Boston, Mass., Dec 7, 2005 / 22:00 pm
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts has welcomed a letter by the apostolic nuncio in Washington that calls for Catholic Charities of Boston to stop assisting same-sex couples adopt children.
"You can't defend Catholic teaching in society unless you follow it yourself," said the league’s executive director C.J. Doyle, reported UPI. "No religious agency should be forced to act against its principles in the name of charity."
As Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo Higuera does not have direct authority over Archbishop Sean O'Malley of Boston, the letter does not constitute an order. But as the Pope’s representative in the United States, the letter serves as a message from the Holy See.
The Boston Herald reported that only a small percentage of the hundreds of adoptions coordinated by Catholic Charities are to same-sex couples, and none are in process now.