Austins Atheism Blog Can Publicly-Funded Catholic Church Turn Away Non-Catholic Couples?
Can Publicly-Funded Catholic Church Turn Away Non-Catholic Couples? Tuesday February 15, 2005 In California, people want to use federal funds to restore historic Catholic missions. They claim that this is warranted because of the missions’ historic importance, despite the fact that they continue to be working churches. If they are government-funded churches, though, can they legally turn away non-Catholic couples who want to marry there? The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that one couple that was turned away are suing to prevent federal funds from supporting that discrimination: “This would be a demonstration that the (missions) are in fact discriminating on the basis of religion when they make decisions about who can use their facilities,” said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which filed a lawsuit after President Bush signed a bill that
