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Law professor says flawed view of sex threatens religious freedom
Washington D.C., May 18, 2012 / 04:09 am (CNA).- A law professor at George Mason University believes that current threats to religious freedom are intrinsically connected to the modern understanding that “sexual freedom is about shaping yourself.”
Helen Alvaré, who has formerly worked with the U.S. bishops' pro-life office, spoke on May 10 at the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C. She observed that many modern threats to religious freedom “are coming by way of a newly strong government position on human sexuality.”
This view holds that sex is unrelated to procreation or the union of man and woman, but is simply about “expressing oneself” and forming one’s identity through various sexual acts, she explained.
Alvaré traced this understanding of sexuality through court decisions in the last 50 years.
In 1965, the Supreme ruled in Griswold v. Connecticut that the Constitution implicitly protects the “right to marital privacy” and that married couples therefore have a right to contraception. At this point, Alvaré observed, the union of the married couple was still intact in the understanding of sex.
By 1992, however, the court upheld the “right” to abortion by describing sexual decisions as a means of shaping one’s identity, she said.
In its Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision, the plurality opinion affirmed “the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.”
At this point, Alvaré said, sex has been “completely disconnected from the other person” and is solely about expressing oneself and building identity.
This view is reflected today, she explained, pointing to the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S., which distributes information to young people encouraging them to explore and express themselves in different sexual ways.
This disconnected idea of sexual expression as an individual right can also be seen in a careful reading of the court cases supporting a redefinition of marriage, Alvaré added. In these court opinions, “same-sex marriage is not about the two people in the marriage. It’s about the individual expressing themself sexually.”
It is in this context that the Obama administration’s contraception mandate comes into being, with “no hesitation in divorcing sex from everything” that it physically, emotionally and spiritually means, she continued.
The mandate has been heavily criticized as a major threat to religious freedom because it will require employers to offer health insurance plans that cover contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, even if doing so violates their religious beliefs.
Alvaré views the mandate as a “culmination” of a view of sexuality that has become more and more disconnected from marriage, procreation and the natural unity of man and woman.
She explained that this way of thinking began with the argument that taking the babies out of sex would allow couples to flourish, women to escape poverty and children to avoid being raised in bad situations.
But this has changed drastically, in a way that is evident by the “models of freedom” used to defend the contraception mandate, she said.
Rather than a woman facing poverty or a married couple overwhelmed by a dozen kids, the iconic figures in the sexual freedom debate today are unmarried, highly educated, and fairly well-off financially.
She pointed to Sandra Fluke, a Georgetown University law student who has become a leading figure in the push for free birth control.
These women are not talking about marriage, poverty or the wellbeing of children, Alvaré observed. Rather, they are simply saying that they want a regular sex life with a constant supply of contraception, and they want someone else to pay for it.
This “right to a commitment-free, child-free sexual experience” has become so elevated that no religious conscience is permitted to object to it, she said, explaining that when disconnected sexual expression becomes a basic and fundamental right, religious liberty suffers.
This can be seen today, as Catholic individuals and institutions are told that they shouldn’t “even be able to have a critical stance” on issues such as contraception, she said.
She also observed that proponents of the mandate are making claims of a “war on women” and using “language of discrimination,” as if religious individual seeking to follow their conscience were violent members of the Ku Klux Klan, who should not have a voice in the public square.
The Catholic Church’s idea of sexuality as being connected to marriage and new life is “absolutely contrary” to the modern understanding, Alvaré explained.
As Catholics step up to defend religious freedom, she noted, they also have a chance to help change the way that human sexuality is viewed.
“I really see this time as an opportunity,” she said.
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Parish threatened, harassed over sign opposing 'gay marriage'
Acushnet, Mass., May 18, 2012 / 02:29 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A Massachusetts Catholic parish has received threats of arson and other harassing messages after posting a sign with the Church's position on same-sex “marriage.”
“It went viral,” said Steven Guillotte, Director of Pastoral Services at Saint Francis Xavier Parish in Acushnet, recalling an “explosion” of responses to the message displayed on the sign in front of the church earlier this week. It read: “Two men are friends, not spouses.”
