Posted on 03/14/2012 3:46:45 PM PDT by NYer
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; it is not just about Catholic religious rights; it is not about the Catholic Church trying to impose its will on others—it is about the federal government trying to impose its agenda on us; it is not about opposition to universal health care (the Church has long championed this right); and it is not about choosing political sides. It is about religious liberty.
Most important, the statement argues that the HHS mandate seeks to create a three-tiered class of citizens’ rights: by defining religious rights as applying only to those who work for religious institutions that hire and serve mostly people of their own faith, the Obama administration has relegated those who work in religious institutions that serve everyone to a second-class status; those who are not a religious employer but nonetheless reject on religious grounds to funding immoral insurance plans constitute a third-class of citizens.
The good news is that the bishops aren’t flinching: there is no room for compromise when the subject is our constitutional rights—rights that come from God, as the Declaration affirmed, not government. It warms the heart to read that the “unprecedented magnitude of this latest threat has only strengthened our resolve” to do what is right. The bishops have the unqualified support of the Catholic League.
Catholic ping!
I like the stance. I’m interested to hear how they will fight the edict.
Leftist governments murdered 200,000,000 of their own citizens in the twentieth century.
They will show their hand soon.
but they sure caved on the law that made the present circumstances inevitable.
From the article: "... it is not about opposition to universal health care (the Church has long championed this right);"
What do you like about their stance? That it is alright to force people to do the government's bidding as long as the government doesn't force us to do their bidding?
The Catholic Church is engaging in hypocrisy of the highest order. If the Catholic Church wants "universal healthcare" they are free to take up collections and provide all the healthcare they wish.
Whatever happened to seperation between church and state?
Approximately one in six hospital beds in the U.S.A. are in Catholic-run hospitals. The Catholic Church does not advocate socialized healthcare nor healthcare only for the elites.
Perhaps I'm confused by the Catholic Leagues use of the word "right". My conservative understanding of "rights" are those things to which every individual is entitled independently of government. A person is justified in exercising his rights regardless of the participation of others.
Progressives would refer to a universal right to healthcare to mean that the collective is obligated to supply such healthcare. How should I understand the statement by the Catholic League?
Folks were getting all hot and bothered, saying that the Bishops were caving, and were a bunch of weenies. I suspected that was why the story was written; to divide Catholics. That's why I don't take as absolute fact, stories based on anonymous sources.
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