London, England, Sep 23, 2008 / 02:05 am
A Welsh Catholic adoption agency, which has been in operation since 1947, is cutting its ties with the Catholic Church because of new rules that force adoption agencies to consider placing children with homosexual couples.
One adoption agency chief executive described the decision as the “darkest hour in 150 years of Catholic social work in Britain.”
The St. David's Children's Society, which covers the three Welsh dioceses of Cardiff, Menevia and Wrexham, is the oldest adoption agency in Wales and reports it has placed nearly 2,000 children with families over sixty years. In the year ending March 31, 2006, 30 children were adopted through the society, representing 14 percent of all Welsh adoptees that year.
Trustees of the society, which was founded by the Church, argue that if they are to remain in operation they have no choice but to cut their links to the Catholic bishops and become an independent charity to comply with the new Sexual Orientation Regulations of the 2006 Equality Act, the Catholic Herald reports.