Guillotte posted the message on the morning of May 15, and responded within hours to an e-mail “saying that it was hateful.” Later that day, Guillotte's e-mail response ended up being posted to Facebook.
“Next thing you know, the nasty telephone calls started to come, and they were coming every few minutes,” said the pastoral director in a May 17 interview with CNA.
After local media took an interest, there were “some horrible e-mails overnight,” and a phone call from a woman “saying the church should be burned down.”
“We had a group of three young men and a woman who were upset. They were actually planning on going into the church,” he recounted. Guillotte steered them away, while trying to field an inquiry from a reporter.
“She witnessed one of the guys scream across the parking lot that he was going to burn the church down. We hear that, here and there.”
Guillotte said the sign was intended to clarify Catholic beliefs after President Obama's recent support for redefining marriage. After the president's announcement, he recalled, “there were a lot of Catholics out there misrepresenting, or even maligning, the Church's position on gay marriage.”
“So I came in on this past Tuesday morning and just decided to put up a sign expressing the Church's teaching in a very concise way … saying that the proper relationship between two men – or for that matter, two women – is friendship, and not marriage.”
Opponents of the message starting posting their own signs on or near the parish property. One of them contained an invitation to “spread LOVE, not hate,” while another used a sexual insult to describe the Virgin Mary. Others read “Jesus Freaks, come to your senses,” and “Pray for death.”
Many of the phone calls “were just f-words and people hanging up,” along with others “saying they were disgusted with the sign” and asking “how could we do it, because it was so 'hateful.'”
But Guillotte said the expressions of “hate” or “intolerance” seemed to be coming from the Church's critics in this case.
“If the Methodist church down the street put a sign up that said they were in favor of gay marriage,” he observed, “you wouldn't see me down their with a hammer and nails on their property.”
Another phone call came from a concerned Catholic, who worried that the sign would drive people away from the Church. Guillotte disagrees.
“We have a pastor who's taken a firm, orthodox stand on Church teaching, and our staff is the same way,” he said. “Unlike some parishes in the area, our census has actually gone up this last year.”
Although the Church sign has since been changed, Guillotte continues to stand by Tuesday's message as one that should be brought into the public square. He said Catholics should show patience and love in the debate over marriage, but also be “firm in our presentation of what the truth is.”
Otherwise, he warned, “next thing you know, you're agreeing with the other side, which is exactly what they're really striving for.”
He believes advocates for sexual radicalism “don't really want tolerance, in my opinion; they want us to agree with them.”
“When we do that,” he said, “we give up our Catholic faith, and I think we turn our back on Christ.”
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Senator proposes adding prayer to WWII memorial
Washington D.C., May 18, 2012 / 12:01 am (CNA).- U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) has introduced a bill to place President Franklin D. Roosevelt's D-Day prayer on the World War II memorial in Washington, D.C.
“On D-Day, courageous Americans risked and sacrificed their lives to preserve our freedoms and end tyranny abroad,” said Portman. “That morning, President Roosevelt asked our nation to come together to pray for the men overseas.”
A senator in the key swing state of Ohio, Portman is considered one of the top potential picks for Vice President on the 2012 Republican ticket.
In a May 10 statement shortly after he introduced the legislation, he explained that Roosevelt’s prayer “brought strength and comfort to many during one of the most challenging times for our nation.”
Those words “will forever be etched in our history,” he said.
The World War II Memorial Prayer Act of 2012 would commemorate D-Day, June 6, 1944, when more than 150,000 American, British and Canadian troops landed along a 50-mile beach stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline.
More than 9,000 Allied soldiers were killed or wounded, but the invasion allowed many others to begin the march across Europe to fight Hitler’s forces.
On that day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt invited the nation to prayer through a national radio address.
In his historic prayer, Roosevelt asked the Lord to watch over those who were fighting “to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.”
He called on America to join with him in praying for guidance to fight “greed and racial arrogances” while seeking true freedom and lasting peace.
The president called for the blessings of Almighty God in the fight for justice and freedom, saying that “by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.”
Although many people had asked him to call for “a single day of special prayer,” Roosevelt said that he instead wanted to encourage the people to “devote themselves in a continuance of prayer.”
