Free Republic

May 31, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Catholics in the United States should be prepared to engage in civil disobedience if the HHS mandate requiring employers to pay for contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs is not rescinded, says a new document from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The USCCB released the one-pager as a bulletin insert to be distributed in Catholic Churches during June, in preparation for the Fortnight for Freedom, a two week period of prayer and fasting for the rescinding of the mandate. “Some unjust laws impose such injustices on individuals and organizations that disobeying the laws may...

STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA, May 24, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – A California-based bishop is concerned that the lawsuits to overturn the HHS mandate filed by the leading dioceses and institutions of his Church may be used to underscore political criticism of the Obama administration. Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton told America magazine that, while the bishops he knows in California “are strong supporters” of these religious liberty lawsuits, “I think there are different groups that are trying to co-opt this and make it into political issue.” Forces “very far to the Right” may be tempted to make the legal challenge a part of...

On Monday, May 21, Cardinal Dolan, President of the USCCB, applauded 43 dioceses, hospitals, schools and church agencies for filing 12 lawsuits around the nation saying the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services contraception coverage mandate violates religious freedom. The Boston Archdiocese was not one of those dioceses. St. Anthony of Padua said, “Actions speak louder than words” and the actions of Cardinal O’Malley make it increasingly obvious that our Cardinal is lacking in courage. Here is an excerpt from the AP report on the news: NEW YORK – Roman Catholic dioceses, schools, and other groups sued the Obama...

Do the American Catholic bishops think it’s morally acceptable to bounce checks? Because that’s what will happen, you know, if Congress follows the bishops’ advice on federal spending. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has repeatedly criticized proposed budget cuts in federal spending, without suggesting alternative ways to balance the budget. Although in these statements the bishops occasionally mention in passing that they recognize deficit spending might be a problem, those disclaimers are never very convincing. There is no sign that the US bishops, as a body, recognize the enormity of the central problem here: The US government is spending...

In March the US bishops’ conference (USCCB) announced that “we will not rest” until Congress ensures that religious freedom is protected in the federal health-care reform program. The USCCB followed up that clear and forceful message a few week later with a new, statement announcing a major offensive in defense of religious liberty. These powerful statements seemed to indicate clearly that religious freedom would be the focus—the focus—of the bishops’ political efforts this year. The USCCB issued a clarion call to the Catholic laity, asking for help with this campaign. Cardinal Dolan called out President Obama; Bishop Lori challenged Congress....

If a decree like the HHS contraception mandate was issued during the Medieval era, Archbishop Dolan would probably have declared Secretary Kathleen Sebelius “anathema” and excommunicated her from the Church (see this famous scene from the movie Becket for an example). If President Obama was a tyrannical monarch in that era, he would be muttering the same words as King Henry II when challenged by the Catholic hierarchy, “Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?”The church’s relationship with government has changed since the 12th century; nevertheless, the Catholic Church is again facing off with civil authority over their...

Pope Benedict XVI today has named Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, as a member of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The congregation is the oldest of the Curia's nine congregations. The wide ranging mission of the congregation is to promote and safeguard the doctrine on faith and morals throughout the Catholic world. The congregation is now headed by Prefect Cardinal William Joseph Levada and has 23 members. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 1981 until his election as the 265th successor to...

As the Church throughout the world prepares for the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, led by Bishop David Ricken of Green Bay, has issued a 31-page statement entitled “Disciples Called to Witness: The New Evangelization.” “The New Evangelization seeks to invite modern man and culture into a relationship with Jesus Christ and his Church,” the document states. “The New Evangelization strives to engage our culture and to help us draw our inspiration from the Gospel. The New Evangelization calls all Catholics first to be evangelized and...

The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto has a fascinating interview with New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan, in which the president of the US bishops’ conference discusses the interactions he’s had with President Barack Obama over the last several months regarding the birth-control mandate handed down by the Department of Health and Human Services. Dolan describes the 45-minute meeting he had with Obama last November, at which he understood the president to say that the Catholic Church’s religious freedoms would be protected as the health-care law was implemented: “I said, ‘I’ve heard you say, first of all, that you have immense...

Siding with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a federal judge has declared that grants made to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to assist human-trafficking victims are unconstitutional because the grants represent a government endorsement of Catholicism. In 2005, the Department of Health and Human Services solicited grant applications to assist victims of human trafficking. In its application, the USCCB declared: As we are a Catholic organization, we need to ensure that our victim services are not used to refer or fund activities that would be contrary to our moral convictions and religious beliefs … Specifically, subcontractors...

