January 29, 2012
January 29, 2012 Column Father De Celles
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
U.S. Constitution, 1st Amendment.
As was mentioned at most of the Masses last Sunday, the Obama Administration has announced plans to require that sterilization, abortifacients and contraception be included in virtually all employer provided health care insurance plans, including those provided by most Catholic charitable and educational organizations. This is a direct frontal assault on the religious liberty enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution, and it cannot be allowed to stand. In the weeks ahead I will be advising you on opportunities to let your voice be heard on this matter. In the meantime let me draw your attention to some important statements made by the Catholic hierarchy in the last few days. Please also visit our parish website (http://straymonds.org/), where links to these and other important statements are available. I also invite you to read Fr. Pilon’s excellent homily on the subject available on the parish website. My homily is also available on the website.
Statement of Bishop Paul Loverde, Diocese of Arlington
The decision by the Department of Health and Human Services is a direct attack against religious liberty. This ill-considered policy comprises a truly radical break with the liberties that have underpinned our nation since its founding. I have just returned from Rome, where I and my brother U.S. bishops discussed with Pope Benedict XVI and other Vatican officials the vital importance of religious liberty to human freedom and the proper functioning of a just society. While there, I was deeply troubled to learn of this terrible lapse in judgment by our civil leadership here at home.
I am absolutely convinced that an unprecedented and very dangerous line has been crossed that goes to the heart of the freedom of religion, and that this action does intolerable violence to our First Amendment rights. Catholic hospitals, charitable organizations, colleges and other Church-affiliated entities, as well as individual Catholic employers who seek to follow their consciences in the provision of healthcare to their employees, will be required to cover sterilizations and artificial contraception, including abortifacients, in insurance plans, violating the clear teachings of the Church. The meager religious exemption grudgingly allowed by the Obama Administration is structured so narrowly that any Church institution that serves a considerable number of non-Catholics would not be protected, directly harming our various ministries throughout the community.
I will speak out consistently in the weeks and months ahead on this gravely important struggle for the freedom to practice our faith as full citizens of this great nation. I urge the faithful of Northern Virginia and all citizens of good will to understand what is at stake in this unavoidable confrontation, which has been thrust upon us, and to be prepared to engage in a strong defense in the civil arena of the basic human right of religious liberty. I have been gratified to see the strong reaction so far against this outrageous decision in newspapers and among Americans of all faiths. For now, we should all be united in prayer that President Obama and Secretary Sebelius will reconsider the action they have taken.
Transcript of Video Statement of Cardinal-Designate Timothy Dolan, President of the USCCB
Religious liberty is certainly front and center in conversations these days. And that’s very good. Some days ago so many Americans of all creeds, or none at all, cheered a unanimous decision of the United States Supreme Court, remember?
The court ruled that churches have the fundamental freedom to choose their own ministers without government interference. Nothing could be truer. All nine justices of the Supreme Court rejected the administration’s incredibly narrow and unprecedented interpretation of religious liberty in that celebrated case. The court’s decision was a homerun for the 1st Amendment and for our democracy.
But I am afraid the administration is on the wrong side of the Constitution again. Now it has ordered almost every employer and insurer in the country to provide sterilizations and contraceptives, including some abortion-inducing drugs, in their health plans. And it is requiring almost all Americans, even those with ethical and religious objections, to pay for this coverage.
The administration offered a very narrow religious exemption to some employers such as churches, but the government will still require most Americans to pay for this coverage even if it violates their consciences. That’s a foul ball by any standard. Never before has the federal government forced individuals and organizations to go out into the marketplace and buy a product that violates their conscience.
This shouldn’t happen in a land where free exercise of religion ranks first in the Bill of Rights. How about letting our elected leaders know that we want religious liberty and rights of conscience restored and the administration’s mandate rescinded? We can’t afford to strike out on this one.
The Obama administration has now drawn an unprecedented line in the sand. The Catholic bishops are committed to working with our fellow Americans to reform the law and change this unjust regulation. We will continue to study all the implications of this troubling decision.
Pope Benedict XVI, Address to American Bishops in Rome, January 19, 2012 [excerpt]
“The legitimate separation of Church and State cannot be taken to mean that the Church must be silent on certain issues, nor that the State may choose not to engage, or be engaged by, the voices of committed believers in determining the values which will shape the future of the nation….[I]n is imperative that the entire Catholic community in the United States come to realize the grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres. The seriousness of these threats needs to be clearly appreciated at every level of ecclesial life. Of particular concern are certain attempts being made to limit that most cherished of American freedoms, the freedom of religion. Many of you have pointed out that concerted efforts have been made to deny the right of conscientious objection on the part of Catholic individuals and institutions with regard to cooperation in intrinsically evil practices. Others have spoken to me of a worrying tendency to reduce religious freedom to mere freedom of worship without guarantees of respect for freedom of conscience….Here once more we see the need for an engaged, articulate and well- formed Catholic laity endowed with a strong critical sense vis-à-vis the dominant culture and with the courage 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….”
Oremus pro invicem. Fr. De Celles
p.s. Thanks to all who participated in the March of Life last Monday. Especially to Liz Hildebrand who organized 3 parish buses, Kirsten Smith who led almost 40 of our youth and chaperones (bringing an official parish attendance to around 200!), Diane Spinelli who led prayers in the church before the March, and Julie Bailey who organized the delicious chili dinner afterwards.