Catholic Rally at the Capitol on Wednesday!

Amazing is the only way to describe the turn of events here at the State Capitol since the Democrat co-chairs of the Judiciary Committee pulled the pin on a grenade and threw it right into the Catholic Church! Apparently, Senator McDonald and Representative Lawlor underestimated the outrage from Catholics on their attack of the Church and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

As Republican legislators and I stood in a press conference at Noon today criticizing their attack on the Church and religious freedoms in Connecticut, McDonald and Lawlor cancelled the Judiciary Committee meeting public hearing scheduled for tomorrow. They issued a statement, "… it would serve no useful purpose to have a conversation about changing the laws that govern existing Roman Catholic corporations until we know if any of these existing laws are constitutional."

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal was waiting outside the Republican press conference to chime in on the constitutional question. The Judiciary co-chairs asked for his opinion and promised to host a forum of legal scholars and all religious denominations to discuss the current law after the current legislative session. Now they want the Catholic Church to defend the laws on the books since 1866!

Ironically, McDonald and Lawlor requested the “proponents” of the bill (they forget this is their initiative) to meet with church leaders privately “to see if they can come to a resolution on their own.” Imagine actually having conversation before proposing legislation? Had the co-chairs done their homework they would have found their proposal is widely unpopular, clearly unconstitutional and a clear attack on the Roman Catholic Church of Connecticut.

Catholic faithful from across Connecticut are still travelling to Hartford on Wednesday for a rally at Noon. Parishes were mobilized over the weekend to bring thousands of outraged Catholics to the public hearing on SB1098 to send a message to Senator McDonald and Representative Lawlor - Stop interfering with the Catholic Church's First Amendment rights!

This fight is not over. Catholics should call their legislators to let them know they oppose SB1098 and the misguided judgment of Senator McDonald and Representative Lawlor to interfere in the Catholic Church's business.

You may locate your Senator and Representative at the following address:

http://cga.ct.gov/maps/townlist.asp

Stay tuned for reports of the Catholic rally at the Capitol.