With all this in mind, Father Frank Pavone and the Priests for Life are engaged in a campaign of prayer and fasting to end abortion in the United States along with the evils perpetrated by Planned Parenthood.
Father, you
have created us in body and soul To honor
you and our neighbor And to
receive honor and respect in return.
Our bodies
are sacred. They
reflect you, our Creator. And we hold
sacred The bodies
of all the children in the womb.
Lord, we
are saddened That these
children are being killed, And
saddened again That their
body parts are being harvested and sold.
Have mercy
on our nation. Have mercy
on those who are perpetrating these evils. As more and
more people become aware of this, Turn their
hearts towards you, The
Fountain of life and love.
Give
consolation to all who have had abortions, And give
wisdom to our public officials That they
may respond adequately To the
corruption found in the abortion industry.
Grant that
we, The People
of Life and the People of Mercy, May
recommit ourselves to building a nation Without
abortion and without the many evils that flow from it.
May we
choose life; May we
choose mercy; May we
choose your Kingdom! Through
Christ our Lord. Amen
Some may wonder, why pray to end abortion, especially as the Lord's Prayer includes the intention "Thy will be done".
Perhaps the point is that is is our invitation to participate in building the Kingdom of God even through the power of prayer. Such sentiments echo Pope St. John Paul II's exhortation in Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life, 1995).
The United States Supreme Court has taken up the case of the Little Sisters of the Poor objecting to the HHS Contraception Mandate (through the Qualified Health Plans) in Obamacare.
Archbishop Lori has long served as the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishop's Chairman of Committee for Religious Liberty and has spearheaded the annual Fortnight for Freedom initiative to celebrate and educate Americans about our Fundamental First Freedom--the free exercise of religion.
St. Jeanne Jugan, Little Sisters of the Poor
Considering the ways the Roberts Supreme Court has contorted the law to preserve the so called Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare), prayers are in order to protect the Little Sisters of the Poor's continued apostolate to faithfully care for the underserved in America, as they have done since
During a tough interview with Megyn Kelly on Fox News Channel, Patricia Ireland speaking on behalf of the National Organization for Women (NOW) sought to justify NOW's labeling of the Little Sisters of the Poor as part of the "Dirty 100" in light of the recent Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (2014) Supreme Court ruling.
Ireland deflected the denigration of the Catholic nuns as being like the "Dirty Dozen" with other corporations, presumably for fundraising efforts. But Kelly does not let her off than easily, suggesting that the nuns be considered "Groups with whom we disagree". The former NOW President kept insisting that the Little Sisters could "opt out" of the Obamacare contraception mandate. Except the alleged work around forces the Sisters to sign the Form 700 document permitting others to provide the abortifacients which are anathematic to their faith. Ireland offered patronizing lip service to the nuns' living their faith and helping the indigent infirmed. But what she does not realize is that if the Little Sisters of the Poor are eventually forced to pay for such unwanted services ordered by former HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius then they will move out rather than contravene their consciences. Ireland insisted that I.U.D.s, which is one of the abortifacients in question, does not kill eggs in the uterus. Well, that's not quite true. Generally, inter-uterine devices act as spermicide to prevent fertilization but copper I.U.D.s are touted as an emergency contraceptive for five days after intercourse. Most sperm dies within two days after ejaculation (even in the uterus), thus the emergency contraceptive quality of such I.U.Ds intimates that it prevents the implantation of the blastocyst thereby killing a fertilized egg. Ireland incorrectly asserted that the Supreme Court had ruled on the "opt-out" provision. Hobby Lobby covered closely held corporations with conscience objections but Obamacare opt-outs for non-profits has not been decided yet (although SCOTUS has offered a unanimous injunction pending appeal on January 24th, 2014). Ireland's fatal rhetorical faux pas was her bon mot that Supreme Court decisions do not affect the reality. The hostess of the Kelly Files jumped in and asked if Roe v. Wade affected the reality. T o borrow an oft uttered Ireland phrase from the interview "Bless her heart."
One of the world’s ugliest church structures was the Third Church of Christ, Scientist in Washington, DC, just blocks away from the White House. This octagonal shaped building was designed by Araldo Cossetta, an associate of I.M. Pei, in a brutalist architectural style and was completed in 1971.
Academics often voiced approval of Modernist Architecture like brutalism. Randall Ott, the dean of architectural design at Catholic University, waxed philosophically: "Modernism was a fairly austere, fairly confrontational style, and the Third Church is an obvious example of that style." But outside of academia, there usually are not warm feelings about austere and confrontational buildings.