Acknowledging that the road ahead would be long and difficult, he prayed for the gifts of faith, courage and strength, both for the soldiers and the American people at home.
“As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts,” he said.
The president also beseeched the Lord to embrace those soldiers who would not return, welcoming them into his kingdom.
Asking that God’s “will be done,” Roosevelt prayed for those at home “to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.”
Portman said that his bill ensures that Roosevelt’s prayer “will become a permanent reminder of the sacrifice of those who fought in World War II,” as well as a modern remembrance of “the power of prayer through difficult times.”
A companion bill, introduced by Congressman Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year.
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Austrian chancellor’s son tells how faith helped him survive Nazis
Washington D.C., May 17, 2012 / 04:19 am (CNA).- Kurt von Schuschnigg Jr., son of the former chancellor of Austria, says that his Catholic faith helped him get through difficult times during World War II and now guides the way that he looks back at past events.
“Faith is always a big thing when you are in trouble,” he observed. “Unfortunately today, not too many people hold on to faith anymore.”
Von Schuschnigg was a first-hand witness of many of the atrocities committed during the Second World War. His father, who has the same name, was chancellor of Austria when Germany invaded the country in 1938.
On May 9, Kurt von Schuschnigg Jr. and his wife, Janet, spoke with CNA about their new book, “When Hitler Took Austria” (Ignatius, $24.95).
The book tells the story of the German takeover of Austria, as experienced by young von Schuschnigg.
He explained that his father opposed the takeover when German troops entered the country but also realized that they were not equipped to fight.
To avoid a massacre of the Austrian people, he resigned from his position as chancellor and was later sent with his wife to Sachsenhausen concentration camp.
Von Schuschnigg Jr. was able to complete his education and was then stationed on a naval vessel before deserting the German military and fleeing from the Gestapo, making a harrowing escape to safety.
He and his wife – both of whom are Catholic – worked together on the new book. Janet, who grew up in Atlanta, Ga., said that over their years of marriage, her husband told her stories about his life in Austria.
She realized that the story of Austria’s takeover by the Nazis was not being taught in schools, and she decided to record the events that her husband had recounted.
The book is not a plea for anything, she explained, but is simply trying to explain how life was for people in Austria during that difficult time.
“America should know it,” she said. “The rest of the world should know it.”
Kurt von Schuschnigg believes that God’s providence was helping him during that difficult time, sometimes manifest through the kind and daring gestures of other people.
He recalled an instance in 1945 when a German doctor in Munich saved his life. Due to the family responsibility laws, he should have been turned over to the Gestapo and would have been taken to a concentration camp or executed. But the doctor – whose name he does not even know – allowed him to escape.
He also remembered how his Austrian governess had courageously taken him in when his father was arrested, risking her own safety in doing so.
“She could never get a job again,” he reflected.
Janet von Schuschnigg describes her husband’s family as “centered on God.” Even after all they’ve been through, she said, they are still good Catholics.
“You don’t find so many good Catholics in Austria anymore,” she continued, explaining that the Church has undergone heavy persecution.
Her husband added that while there are many good people leading “a happy life” in Austria, they have largely been forced to “forget their past” in order to do so.
For him, however, faith has played a significant role in both good and bad times.
He recalled a hand-written papal blessing that was given to his family that gave him confidence and helped him trust in God during difficult circumstances.
One time, he recounted, he was able to smuggle the Eucharist to his father in the concentration camp.
This was only possible, he explained, because the guards had been there for four years, and they had become friends.
The guards were “kind” and “decent” people, he reflected, although they would have shot his parents without hesitation if ordered to do so.
When von Schuschnigg attempted to tell some family friends about the things he had witnessed in the concentration camp, they brushed him off, refusing to believe his stories and defending the Nazis.
Kurt von Schuschnigg does not consider his actions particularly heroic, especially since at the time no one thought of themselves a a heroe.
“We were survivors,” he said.
After World War II, von Schuschnigg’s family was liberated and moved to America, where they became citizens.
While he has not forgotten the atrocities he witnessed and experienced, von Schuschnigg has forgiven those responsible for causing his family pain – an ability that his wife says “impressed me incredibly.”
