Britain's High Court has allowed Catholic adoption charity Catholic Care to appeal for an exemption from sexual orientation rules. The agency had argued that compelling it to consider gay couples as adoptive parents would force it to close.
The country's Charity Commission had rejected Catholic Care's attempt to secure an exemption to anti-discrimination laws against gay couples, but on Wednesday a High Court Judge allowed the appeal, the Catholic News Agency says according to a Telegraph report.
Bishop of Leeds Arthur Roche said in a statement that the court confirmed Catholic Care's reading of the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 and agreed that the exemptions of Regulation 18 can apply to "any charity subject to its being in the public interest".
"We look forward to producing evidence to the Charity Commission to support the position that we have consistently taken through this process that without being able to use this exemption children without families would be seriously disadvantaged," he continued.
Justice Michael Briggs ruled that Catholic Care's work with children whom other agencies could not place was a benefit to the public, despite its policy of refusing gay couples, said an AP report in the Sydney Morning Herald.
The judge said Catholic Care handled about 10 adoptions a year of hard-to-place children who had not found homes through other agencies.
"But for Catholic Care's work in that field, those children would therefore not have been adopted that year or, probably, at all," Briggs said.
FULL STORY
Catholic adoption charity may appeal in equality case, British High Court rules (Catholic News Agency)
Catholic agency wins ruling on gays (Sydney Morning Herald/Associated Press)