Bishops Urge the Supreme Court to Preserve the Rights of Catholic Foster Care Agencies

Three bishop chairmen of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a statement this week regarding the oral arguments held before the U.S. Supreme Court in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. The question presented by Fulton is whether a city can refuse to contract with religious foster care agencies that do not place children with same-sex couples.

Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski, chairman of the Committee for Religious Liberty, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, and Bishop David A. Konderla, chairman of the Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, stated, "Today the Supreme Court heard arguments in a challenge to government exclusion of Catholics from providing foster care because we engage in this ministry as Catholics - that is, consistent with Church teaching on marriage and family. We pray the Court's ruling will fulfill the First Amendment's promise that religious believers may bring the full vitality of their faith to the public square, and will reject a hollowed-out pluralism that permits people of faith only to preach but not to practice."

As the bishops point out, Catholics have been called to care for children in need "for centuries, long before any government," because every person "deserves to experience the love of Jesus and be part of a family."

The bishops' full statement can be found on the USCCB website.