Kurt von Schuschnigg explained that he does not blame those who hurt him because he knows that “they did it out of fear.”
He described the “terror” that pervaded the atmosphere of a country in which one could never trust the people around him.
You have to be able to forgive, he said. “You cannot carry things with you.”
He compared the situation to a fight with a good friend. After a while, you let go and forgive, and you return to being friends, he said.
Kurt and Janet von Schuschnigg hope that “When Hitler Took Austria” will inspire people to reevaluate their lives.
Janet explained that the book is an example of discipline and faith, virtues that are sorely needed today, as many people seek immediate gratification but find that they are not truly happy.
“The world’s a mess right now,” she said. “It’s frightening.”
She lamented that so many people today have lost a sense of balance in life, forgetting the importance of virtues like discipline and duty.
“People don’t go to Church anymore,” she added.
Her husband agreed. He said that many of the values that were strong in his childhood have been lost by society.
Restoring these values is critical, and it must begin in the home, Kurt von Schuschnigg said.
“It cannot all be done by the schools,” he explained. “It comes from the family.”
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Cardinal Dolan's arrival on Twitter draws thousands
New York City, N.Y., May 17, 2012 / 02:08 am (CNA).- Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York debuted on Twitter last week, adapting his engaging, humorous style to the popular microblogging site and quickly becoming the third most followed cardinal.
“Hey everybody. It's Timothy Cardinal Tebow. I mean Dolan,” the cardinal’s first tweet said May 8, alluding to the new New York Jets quarterback and football star Tim Tebow.
The cardinal uses Twitter to talk about his daily actions, his appearances on SiriusXM Radio’s The Catholic Channel, and events like Mother’s Day.
Although limited to 140 characters per tweet, he has also touched on spiritual matters.
“St Therese of Lisieux reminds us that doing the ordinary things of life extraordinarily well, for the glory of God, is the path to sanctity,” he said May 10.
“Every person or institution will eventually let us down. Our ultimate trust must be in God and we will never be disappointed,” he said the day before.
Cardinal Dolan also uses Twitter to send his readers to the full texts of his speeches and statements. He published a link to his full commencement speech for the Catholic University of America and sent out a link to his May 9 statement which called President Obama’s support for same-sex marriage “deeply saddening.”
As of Wednesday, more than 7,500 people were following the cardinal, who heads the U.S. bishops’ conference. By comparison, the bishops’ conference itself has attracted about 18,700 followers on Twitter since its January 2009 debut.
The cardinal added over 2,500 followers on each of his first two days on Twitter, according to the website TwitterCounter.com.
At least six other cardinals have taken to Twitter. Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council of Culture, has 18,600 followers, Cardinal Odilo Scherer of Sao Paolo has 13,700 and Cardinal Angelo Scola of Milan has 7,200.
After Cardinal Dolan come Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, who has 3,800 followers, Cardinal Norberto Rivera of Mexico City with 2,800, and Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier of Durban, South Africa, who has 1,300 followers.
Cardinal Dolan’s Twitter page is at twitter.com/CardinalDolan.
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Archdiocese of Washington slams Georgetown's Sebelius invite
Washington D.C., May 17, 2012 / 12:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. has condemned Georgetown University's invitation to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius to speak during commencement weekend.
In light of Sebelius' attempts to drastically redefine religious ministry in a way that threatens Catholic institutions, Georgetown should do more to “speak up for freedom of religion,” the archdiocese said.
In a May 15 statement, it explained that Catholics are understandably shocked by Georgetown’s decision to honor Sebelius, the architect of a contraception mandate that poses a serious threat to religious freedom in America.
It added that it is “also understandable that Catholics would view this as a challenge to the bishops.”
The Archdiocese of Washington said that it had previously “reserved public comment” in order to allow Georgetown University and the Jesuits to have “the opportunity to address the controversy.”
Georgetown announced on May 4 that Sebelius had been invited as a featured speaker at the university's Public Policy Institute awards ceremony during commencement weekend on May 18.
The move has been heavily criticized, largely due to the fact that Sebelius recently issued a federal mandate that will require employers to offer health insurance plans that cover contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, even if doing so violates their religious beliefs.
