WASHINGTON (CNS) - Many religious leaders viewed President Donald Trump's executive order on religious freedom, which he signed in a White House Rose Garden ceremony May 4, as a step in the right direction.
[caption id="attachment_23105" align="alignright" width="250"] President Donald Trump shows his signed Executive Order on Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty during a National Day of Prayer event at the White House in Washington May 4. (CNS photo/Jim Lo Scalzo, EPA) See RELIGIOUS-FREEDOM-EXECUTIVE-ORDER May 4, 2017.[/caption]
In a ceremony for the National Day of Prayer prior to signing the executive order, Trump told the assembled religious leaders: "We're taking big steps to protect religious liberty" and he assured them the government "won't stand for religious discrimination."
Three religious leaders, including Washington Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, offered prayers during the ceremony. Just prior to the event, Cardinal Wuerl and Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, met with Trump about the order.
In an interview with Catholic News Service at Reagan National Airport just after the White House ceremony, Cardinal DiNardo said the meeting with the president was brief but productive.
Earlier, in a statement, the cardinal said the executive order "begins the process of alleviating the serious burden of the HHS mandate," referring to the mandate issued by the federal Department of Health and Human Services requiring most religious employers to provide coverage of artificial birth control for their employees even if they morally oppose it.
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