Forthnight for Freedom 2015 preparations

In preparation for the Fortnight for Freedom: Freedom to Bear Witness, which will take place from June 21 to July 4, 2015, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ staff has once again prepared materials that you may use to celebrate the Fortnight. This year’s theme emphasizes the link between religious freedom and bearing witness to the truth of the Gospel, keeping in mind the sacrifice of so many martyrs for the faith, both past and present.

During the Fortnight, our liturgical calendar celebrates a series of great martyrs who remained faithful in the face of persecution by political power—St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More, St. John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, and the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome. In the secular calendar, we anticipate that the U.S. Supreme Court will rule at some point during the Fortnight (likely around June 29) on four cases concerning the legal definition of marriage in the United States.

          

FORTNIGHT FOR FREEDOM RESOURCES

The materials below are publicly available (in English and Spanish) through the website www.Fortnight4Freedom.org, so please feel free to distribute widely or provide website links:

1. 14-Day Study Guide on Dignitatis Humanae (note that this is the 50th anniversary of the “Declaration on Religious Freedom” from the Second Vatican Council)

2. Parish Guide to celebrating the Fortnight (including 14 suggestions)

3. A series of examples of Current Threats to Religious Liberty in the U.S.

4. A series of examples of International Religious Freedom issues

5. Why the Religious Freedom Restoration Act Works

6. Frequently Asked Questions about Religious Liberty

7. Religious Liberty High School Lesson Plans (included as part of the 2015Catechetical Sunday materials)

8. Litany for Liberty

9. Prayers of the Faithful (part of the Call to Prayer for Life, Marriage & Religious Liberty)

10. Holy Hour Template (also part of the Call to Prayer)

Social media can also be an effective tool during the Fortnight; I would encourage you to use all  communications tools that you have access to in order to effectively spread the message in support of religious freedom.

Action alert: H.R 940 Health Care Conscience Rights

Ask Congress to Support H.R. 940, the Health Care Conscience Rights Act! Take Action! New bill would protect religious freedom and rights of conscience Dear Friend of Religious Liberty: Thanks in large part to your efforts, this week, Rep. Diane Black and fifty other House members introduced a new bill called the “Health Care Conscience Rights Act,” H.R. 940, which would protect Americans’ First Amendment rights by providing a full exemption for all those whose religious beliefs run counter to the HHS mandate. The bill would also protect institutions and individuals from forced participation in abortion. Here’s a video highlighting a few stories of people this bill would help. Also, check out Archbishop Lori and Cardinal O’Malley’s letters supporting the bill. Can you spare a few minutes to contact your Members of Congress? Urge them to support House bill H.R. 940 and help ensure its enactment as part of “must-pass” legislation. Members of the House should also be asked to co-sponsor the bill. Call using the "Take Action" link or click here to email your two Senators and Representative! Join with us in calling on Congress to protect the right of all people and groups to participate in life-affirming health care—without violating their consciences. Please contact your Congressional representatives today and urge them to support H.R. 940 to protect religious freedom and the moral convictions of all! For more information or to join the postcard campaign, go to NCHLA’s action alert. Thank you for all that you do in support of life and liberty! -Your Religious Freedom and Conscience Protection Team P.S. Please forward this to friends and family who share your concern to protect the rights of all to participate in health care! They can click here to sign up for our email list or text the word FREEDOM to 377377 for mobile updates.

