A famous bearded carpenter once said: “So in everything you do, do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” As wise as Bob Villa is, the actual credit for that line belongs to an older, swarthier carpenter—Jesus.
Although they claim to follow his teachings, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington certainly appears to be lacking his characteristic compassion. In response to the District’s recent legalization of gay marriage, Catholic Charities will deny benefits to new employees’ families and require all new hires to sign a Catholic loyalty oath.
In the lead-up to the passage of D.C.’s gay marriage bill, Catholic Charities tried to derail marriage equality by suggesting that they would be unable to continue to provide services if they were forced to recognize the partners and families of gay employees. Catholic Charities relented once the bill was passed, but their attempt to coerce the D.C. Council—using the city’s poor and underserved as bargaining chips—was decidedly unchristian.
For years, the Catholic Church has been a strong defender of workers’ rights, ensuring that its employees have a living wage and safe working conditions. Now, Catholic Charities is abandoning that noble tradition, uncharitably and immorally denying benefits to their own workers.
In order to continue operating in the District, Catholic Charities decided the partners and families of all of its employees, both gay and straight, should be denied benefits. Even stripping employees of benefits wasn’t enough, though: the organization has also instituted a new policy requiring employees to sign a pledge ensuring that they will not “violate the principles or tenets” of the Catholic Church.
Catholic Charities did not have to take this path. In San Francisco, where gay marriage is also legal, the Archdiocese decided to expand the meaning of domestic partner to anyone designated by the employee as a member of their household, providing a creative loophole that ensures future employees receive coverage. This allows the Church to cling to tradition and avoid recognizing same-sex relationships while simultaneously providing benefits to all of their workers equally.
Catholic Charities does much good throughout the District and the neighboring areas, but there’s no escaping the fact that its disappointing behavior throughout the debate over gay marriage was manipulative at best. At countless points, Catholic Charities said it was willing to abandon the poor and needy of the greater Washington area for the enforcement of a minor and incredibly intolerant piece of Church doctrine—a model one can only hope is not repeated elsewhere as gay marriage is legalized in other parts of the country.
