USCCB President says Obama offered next to nothing; expresses disappointment with Sr. Keehan

Te Deum ^ | February 14, 2012 | Francis X. Rocca

[NYer]

ROME (CNS) -- Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan of New York said Feb. 13 that President Barack Obama's proposed revision to the contraceptive mandate in the health reform law did nothing to change the U.S. bishops' opposition to what they regard as an unconstitutional infringement on religious liberty.

"We bishops are pastors, we're not politicians, and you can't compromise on principle," said Cardinal-designate Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "And the goal posts haven't moved and I don't think there's a 50-yard line compromise here," he added.

"We're in the business of reconciliation, so it's not that we hold fast, that we're stubborn ideologues, no. But we don't see much sign of any compromise," he said.

"What (Obama) offered was next to nothing. There's no change, for instance, in these terribly restrictive mandates and this grossly restrictive definition of what constitutes a religious entity," he said. "The principle wasn't touched at all."

Obama's proposed revision of the Department of Health and Human Services' contraceptive mandate left intact the restrictive definition of a religious entity and would shift the costs of contraceptives from the policyholders to the insurers, thus failing to ensure that Catholic individuals and institutions would not have to pay for services that they consider immoral, Cardinal-designate Dolan said.

For one thing, the cardinal-designate said, many dioceses and Catholic institutions are self-insuring. Moreover, Catholics with policies in the compliant insurance companies would be subsidizing others' contraception coverage. He also objected that individual Catholic employers would not enjoy exemption under Obama's proposal.

"My brother-in-law, who's a committed Catholic, runs a butcher shop. Is he going to have to pay for services that he as a convinced Catholic considers to be morally objectionable?" he asked.

Cardinal-designate Dolan said he emailed Sister Carol Keehan, a Daughter of Charity who heads the Catholic Health Association, on Feb. 10 to tell her that he was "disappointed that she had acted unilaterally, not in concert with the bishops."
Read the rest at CNS: http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1200596.htm

Further Reading:

• Six more things everyone should know about the HHS mandate (USCCB blog)
• Archbishops Kurtz and Chaput join protests over 'unacceptable' attack on religious liberty (N.C. Register)
• How the White House's 98% Contraception Figure for Catholics is Wrong (Tom Hoopes/Catholic Vote)
• Obama seen working to splinter Catholic community (Catholic Culture)
• Cardinal-Designate Dolan says bishops are not 'Obama Haters' (John Allen / I don't normally link to the NCR, but John Allen's articles are an exception because he is the exception there)
• Fr. Jenkins: Where is your signature? (Pat Archbold/N.C. Register)
• Just a minute Mr. President (Cardinal Roger Mahony)
• The Audacity of Power: President Obama vs. the Catholic Church (Charles Kadlec/Forbes)
• Intolerance is at the heart of Obamacare (James Taranto/WSJ)
• Obama has stranded the Catholic 'left' (Elizabeth Scalia / First Things)
• Democrats to Catholics: We don't want you (Rod Dreher)
• The pseudo-magisterium needs to be neutered (Te Deum Laudamus)

[NYer]

Ping!

[rmlew]

I appreciate Dolan standing up not only for Catholic institutions but also for the trampled rights of business owners.

[narses]

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[CASchack]

Obama has met his match in Archbishop Dolan. Here is a man who won’t be steamrolled.

[SaxxonWoods]

I’m glad to hear that.

I also think the Vatican has to back him on this, to the Supreme Court if necessary.

[SumProVita]

Amen! And we will ALL be praying for him....and our nation.

We are also ready to roll up our sleeves and fight this in a unified effort that Obama has never yet seen!

[Jeff Head]

"What Obama offered was next to nothing."

Amen Cardinal-designate Dolan, amen. Stick to your guns, we all have your back.

[SuziQ]

I also think the Vatican has to back him on this, to the Supreme Court if necessary.

The Bishops from the Southeastern US were on their ad limina visit with the Pope when the mandate news first broke a few weeks ago. They were all outraged at what Obama had done. Don't think the Pope was any too pleased with it either. The Vatican won't be a party to any legislation; it will be the USCCB, as it should be.

[frogjerk]

I also think the Vatican has to back him on this, to the Supreme Court if necessary.

Pope Benedict XVI has just spoke about this to the Bishops in their Ad Limina visit.

[frogjerk]

the only thing that I disagree with in this article is this:

Cardinal-designate Dolan said he emailed Sister Carol Keehan, a Daughter of Charity who heads the Catholic Health Association, on Feb. 10 to tell her that he was "disappointed that she had acted unilaterally, not in concert with the bishops."

I think he needs to be a little more stern than "disappointed". I get disappointed when I miss a green light. When someone undermines my authority I get angry.

[NVDave]

This. This is the key issue for the church now.

Unless they start taking down these people who claim to be Catholic and representing the RCC in policy matters (and I mean taking them down hard), the church is going to continue to be sold down a river here.

As I understand Canon Law, the Bishops (and certainly the Cardinals) can be doing a bit more than emailing their “disappointment” to the Sister who has headlined this nonsense.

[the invisib1e hand]

"We bishops are pastors, we're not politicians, and you can't compromise on principle," said Cardinal-designate Dolan

oy. does he really not see what a politician he is?

I'm desperately looking for a reason to get over my visceral mistrust of this man, and he's not helping too much.

[the invisib1e hand]

Obama has met his match in Archbishop Dolan. Here is a man who won’t be steamrolled.

izzat right?

[the invisib1e hand]

come on you freaking headline junkies. where was the archbishop when the matter was being debated? supporting it.

[CASchack]

Well, he has dug in his heels and has taken a stand. I don’t think the Archbishop will back down. If he does, I’ll eat my words.

[Petrosius]

As I understand Canon Law, the Bishops (and certainly the Cardinals) can be doing a bit more than emailing their “disappointment” to the Sister who has headlined this nonsense.

That would be bishop (singular), not bishops. The only bishop that could discipline her would be the one in whose diocese she lives. That is not to say that Cardinal-designate Dolan and the other bishops could not bring some heavy pressure to bear.

[the invisib1e hand]

Well, he has dug in his heels and has taken a stand. I don’t think the Archbishop will back down. If he does, I’ll eat my words.

I hope you don't. He was a total disappointment to me. Let's see what he's made of. He and coterie were still, as far as I'm concerned, asleep at the wheel, with a couple of notable exceptions (Chaput and Nickless come to mind).

He's either very slow, very naive, or very, very political.

[D-fendr]

Exactly correct and a point that many non-Catholics don’t understand.

Anyone know who Sr. Keehan’s Bishop is?

Also can’t those in his diocese appeal to him to avoid scandal? Any freepers qualify here?

[A.A. Cunningham]