Catholic bishops from every diocese in the U.S. have spoken out against the mandate, warning that it poses a grave threat to religious freedom and could force Catholic hospitals, schools and charitable agencies across the nation to shut down.
More than 35,000 people have signed a petition objecting to Georgetown’s invitation to Sebelius.
A May 10 editorial in The Catholic Standard, the newspaper for the Archdiocese of Washington, called the invitation “disappointing, but not surprising.”
The editorial said that Georgetown has become secularized, largely because “the vision guiding university choices does not clearly reflect the light of the Gospel and authentic Catholic teaching.”
On May 14, Georgetown president John J. DeGioia responded to the controversy in a public statement. He defended the university’s decision, arguing that the invite is not an endorsement of Sebelius’ views or a challenge to the U.S. bishops.
“As a Catholic and Jesuit University, Georgetown disassociates itself from any positions that are in conflict with traditional church teachings,” he stated.
DeGioia said that Sebelius had been suggested by students last fall as “a leading policy maker” in America, due to her role in forming the Affordable Care Act. He also praised her “long and distinguished record of public service,” including two terms as governor of Kansas before working for the Obama administration.
During her time as governor of Kansas, Sebelius' staunch and long-standing support for abortion led Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City to ask her to refrain from receiving Communion until she had made a worthy confession and publicly changed her stance.
DeGioia said that Sebelius had been invited in early January, before the final rule on contraception coverage was issued.
While he acknowledged the bishops’ opposition to the mandate, he also said that Georgetown is “committed to the free exchange of ideas.”
The university community “draws inspiration from a religious tradition” that offers a moral, intellectual and spiritual foundation, he said, adding that “engaging these values” is necessary to becoming “the University we are meant to be.”
In its response, the archdiocese said that DeGioia’s statement “does not address the real issue for concern.”
It explained that the real problem in choosing Sebelius as a featured speaker is that her “actions as a public official present the most direct challenge to religious liberty in recent history.”
In allowing the invitation to stand, it said, the university has displayed an “apparent lack of unity with and disregard for the bishops” and all those who are fighting to defend religious liberty.
The fundamental issue underlying the mandate is not contraception but religious freedom, the archdiocese said, explaining that the mandate’s narrow definition of religious ministry excludes Catholic schools, hospitals and social service agencies.
It noted that even Georgetown would fail to qualify as a religious institution under the mandate because of its willingness to welcome both Catholic and non-Catholic students.
The archdiocese also pointed out that although it was only finalized in January, the mandate was first published in a problematic form last August, well before Georgetown extended the invitation to Sebelius.
It called on the university to “do more to challenge the mandate” and speak up in defense of religious liberty.
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Witnesses warn of retribution against Chen Guangcheng’s family, friends
Washington D.C., May 16, 2012 / 07:00 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A hearing before a U.S. House subcommittee on human rights discussed the current status of blind pro-life activist Chen Guangcheng, as well as his family, friends and the women he sought to protect from China’s brutal one-child policy.
Chen testified at the May 15 hearing from his hospital room in China. Speaking via phone through a translator, he said that he is “not a hero” but is simply following his conscience.
He also said that he is fearful for the well-being of his extended family members.
The hearing was chaired by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), who leads the House congressional panel that oversees international human rights. It focused on the plight of Chen’s family and friends, as well as the brutalities under China’s one-child policy that he had worked to expose.
After documenting cases of forced abortion and sterilization throughout China, Chen was imprisoned for more than four years. He also spent more than a year and a half under illegal house arrest, where he says that he and his family members were beaten and refused medical treatment.
Chen escaped from house arrest and was transported by friends to Beijing, where he reached the U.S. Embassy on April 26. He was moved to the hospital on May 2, amid announcements of an agreement between American and Chinese officials for his humane treatment.
While the Chinese government has stated that Chen is free to apply for travel documents to leave the country, the blind activist has said that he is worried about the well-being of his extended family and friends, who may be the target of government retribution.
At the May 15 hearing, Bob Fu, founder and president of the Texas-based ChinaAid Association, voiced concerns over whether the Chinese government will follow through on its promise.
