A Catholic adoption service was facing closure today after it lost its latest battle with the Charity Commission for the right to be able to discriminate against gay couples.Leeds-based Catholic Care applied on religious grounds to be allowed to offer its adoption-support services to heterosexual prospective parents only.
But the independent regulator for charities in England and Wales found against Catholic Care, following objections from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which said such discrimination breached the European Convention on Human Rights.
Catholic Care won a High Court judgment in March which allowed an appeal against a decision of the Charity Tribunal in June last year which had upheld the Charity Commission's original decision not to allow it to discriminate.
Catholic Care said it had to bar gay couples from its adoption assessment and advice service if it was to retain its funding from the Roman Catholic church. It had a policy of only helping married heterosexual couples to adopt.
No one at Catholic Care, which serves the dioceses of Leeds, Middlesbrough, and Hallam in South Yorkshire, was available to comment.
But during its failed plea to the Charity Commission, Catholic Care said if it lost its case it would close its adoption service rather than risk losing its connection with the church.
A Charity Commission spokeswoman said Catholic Care may now cease its adoption service - which represents only around 5 per cent of the charity's annual spending - or it could change its policy on gay couples, in line with the law, and carry on.
Catholic Care's other activities include residential care for children, 'supported living' for adults with learning difficulties or mental health issues, counselling in schools, support for vulnerable people and work with older people.
In a statement, the Charity Commission acknowledged Catholic Care offered a 'valuable, high quality adoption service'.
The ruling means some Catholic agencies face a choice between abandoning their adoption services or their religious principles (picture posed by models)
But it decided it had not demonstated "sufficiently convincing and weighty reasons" for only offering its services to heterosexuals.
The commission found that:
* It was beneficial to children waiting to be adopted to have as wide a pool of prospective parents as possible.
* Discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation was serious as it departed from the principle of treating people equally.
* Even if Catholic Care closed, children would still be placed into adoptive care by other means.
* Local authority officials found gay couples were often suitable prospective parents for 'hard to place children'.
* Respect for religious views was not a justification for discriminating against gays, because of the essentially public nature of adoption services.
Andrew Hind, Charity Commission chief executive, said: "This has been a complex and sensitive decision which the Commission has reached carefully, following the principles set out by the High Court, case law and on the basis of the evidence before us.
'Clearly the interests of children are paramount.
'In certain circumstances, it is not against the law for charities to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation.
However, because the prohibition on such discrimination is a fundamental principle of human rights law, such discrimination can only be permitted in the most compelling circumstances.
'We have concluded that in this case the reasons Catholic Care have set out do not justify their wish to discriminate.'
A spokeswoman for the Equality and Human Rights Commission said: 'Any charity that intends to exclude a specific group of people from the services or benefits it provides has to be able to show that this unequal treatment is justified for very strong reasons.
'The Equality and Human Rights Commission intervened in this case to argue that an organisation cannot be registered as a charity and receive benefits such as tax relief, unless it acts in the public benefit.
'A charity should also comply with the Human Rights Act which outlaws discrimination.
'We are pleased that both the High Court and Charity Commission accepted our arguments when coming to their decision.
'The law is carefully weighted to balance the rights of organisations such as religious charities and the rights of minority groups such as those with a particular sexual orientation.
'We believe the outcome in this case helps reinforce that balance.'
After Catholic Care won its High Court case five months ago, The Bishop of Leeds, the Rt Rev Arthur Roche said: 'Catholic Care has been providing specialist adoption services for over 100 years.
'We have helped hundreds of children through the recruitment, assessment, training and support for prospective adoptive parents, as well as offering ongoing and post-adoption support to families that give such security and love for some of the most vulnerable children in our society.
'The judgment today will help in our determination to continue to provide this invaluable service to benefit children, families and communities.'
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