La Verne Hill, a woman who worked nearby the brutalist behemoth, opined: "It's awful. It looks like they just dumped a bunch of concrete down here and shaped it into a box." Church members had long long disliked the design of the building. Longtime church member Darrow Kirkpatrick articulated: We think it says, 'Stay away.' Something goes on in here that they don't want to get outside, which is exactly wrong for all Christianity. We don't think the architecture conveys taking the Word to the people... Brutalism is not our religious expression.”
Darrow Kirkpatrick
Membership in the Third Church of Christ, Scientist dropped to 50 members. But the congregation was stuck with an ugly architectural white elephant. The brutalist building was not well suited for re-purposing. It was a 60 foot tall concrete bunker that was hard to heat and harder to cool. There were structural defects in many spots. And in order to change lightbulbs, a scaffolding needed to be erected in the sanctuary which would cost betweeen $5,000 to $8,000. These were costs which the congregation neither had the funds nor the inclination to pay.
Yet in 2007, the DC Historical Preservation Board unanimously voted the Third Church of Christ, Scientist as a Historical Landmark, thereby protecting it from demolition or alteration. This had the fascinating dynamic of having the government tell a religious group where to worship and how to spend their funds.
Due to the shepherding of former Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty’s Planning Director Harriet Tregoning, the zealotry of the Historical Planners was overturned. Tregoning ruled that Cosetta design was an experiment which failed badly. The city approved of razing the building in May, 2009 citing hardship of maintaining the building and the risk of the demise of the church if the Historical Landmark status continued.
Yet it took until February, 2014 for the District to issue a permit to raze the building. Little time was lost by Celtic Demolition to start to take down the structure. And there was much rejoicing among ordinary District denizens.
William Newton, who writes the Blog of the Courier, put it poetically:
The more you are able to study and look at exactly why such hideous
things as the Third Church of Christ Scientist came to be, the more you
will realize why your gut reaction to their readily apparent ugliness is
correct, because these buildings often reflect a wider, even uglier
philosophy about human nature and man’s place in the universe. Without
knowing exactly why, you can cheer the demolition of this terrible
building.
But it will take up to eight weeks to totally demolish the edifice, as the lower walls are six foot think walls of concrete. The demolished scraps will be sent for recycling.
For any fans of brutalist architecture in the District of Calamity, they can still admire the F.B.I. Building, the H.U.D. Building, the Department of Energy’s Forrestal Building and the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art.
The property where the brutalist building once stood is slated to become another glass and metal shoebox office building, but it will have an economical space where the congregation can worship.
Aside from aesthetic issues, the battle over the brutalist bunker also brings to a forefront salient issues on religious liberty. Perhaps the eventual triumph of the Third Church of Christ, Scientist over a government dictating how religious institutions must act might serve as a framework for future judicial decision regarding the H.H.S. Qualified Health Plan (Contraception Mandate) issue.
As the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops concluded their semi-annual meeting in Baltimore, the USCCB issued a special message on the H.H.S. Mandate. The Bishops have been steadfast and vocal in their opposition to having the government force Catholics and other believers to violate their religious precepts in the pursuit of universal coverage.
During his tenure as President of the USCCB, New York Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan lead the faithful to conduct Fortnight for Freedom in 2012 and 2013 to celebrate, educate and advocate maintaining America's Fundamental Freedom--the First Amendment freedom: the freedom of exercise of religion.
As Cardinal Dolan passed the helm of the USCCB to Louisville Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, Dolan urged his brother bishops to make the protection of religious liberty around the world a priority as he believes that it is a central social issue of our times. Dolan recalled the words of Pope Blessed John Paul II that we are living in a new age of martyrs. Dolan stated:
We as bishops, as shepherds of
one of the most richly blessed communities of faith on the planet, as
pastors who have spoken with enthusiastic unity in defense of our own
religious freedom, must become advocates and champions for these
Christians whose lives literally hang in the balance, as we dare not
allow our laudable battles over religious freedom at home to obscure the
actual violence being inflicted on Christians elsewhere.
The USCCB's special message fleshed out this fidelity to religious freedom to practice one's faith in America.
The bishops of this country have just concluded their traditional fall
meeting in Baltimore and have spent time on issues important to them and
their people: help to those suffering from Typhoon Haiyan; an update on
the situation in Haiti; matters of worship and teaching; service to the
poor; and comprehensive immigration reform. Among those priorities is
the protection of religious freedom, especially as threatened by the HHS
mandate.
