Sharonell Fulton, a foster parent in Philadelphia, is pictured with a young woman and children in a May 23, 2018 photo. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and other Catholic entities have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to protect Philadelphia’s faith-based foster care in a decision expected this June. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference and a few Catholic Charities agencies have joined more than 30 other religious groups, states and a group of Congress members urging the Supreme Court to protect Philadelphia’s faith-based foster care. The groups filed friend-of-the court briefs in early June in Fulton v. Philadelphia, which the court will hear next term to determine if Philadelphia can exclude a Catholic social services agency from the city’s foster care program because the agency does not accept same-sex couples as foster parents. The briefs argued that the court should allow the city’s Catholic social service agency to continue its foster care role and protect faith-based ministries nationwide to ensure they maintain their First Amendment religious exercise rights. In 2018, Philadelphia stopped using the foster program of Catholic Social Services of the Philadelphia Archdiocese because of the agency’s policy of not placing children with […]
