from Parenting & Family

Boston Archdiocese Drops
Adoption Program Over State Law

March 13, 2006 - The Boston Catholic Charities has just dropped its 100-year old adoption program rather than comply with a state law mandating that gay couples be allowed to adopt children in a non-discriminatory manner through the program. The move was announced by Boston Church officials on March 10.

News reports in November 2005 indicated that the charity had placed several children in gay households, but the Catholic Church teaches that adoption by same-sex couples is a form of violence against children.

According to a report in Catholic World News (CWN), Boston's Archbishop Sean O'Malley had received direct instructions from the Vatican saying that a Catholic charity cannot be involved in gay adoptions. On February 28, four Massachusetts Bishops indicated they would seek an exemption from the state's non-discrimination policy, but have apparently abandoned the effort, according to CWN.

According to Father J. Bryan Hehir and Jeffrey Kaneb, president and chairman, respectively of Boston Catholic Charities: "We have encountered a dilemma we cannot resolve." They indicated they could not "reconcile the teaching of the Church which guides our work and the statutes and regulations of the commonwealth."

Additional Reading: Gender Complementarity and Child-rearing: Where Tradition and Science Agree; Review Of Research On Homosexual Parenting, Adoption, And Foster Parenting.