ILLINOIS: More Catholic Adoption Groups Close Doors Rather Than Comply With Law

Two more Catholic adoption agencies in Illinois have decided to close their doors rather than comply with the state's new civil unions law. They'd rather see children go without families. 



Glenn Van Cura, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Joliet, told The Advocate that his office is not accepting applications for new foster care or adoptive parents pending further clarification from the governor and attorney general's office. "What we want to make clear is that according to our beliefs, with any cohabitating couple, whether homosexual or heterosexual, we don't refer to licensing. It's just part of our social teaching," Van Cura said. Single individuals, whether gay or straight, have been eligible to become foster or adoptive parents, however. "We don't ask, nor is it any of our business," Van Cura said of a single applicant's sexual orientation. In a letter this week to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Catholic Charities of Peoria CEO Tricia C. Fox wrote that the suspension could be lifted if the state amended the civil unions law to allow religious services to refer same-sex couples elsewhere.