New York Archbishop at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican last month when he was installed as a cardinal. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Editor's Note: The leadership of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops this week issued a statement reiterating the conviction of the Catholic Church in the United States that President Barack Obama's mandate that all insurance plans--including those that are purchased by and provided by Catholics and Catholic institutions--must provide free coverage for sterilizations, contraceptives and abortifacients is an "unjust and illegal mandate."The Administrative Committee of the conference, led by Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, declared the mandate...

I have little to add to Kathryn’s excellent summary of the U.S. Bishops’ statement “United for Religious Freedom.”I do want to register my disappointment with Reuters, however, which attempted to muddy the waters of the bishops’ crystal-clear resolve the day before they issued their statement — while presenting absolutely no evidence to support that narrative: “Facing small but clear signs of discontent within their own ranks, U.S. Catholic bishops may be poised to rethink their aggressive tactics for fighting a federal mandate that health insurance plans cover contraception, according to sources close to influential bishops…… dozens of bishops, meeting this...

Statement of the USCCB on HHS Mandate The following press release was issued today by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Mandate. BISHOPS PROMISE TO CONTINUE ‘VIGOROUS EFFORTS’ AGAINST HHS VIOLATIONS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN HEALTH CARE REFORM MANDATEDeclare government has no place defining religion, religious ministrySeek protection for conscience rights of institutions, individualsStress action with the public, White House, Congress, courtsWASHINGTON—The U.S. bishops are strongly united in their ongoing and determined efforts to protect religious freedom, the Administrative Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) said...

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the statement [click here] just released by the Administrative Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:The statement, “United for Religious Freedom,” is the clearest exposition of contemporary Catholic thought on religious liberty in America. It leaves nothing on the table.It speaks directly to the Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate that seeks to force Catholic non-profits to cover services it deems objectionable in its insurance plans. Mincing no words, the statement declares the HHS edict to be “unjust and illegal.”It debunks many myths about this issue: it is not about contraception;...

A philosophy professor at the University of Notre Dame has declared in the New York Times that the bishops no longer decide morality in the Church and that “the immorality of birth control is no longer a teaching of the Catholic Church.”Gary Gutting, Endowed Chair in Philosophy, argued that the will of many Catholics who choose to use contraceptives is paramount to the teaching of the bishops. …haven’t the members of the Catholic Church recognized their bishops as having full and sole authority to determine the teachings of the Church? By no means. There was, perhaps, a time when the...

USCCB President Timothy Cardinal Dolan has issued a new letter to his fellow Catholic bishops that is one of the strongest condemnations yet of the revised Obama mandate that pro-life advocates have blasted for trampling on religious freedoms.In the new letter issued Wednesday and co-signed by Bishop William Lori, Dolan condemns the mandate and urges support for the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act, which would overturn the revision of the original mandate that forced religious employers to pay for birth control and drugs that cause abortions. The new mandate puts the onus for paying for them on insurance companies...

Yesterday I saw video clips of Kathleen Sebelius, catholic Dem who as Pres. Obama’s patsy is implementing his anti-Catholic agenda, testifying before a Senate committee. She admitted that the Administration did not to any significant degree consult with the US bishops before issuing their mandate. Of course, the Administration didn’t care what the bishops would have said. The President was going to do this no matter what.From The Catholic League: OBAMA MANDATE NEVER SCRUTINIZEDFebruary 16, 2012Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows:Following her testimony yesterday before the Senate Finance Committee, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius...

In a budget hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah) asked Ms. Sebelius whether she contacted the bishops on the issue. “I know that the president has spoken to the bishops on several occasions,” she said. However, Ms. Sebelius said she did not know if the White House contacted the bishops before the changes in the contraception rule were solidified. The bishops said over the weekend that the administration didn’t consult them in crafting the new policy. Mr. Hatch then asked if other groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood were...

Last Friday, I posted on Ricochet a piece entitled American Catholicism’s Pact With the Devil. In it, among other things, I traced the crisis now faced by American Catholicism to the reign within the American Church of Joseph Bernardin, Cardinal-Archbishop of Chicago. In my haste, I got a detail or two wrong, and I was challenged not only with regard to the Cardinal’s cursus honorum but also with regard to the role he played in the scandal concerning the sexual abuse of children by Roman Catholic clergy. This post is meant to correct the record with regard to minor details,...

Imagine that you’re a politician. You know that a story is going to come out, and you know that the story will be damaging to your interests. You can’t control that. But you can control when the story comes out. How should you plan it?That’s easy. Arrange for the story to come out Friday evening. People don’t spend much time with the news on Saturday mornings. Many people won’t even notice the story; you may be able to bury it.OK, now imagine that you’re working in the Obama White House. You want a bit of a favorable “bump” when you...