He explained that in the past two weeks, “there has been no substantive progress by the Chinese government toward allowing Chen to come to the United States.”
“The Chinese government has yet to issue him a passport, which means Chen Guangcheng has not been able to leave China,” he said.
Fu also drew attention to the plight of Chen’s brother and sister-in-law, who were both reportedly beaten by a mob that broke into their house shortly after Chen’s escape. Their son, Chen Kegui, was violently attacked and defended himself with a kitchen knife, injuring several of his attackers. He has been arrested and could face execution, despite the fact that he acted out of self-defense, Fu said.
“Almost all of the lawyers who were willing to handle Chen Kegui’s knifing case have lost their freedom of movement, or had their lawyer’s license revoked, or simply been kidnapped,” he reported.
Concerns over the plight of Chen’s supporters were also voiced by Reggie Littlejohn, founder and president of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, an organization that works to oppose forced abortions in China.
She explained that Jiang Tianyong, a member of Chen’s legal team, attempted to visit Chen at the hospital and “was beaten so severely in the head that he may have lost hearing in one ear.”
Littlejohn also recounted the story of He Peirong, known as Pearl, who was detained and kept in custody after helping Chen escape. She was eventually released as international attention on her story increased.
Chinese mother Mei Shunping also testified at the hearing, describing the physical and emotional terror of undergoing five forced abortions due to the one-child policy.
Mei described herself as one of the women “that Chen Guangcheng tried to help so courageously.” She said that her life was “destroyed by the policy,” before she was able to escape and come to the United States in 1999.
“We had no dignity as potential child-bearers,” she said.
After her fifth forced abortion, Mei said that the authorities acted without her knowledge or consent to implant an IUD in her uterus, despite the fact that she had a kidney disease, and the device therefore caused her great pain and physical suffering.
In addition, her husband was arrested and sentenced to criminal detention for protesting the policy.
Mei said that the strain caused by the enforcement of the one-child policy led to her divorce, depression and attempted suicide, before she found consolation and healing in the Christian faith.
Rep. Smith called on the U.S. government to continue working on behalf of Chen, as well as his supporters and all the women who suffer under China’s one-child policy.
“The story, unfortunately, is far from over,” he said.
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US Bishops' attorneys call mandate 'accommodation' inadequate
Washington D.C., May 16, 2012 / 03:06 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Arguing that a promised “accommodation” to the Obama administration’s contraception mandate fails to address religious freedom concerns, attorneys for the U.S. bishops suggest a possible lawsuit if the mandate is not rescinded.
“Absent prompt congressional attention to this infringement on fundamental civil liberties, we believe the only remaining recourse, in light of the approaching regulatory deadlines, is in the courts,” said lawyers representing the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The mandate and its extremely narrow religious exemption are currently being challenged in at least 11 lawsuits by states, colleges, private employers and organizations across the country.
On May 15, Anthony R. Picarello and Michael F. Moses, who serve as general counsel and associate general counsel, respectively, for the bishops’ conference, submitted formal comments on the most recent suggestions regarding the administration’s contraception mandate.
The controversial mandate will require employers to offer health insurance plans that cover contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, even if doing so violates their consciences.
While the mandate includes a religious exemption, few groups would qualify for it because it applies only to nonprofit organizations that exist for the purpose of inculcating religious values and both serve and employ primarily members of their own faiths.
The bishops’ attorneys reiterated their previous argument that this exemption is “unprecedented in federal law, improperly narrow, and unlawful.”
Widespread criticism of the mandate led the Obama administration to publish a new “advance notice of proposed rulemaking” in March. The notice outlines various suggestions for different ways to implement the mandate as it will apply to religious organizations that oppose the required coverage but do not qualify for the exemption.
The administration has invited public comment on the advance notice until June 19. Afterwards, it will move forward with the process of issuing further regulations on the implementation of the mandate.
In their comment, the bishops’ lawyers repeated arguments that in addition to being poor health policy, “the mandate itself is unjust and unlawful,” in violation of numerous federal statutes and the First Amendment’s protections of religious liberty.
The attorneys observed that the mandate is already finalized and has not been changed by the advance notice, which promises a future “accommodation” but does not affect the rule as it is written.