Pope Francis has reminded us that “In the context of society, there
is only one thing which the Church quite clearly demands: the freedom
to proclaim the Gospel in its entirety, even when it runs counter to the
world, even when it goes against the tide.” We stand together as pastors charged with proclaiming the Gospel in
its entirety. That Gospel calls us to feed the poor, heal the sick, and
educate the young, and in so doing witness to our faith in its
fullness. Our great ministries of service and our clergy, religious
sisters and brothers, and lay faithful, especially those involved in
Church apostolates, strive to answer this call every day, and the
Constitution and the law protect our freedom to do so.
Yet with its coercive HHS mandate, the government is refusing to
uphold its obligation to respect the rights of religious believers.
Beginning in March 2012, in United for Religious Freedom, we identified
three basic problems with the HHS mandate: it establishes a false
architecture of religious liberty that excludes our ministries and so
reduces freedom of religion to freedom of worship; it compels our
ministries to participate in providing employees with abortifacient
drugs and devices, sterilization, and contraception, which violates our
deeply-held beliefs; and it compels our faithful people in business to
act against our teachings, failing to provide them any exemption at all.
Despite our repeated efforts to work and dialogue toward a
solution, those problems remain. Not only does the mandate undermine our
ministries’ ability to witness to our faith, which is their core
mission, but the penalties it imposes also lay a great burden on those
ministries, threatening their very ability to survive and to serve the
many who rely on their care. The current impasse is all the more frustrating because the
Catholic Church has long been a leading provider of, and advocate for,
accessible, life-affirming health care. We would have preferred to spend
these recent past years working toward this shared goal instead of
resisting this intrusion into our religious liberty. We have been forced
to devote time and resources to a conflict we did not start nor seek.
As the government’s implementation of the mandate against us
approaches, we bishops stand united in our resolve to resist this heavy
burden and protect our religious freedom. Even as each bishop struggles
to address the mandate, together we are striving to develop alternate
avenues of response to this difficult situation. We seek to answer the
Gospel call to serve our neighbors, meet our obligation to provide our
people with just health insurance, protect our religious freedom, and
not be coerced to violate our consciences. We remain grateful for the
unity we share in this endeavor with Americans of all other faiths, and
even with those of no faith at all. It is our hope that our ministries
and lay faithful will be able to continue providing insurance in a
manner consistent with the faith of our Church. We will continue our
efforts in Congress and especially with the promising initiatives in the
courts to protect the religious freedom that ensures our ability to
fulfill the Gospel by serving the common good.
This resolve is particularly providential on this feast of the
patroness of immigrants, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini. She was a brave
woman who brought the full vigor of her deep religious faith to the
service of the sick, the poor, children, the elderly, and the immigrant.
We count on her intercession, as united we obey the command of Jesus to
serve the least of our brothers and sisters.
It seems incredible that the USCCB needs to again issue such a pronouncement, but useful idiots arguing for Obamacare are still convicted that Catholics just want to push their beliefs on non-Catholics, rather than protection that unalienable right.
[L] Kay Daly, Executive Director of Christian Family Ministry (photo: Suwaunee Valley Times)
Fox News
Radio's Todd Starnes reported how ChristianService Center of Lake City Florida is being forced between choosing Jesus or Government Cheese.For 31
years, this northFlorida ministry had
been providing food the the hungry without controversy.But when a state government worker showed up
to negotiatean agreement , Christian
Service Ministry Executive Director Kay Daley was told that a "slight
change" in the contract.Now the
governmental guidelines about where USDA food is distributed, there can be no religious
information under the premise of "the separation of church and
state".
The Executive
Order for Equal Protection of Faith Based and Community Organizations is
supposed to allow governmental assistance as long as the religious activity
does not create a barrier to individuals receiving their governmental
assistance. Yet the Christian Service
Center was told that they were prohibited from distributing Bibles but this ban
religious information that included
religious decorations, like "Jesus is Lord" banners and a copy
of the Ten Commandments, where ever USDA
food is distributed. Hence Stern's
characterization of choosing Jesus or government cheese.
The
organization asked if they needed to change their name from the Christian
Service Ministry to comply and they were told no, but no praying, mentioning of
chapel, distributing Bibles or beign around religious decoration. The Christian Service Ministry chose to forgo
USDA assistance in their ministering to the hungry. Kay Daly mused:
“If God can
multiply fish and loaves for 10,000 people, he can certainly bring in food for
our food pantry so we can continue to feed the hungry.”
The Christian
Service Ministry decided that they were a Christian ministry, which included
helping people in need by praying with them, providing the Good News,
worshiping and providing physical nutrition without government "help" and interference. Other churches are reportedly pitching in the fill the void from the governmental help in feeding the hungry was withdrawn.
