A federal appeals court will conduct a new hearing to determine whether San Francisco officials violated the Constitution by denouncing a Vatican order to not place adoptive children with same-sex couples.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday set aside the earlier ruling by a three-judge panel that found the city didn't violate a constitutional mandate that government remain neutral toward religion.

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights says the city's Board of Supervisors was intervening in church affairs when it passed the nonbinding resolution in 2006. The three-judge panel disagreed, saying supervisors were acting for a secular purpose, to protect same-sex couples from discrimination.

The case has been referred to an 11-judge panel for a rehearing.

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Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle