Are gay rights activists using lawsuits to impose their
religious views on the Catholic Church?
A gay couple from Massachusetts sued a Roman Catholic diocese Monday for allegedly refusing to sell them a mansion because church officials were concerned they would host gay weddings there.
James Fairbanks, 59, and Alain Beret, 57, filed suit in Worcester Superior Court for loss of civil rights and dignity and for emotional distress.What about the Church’s right to freedom of religion? And the right to uphold the dignity of pro-gender marriage? And talk about “distress.” Isn’t being sued a bit stressful?
The married couple from Sutton planned to buy Oakhurst, a former Catholic retreat center in Northbridge, and restore it as a place they could live and host a special events business.
But the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester ended negotiations in June, and the couple alleged they learned why in an email they inadvertently received in which diocesan Chancellor Thomas Sullivan cited concern “about the potentiality of gay marriages there.”
The couple’s attorney, Sergio Carvajal, said it’s obvious his clients were discriminated against because they’re gay.
“It is wrong and it is illegal,” he said.
But James G. Reardon Jr., an attorney for the diocese, said the diocese stopped negotiations over concerns about whether the buyers could finance the purchase. The email refers only to the possibility of gay weddings being held at the site, not the couple’s sexual orientation, which Reardon said never came up during negotiations.
“It wasn’t a case of discriminating against gay people. We didn’t even know they were gay,” Reardon said.
Do
activists have the right to impose their religious views about human sexuality on the Church?
The church refused to sell something because they might host gay marriages.
ReplyDelete"“I just went down the hall and discussed it with the bishop. Because of the potentiality of gay marriages there, something you shared with us yesterday, we are not interested in going forward with these buyers."
It Speaking at the press conference yesterday, Mr. Beret, a lawyer who formerly practiced law in California and Vermont, disputed that financing was a problem.
“Financing was not an issue. I’d love to know which bank turned me down,” he said.
It's not forcing beliefs on the catholic church no matter how much you try to ake it out to be. It's not like they are forcing the church to host gay weddings. The church would have sold the land, completely removing any right to ownership for it and it would have been used to host gay weddings.
http://www.telegram.com/article/20120911/NEWS/109119835/1116
Anymore false accusations of forcing religion on someone you want to peddle, Fran?
The Catholic Church teaches that an abortion is wrong because it takes the life of an innocent child. Wouldn't it be hypocritical for the Church to sell property to business owners who plan to open an abortion clinic?
DeleteIn like manner, the Catholic Church teaches that sex is so beautiful and important that it should be reserved for holy matrimony between one man and one woman. Therefore, it would be hypocritical and scandalous for them to make money by knowingly selling property to business owners who plan to use it for homosexual same-sex "marriage" receptions.