Over the past several weeks I have read a number of reports and articles by a number of persons, and items issued by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on the issue about Religious Liberty. This issue has not gone away at all; on the contrary it has attracted more attention. This attention is from different religious groups and non-religious groups who are voicing concerns about what is happening and what could be consequences when basic American rights and values are modified and even changed or when government injects itself into areas which from the beginnings of our way of life did not happen because religion and its role in society were respected and appreciated.
Sorry to say those days of respect and appreciation seem to be waning as different interests in our way of life seem to eliminate the role of religion unless its particular contributions fit into their agendas. It is a sorry state of affairs when groups of people whose religion invites them to contribute to the common good are now told after many years of good citizenship--?No, Thank You!? As people of faith we need to have Religious Liberty so that we can follow our consciences regarding the practice of our religion in the public domain. This is also true for people of our faith, thus a number of religions are very concerned today as they see what is happening.
The Mandate issued by the Federal Department of Health and Human Services pretty much requires all health insurance policies to include in their policies the coverage of contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs. This is to be done with no co-pay paid by the insured. Thus, Catholic institutions such as Catholic Charities programs, Catholic colleges and universities, and hospitals and health care institutions will all have to provide for their employees this type of coverage, and they will have to pay for it!
With such a Mandate these institutions would be expected to provide the ?mandated? services which, in fact, go against the individual consciences of Catholic leadership and the collective conscience of the institutions in question.
My brother bishops and I strongly feel that these actions violate both the First Amendment which states ?Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof? and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a federal law. As one can see, there is much at stake in this situation brought on by a government office issuing a Mandate, a Mandate which reflects an agenda which includes excluding faith-based entities like the Catholic Church from carrying on its good works in accord with its religious beliefs.
This last point is at the crux of the matter. For a long time the practice and understanding on the part of all parties was that religious groups positively impacted the quality of life in our beloved country by putting into practice the good works our faith calls us to do. Now, however, our government has opted for a different approach relative to religious groups and how they carry out their religious acts. This direction comes without a thorough civil conversation within our country. The result of this ?new direction? is that it conflicts with Religious Freedom as guaranteed by our Constitution. Never in my life did I ever think I would see such a sorry situation in our country.
May our understanding and appreciation of our past as a country be valued, and not rejected, so that the dignity of all peoples may be respected.
These are serious situations which need our prayers and our being well informed as to what is unfolding.