Posted on 08/08/2012 2:47:23 PM PDT by NYer
ROME, Italy, August 7, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pope Benedict XVI is warning that the United States is facing threats of “unprecedented gravity” to religious freedom.
In a letter on behalf of the pope to Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone observed that “concerted efforts are being made to redefine and restrict the exercise of the right to religious freedom.”
The comments come as the U.S. bishops campaign for religious liberty in the face of attacks such as President Obama’s HHS mandate, which requires employers to cover contraceptives, sterilizations, and abortion-inducing drugs in their health insurance packages.
The bishops recently concluded their “fortnight for freedom” - two weeks of intensive “prayer, study, catechesis, and public action.” Shortly before launching the event, the bishops had reaffirmed their condemnation of the HHS mandate, nothing that the rule effectively punishes Catholic institutions for operating in the public sphere.
“Those deemed by HHS not to be ‘religious employers’ will be forced by government to violate their own teachings within their very own institutions. This is not only an injustice in itself, but it also undermines the effective proclamation of those teachings to the faithful and to the world,” they wrote.
Writing in advance of the Knights of Columbus’ annual Supreme Convention, which opened Tuesday in Anaheim, the prelate praised the Knights of Columbus for working “tirelessly to help the Catholic community recognize and respond to the unprecedented gravity of these new threats to the Church’s liberty and public moral witness.”
In his letter, Bertone quoted remarks by Pope Benedict in January in which he called on America’s bishops to “counter a reductive secularism which would delegitimize the Church’s participation in public debate about the issues which are determining the future of American society.”
Today, having a clear faith based on the Creed of the Church is often labeled as fundamentalism. Whereas relativism, that is, letting oneself be "tossed here and there, carried about by every wind of doctrine", seems the only attitude that can cope with modern times. We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's own ego and desires.
Catholic Ping
Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list
It’s time that the US state that this nation is the one of greatness due to the principles and life of Christ - and through Christ we have risen to greatness.
It’s time all Christians come out against Obama - vote him out - and send a message to other elected leaders that the citizen runs this country not the govt!
A definite cleaning out is at hand - we do not have the time to waste any longer!
Pope To Dolan: you’re dancing with the devil.
Don’t forget to look-out for the rights of non-Christians’ religious freedom too.
I’d like to see the Pope play the Excommunication card once in a while.
Tell it like it is, Il Papa.
I don’t think an invitation equals an endorsement. They always invite both Presidential nominees.
I appreciate your point, but there’s more to it than that.
If I know that obama is of satan... he is a vile and evil creature... why does Cardinal Dolan allow this creature to defile this event? Do tradition and political correctness trump shunning GOD’s enemies?
LLS
Because his strength is earthly.
Or:
Make sure he sees his opportunity here. Make sure he takes it.
archbishop.dolan@archny.org
You know we go through this every time I post something about Dolan.
Bishops were supportive of Obama during the campaign. Dolan is on record as in favor of universal healthcare and by his failure to state otherwise prior to its becoming law, Obamacare. That would be enough said if it was anyone but the smiling, personable archbishop to a people who are apparently starved for heroes. God knows I've posted it a dozen times with quotes and all I get in response is personal attacks -- nothing about his own declarations about what he thinks the Church's preference is (that is, socialized medicine).
He didn't "hotly reject" anything about obamacare when he still had a choice and his influence SHOULD have helped prevent it from becoming a law to begin with. He only "hotly rejected" it when it threatened to impact HIS organization -- damn everyone else.
Need I remind you that the policies most antithetical to life in this land are being administered by Catholics?
If you don't see this as a colossal failure on the part of Church leadership...you of all people --- I'm sure it will eventually sink in.
"Who is blind like my people?"
Nobody. I could be dead wrong, but my money is on this: he's a sellout.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan Will Host Obama at White-Tie Fundraiser for Health Care Causes
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/cardinal-timothy-dolan-will-host-obama-white-tie-fundraiser-health-care-causes
(Could a man think such a stupid thing?)
Lacking evidence, it seems rash judgment to assume that the Cdl. Archbishop must be either a traitor, a liar, or an idiot.
It remains possible that he's taking a high-risk gamble here, to get the truth out 2 weeks before the vote.
Still, it's not enough for me (or anybody) to "hope" he's doing this hair-raising thing for the right reason. I have the responsibility to do what I can to make things plain to him.
Thank you for your good will. More tomorrow. Good night, invisible.
I let him know of my concerns and I appreciate the link.
LLS
LLS
His strength should be up to the job that he is intrusted with.
LLS
Undoubtedly the bishops (collectively) were envisioning benefits from redistribution of taxpayer wealth toward the "healthcare" complex to the church (which has in NYC, for example enormous contracts for social services with the City).
Back when the mandates were first being whined about, there was some quoting to the effect that obama had "broken his promises" on the issue. What promises? Were the bishops expecting that nationalized healthcare -- which, in Dolans eyes, "the Church has been advocating for nearly a hundred years" -- would support their charitable machinery? Talk about a Faustian bargain.
People don't seem to realize how despicably political the church in the US is.
Dolan is playing politics with Obama. Literally, wrestling with a pig -- there is no way to do that without getting dirty. He is playing politics because that's how the church has done it here his whole lifetime. He us a classic Kennedy Catholic -- democrat, pro-union, socialist. He thinks he can deal, but he is learning that the game for Catholics has changed. So he will either convert or comply. It could go either way. My personal feeling is that he's too accustomed to the trappings of earthly power to convert -- but I sense something about that wants to -- that is sincere. I believe he is sincere, but worldly, and that him a perfect stooge for the devil. He's playing by old rules, rules that could only result in the despicable situation we are in today. Just my opinion.
I believe his meeting with Obama is an effort to keep playing politics -- I mean that much is obvious. I figure (as posted elsewhere, with a bit of flourish) that he will remind the president that he cannot expect the same support of Catholics that got him elected the first time if holds the line on these mandates. Maybe he'll even remind Obama of whatever "promises" were made. Obama will listen, appease, and what he does: triangulate and betray. If he feigns a change of heart, Catholics will vote him in again. Everyone will feel warm fuzzies for everyone else and think the matter is settled. The media will flatter Dolan with the accolades he craves. Obama will look like he can be "reasoned with" and that he listens to the Church. Its an awful scenario but that's how I see it happening barring some people being knocked off their horses. I'm not betting on that.
Remember this: Obama's surest hope to retain power is the Catholic vote. And Timothy Dolan never had a problem with Obamacare -- only with the requirement that he be forced to provide contraceptives and perhaps abortions. He wants socialized medicine, whether you like it or not.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.