Dear Parishioners:
As you may be aware, a referendum that is on the general election ballot for this November is asking voters to approve or reject what is known as an Equal Rights Amendment to the New York State Constitution. While some of the language of the proposed amendment is unobjectionable, the New York State Catholic Conference, which represents the Bishops of New York State in public policy matters, strongly opposes the referendum for two primary reasons.
First, it would enshrine a fundamental right to abortion on demand in the state Constitution. While the practical impact of this likely would be minimal given that the state legislature already has embedded this right in statute, by adding it to the state Constitution, it would make it nearly impossible to enact any pro-life laws even if public opinion in New York was to evolve.
Second, because the language of the amendment would bar discrimination based either on “age” or “gender identity” or “gender expression,” it could open the door to a judicial interpretation barring parents from having any say in medical interventions of their minor children regarding “gender transition” and could impact youth sports, locker room and bathroom facility use and more. We also have concerns regarding religious liberty implications for our charitable institutions.
A ballot issue committee has been formed as the formal opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment. Known as the Coalition to Protect Kids (CTPK), this committee is registered with the New York State Board of Elections and reports on its funding and expenditures in accordance with state election law.
The Catholic Conference and our Diocese support the goal of the CTPK to defeat this amendment. I will be giving you more information about this Amendment in the weeks to come.
I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank a small army of parishioners who participated in the “4th of July” Parish Clean-up Party. I know I will be missing some names and I apologize ahead of time. Volunteers were in various locations of the parish grounds and I may have overlooked a few people. Thank you to: Fr. Abraham, Fr. Lou, Gerard Reilly, Eddie Senkus, Diana and John Bogashewicz, Claudia and Jack Harford, Bob Ewald, Jeanine Guglielmo, Jeff and Marie Mortimer, Joe Soriano, Rich Lamb, Gary Singleton, Carmine and Gabriella Parisi, Rebecca (our school principal) and Richard Darmanin, Michael Katapodis, Ed Carlson, Lou La Rocca, Larry Penney, Rich Rosso and Paul Ginnetty. I especially want to thank the Knights of Columbus for their great showing of volunteers.
In Christ,
Fr. Brian
PS: This past weekend we also hosted a ”deployment party” for almost 100 Army Reservists. The party took place on our Parish grounds and the local Knights of Columbus and our own St. Patrick School Fathers’ Guild went out of their way to help out. I thank them for their care and concern for our troops who will be gone for almost a year. Please pray for our troops and for their families as well.