Church responds to state complaint charging Catholics' grassroots rally at Capitol constituted unregistered lobbying, and threatening large fines against the Diocese
Rally in question resulted in defeat of proposed Connecticut legislation to overthrow Catholic Church hierarchy in order to further the Gay Agenda
UPDATE 6/12/09: Bishop says he's a man of God, not a lobbyist
-- From "Was Catholic church rally 'spontaneous expression' or lobbying?" by Ken Dixon, Connecticut Post Staff Writer 6/3/09
In federal court documents, the Bridgeport Roman Catholic Diocese claims it shouldn't be penalized for failing to register as a lobbyist for a March 11 rally that attracted about 3,500 people -- and dozens of busloads from southwestern Connecticut -- to the state Capitol.
Bishop William E. Lori contends that it was a "spontaneous" expression.
Fliers were printed, congregations were organized, and the Diocese arranged caravans of buses for the demonstration against legislation that would have changed the way Roman Catholic parishes are organized and incorporated.
But by spending more than $2,000 on the event, the Diocese, inadvertently or not, was apparently violating the registration and reporting requirements of the Office of State Ethics.
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