Anglican and
Roman Catholic Church leaders joined forces on Wednesday in
London in a battle to be excused from new
British antidiscrimination laws they say would force
Catholic adoption agencies to place children with gay
couples. In what is becoming a fierce battle between
church and state, the leader of the world's 77 million
Anglicans, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, backed
the United Kingdom's leading Catholic cardinal in
urging Prime Minister Tony Blair to exempt Catholic
adoption agencies from the new law.
In a joint letter with Archbishop of York John
Sentamu, Williams told Blair, "The rights of
conscience cannot be made subject to legislation,
however well-meaning."
The letter piles pressure on Blair, who
commentators say is leaning toward the church's view
but who would face a fierce backlash from within his
party if he allowed an exemption. Late on Wednesday, Channel
4 news reported that Blair had given in to the
pressure from his own lawmakers to reject the exemption.
But a spokesman for his Downing Street office
said no decision had been reached. "There is no change
in the position," he told Reuters. "The prime minister
is still looking for a pragmatic way forward and will
continue to consult with important stakeholders in an
attempt to resolve the issue."
Williams's intervention came just hours after
Blair was sent a strongly worded letter by Cardinal
Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, leader of the Catholic Church
in England and Wales, saying Catholic adoption agencies
would face "serious difficulty" adhering to the law
and may be forced to close. "We believe it would be
unreasonable, unnecessary, and unjust discrimination
against Catholics for the government to insist...Catholic
adoption agencies must act against the teaching of the
Church and their own consciences," he wrote.
The 12 Catholic adoption agencies in England and
Wales handle about one third of all voluntary-sector
adoptions. Murphy-O'Connor said it would be a tragedy
if the legislation forced their closure, adding that if
this happened, some 4,000 children awaiting adoption may be
at a disadvantage.
Gay rights activists and secularists accused the
cardinal of bowing to Vatican pressure and holding the
government to ransom. Officials with the National
Secular Society said the row over the Equality Act, which is
due to take effect in April and outlaws discrimination
on grounds of sexual orientation in the provision of
goods, facilities, and services, is "a major conflict
between where the rights of the church end and
democracy begins."
"Religious bodies have a big and regressive
agenda, everything from abortion to stem cell research
and voluntary euthanasia," said the group's executive
director, Keith Porteous Wood, in a prepared statement.
"If the government caves in on this, it will set a dangerous precedent."
According to British media, Blair and his
communities minister, Ruth Kelly, a prominent
Catholic, are reported to be in favor of an opt-out
that would allow Catholic adoption services to turn away gay
couples. But he is likely to face fierce opposition
from within his own Labor Party and cabinet if he
appears to be giving in to church demands. (Reuters)