Chicago's archbishop has drawn a line in the sand for immigrant rights groups supporting equal marriage in Illinois.
Cardinal Francis George is defending the church's decision to pull funding from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), after the coalition announced support for equal marriage. The controversy has ensnared local politicians.
In May, ICIRR announced support for equal marriage amid a push to pass same-sex marriage legislation in Illinois.
"While we recognize that there are differences of opinion within immigrant and faith-based communities regarding same-sex marriages, including among our members, the majority of our members — and therefore our organization — believe that a full respect for our state's and our nation's diversity demands that we not discriminate based on whom we love, and that we call upon an end to such discrimination in our local, state, and federal laws," the organization said at the time.
That statement prompted the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) to yank funding from the coalition.
"Donors to the CCHD give to this anti-poverty organization with the understanding that their money will be passed on to organizations that respect the teachings of the Catholic faith," George said, in a statement published on the archdiocese website July 29. "Organizations that apply for funds do so agreeing to this condition."
But a handful of Catholic politicians are urging George not to strip the funds. Two lettersone from gubernatorial hopeful Bill Daley and another from a group of Chicago lawmakerscall on George to reconsider the decision.
In a strongly worded letter to George and CCHD, Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza; Alds. Joe Moreno, Danny Solis, Patrick O'Connor and James Cappleman; and Cook County Commissioners Larry Suffredin and John Fritchey, say that the funding stoppage "is not worthy of the Church we know, love and respect."
"Our faith teaches that we all have a duty to care for the least among us," the letter, provided to Windy City Times by Moreno's office, reads. "The action threatened by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development seems at best inconsistent with Church teaching; at worst it seems cruel."
The letter further accuses the church of using immigrants and immigrant advocates as "pawns in a political battle about an issues that entirely unrelated to the care and welfare of those who seek refuge in our country."
Another letter from Bill Daley to George obtained by Windy City Times expresses support for marriage equality and argues that the church can maintain its own views on marriage while others can support equal marriage.
"But my view on marriage equality and those of immigrant aid groups who have similar views really are irrelevant to our collective duty to help those who are less fortunate," Daley wrote in his July 11 letter. "As a Catholic, I have always been proud of my church's commitment to social justice … . But for the church to turn its back on its long-standing work with groups that aid the poor over a completely unrelated issue is an injustice, plain and simple."
The Archdiocese of Chicago has been an outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage.
Responding to the letter from multiple officials, George called it "intellectually and morally dishonest to use the witness of the Church's concern for the poor as an excuse to attack the Church's teaching on the nature of marriage."
"Because the signers of the letters are Catholic, they know that in a few years, like each of us, they will stand before this same Christ to give an account of their stewardship," the statement reads. "Jesus is merciful, but he is not stupid; he knows the difference between right and wrong. Manipulating both immigrants and the Church for political advantage is wrong.
ICIRR did not respond to a request to comment.