Denver prelate says bill would harm church groups' religious identity

Published: 2008-02-12

DENVER (CNS) -- Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput has joined other leaders of faith-based organizations in opposing a bill before the Colorado Legislature they criticized as harmful to preserving religious identity. They said the bill would hinder the ability of faith-based groups receiving public funds to hire people for leadership positions based on their religion. The bill would remove the exemption for religious groups from laws prohibiting discrimination in hiring practices. The exemption was passed in 2007. "It's self-defeating to imagine a Catholic-affiliated ministry where the key guiding people can't be required to be Catholic," said the archbishop in a Jan. 31 interview with the Rocky Mountain News daily newspaper. Defenders of the bill said that people hired for publicly funded projects should not be subject to a religious test and that the bill would not prevent faith-based groups from using private funds to hire people because of religious affiliation.

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