Thursday, February 18, 2010

Are Jews Catholic?

Father Charged with Criminal Contempt for Baptizing Daughter
Stan Thayne, Religion Compass blog (Feb. 18, 2010)
Catholic Joseph Reyes converted to Judaism in 2004. He joined the faith of his wife Rebecca, he claims, in order to appease his in-laws. Now in the midst of a bitter divorce, Reyes has returned to Catholicism. This has raised the question of which religion their daughter should be raised in.

Reyes took the decision upon himself and had his daughter baptized without her mother’s knowledge or consent. When Reyes sent photos of the event to his ex-wife, as she claims, in order to taunt her, she pressed charges. The circuit court judge of Cook County, Illinois, imposed a thirty-day restraining order on Reyes which forbids him from “exposing his daughter to any other religion than the Jewish religion.”

Reyes persisted, however, taking his daughter to Church services yet again, apparently with more taunting photos. He was arraigned yesterday, charged with criminal contempt of his custody restraining order. Reyes plead not guilty, but if found guilty he could spend up to six months in jail. Reyes claims that attending church was not a violation of the court order, since, as he put it, “Catholicism falls right under the umbrella of Judaism.” Full story here and here.

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