The bill would have created serious constitutional problems by giving the state extensive oversight over the internal operations of churches and other religious entities. 

A broad coalition of groups, including the Massachusetts Council of Churches, Anti-Defamation League, Black Ministerial Alliance, numerous Jewish organizations, the Islamic Council of New England, Massachuetts Family Institute, and leadership bodies of various other faiths, joined together to oppose the bill. 

Also, it's a rare day when Rep. Byron Rushing (D-Boston), who led the fight in the House against the bill, and Republican Governor Mitt Romney, who announced just before the floor debate his intent to veto the bill, take the same position on an issue!

Calls to the State House against the bill came from concerned Catholics as well.  Before the vote, the Bishops of the four Roman Catholic dioceses individually sent letters to pastors and parish finance councils detailing their concerns about the bill and urging grassroots involvement.

Just before the Jan. 25 vote in the House, media reports had predicted the bill's passage.  It had flown through the Senate last year.  Yet, as the vote approached, legislators listened to their constituents and momentum shifted.  The surprising outcome in the House, where the bill went down by a vote of 147-3, proves that grassroots involvement is always critical in the public policy arena.

The MCC staff commends all who contacted their State Representative for a job well-done.  Your involvement was absolutely key to success!

The underlying concerns about institutional transparency that moved legislators to introduce and initially to support the bill are being addressed without the need for an unconstitutional state mandate.  In the Archdiocese of Boston, for example, Archbishop Sean O'Malley has committed to providing a full accounting of church finances before spring.  

The constitutional guarantee of religious freedom leaves to the churches and their members, not to the state, the responsibility for internal management of church operations of this sort.

Nonetheless, the debate created by the bill provided a tremendous opportunity for legislators and the public to gain a fuller appreciation of the importance of religious freedom and the necessity of preserving what the courts call "ecclesiastical autonomy" from state control. 

Churches are not above the law but the law must recognize their unique contribution to the common good, a contribution deemed so essential that alone among all the forms of "charitable organizations," religion enjoys constitutional protection. 

This week's result reaffirmed religion's vital status in our society, and for that we all should be grateful.

"Church Control" Bill Scheduled for Vote