Co-sponsoring legislation that the Pa Catholic Conference has warned "will jeopardize many churches and their charitable outreach if they continue to adhere to their religious belief"!

As per the Pa Catholic Conference, Senate Bill 613/House Bill 1410 would add “'gender identity or expression' and 'sexual orientation' to Pennsylvania’s non-discrimination law. Changing the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA) will jeopardize many churches and their charitable outreach if they continue to adhere to their religious beliefs because the proposals do not adequately provide for conscience protection.....Urge lawmakers to oppose any bill that does not adequately protect our constitutional right of religious liberty."  

As per a check on the morning of 10/16/18, Rep Quinn (and Rep Tai) was listed as a co-sponsor  of HB 1410 on one list but NOT on the other list!  As per a phone call this afternoon to her local office, Representative Quinn is indeed a co-sponsor of HB 1410!  This 1981 Archbishop Wood valedictorian and St. Joseph's University alumnus is a co-sponsor of legislation that the Pa Catholic Conference has warned "will jeopardize many churches and their charitable outreach if they continue to adhere to their religious belief"!

Whether it is Marguerite Quinn or Steve Santarsiero replacing Senator Chuck McIlhinney, their track records indicate likely support for Senate Bill 613 or legislation like it.  How dare they act so cavalierly about religious liberty!   

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 10/21/18

• RE: Last chance to help pass this bill and save lives in PA (Pa Family Council, 10/15/18 email)

• "The central problem of the Church in our time – at least in the so-called 'developed' countries ….is a lack of real faith, even among many of our leaders and teachers....This explains the tendency today to reduce Christianity to a positive moral code or system of ethics, sweetened with sentiment and nostalgia. But that’s not faith, and it can’t inspire anyone to the kind of urgent, radical conversion that real faith in Jesus Christ demands....
  
  "Issues of sexual desire, and especially behaviour, go to the heart of human identity. They involve the purpose of the body, what we mean by 'human nature,' the complementary wholeness of the human species, and the transmission of life. So they have big implications for the truth or falsehood of Scripture and Catholic belief.
  
  "The Church needs to be very careful to avoid fracturing human identity according to our sexual appetites. 'LGBTQ' Catholics implies a special moral category in a determinist way that 'African' or 'English' Catholics, or 'Catholics with disabilities,' does not.....
  
  "The continuing sex abuse crisis is extremely serious. Fortunately, both Pope Francis and the synod fathers understand this, and the final document will likely reflect their concerns. I’m less sure that the roots of the problem will be addressed. Clericalism is clearly a factor in the sexual abuse of minors by clergy, but not the dominant one, and very few of the laypeople I know are satisfied with that explanation, especially parents. In the mind of the lay faithful, homosexuality and its role in the crisis need to be dealt with, but it’s unclear whether the synod will be willing to include it in the final text" (Archbishop Chaput, 10/15/18)

• Verizon, Stop selling sexual exploitation (NCOSE)

• More on the New Charter for Health Care Workers (10/8/18)

• We need our bishops to speak boldly for the cause of life.  After reading "De facto approval of abortion by Catholic hospitals and parishes?", please  urge [will work better directly from web site] USCCB president Cardinal DiNardo, Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop Chaput (and his auxiliaries), and NCBC's ethicists to IMMEDIATELY disallow so-called emergency contraception in Catholic hospitals. 

On the right side of the home page are links to email Pennsylvania's and New Jersey's delegations in D.C. on federal issues (See update.), Bucks County's delegation in Harrisburg on Pa state issues (See update.), and Central NJ's delegation in Trenton on NJ state issues (See update.).