[***}
So the
Christian Service Ministry was probably within their legal rights to conduct
their social service ministry in their own space, but since a federal
functionary did not probably interpret the lawcorrectly (and understands this
Administration), it would cost big bucks to litigate to keep federal funds
flowing to feed the hungry. No wonder why the Christian Service Ministry chose
to forgo their cut of the Government Cheese.
Nevertheless,
as Bob Dylan put it: "You don't need a weatherman to tell which way the
wind blows." The Obama Administration has been hostile for respecting the
free exercise of religion, as has been seen in the HHS Qualified Health Plan(Contraception) Mandate arguing that the Freedom of Religion means the Freedom
of Worship--so believe whatever you want in the pews but that respect ends at
the church doors. Ministers are now routinely barred from mass casualty situations like the Boston Marathon bombing, for fear of the separation of
church and state. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Church of 1802 and is a reaction to aggressive atheism in small segments of the American polity.
This pressure from society and government to avoid the expense and exasperation of having a Down Syndrome child should not be dismissed as something from afar. In the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) HHS Qualified Health Plan provisions which allow for "free" abortifacients. Moreover, the IPAB (a.k.a Death Panels) may decide that treatments associated with dealing with Down Syndrome people are no longer covered.
Today is the start of the second Fortnight for Freedom as urged by the United States Council of Catholic Bishops. It is a period of prayer, fasting, education and action to preserve the fundamental natural right that is enshrined in the Bill of Rights–the Freedom of Religion. This effort was started last year by USCCB President New York Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan
Appreciating the First Amendment is particularly poignant as there are so many challenges to religious liberty and the freedom of conscience, such as the HHS Qualified Health Plan Mandate (a.k.a. the Contraception, Sterilization and Abortifacient rider), the exclusion of non-compliant adoption organizations who will not service same-sex couples, states which have approved , states co-ercing traditional marriage believers to conform to same-sex so called marriage, the military labeling Catholics and Evangelicals as extremist groups for upholding their moral beliefs, military chaplains being forced out of service if they did not tow the new Politically Correct line on homosexuality. When President Obama marked Religious Freedom Day in 2013, he framed religious liberty as the “freedom to worship as we choose.” That might have been acceptable public policy shorthand, but such a charitable assessment is not borne out by the actions of the Obama Administration. This is especially exemplified in the HHS contraception mandate. After the initial hue and cry when the Obama Administration aborted religious liberty with the Obamacare requiring free contraception, Mr. Obama supposedly backtracked by rescinding this reviled regulation. But as it turned out, the Obama Administration was just obfuscating authority regarding religious liberty. The rule for “free” contraception supposedly would not be applied to objecting churches themselves but would be effectively passed along by the insurance companies who were forced to pick up the tab for the unconscionable inclusions. However, this so called contraception compromise did not cover religiously affiliated groups, like religious orders, parochial schools etc... Moreover many of these organizations self-insure, so it still passed along these contraception costs for them. Furthermore, the same day that President Obama gave the public remarks about the contraception compromise, the Federal Register published the final rule for the Qualified Health Plan mandate with language that was unchanged from August 11, 2011. Mr. Obama’s contraception compromise did allow religious organizations to delay implementation for one year, or as Cardinal Dolan joked that: "We were given an extra year to change our morals."
Pope Francis
While some may dismiss the contraception controversy as it seems like a Catholic thing, those who care about religious liberty need to delve deeper. These regulations are defining what qualifies as a church in a narrow and strangling manner To receive First Amendment protections, the Obama Administration believes that an entity serve only who hold the same creed and serve only those professing the same faith. Aside from the absurdness of having a government bureaucrat defining what “Church” is, this understanding of freedom of worship misses the point. As Baltimore Archbishop William Lori points out : "Religious freedom protects more than the freedom to worship on Sunday; it also protects our ability to live out our faith the other six days of the week." Pope Francis also extolled: “We are not called to be part-time Christians...[W]e’re called to live our faith at every moment of every day.”
Religiously affiliated adoption agencies in three states and DC- the District of Calamity (sic) have been forced out of business because their organizations will not work with same-sex couples. Catholic charitable organizations have been criticized for withdrawing from immigrant programs which endorse Gay Marriage. Religious hospitals who maintain their ethical values will either need to serve their own flock or close down if they do not accede to the abortion requirements of Obamacare. But it is not just faithful Catholics who are under assault for upholding their faith in America. The Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School had to go to the United States Supreme Court to receive approbation to fire a called minister. Despite the 9-0 ruling from the nation’s high court in January 2012, the Obama Administration foisted the contraception clause on America the next week. The assault on religious liberty is being waged by more than the Obama Administration. New York City instituted a new policy which prevented the Bronx Household of Faith and other small religious groups from renting space in public schools on weekends even though other non-religious groups could do so. Christian groups on college campuses are being denied recognition (and funding) when they require their leaders to be Christians and strive to live a chaste life as being discriminatory.
