Posted on 09/29/2013 2:30:59 PM PDT by NYer
Today, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Little Sisters of the Poor, a religious order of Sisters dedicated to caring for the elderly poor (see video). Without relief, the Little Sisters face millions of dollars in IRS fines because they cannot comply with the government’s mandate that they give their employees free access to contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs. The Little Sisters are joined by their religious health benefits providers, Christian Brothers Services and Christian Brothers Employee Benefits Trust, and a class of other religious organizations facing similar fines, in the first class action lawsuit against the Mandate.
The Little Sisters of the Poor are an international Roman Catholic Congregation of women Religious founded in 1839 by St. Jeanne Jugan. They operate homes in 31 countries, where they provide loving care for over 13,000 needy elderly persons. Thirty of these homes are located in the United States.
“Like all of the Little Sisters, I have vowed to God and the Roman Catholic Church that I will treat all life as valuable, and I have dedicated my life to that work,” explained Sister Loraine Marie, Superior for one of the three U.S. provinces in the Congregation. “We cannot violate our vows by participating in the government’s program to provide access to abortion inducing drugs.”
Although the Little Sisters’ homes perform a religious ministry of caring for the elderly poor, they do not fall within the government’s narrow exemption for “religious employers.” Accordingly, beginning on January 1, the Little Sisters will face IRS fines unless they violate their religion by hiring an insurer to provide their employees with contraceptives, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs.
“The Sisters should obviously be exempted as ‘religious employers,’ but the government has refused to expand its definition,” said Mark Rienzi, Senior Counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and lead counsel for the Little Sisters. “These women just want to take care of the elderly poor without being forced to violate the faith that animates their work. The money they collect should be used to care for the poor like it always has—and not to pay the IRS.”
The lawsuit is the first of its kind both because it is a class-action suit that will represent hundreds of Catholic non-profit ministries with similar beliefs and because it is the first on behalf of benefits providers who cannot comply with the Mandate.
The lawsuit was filed in federal District Court in Denver. There are now 72 lawsuits challenging the mandate.
The Little Sisters have already stated that, should they fail to be exempted, they will leave the US.
Obama doesn’t care if thousands of poor old people lose a loving home.
Abortion and homosexuality are what he cares most deeply about: abortion because he wishes his mother had one, and homosexuality because he was molested as a child.
**Little Sisters of the Poor **
Definitely wonderful servants of the Lord.
What kind of bastards go after the Llttle Sisters of the Poor?
A homosexual bastard who wishes he’d been aborted. Obama is a sick, sick man.
Go, sisters!
This administration actively wants to force Catholics to choose between their principles and their job.
I hope all of our protestant FRiends are taking careful note of this. If the Catholic Church loses this battle, each of your groups is nest on the pResidents hit list. there isn’t a Christian/ religious group that will be able to stand up to the assault of his minions.
The kind of people who can’t stop badmouthing Mother Teresa won’t lift an eyebrow over the expulsion of the Little Sisters of the Poor.
In their view, religion somehow does include serving others. This even though the early Christians were thought remarkable for doing what no pagan would. The idea is that the state must utterly displace the church as a society.
It befuddles me.
quite a few of us are taking note.
It has always been part of the Enlightenment project. After Virginia disestablished the Anglican Church, it caused a disruption of social services in Virginia, which were organized around the parishes. This did prevent a Baptist from having to support the Church, but it also deprived many people of the help which his own meeting house lacked the means to provide,because they received no funds either. Patrick Henry had wanted to supply all the denominations, but Jefferson none of them, and the state was slow to fill the gap.
Do you mean people that make gratuitous remarks like yours?
I see a lot of that from the Roman Catholic horde! Too many love their church, but don't know that they are just following men... and worshipping dead people like Mary and their saints.
Galatians 1: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!
10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. ...
You don’t ‘file suit’; you just say NO!
If you have something ugly to say about Mother Teresa, then I was talking about you. If you don’t, then I wasn’t.
What is it with people’s reading comprehension these days?
You SURE??
You REALLY think that if the All-Powerful Oz fails; so will Dorothy and her friends?
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