Catholic Care 'Wins' High Court Battle

Fantastic news as The Telegraph reports...

A Catholic adoption society has unexpectedly won a High Court battle against legislation forcing it to consider homosexual couples as parents.

Catholic Care had said it would have to give up its work finding homes for children if it was made to comply with the new anti-discrimination legislation.

The Charity Commission had rejected its plea to an exemption under the Sexual Orientation Regulations but a High Court judge this morning allowed the adoption charity's appeal.

Mr Justice Briggs, sitting in London, ordered the commission to reconsider the case in the light of the principles set out in his judgment.

Catholic Care, which serves the dioceses of Leeds, Middlesbrough, and Hallam in South Yorkshire, was the last Catholic adoption charity to continue its fight against the equality legislation.

The Roman Catholic Church lost a battle against the regulations when they were introduced in 2006.

Rt Rev Arthur Roche, Bishop of Leeds, welcomed the judge's decision, saying it would "help in our determination to continue to provide this invaluable service to benefit children, families and communities".

He said the judgment confirmed that Catholic Care was correct in its reading of the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 and that the exemption could apply "to any charity subject to it being in the public interest".

The bishop said: "We look forward to producing evidence to the Charity Commission to support the position that we have consistently taken through this process: that without being able to use this exemption, children without families would be seriously disadvantaged.

"Catholic Care has been providing specialist adoption services for over 100 years.

"We have helped hundreds of children through the recruitment, assessment, training and support for prospective adoptive parents as well as offering ongoing and post-adoption support to families that give such security and love for some of the most vulnerable children in our society.

"The judgment today will help in our determination to continue to provide this invaluable service to benefit children, families and communities."

So, maybe it is worth standing firm and not doing deals in order to maintain the Catholic ethos of our schools, sorry, I mean, adoption agencies. Well done Catholic Care and thanks be to God!

UPDATE: I have just had a comment suggesting that the Telegraph's report of this being a 'victory' is not the whole story. To see the full decision of the judge, click here. Somebody get me a lawyer!