Bishops: Catholic adoption agencies should apply for British grants

Published: 2007-11-20

LONDON (CNS) -- The bishops of England and Wales have encouraged Catholic adoption agencies to apply jointly for government grants to help them find ways of staying open despite new gay rights legislation. The government has said it is willing to make 20,000 pounds (US$41,000) available to each of the country's approximately 12 Catholic adoption agencies, which together find new homes for about 250 children each year. If the application is successful, the money would probably be available in January. The Catholic adoption agencies have until the end of next year to either comply with the law forcing them to place children with same-sex couples or face prosecution, but the bishops have warned the government that their agencies are more likely to close down rather than contravene the teachings of the Catholic Church. In a statement Nov. 16, the bishops said they welcomed the government's offer of "limited financial assistance to agencies to pay for further work to be done to explore whether, within the law, there might yet be ways found which will enable the adoption work to carry on and for our agencies to continue to be Catholic agencies."

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