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1-6-12 The Bishop's Voice: Major threats to religious liberty
"Freedom of religion, a basic right enshrined in the United States Constitution, further enumerated in the First Amendment, and inherent in the dignity of the human person in its many and varied applications for Christians and people of faith, is now increasingly and in unprecedented ways under assault in America.”
With these words, New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), introduced his Sept. 29 letter to the American hierarchy, in which he announced the formation of a new Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty as part of the USCCB’s structure.
There is no exaggeration in Archbishop Dolan’s dire warning. We all should be well-aware that a spirit of secularism has been taking hold of our culture for many years. In western Europe, for example, the secularist advance has managed to keep God and religion out of any meaningful place in public life and discourse. And the United Sates may not be far behind Europe. Here are some examples of the very serious erosion of our religious liberty.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), headed by Kathleen Sebelius (who professes to be a Catholic) has mandated all private health insurance plans to cover contraception — including contraceptives that also cause abortions. There is a so-called “religious exemption,” but it is so narrowly defined as to exclude many Catholic institutions and ministries. Catholic hospitals, Catholic schools, Catholic Charities and similar organizations will now be required to pay for contraceptives for their employees, even though this is in complete opposition to our Catholic faith. This is a federally-mandated violation of the consciences of Catholics.
HHS has also required the Migration and Refugee Services (MRS) of the USCCB to provide the “full range of reproductive services” (read here “abortion” and “contraceptives”) to victims of human trafficking (including unaccompanied minors) if MRS is to continue to receive government contracts for this work. MRS refused to accept the conditions and so they no longer receive public funds for their otherwise highly-praised ministry.
Catholic Relief Services (CRS), arguably one of the most effective organizations that respond to catastrophes around the world, is concerned that USAID, under the Department of State, is increasingly requiring the distribution of condoms and other artificial contraceptives as part of a comprehensive HIV protection strategy. This could severely curtail CRS’s ability to respond to victims in many parts of the world.
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has taken a giant step forward in its attack on marriage. Even though the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman, was passed into law in the Clinton administration, that law is now understood as unconstitutional by the DOJ. Furthermore, anyone who supports DOMA (read here “Catholics” and others who hold that marriage actually means something) is now labeled a “bigot.” I can personally attest that this is the case because that was how I was characterized by two U.S. senators when I called for the support of DOMA. This could have grave consequences for our ability as Catholics to teach about the meaning and dignity of marriage as part of God’s creation.
These are but some examples of the mounting assaults on our religious liberty — the religious liberty not only of Catholics, but of all people of faith. And the attacks are coming from our own federal government. It is difficult to imagine that our “first freedom,” freedom of religion, could be taken away from us. But that is exactly what is happening; and it is all in the name of political correctness and anti-Catholic secularist ideology.
This is very serious business. Our identity as Catholics is under attack, and we must make our voices heard before we lose our constitutional right to practice our religion in accord with our consciences. Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, the newly-appointed chairman of the USCCB’s Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty, has sounded the call to arms: “Together we will do our best to awaken in ourselves and in our culture at large a new appreciation for religious liberty and a renewed appreciation to defend it.”
Together with Bishop Lori, Archbishop Dolan and all the American bishops, I call upon our Catholic faithful to take a stand against those who would deprive us of our freedom of religion and conscience. As Americans, we are able to make our voices heard in ways that can, in fact, reverse the direction in which we are now being taken.
May God give us strength for the battle.
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