The charitable agency Catholic Social Services of Southern Illinois in Belleville has petitioned to join a lawsuit filed by the Catholic Charities agency in Springfield, Peoria and Joliet, Illinois.
The suit seeks relief against efforts by the Illinois attorney general’s office and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to halt the Roman Catholic agencies from any further participation in state’s programs for foster care and adoption, according to a legal legal representative from the Thomas More Society.
The state has until Friday to object to the Southern Illinois agency’s entry into the suit, according to the Chicago Tribune.
“The bone of contention is the Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act,” reports Anugrah Kumar of the Christian Post, “which came into effect in Illinois on June 1 allowing homosexuals in civil unions the right to adopt or provide foster care. The state does not seem convinced that religious agencies that receive public funds to license foster care parents have the right to turn away couples in civil unions even if it violates their policies based on their religious beliefs.”
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