No exemption for Catholic agencies

Britain will not exempt Catholic adoption agencies from new anti-discrimination laws that the church fears could force it to place children with gay couples, Prime Minister Tony Blair said.

The adoption agencies will be granted a transition period, until the end of next year, to adjust to the new law, he said.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, said, “We are of course deeply disappointed that no exemption will be granted to our agencies on the grounds of widely held religious conviction and conscience.”