Furthermore, they said, the promised accommodation will not extend to secular stakeholders that object to the mandate. Rather, the Obama administration has made it clear that the accommodation will apply only to religious organizations.
In addition, the attorneys said, the accommodation does not provide adequate relief, “even for those few stakeholders that qualify for it.”
They argued that the suggested options regarding coverage through a third-party administrator are all insufficient because the plan itself continues to fund or serve “as a gateway” to facilitate earmarked funding for objectionable products and procedures.
Either by paying for the coverage through their premiums or allowing access to such coverage through the plan itself, objecting organizations will be facilitating something that they consider gravely immoral, they said.
The bishops’ lawyers also pointed out that by having insurers or third-party administrators automatically provide the controversial coverage, women are denied the freedom to decline the coverage or to prevent their minor children from being offered “free” and “private” contraceptives and related “education” without parental consent.
They further noted that the religious rights of third-party administrators and insurance issuers have not been adequately addressed.
The attorneys also voiced concern over the fact that numerous individuals, employers and insurers who object to the mandate are not eligible for the “temporary enforcement safe harbor,” which would delay the implementation of the mandate for one year.
These stakeholders will be subject to the mandate for plan or policy years starting as soon as August 1, 2012, the attorneys warned. In the next few months, they will face the choice of violating their deeply-held beliefs or dropping out of the health insurance marketplace, with the possibility of facing crippling penalties that could put them out of business.
Furthermore, the lawyers said, the advance notice of proposed rulemaking raises new questions, as some of its statements are ambiguous or hypothetical and require clarification.
They observed that the administration has not yet determined how to treat religious organizations that object to some but not all of the coverage, such as Christian groups that oppose abortion-causing drugs but allow for contraceptive use.
In such cases, the government should recognize the conscience rights “of all stakeholders,” whether they object to part or all of the mandated coverage, they said.
The bishops’ attorneys also argued that an organization’s past inclusion of contraception and related coverage should not prevent it from qualifying for an accommodation in the future. The Obama administration has already made previous coverage of such products a disqualification for the “temporary enforcement safe harbor” that is being offered to some groups.
However, the lawyers noted, some employers and organizations may have included such coverage “mistakenly or unknowingly,” and now wish to correct that error in accordance with their conscience.
The bishops’ attorneys emphasized that “the only complete solution to this set of problems is to rescind the mandate.”
Short of that, they said, the administration should at least “adopt an exemption that protects the consciences of all stakeholders with a religious or moral objection to the mandate.”
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At installation, Baltimore archbishop affirms faith's role in national life
Baltimore, Md., May 16, 2012 / 01:20 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- At his May 16 installation in the “Premier See” of the U.S. Church, new Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori urged believers to proclaim their faith to the nation while standing up for the Church's freedom.
“Let us not shrink from entering the public square to proclaim the person of Christ, to teach the values that flow from reason and faith, to uphold our right to go about our daily work in accord with our teachings and values,” he told the 2,000-strong congregation at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen.
“By its nature, the profession of faith is a public matter,” said the archbishop, who also leads the U.S. bishops' religious freedom committee.
He indicated that the Catholic faith cannot be confined solely to privately-held beliefs and acts of worship, since it is “meant to be spread far and wide and acted upon, in and through Church institutions and in the witness of individual believers.”
“Let us never imagine that the faith we profess with such personal conviction is merely a private matter,” he said to the congregation.
Instead, he told them, “we must be loyal Americans by being bold and courageous Catholics.”
Known for his religious freedom advocacy during his past appointment as the Bishop of Bridgeport, Conn., Archbishop Lori was installed amid ongoing controversy over the federal government's contraception mandate and other moves seen as hostile to religion by Catholics and other believers.
Over 300 priests and bishops, joined by representatives of 150 parishes and 70 Catholic schools, heard Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano proclaim the decree establishing the new archbishop, a 61-year-old Kentucky native, as the leader of the archdiocese's 500,000 Catholics.
Archbishop Lori's installation homily drew inspiration from the public witness of Saint Paul, as well as the missionary journeys of Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. He recalled Bl. John Paul II's own words, delivered at Baltimore's cathedral during a 1995 visit to the city.
