Pittsburgh Catholic Newspaper

Editorial

Strong stand against attacks on our faith
archived from: 2011-10-10
by: Editorial

With the establishment of an ad hoc committee to address religious liberty issues for the U.S. bishops, the church has taken a strong stand against what are viewed as government policies that promote contraception, abortion and same-sex marriage and seek to marginalize Catholics. The panel will shape public policy and coordinate the church’s response to what amounts to an assault on religious freedom.

To illustrate, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, listed six religious liberty concerns arising just since June:

• Federal Department of Health and Human Services regulations that would mandate the coverage of contraception (including abortifacients) and sterilization in all private health insurance plans, which could coerce church employers to sponsor and pay for services they oppose. The new rules do not protect insurers or individuals with religious or moral objections to the mandate.

• An HHS requirement that the USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services provide the “full range of reproductive services” — meaning abortion and contraception — to trafficking victims and unaccompanied minors in its cooperative agreements and government contracts. The position mirrors the position urged by the American Civil Liberties Union in the ongoing lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of MRS’s contracts as a violation of religious liberty.

• Catholic Relief Services’ concern that the U.S. Agency for International Development, under the Department of State, is increasingly requiring condom distribution in HIV prevention programs, as well as requiring contraception within international relief and development programs.

• The Justice Department’s attack on the Defense of Marriage Act, presenting DOMA’s support for traditional marriage as bigotry. In July, the department started filing briefs actively attacking DOMA’s constitutionality, claiming that supporters of the law could only have been motivated by bias and prejudice. “If the label of ‘bigot’ sticks to us — especially in court — because of our teaching on marriage, we’ll have church-state conflicts for years to come as a result,” Archbishop Dolan said.

• The Justice Department’s recent attack on the critically important “ministerial exception,” a constitutional doctrine accepted by every court of appeals in the country that leaves to churches (not government) the power to make employment decisions concerning people working in a ministerial capacity. In a case to be heard this term in the U.S. Supreme Court, the department attacked the very existence of the exception.

• New York State’s new law redefining marriage, with only a very narrow religious exemption. Already, county clerks face legal action for refusing to participate in same-sex unions, and gay rights advocates are publicly emphasizing how little religious freedom protection people and groups will enjoy under the new law.

Now is not the time to be quiet, when restrictive government policies that appear to be aimed specifically at the Catholic Church are being considered in Washington and elsewhere. This ad hoc committee will form a powerful, united front against this unprecedented assault on our faith. It’s time to join the fight.