Great Maryland Seal
Rhode Island 1st Gov. Seal
The Puritans were Englishmen who were self-exiled to Holland at the beginning of the Seventeenth Century so that they could have religious liberty. They decided to come to America so that they could raise their children as Englishmen who could have religious liberty in the New World. Roger Williams was a theologian forced out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony who founded what became “Rhode Island and Providence Plantations” in 1636 which separated church authority from religious authority. Maryland was settled by Cæcilius Calvert, the 2nd Lord Baltimore and others as a refuge for English Catholics. The Maryland Religious Tolerance Act of 1649 was first law ever to guarantee the right to worship regardless of denomination. Secular society has been championing a concept that America was founded on a separation of church and state and that religion was ancillary to education of the times. While it is true that there is not a state religion, history shows the profound motivation of our founders to pursue religious liberty. The Fortnight for Freedom should remind us of our proud history of religious liberty and point out how state incursions are strangling this fundamental freedom. Part of this education about religious liberty should include how sweeping state regulation of secular values will end vital social services in adoption, immigration, adoption, feeding the destitute and health care by religious groups which are serious about their core beliefs.
While there has been a buzz in the Lamestream Media as to the sartorial stylings of First Lady Michelle Obama at the 57th Presidential Inauguration, some astute observers had admired unusual haberdashery on the dais.
[Front L. Justice Sotomayor, R. Justice Scalia; Back L. Justice Thomas, R. Justice Kagan]
Associate Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia wore some distinctive head-wear to the public swearing in ceremony. Scalia donned a hat which was a gift from the St. Thomas More Society from November 2010 that is a custom made replica based on the 1527 portrait of St. Thomas More by Hans Holbein.
What is more interesting than the fashionista question: "What are you wearing?" would be "Why are you wearing that hat?" Was this just an opportune occasion to wear a stylish cap? Or might the sartorial choice be subtle statement which echoes the inspiration for the Fortnight for Freedom?
[L.] . Justice Scalia at Inauguration [R] Detail of St. Thomas More portrait by Hans Holbein (1527)
Last summer, when the US Council of Catholic Bishops sought to educate the public about the encroachment of Obamacare into our foundational freedom of religion by the HHS Qualified Health Plan (contraception) mandate. The kick off mass celebrated St. Thomas More, a faithful Catholic who sacrificed his high position as Lord Chancellor (Prime Minister) as well as his own life when the secular sovereign demanded him to abandon his faith.
You be the judge.
h/t: First Things
In the wake of the Obama Administration’s HHS Qualified Health Plan Mandate (a.k.a. the Contraception Mandate), mainline churches have to come to terms with a Federal government which narrowly construes the First Amendment Freedom of Religious Expression.
While the Obama Administration exempts parishes from these objectionable regulations, no such leeway is given to religiously affiliated organizations, like Catholic colleges, religious orders, Catholic Insurers etc. from paying for abortions, sterilizations and abortifacients. But such groups were given a year’s reprieve from complying. As New York Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan quipped that they were given an extra year to figure out how to violate their consciences.
President Obama claimed a work around which would force a farce that insurers would give away these services so religious organizations would not have to pay. Of course, this is a ruse as insurers would simply raise their premiums to everyone to cover these free services. But Obama’s announcement came on the same day that the Federal Register published the original rules unchanged, so the ameliorations were a rhetorical chimera.
This move by the Obama Administration has awakened a sleeping giant. This summer, the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops promoted the “Fortnight for Freedom”, a coordinated nation-wide effort of prayer, fasting and educating American Catholics on the importance of preserving Americans’ First Amendment rights to the unfettered exercise of religious beliefs.
Some pastors have picked up this mantle to drive this crucial point home. On the “Pastor’s Page of St. John the Evangelist of St. Paul (MN), Fr. George Welzbacher published this thought piece on the establishment of a nationwide first state religion–secular humanism.
It would seem that, for the first time in the history of our republic, we are witnessing here in the U.S.A. the establishment of a state religion, a religion so crafted as to delight the heart of a secularist, a religion with clearly defined dogmas, compliance with whose demands is to be enforced with all of the coercive powers at the disposal of the federal government. Here are the dogmas of this new faith.