In words delivered on that occasion, and quoted by Archbishop Lori, the late Pope spoke of America's “precious legacy of religious freedom,” telling Catholics “to defend that freedom against those who would take religion out of the public domain and establish secularism as America’s official faith.”
The archbishop also paid tribute to those who led the nation's first Catholic diocese before him – including Archbishop John Carroll, the United States' first Catholic bishop; and Cardinal James Gibbons, who led the Church in Baltimore during a period of anti-Catholic suspicion.
Archbishop Carroll, he said, led a “generation of believers and patriots,” whose legacy “has enabled the Church to worship in freedom, to bear witness to Christ publicly, and to do massive and amazing works of pastoral love, education, and charity in ways that are true to the faith that inspired them.”
Archbishop Lori also recalled how Cardinal Gibbons, Baltimore's archbishop from 1877 to 1921, opposed “those who said it wasn’t possible to be a practicing Catholic and a loyal American.”
He recalled Cardinal Gibbons' description of the U.S. as a country “where the civil government holds over us the aegis of its protection, without interfering with us in the legitimate exercise of our sublime mission as ministers of the Gospel of Christ.”
As he reaffirmed the Second Vatican Council's teaching on the human right to religious liberty, Archbishop Lori made it clear that the U.S. bishops “do not seek to defend religious liberty for partisan or political purposes, as some have suggested.”
Rather, the religious freedom committee chairman said, “we do this because we are lovers of a human dignity that was fashioned and imparted not by the government but by the Creator.”
“We defend religious liberty because we are lovers of every human person, seeing in the face of every man and woman also the face of Christ,” he explained. “We uphold religious liberty because we seek to continue serving those in need while contributing to the common good.”
As he reflected on a variety of public and internal challenges, Archbishop Lori urged the faithful to pray for his leadership and the good of the Church.
He asked the congregation to pray “that, as the Year of Faith announced by Pope Benedict XVI, unfolds, I shall not only teach the faith but bear witness to it in a manner that helps to heal the breach between faith and culture.”
“Pray that, in God’s grace, I might foster that unity of faith which makes the Gospel credible,” he urged, “ so that together, we may always warmly invite those who have left the Church … and together may we continue to invite and welcome those sincerely searching for the truth.”
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Scott Hahn appointed to endowed chair in theology, evangelization
Steubenville, Ohio, May 16, 2012 / 08:36 am (CNA).- The Franciscan University of Steubenville has appointed author and professor Dr. Scott Hahn to an endowed chair named for the priest who pioneered the school's Catholic revival.
Hahn's reception of the “Father Michael Scanlan Chair of Biblical Theology and the New Evangelization” was announced May 12 during the school's 64th commencement ceremony by Father Terence Henry, TOR, who succeeded Fr. Scanlan as the school's president.
“Through his work at Franciscan University, his scholarly research and publications, his popular writing and countless speaking engagements, Dr. Scott Hahn has done the very thing the Fathers of Vatican II called upon Catholic scholars to do,” Fr. Henry said in his announcement.
“This new appointment will aid him in his ongoing work in teaching sacred Scripture and the New Evangelization, which is so close to his heart.”
A well-known convert from Protestantism to the Catholic Church, Hahn has taught classes on theology and Scripture at Franciscan University since 1990. He is the author of over 40 scholarly and popular books, and the founder and director of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology.
Hahn said he was “deeply grateful” and “humbled by the honor of holding an endowed chair named after Father Michael Scanlan, one of my personal heroes in the faith, as well as a spiritual father and dear friend for over 20 years.”
He praised the work of the priest, who revitalized the school formerly known as the College of Steubenville after taking over leadership during a troubled period in the 1970s. Fr. Scanlan, who retired in 2011, maintains the title of “President Emeritus” at the university.
“For over a generation,” Hahn said, “Father Mike has shown us how to combine academic study and spiritual fervor in a way that changes lives – our own and others – and thus how to advance the New Evangelization, which is at the heart of the Church’s mission.”
The endowment-supported position will allow Hahn to increase his teaching and mentoring activities on campus, and to develop online graduate courses, while continuing his schedule of speaking engagements and media appearances.
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