CT State Legislature tries to take control of Catholic Church

A bill introduced into the CT state judiciary committee attempts to require the church to reorganize it's parishes as corporations (which they are now), but which are controlled by boards of directors composed of lay members of the parish. The bishop is a member of the board of directors, but cannot vote. The parish priest is not on the board, but must report to the board. The board decides on all activities of the parish including budgets, capital projects, outreach programs, how and what funds are spent on. Here is a link to a video of the Bishop of Bridgeport discussing the bill. Here is a link to a letter from a lawyer explaining why the bill violates the first amendment. (Scroll down about 3/4 from the top of the page to find a letter from Senior Counsel, Mayer Brown LLP, to members of the Judiciary Committee.) Finally, the head of the state judiciary committee is a gay, catholic man who is ‘gay married’.