Religious Freedom CALL TO ACTION

Call Congress to Protect Religious Freedom! Take Action! Ask for conscience protection in must-pass legislation Dear Friend of Religious Liberty: As you know, there are major threats looming against people and groups that are opposed in conscience to providing insurance coverage for sterilizations, contraception, or abortifacient drugs, or to participating in or facilitating an abortion. Now is the time to act! Congress will soon be considering a "must-pass" bill that will fund the federal government. Congress can include conscience protection as part of that bill and solve this problem now. Can you spare 5 minutes to contact your Members of Congress and ask them to support conscience protection for EVERYONE? Call or click here to email your two Senators and Representative. Please join with us in calling on Congress to protect the right of all people and groups to participate in life-affirming health care -- without violating their consciences! Not sure what to say? Here are some suggestions: The administration has issued a mandate requiring virtually all insurance plans to include sterilization and contraception, even including the morning-after and week-after pills. People who run secular charities, or religious or secular businesses, are being forced to buy insurance coverage for "services" to which they have a deeply held moral or religious objection -- with no exceptions. I oppose forcing people to participate in, fund, or provide things they believe are wrong or immoral. Though churches themselves are exempted from the mandate, religious ministries of service -- such as charities, schools, and hospitals -- are given second-class status under the law, in the form of a still-murky "accommodation." But these ministries are integral to our religious community and deserve the same exemption as our houses of worship. I oppose government action that defines our religious community narrowly and inaccurately, reducing freedom of religion to freedom of worship only. Freedom of religion is a bedrock principle on which our nation was founded. It is referred to as our "First Freedom" -- first on the list in the Bill of Rights, and first in priority among human freedoms. I support religious freedom as a fundamental human right of every person. A distinct blessing of being an American is that we are free to choose our faith, and live by the dictates of that faith throughout our lives -- at home, at church, and in the public square. Other countries may force faith underground, but in America we can follow our conscience while also participating fully in society. I support policies that allow Americans to live their faith in their jobs and in their everyday life. In the words of Cardinal Dolan, "In obedience to our Judeo-Christian heritage, we have consistently taught our people to live their lives during the week to reflect the same beliefs that they proclaim on the Sabbath. We cannot now abandon them to be forced to violate their morally well-informed consciences." I support the right of all men and women who work in health care -- whether providing services or providing insurance -- to live and work in harmony with their faith and convictions. Please call your Congressional representatives today and urge them to take whatever action is necessary to protect religious freedom and the moral convictions of all! For more information or to join the postcard campaign, go to NCHLA's action alert. A special note: Members of Congress will be in their home states and districts for the remainder of this week. This represents an excellent opportunity for you to talk with Members directly on the urgent need for conscience protection legislation. Thank you for all that you do in support of life and liberty! -Your Religious Freedom and Conscience Protection Team P.S. Please forward this to friends and family who share your concern to protect the rights of all to participate in health care!

Fortnight at St. Ben's

St. Benedict’s is hosting Fr. Terrance Klein, S.T.D. from St. Bonaventure University on Tuesday, June 26 at 7PM to speak on the theological understanding of Religious Liberty.

Join us in church for his presentation, Adoration/Benediction, and prayer.

The United States bishops call the laity to action in defense of religious liberty and are urging all to protect the First Freedom of the Bill of Rights. The position of the U.S. bishops is outlined in "Our First, Most Cherished Freedom." 

The document lists the following major concerns:
The Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate forcing religious organizations to pay for morally objectionable services.

License revocation of Catholic foster care and adoption service programs that refuse to place children in situations against their moral teaching.

Requiring that the USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services provide contraceptive and abortion services to victims of human trafficking.

Diocese of Buffalo events and information previous post - http://stbenedictsamherstnyblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/fortnight-for-freedom.html

A Prayer for Religious Liberty

Almighty God, Father of all nations, for freedom you have set us free in Christ Jesus (Gal 5:1).

We praise and bless you for the gift of religious liberty, the foundation of human rights, justice, and the common good.

Grant to our leaders the wisdom to protect and promote our liberties; by your grace may we have the courage to defend them, for ourselves and for all those who live in this blessed land.

We ask this through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, our patroness and in the name of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, with whom you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Fortnight for Freedom update

“Fortnight for Freedom” to focus on prayer for religious liberty  Background information is available at http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/our-first-most-cherished-liberty.cfm

For a two-week period, beginning June 21 on the vigil of the Feasts of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More, to July 4, Independence Day, Catholics from the Diocese of Buffalo will join the faithful across the United States in the “Fortnight for Freedom,” described by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops as, “a great hymn of prayer for our country.” Among the martyrs of the Church, St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More remained true to their faith in the face of political persecution.

The fortnight is part of the bishops’ coordinated efforts to mobilize Catholics in response to government attacks on religious liberty. Earlier this year, the Obama administration endorsed a Health and Human Services mandate that will require Catholic organizations and institutions to pay for employee health coverage that includes contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs. The bishops have vigorously opposed the mandate on the grounds that the federal government is forcing the Catholic employers to provide coverage that is a contradiction of Church teachings and beliefs.

“During this two-week period, I call on Catholics throughout the diocese to join me in prayer for religious freedom,” said Bishop Edward U. Kmiec. “We know prayer can be very powerful and every day during the fortnight, in every parish, during every Mass, a special Prayer of the Faithful will be said.” Parishes and Catholic institutions are also free to sponsor adoration, special devotions and catechetical sessions as part of this national religious liberty campaign.


