Catholic adoption charity will stop work if it has to help gays

Christopher McCall QC, representing Catholic Care which serves the dioceses of Leeds, Middlesbrough and Hallam in South Yorkshire, told Mr Justice Briggs the charity was "inspired by the tenets of the Roman Catholic Church".

One of those was that "a family unit is made up of a man and woman whose lives together are fulfilled by the blessing of children".

Mr McCall said the charity was seeking an exemption under the Sexual Orientation Regulations to allow it to continue to operate as it had always done.

He said there were more children in need of adoption than there were parents willing to take them. The charity had been successful in finding parents for children who otherwise would not have placed in a family.

Mr McCall said because of the charity's policies, it was funded by donations from Catholic congregations.

"It wishes to continue its work in the same way as hitherto in order to ensure that children who might otherwise go without families are able to be put in touch with adoptive parents through the work of the charity.

"However, since the introduction of the regulations under the Equality Act there is perceived to be a barrier in the way of the charity in that in principle the regulations require it as a adoption society to make its services available to same-sex couples even though this would conflict with tenets on which it has based its work."

He said the charity was seeking to use an exemption regulation which could be read as giving it the chance to discriminate if amending its constitution would help it to achieve its aims.

The discrimination would be justifiable, he said, because the good work it carried out with children "far outweighed" the harm from denying its services to same-sex couples who would still be able to go to other adoption agencies.

"It accepts that to carry on as before involves discrimination but says it is merely a justifiable means to a legitimate end, namely that of securing homes for children who could be expected not otherwise to find homes at all."

If not allowed to do so, "it conceives that it will have to give up its adoption services in their entirety and this will operate to the detriment of the children who would otherwise have found a family."

The Roman Catholic Church lost a battle against the regulations when they were introduced in 2006. Catholic Care is the last to continue its fight.

Its plea to be allowed an exemption is being opposed by the Charity Commission. The Equality and Human Rights Commission has intervened in the case.

n The Catholic Church in England and Wales attacked the "tick box" mentality and an "obsession" with targets yesterday as it launched a document calling for a greater sense of personal responsibility and duty in society. The growth of regulations, targets and league tables – tools designed to make public services accountable – cannot replace virtuous acts such as the "willing generosity" of a good neighbour, the Catholic bishops of England and Wales said.

In Choosing the Common Good they said regulation could not solve all of society's ills.

The Most Rev Peter Smith, Archbishop of Cardiff, said: "I get the impression sometimes that there is an obsession with targets.

"Again, they can be useful but I think what we are trying to say is that you cannot rely on law and regulations or targets, there is something deeper that is necessary, it is an approach to life and particularly, I would say, an approach to personal responsibility and duty."