Dogma #1: A woman has the right, the unrestricted right, to make arrangements for the killing of her unborn child whenever such course of action is convenient. Dogma #2: The chief purpose served by the institution of marriage is the securing of social recognition for romantic attraction, together with the panoply of benefits accruing to such recognition. The begetting of children, together with such subsequent upbringing as will equip them to contribute responsibly to the society in which they will spend their lives, can be dismissed as of marginal importance. Thus every man, should this be his bent, has the right to marry another man, just as every woman, should she be so disposed, has the right to marry a woman. To suggest otherwise, to imply, for example, that a man's realigning of his reproductive powers to adapt to another man's digestive tract is in any way abnormal is to be guilty of a hate crime, in exculpation of which no appeal to the rights of conscience shall be allowed, this being an intolerable crime, properly punishable with fines and/or imprisonment. Dogma #3: The sovereign pontiff in this new state religion is the people's hero, Barack Hussein, now reigning gloriously in the White House.
Dogma #4: Enemy Number One of the new state religion is, by and large, the Christian faith and, with special intransigence, the Catholic Church. Measures must accordingly be taken to compel the recusant authorities of the Roman Catholic faith to genuflect at the new religion's altar. (Thus the new Health and Human Services mandate).
All of this represents at least one way of looking at President Obama's arrogant trampling upon the First Amendment, not to mention his repudiation of God's Commandments.
If this is the case, I hope that I’m losing that religion come the first Tuesday in November.
Eric Metaxas, the author of Amazing Grace and Bonhoeffer, and Ruth Institute founder Jennifer Roback Morse, team up in a short but compelling video to expose the HHS mandate as not only a threat to religious freedom but to the United States.
Some may scoff that the Obamacare qualified health plan mandate does not force individuals to go against their will in using contraception, sterilizations and abortafacients. Besides, President Obama claims that they won't even have to pay for those services but insurance companies will bankroll the "free" services. To add insult to injury, the same day the President announced this so called compromise in February, HHS Secretary Sebelius published the final rules that remained unchanged since August 2011. Oh, and the "free" abortions will be funded by taxing every American $2 a month for these services.
This Acton Institute video was adept at noting that it is not just insurance coverage that is repugnant to religious liberty. The Federal Government, through the cudgel on the HHS mandate, will force Catholic Hospitals to offer services like abortion or else face crippling fines and the threat of being taken over by Uncle Sam.
In January 2012, as the Obama Administration began to bureaucratically buckle down to implement Obamacare, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius imposed a Qualified Health Plan mandate which basically required all qualified plans to offer “free” contraception, sterilzations, and abortofacient drugs. In addition, the clerical exception was so narrowly construed which does not extend beyond the Church’s sanctuary. In response to the public outroar that accompanied this Obama ukase, the Obama Administration claimed that conscientious objectors would not have to pay for repugnant treatments but insurance companies would pick up the bill. This laughable fudge was given the same day that the Federal Register published the original HHS mandate with no revisions.
Some polling indicates that Catholics do not appreciate that religious liberty is under assault. So the US Council of Catholic Bishops launched a Fortnight of Freedom, a coordinated nationwide effort of prayer, fasting and instrution to educate the Catholic laity as well as the general public on the importance of preserving Americans’ First Amendment rights to the unfettered exercise of religious beliefs.
Liberal leaning Catholics launch into tirades against the UCCB efforts, accusing the Bishops of unfairly involving themselves in politics. Such rantings about not mixing church and state are laughable as the LCRW inspired Nuns on the Bus Tour is out protesting the Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI 1st) budget proposal for suggesting changes to social service spending. Perhaps advocating for the Social Justice inspired acts of charity are not recognized as even being religious in nature but appeal to Social Gospel believers who are strong on social but queasy about gospel.
George Soros is funding a “Catholic” shadow organization “Faith in Public Life” to be the devil’s advocate working behind the scenes against the UCCB Fortnight of Freedom efforts. Prominent dissonant Catholic voices, like the outsed America editor Fr. Tom Reece and prominent feminist theology professor Lisa Sowle Cahill, have associated themselves with the “Faith in Public Life” front group. Expect the media to be fed questions by Faith in Public Life about conflating health policy quarrels with religious freedom, bluster about the fake HHS compromise and questioning if Catholics would stop social justice programs if they do not receive religious accommodation.
