Raised Bill S.B. 1098, Session Year 2009, entitled "An Act Modifying Corporate Laws Relating to Certain Religious Corporations",Connecticut General Assembly
Raised S.B. No. 1098 Session Year 2009
accessed 13 September 2019. was a bill in the

Connecticut General Assembly The Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. Th ...

that would have applied solely to

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

es as civil corporations incorporated under the

law of Connecticut The law of Connecticut is the system of law and legal precedent of the U.S. state of Connecticut. Sources of law include the Constitution of Connecticut and the Connecticut General Statutes. Legal history Fundamental Orders of Connecticut The F ...

. The bill, introduced in March 2009, was sponsored by Democratic state senators Mike Lawlor and Andrew J. McDonald. Its stated purpose was to "revise the corporate governance provisions applicable to the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and provide for the investigation of the misappropriation of funds by religious corporations." On March 10, 2009, the bill was tabled.

History

Senator McDonald and Representative Lawlor stated that the bill was proposed as a response to the 2006 fraud case in which Rev. Michael Jude Fay, a priest from the Diocese of Bridgeport, was accused of stealing $1.4 million from his parish. Raised Bill 1098 explicitly referred only to the Roman Catholic Church, and would require the creation of administrative corporate boards of lay people as heads of parishes, replacing the Church's normal oversight by priests and bishops. On March 11, 2009, a scheduled protest by 3500 marchers became a celebration following the news that the bill had been tabled.

Controversy

According to the

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (US ...

(USCCB), the bill "would force the Church to alter its structure in violation of its own religious principles." One of the sponsors of the Bill, Andrew J. McDonald, stated that the effort was an "attempt to create a forum for a group of concerned Catholic constituents to discuss their legislative proposals regarding parish corporate finances." Bishop William E. Lori, at that time Bishop of Bridgeport, described it as "unconstitutional," as a violation of the

First Amendment to the United States Constitution The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prevents the government from making laws that regulate an establishment of religion, or that prohibit the free exercise of religion, or abridge the freedom of speech, the ...

. Connecticut Attorney General

Richard Blumenthal Richard Blumenthal (; born February 13, 1946) is an American lawyer and politician who is the senior United States senator from Connecticut, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he is one of the wealthiest members of ...

opened an investigation to "determine its intent and its possible violation of the constitution."

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

*CGA.CT.gov
Text of Raised Bill No. 1098, 2009
*CGA.CT.gov

(PDF) *CGA.CT.gov

Legal history of Connecticut 2009 in Connecticut 2009 in American law History of Catholicism in the United States Canon law of property Parishes of the Catholic Church Freedom of religion in the United States Separation of church and state in the United States Church and state law in the United States United States corporate law