Bishop Kmiec will begin the fortnight on Thursday, June 21, at 3 p.m. with a holy hour at the Carmelite Monastery (75 Carmel Road, Buffalo). Bishop Edward M. Grosz, auxiliary bishop of Buffalo, will conclude the observance with a holy hour at the Dominican Monastery (355 Doat St., Buffalo) at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, July 3. The public is welcome to attend both prayer hours. “I believe the ‘Hour of Mercy’ at both of these powerhouses of prayer in our diocese will be the most effective and prayerful ways for Catholics to take part in the fortnight,” Bishop Kmiec said.

In addition to the “Fortnight for Freedom,” the bishops have designated the Solemnity of Christ the King (Nov. 25), as a day for bishops, priests and deacons to focus their homilies on religious freedom. The Feast of Christ the King is significant in that it was born out of resistance to totalitarian incursions against religious liberty. “We must be consistent in our message and in our teaching,” Bishop Kmiec said. “At every opportunity, we need to remind the faithful of the importance of defending our first freedom, our most cherished freedom: the freedom of religion.”

In their statement on religious liberty, the U.S. bishops wrote, “To be Catholic and American should mean not having to choose one over the other. Our allegiances are distinct, but they need not be contradictory and should instead by complementary. That is the teaching of our Catholic faith, which obliges us to work together with fellow citizens for the common good of all who live in this land.”

For more information on the “Fortnight for Freedom, visit the HHS Mandate page of www.buffalodiocese.org   Stay alert for updates on what our parish and neighboring parishes will be doing in particular.  We recommend frequent visits to our website www.saintbenedicts.com as well as subscribing to this blog via email by simply entering your email address in the upper right box where it says "follow by email," then click "submit."

Call to Action - Fortnight for Freedom

BISHOPS ISSUE CALLTO ACTION

TO DEFEND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

Urge strong lay involvement

Outline threats to First Freedom at all levels of government and abroad

Call upon dioceses to pursue religious liberty fortnight, June 21-July 4

WASHINGTON—The U.S. bishops have issued a call to action todefend religious liberty and urged laity to work to protect the First Freedomof the Bill of Rights. They outlined their position in “Our First, Most Cherished Freedom.” The document was developed by the Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), approved for publication by the USCCB Administrative Committee March 13, and published in English and Spanish April 12.

            The document can be found at http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/our-first-most-cherished-liberty.cfm

“We have been staunch defenders of religious liberty in the past.We have a solemn duty to discharge that duty today,” the bishops said in the document, “… for religious liberty is under attack, both at home and abroad.”

The document lists concerns that prompt the bishops to act now.  Among concerns are:

•           The Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate forcing all employers, including religious organizations, to provide and pay for coverage of employees’contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs even when they have moral objections to them. Another concern is HHS’s defining which religious institutions are “religious enough” to merit protection of their religious liberty.

•          Driving Catholic foster care and adoption services out of business. Boston, San Francisco, the District of Columbia and Illinois have driven local Catholic Charities adoption or foster care services out of business by revoking their licenses, by ending their government contracts, or both—because those Charities refused to place children with same-sex couples or unmarried opposite-sex couples who cohabit.

•          Discrimination against Catholic humanitarian services. Despite years of excellent performance by the USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services in administering contract services for victims of human trafficking, the federal government changed its contract specifications to require USCCB to provide or referfor contraceptive and abortion services in violation of Catholic teaching. Religious institutions should not be disqualified from a government contract based on religious belief, and they do not lose their religious identity or liberty upon entering such contracts. Recently a federal court judge in Massachusetts turned religious liberty on its head when he declared that such a disqualification is required by the First Amendment—that the government violates religious liberty by allowing Catholic organizations to participate in contracts in a manner consistent with their beliefs on contraception and abortion.

            The statement lists other examples such as laws punishing charity to undocumented immigrants; a proposal to restructure Catholic parish corporations to limit the bishop’s role; and a state university’s excluding a religious student group because it limits leadership positions to those who share the group’s religion.

            Other topics include the history and deep resonance of Catholic and American visions of religious freedom, the recent tactic of reducing freedom of religion to freedom of worship, the distinction between conscientious objection to a just law, and civil disobedience of an unjust law, the primacy of religious freedom among civil liberties, the need for active vigilance in protecting that freedom, and concern for religious liberty among interfaith and ecumenical groups and across partisan lines.