Archbishop Lori noted that the Fortnight for Freedom was launched on the eve of the feast of St. Thomas More, a Catholic Lord Chancellor of England who sacrificed everything, including his life, to keep faithful to communion with the Catholic Church in the face of King Henry VIII Act of Supremacy. Lori also invoked the example of St. John Fisher, who also shares the feast day with St. Thomas More, as Fisher was Catholic Cardinal who was martyred by a tyrannical English crown anxious to control the practice of faith in the nation. Archbishop Lori also noted that Charles Carroll (brother of first US Bishop John Carroll) the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence, risked his life and thwarted unjust law which legally prevented Catholics from being Maryland office holders.
Archbishop Lori’s homily also touched upon Catholic organizations affected by the narrow HHS construing of a religious exemption. Lori declares that organizations can have moral character and should not be forced to participate in practices that are repugnant to the group’s founding principles. Liberals have invoked the argument that it is all well and good for individuals to have moral positions, corporations can not take moral stands. This strain of thought posits that organizations like the Knights of Columbus must participate in what they believe is evil. Or Catholic Insurers need to offer coverage for contraception abortions and sterlizations because institutions can not have religion. This flight of fancy leads liberals to argue that Georgetown Law must offer contraceptives because most of their students and faculty are not Catholic, so damn the Catholic connections.
But this Fortnight for Freedom raising of consciences is not just coming from the clergy. Embodying the New Evangelizaton, the Catholic Association made a media buy to dispel the secular myth that one should confine their expressions of faith to the pews in church or cowering at home.
New York’s Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan will offer a Mass for the Fortnight of Freedom at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The Archdiocese of Washington is sponsoring a rally amongst other activities throughout the country. The Fortnight of Freedom will conclude with a noon Mass at the Basilica National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC on Independence Day celebrated by Philadelpia’s new archbishop Charles Chaput.
During this Fortnight of Freedom, the faithful are offered an appropriate prayer:
Almighty God, Father of all nations, For freedom you have set us free in Christ Jesus.We praise and bless you for the gift of religious liberty,the foundation of human rights, justice and the common good.Grant to the leaders the wisdom to protect and promote our liberties;By your grace, may we have the courage to defend them,for ourselves and for all who live in this blessed land.We ask through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, our patroness,and in the name of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,in the unity of the Holy Spirit,One God, forever and ever. Amen.
Pope Benedict XVI (vested in white) greets then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (ironically dressed in purple), on the Papal pilgrimage to Washington, DC in 2008
House Minority Leader (and former Speaker of the House) Nancy Pelosi (D-CA 8th) prides herself on being an ardent Catholic but she seems quite confused about her faith, yet she continues to foist her heresy in the realm of politics.
A couple of years ago, at a Capitol Hill conference, Rep. Pelosi offered that her favorite word was “The Word” and stressed how it was crucial to give voice to that scriptural word when conducting public policy. However, when a reporter during the former Speaker’s weekly press gaggle followed up on when the Word became flesh, suddenly the concept was only fit for church. Perhaps Pelosi did not want to reconcile her beliefs with the inconvenient truth that her faith teaches about human life beginning at the moment of conception.
After then Senator Obama’s (D-IL) appearance at the Saddleback Civil Forum where the successful Presidential candidate deflected a question about abortion as being “above my pay grade”, Pelosi was pressed about abortion, she insisted that the doctors of the Church had been unable to make that definition.
Maybe Nancy was relying too much on Senator Augustine, uh Saint Augustine's, 4th Century notion of quickening instead of acknowleding Pope Paul VI's Encyclical Humanae Vitae in 1968 which makes it quite clear that the Catholic Church believes that life begins at the moment of conception. It might give context as to why the American Catholic Sees are seething about the contraception mandate embedded in Obamacare.
So by Pelosi's train of thought, the Cardinal Bishop in her Archdiocese between the beltways is not speaking authoritatively on matters of faith for Catholic Church or she bears false witness about respecting her pastor.
But to correct the record as either Pelosi's religious education at Trinity College was inadequate or it was an instance of invincible ignorance, ex cathedra statements are solemn and formal papal pronouncements on matters of faith and morals. Before the Congresswoman from California takes solace that the Humanae Vitae encyclical was only a papal teaching, she should consider what Pope Blessed John Paul II stated in a 1993 papal audience:
When the Roman Pontiff speaks ex cathedra, that is, when in exercising his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians he defines with his supreme apostolic authority that a doctrine on faith and morals is to be held by the whole Church, through the divine assistance promised him in the person of St. Peter, he enjoys that infallibility with which the divine Redeemer wished to endow his Church in defining a doctrine on faith and morals.
But the lawsuits from 43 Catholic institutions protesting forced participation in contraception, sterlizations and abortion are rooted in natural law hence it is part of the unaltered Magesterium (teaching) of the Catholic Church.
