Bethany Christian Services, a ‘Christian’ adoption agency that receives money from Choose Life license plate fees said it does not place children with Roman Catholic couples because their religion conflicts with the agency’s “Statement of Faith.”

The agency stated the rule in a letter to a Mississippi couple this month, and another couple said they were turned away for the same reason last year.

“It has been our understanding that Catholicism does not agree with our Statement of Faith,” Bethany’s state director Karen Stewart wrote. “Our practice to not accept applications from Catholics was an effort to be good stewards of an adoptive applicant’s time, money and emotional energy.”

Sandy and Robert Steadman, who learned of Bethany’s decision in a July 8 letter, said their priest told them the faith statement was not at odds with Catholic teaching.

Loria Williams of nearby Ridgeland said she and her husband, Wes, had a similar ordeal when they started to pursue an adoption in September 2004.

“I can’t believe an agency that’s nationwide would act like this,” Loria Williams said. “There was an agency who was Christian-based but wasn’t willing to help people across the board.”

Bethany, headquartered in Grand Rapids, Mich., has 75 agencies in 30 states, including three in Mississippi. The offices are autonomously incorporated and are associated with various religions, spokesman John VanValkenburg said from the agency headquarters. He couldn’t say whether any were Catholic-affiliated. The Jackson office is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church of America, he said.

Glenn DeMots, president of Bethany, said on Friday that the policy is open to interpretation. He alleges the national office does not ban adoptions to Catholic families, but does permit each branch to discriminate against the placement of children based on the agency’s “Statement of Faith.”

There are currently one hundred thousand unwanted children waiting to be adopted in the United States alone. Roman Catholicism condemns abortion and advocates adoption as a viable option. It is not known what stance Bethany Christian Services has toward Muslim or Jewish families looking to adopt through them. It is also not clear how Bethany Christian Services determined that Catholic parents are not fit to raise children as Christian.