump meets South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Trump offered a vibrant demonstration of the kind of worst-case scenario Pope Leo may have had in mind about the collapse of critical thinking.
Kevin ClarkeMay 22, 2025
In his first appointment of a top-level official of the Roman Curia, Pope Leo XIV named Sister Tiziana Merletti, a canon lawyer, to be secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
“We were once leaders in petroleum and gas research; now we’re becoming leaders in green hydrogen and carbon capture. This isn’t just a technological shift; it’s a spiritual one.”
Gerard O’ConnellMay 22, 2025
A cardinal reflects on his experience of the conclave