The same is true for the Catholic Church's opposing same sex so called "marriage".
The same is true of opposition to homosexual "marriage", which trumps Pelosi's puerile justification supporting same sex marriage as her Catholic faith (allegedly) teacher her that that she must oppose all forms of discrimination.
Faithful critics both instead and out of the Catholic Church grumble that former Speaker Pelosi should be excommunicated for her beliefs. Excommunication should never be used in a punitive secular sense, as it is intended to save the soul from eternal damnation. However, excommunication proclamation need not be issued by an ecclesial court under canon law (
ferendae sententiae). A Catholic's very actions may ipso facto result in a latae sententiae excommunication, which can include an apostate, a heritic or a schismatic. Often a bishop will convey this warning in private. For all we know, this may have already happened.
When former Speaker Pelosi visited the Vatican in 2009, she was granted a fifteen minute meeting with the His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, with no press or photographers present. Pelosi issued a press release which complimented the Roman pontiff for standing for religious freedom and praised the Church's leadership for fighting poverty, hunger and global warming. The Vatican press office had a chillier characterization of the brief greeting. The papal statement indicated:
His Holiness took the opportunity [of the brief greeting with Mrs. Pelosi -ed] to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the Church's consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death which enjoins all Catholics, and especially legislators, jurists and those responsible for the common good of society, to work in cooperation with all men and women of good will in creating a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of its development.
It sounds like the Supreme Pastor of the Catholic flock was pretty clear about when life begins. This comes on top of the 2002 doctrinal note "The Participation of Catholics in Political Life," which states rather succinctly that politicians who profess to be Catholic have a "grave and clear obligation" to oppose any law that attacks human life. The brief greeting might have sotto voce also been a word to the wise.
Well, Mrs. Pelosi persists in purusing a public policies that is anathamatic to Catholics. Worse, the House Minority Leader justifies her progressive political positions in faith while misrepresenting the Magesterium. In this environment, Canon 915 seems applicable to this layman which denies the Eucharist to someone who obstinantly persists in grave sin. Even though Washington's Archbishop Donald John Cardinal Wuerl has recently been appointed to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Wuerl seems chary about keeping pro-abortion Catholic politicians from participating in Communion. Based on Monsignor Charles Pope's recent reflection, it is dubious that such action would be applied.
It is galling that a Cafeteria Catholic extols spiritual junk food for mass consumption instead of the Divine Feast under the illusion of obeying "The Word". In a pluralistic representative Republic, it is not uncommon for a politician to promote positions which an individual finds repugnant. What seems unjust is that leader lying about the moral underpinnings of these positions when it directly contradicts clear tenants of Catholic faith. If she wants to rationalize her positions on abortion, contraception and same sex "marriage" through a veneer of religiosity, she would do well to swim the Tiber in reverse, as her seuclar humanist progressive political positions would be welcomed with open arms among most Episcopalians or even Unitarians.But such a principled act would fail to pander to a large voting bloc of Catholics.
The HHS final rule on qualified health plans imposes a Contraception Mandate that poses a poison pill for faithful Catholic and other institutions that believe that life begins at conception. Mark Rienzi, the Becket Fund For Religious Liberty attorney who represents Ave Maria University, Belmont Abbey College, Colorado Christian University and ETWN , is confident that the outcome in federal courts will come out the right way and protect religious liberty in America. However, if Rienzi’s optimism is misplaced, he believes that Catholics could end up engaging in civil disobedience against an unjust law.
The civil disobedience with religious liberty protestors will not be like the sit-ins of the civil rights movement. Instead, Rienzi anticipates institutions not paying for the contraception, sterilizations and abortifacients. This would lead to crippling fines which eventually would put the charitable and educational missions out of existence.
In a perverse way, such a shuttering of Catholic identity might be the aim of the Obama Administration. The Obama Administration budgetary proposal for FY2013 sought to limit the deductability of charitable contributions for those making over $250,000 a year, exactly the demographic which makes substantial gifts to non-profit causes. As for Catholic hospitals, they make up 15% of all bed-space in America and they are often the only provider in rural regions. If conscientious Christians cede the field due to the Contraception Mandate (or being fined out of existence), the federal government will dominate the health-care playing field and be a major step towards a single-payer system.
It is not fine to force charitable institutions from living their faith by penalizing them for not acquiescing. It may be time to recall the Man of All Seasons, St. Thomas More who was a martyr for not submitting to an unjust law proffered from English King Henry VIII, the secular power that be.
