Adoption agency's victory not all it seems

The debate over Catholic adoption agencies and the right of homosexual couples to adopt has been rumbling a long time now, and seemed to be pretty well one-way traffic as Catholic agency after agency failed to make a strong case. So there was understandably a lot of relief, even celebration, when St Margaret’s in Scotland was last month allowed to keep its charitable status having seemingly found a legal route to defending its position. This relief grew even further recently when the OSCR (Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator) surprisingly decided against appealing that decision.

The OSCR had previously (before being overruled by the Scottish Charities Appeals Panel) decided in favour of the arguments of the National Secular Society, who brought the original case despite no evidence of gay couples ever having approached the agency, that St Margaret’s could not be both an adoption agency and a Catholic charity. The worrying rationale for this decision was that it was ruled that a religious charity’s primary purpose had to be religious, for the NSS specifically worship activities. The NSS and OSCR also disputed the idea that St Margaret's was a Catholic charity since its services are not available only to Catholics.

If it seems ludicrous to suggest that a charity cannot have a religious ethos and do other activities, then the victory of St Margaret’s should offer pause for thought, rather than celebration. It is astonishing that a court could ever have ruled such a decision and the fact that it did should be deeply concerning for all Catholics. The NSS seem to have accepted that they cannot fight the OSCR ruling but they will no doubt be greatly encouraged that a court, for a time at least, accepted the validity of their claim that could fatally undermine all religious charities, not just adoption agencies. They will be encouraged further still now that the Equality and Human Rights Commission has said that it disagrees with the Appeals Panel (though it has no power to override the decision).

If Catholic charities want to be able to continue to operate as faithful Catholic witnesses with a Catholic ethos, then they cannot afford to rest on their laurels, content that the St Margaret’s case proves their validity. Their ability to be authentically Catholic while providing public services is very much in question and needs to be met with a proper response.

There is no doubt that the NSS will continue to challenge religious charities on similar grounds and the fact that they can make any headway doing so is evidence that at the moment Catholic charities are not doing enough to make a case for their particular religious role alongside their services. Charitable activities are fundamental to the Christian faith, but only by being clear, honest and explicit about that fact while continuing to provide excellent services can Catholic charities properly defend their role. The St Margaret’s case does not mark the end of a battle – but an opening salvo which Catholics need to wake up to.

Ben Ryan is a researcher at Theos