A Boston-area community organization that for years received grants from a Catholic antipoverty charity is cutting financial ties with the faith group, saying it was concerned the funds would come with restrictions on aiding gay people or working with gay-rights activists, according to The Boston Globe.

The Chelsea Collaborative returned a $40,000 grant from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, a charitable arm of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and withdrew an application for future support.

Gladys Vega, head of the Chelsea, Mass., organization, said it took the actions after a Catholic Campaign official warned the collaborative against work involving the gay community. Ms. Vega has recently received an award from MassEquality, a gay-rights group, for speaking out on behalf of a transgender beating victim.

The bishops’ group has taken a harder line in recent years on funding social-service organizations it views as deviating from church teachings on issues such as abortion or gay marriage. A spokeswoman for the conference said the Chelsea group “took appropriate steps under the circumstances.”