Posted on 01/30/2013 5:26:02 AM PST by NYer
WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 29, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) - As the Obama administration and the U.S. Bishops remain locked in battle over the HHS mandate, the question on the minds of many observers is: what lengths are the bishops willing to go to to oppose the mandate?
The prelates LifeSiteNews spoke to after the Vigil Mass for Life in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 24th indicated that they intend to do everything they can to oppose the mandate, including risking imprisonment if necessary.
"I would be willing to go to jail in defense of religious liberty,” said Bishop Alexander Sample of Marquette, Michigan, who was appointed Archbishop of Portland, Oregon on Jan. 29th.
He stressed that the bishops are exploring all of the options with the assistance of “sound moral theologians” to “see what is the most practical but effective way to oppose the mandate.”
“We will not simply roll over and accept the mandate,” he insisted. “We have to fight for our religious liberty and we'll take it as far as we can."
Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh also said he is willing to go to jail if need be. "We can't compromise on the principles,” he told LifeSiteNews.
If it gets rough “all we have to do is look back at our history. Take a look at the saints who defended our faith and that's what it's about,” he said.
Bishop Zubik explained that he has been praying for "a conversion of heart on behalf of our president," but said “if that doesn't happen then I think it's imperative that I accept the guidance of the Holy Spirit.”
“We have to be strong, we can't compromise, we have to stay firm on our values because I believe that this is a slippery slope,” he continued. “This is a point where we have to be ready to maintain a stand. I've taken a very strong stand on this position ever since all of this began over a year ago, and I don't intend to back down.”
Archbishop Samuel Aquila, the recently installed bishop of Denver, told LifeSiteNews after the Vigil Mass that he and many other bishops will simply refuse to cooperate if the government tries to force their hand.
“Certainly we as bishops are still considering what the options will be if it does go through,” he explained. “Many of us have already stated that we will not and cannot cooperate with the mandate.”
“There will be implications on it, whether it means narrowing some of what we do, or continue what we do and not cooperate with the mandate,” he added. “But it's a very real concern and grave concern in terms of religious freedom and freedom of conscience.”
Archbishop Aquila encouraged lay Catholics who are threatened by the mandate to follow the bishops’ lead, noting that Denver has a Catholic-owned company, Hercules Industries, that was one of the first to file suit against the Obama administration.
“I just really try to encourage Catholics: stay strong, stay firm, and continue to do what you're doing,” he said. “Continue to fight, because we as bishops can only do so much and it's going to be important for the laity to follow and to respond.”
Though all the bishops across the country have opposed the mandate, which forces employers to cover abortion-inducing drugs, contraceptives, and sterilizations, many are reluctant to speculate on how they will respond going forward.
Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C. is one who instead has stressed that the bishops hope they can reach an agreement with the administration.
LifeSiteNews asked the Cardinal about the mandate during a media availability before the Mass for Life at the Verizon Center on Jan. 25th, the day of the March for Life.
“We are very hopeful that as time goes on and our conference continues to work with the administration, that something will allow us to continue to function as we always have, as a free entity freely exercising our ministry in our country,” he said.
Pressed about what the bishops will do if the mandate goes forward, he said, “We take this one day at a time, and I'm hopeful that we're going to be able to resolve this.”
The question of jail time in connection with the HHS mandate was raised in the national media earlier this month when Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said he had advised his bishop to “go to jail” if need be. The 2013 gubernatorial candidate said if citizens were jailed it would “provide an example of what tyranny means when it’s played to its logical conclusion.”
Amen!
The Bishops need our prayers so that they know they aren’t fighting this alone!
BTTT!
Please stop the bashing and learn who the new Bishops are!
Yes, some of the older Bishops didn’t do the best job. But would your Bishop or minister be willing to go to jail too?
Please answer that question.
Half the problem is that Conservatives won't get masses of pissed off people in the streets but that's all the left understands.
