When San Francisco passed an ordinance more than 13 years ago requiring agencies that contract with the city to provide spousal benefits to employees' domestic partners, then-Archbishop William J. Levada asked for a religious exemption, arguing that it imposed “an unconstitutional condition” on religiously affiliated organizations like Catholic Charities.
Cardinal Levada quoted:
“I am in favor of increasing benefits, especially health coverage, for anyone,” he wrote. “I would welcome the opportunity to work with city officials to find ways to overcome what I believe is a national shame, the fact that many Americans have no health coverage at all.”
Under what was then the new plan, “we would know no more or no less about the employee’s relationship” with the person covered by his or his health insurance “than we typically know about a designated life insurance beneficiary,” Levada wrote.
“What we have done is to prohibit local government from forcing our Catholic agencies to create internal policies that recognize domestic partnerships as a category equivalent to marriage,” he added. “I agree with moral theologians like William May who see no compromise of Catholic moral principle in this practice.”
via Church responds differently to same-sex marriage laws | National Catholic Reporter.