Fortunately, I feel sure this will be different. There are more than a few Bishops who would very publicly lead demonstrations over those Civil fines and/or asset seizures, and I suspect the crowds supporting them will get very big, very fast. US media or not, the international media will have plenty of "photo ops" with Bishops, Priests, and little old ladies, being arrested or attacked by violent counter-demonstrators.
If history is any guide, though, millions of people who claim to be Conservative Christians will ignore the First Amendment implications and snicker at Catholics getting the shaft from the government. That's they what they did in the 1870s when the Catholic Church warned that public schools rather than a voucher system would lead to a secular, atheist, society where religion would be suppressed by the government.
**I have no idea which, if any, bishops are actually willing to die for the faith.**
Hooray for them.
I always thought that killing was a criminal offense. The Bishops are willing to go to jail because the HHS mandate supports KILLING BABIES!
That’s a crime (MORTAL SIN) in God’s eyes, whether Roe v. Wade agrees or not.
**I have no idea which, if any, bishops are actually willing to die for the faith.**
The article name three and mentions the one in Virginia, though not by name. Did you miss that?
Would the Bishops of your denomination be willing to go to jail to protect the unborn?
I say Bravo for these three Bishops.
Yes, the age of martyrs will be coming to the United States.
The Civil War is a good analogy in this matter.
Choice A: Go to jail
Choice B: Go to Hell
Choice C: Both A and B
Choice D: Find a way to avoid A, B, and C
Choose wisely
So will a second civil war.
Hopefully Bishops will choose to go to jail in support of NOT killing the unborn!
As I said above, “The age of martyrs is coming to the United States.”
You didn’t put in that choice — believing in God’s choice since God is pro-life.
“What will the administration do if the Bishops do not comply with the seizures?”
What do you mean “...if the Bishops do not comply with the seizures?”?
Do you have any idea how this works?
If the Church doesn't receive relief - either judicial or legislative, and legislative doesn't look like that's going to happen - then the government will have a right to impose whatever penalties or fines are written into law. The best case would be if the government must actually sue various Catholic organizations and institutions to collect whatever fines, fees and penalties for which they ask. Less good would be an administrative hearing to impose these charges. Worst would be if the law is written to permit the IRS to just automatically impose a lien on bank accounts, etc., and then just execute a funds transfer.
But no matter what, the end result is the same (barring a court intervening) - the government will execute a seizure of funds from the institution's bank accounts, and that will be that!
Of course, that will get messy when the government seizes funds that were meant to: pay vendors; pay employees; pay contractors; pay the utilities, etc.
Then, if the deficit is sufficient, and there is not enough money forthcoming from other sources to cover it, the institution will be forced to close.
The primary purpose of the regime is not, at this time, to throw bishops in jail and arouse the populace against the regime. Rather, the regime is acting to destroy mediating civil institutions like Catholic schools, hospitals and other Catholic charitable entities. With Obamacare and the HHS mandate, if the bishops don't win in court and refuse to comply, the regime will be able to fulfill its current, intermediate goal of the destruction of Catholic civil organizations. But the bishops won't go to jail. It's tough to fight the execution of a federal government-imposed funds seizure.
Now, obviously, various Church entities have sued the regime in court over the HHS mandate, and they could actually win their cases. At least some of them. In which case, the Church will get a reprieve, and the bishops STILL won't go to jail, LOL.
sitetest
We have given up freedoms right and left for years. Our crotches are groped, our land taken...guns are next. The true faithful will revolt. This has happened in many countries and ours is looking less and less like the land of the free. The so called “separation of church and state” goes both ways. While we cede ground to the socialists/commies in DC, we will not cede our religious freedom. This could be the 1960s antiwar movement for our youth. Don’t underestimate the hammer coming down on religious freedom. There is a line and thewon might just have found it.
I do recall thewon focusing on those Pennsylvanians clinging to their guns and religion. He was honing in on those two things back in ‘08. Is it just a coincidence? I doubt it, he’s coming for us.
Probably a few seconds or, at the most, a few minutes ago. It is called latæ sententiæ.
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