            The bishops decry limiting religious freedom to the sanctuary.

           “Religious liberty is not only about our ability to go to Mass on Sunday or pray the Rosary at home. It is about whether we can make our contribution to the common good of all Americans,” they said. “Can we do the goodworks our faith calls us to do, without having to compromise that very same faith?”

            “This is not a Catholic issue. This is not a Jewish issue. This is not an Orthodox,Mormon, or Muslim issue. It is an American issue,” they said.

The bishops highlighted religious freedom abroad.

            “Our obligation at home is to defend religious liberty robustly, but we cannot overlook the much graver plight that religious believers, most of them Christian, face around the world,” they said. “The age of martyrdom has not passed. Assassinations, bombings of churches, torching of orphanages—these are only the most violent attacks Christians havesuffered because of their faith in Jesus Christ. More systematic denials of basic human rights are found in the laws of several countries, and also in acts of persecution by adherents of other faiths.”

            The document ends with a call to action.

“What we ask isnothing more than that our God-given right to religious liberty be respected.We ask nothing less than that the Constitution and laws of the United States, whichrecognize that right, be respected.”  They specifically addressedseveral groups: the laity, those in public office, heads of Catholic charitableagencies, priests, experts in communication, and urged each to employ the gifts and talents of its members for religious liberty.

            The bishops called for “A Fortnight for Freedom,” the two-week period from June 21 to July 4—beginning with the feasts of St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher and ending with Independence Day—to focus “all the energies the Catholic community can muster” for religious liberty.  They also asked that, later in the year, the feast of Christ the King be “a day specifically employed by bishops and priests to preach about religious liberty, both here and abroad.”

HHS Rally Buffalo NY 23 March 2012

Video of Religious Liberty Rally today.
HHS (Health & Human Services Mandate opposition)
The video includes a beautiful prayer for our political leaders.




Other prayers available at http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/upload/USCCB_Religious_Freedom_Prayer_Campaign_ENG.pdf

versión Española - http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/upload/USCCB_Oraciones_por_los_Derechos_de_Conciencia.pdf

Bishops' Latest on HHS 14 March 2012

BISHOPS PROMISE TO CONTINUE ‘VIGOROUS EFFORTS’ AGAINST HHS VIOLATIONS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN HEALTH CARE REFORM MANDATE

Declare government has no place defining religion, religious ministry

Seek protection for conscience rights of institutions, individuals

Stress action with the public, White House, Congress, courts

WASHINGTON—The U.S. bishops are strongly united in their ongoing and determined  efforts to protect religious freedom, the Administrative Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) said in a March 14 statement.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan

           The Administrative Committee, chaired by Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, president of the USCCB, is the highest authority of the bishops’ conference outside the semi-annual sessions of the full body of bishops. The Committee’s membership consists of the elected chairmen of all the USCCB permanent committees and an elected bishop representative from each of the geographic regions of the USCCB.

           The full statement can be found at www. www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/upload/Admin-Religious-Freedom.pdf.

           The Administrative Committee said it was “strongly unified and intensely focused in its opposition to the various threats to religious freedom in our day.” The bishops will continue their vigorous work of education on religious freedom, dialogue with the executive branch, legislative initiatives and efforts in the courts to defend religious freedom. They promised a longer statement on the principles at the heart of religious freedom, which will come later from the bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty.

           The bishops noted that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate that forces all private health plans to provide coverage of sterilization and contraceptives – including abortion-inducing drugs – called for an immediate response. Of particular concern, they said, are a religious exemption from the mandate that the bishops deem “arbitrarily narrow” and an “unspecified and dubious future‘accommodation’’’ offered to other religious organizations that are denied the exemption.

           The bishops thanked supporters from the Catholic community and beyond “who have stood firmly with us in our vigorous opposition to this unjust and illegal mandate.”

           “It is your enthusiastic unity in defense of religious freedom that has made such a dramatic and positive impact in this historic public debate.”

           The bishops said this dispute is not about access to contraceptives but about the government’s forcing the Church to provide them. Their concerns are not just for the Catholic Church but also for “those who recognize that their cherished beliefs may be next on the block.”

           “Indeed, this is not about the Church wanting to force anybody to do anything; it is instead about the federal government forcing the Church –consisting of its faithful and all but a few of its institutions – to act against Church teachings,” they said.

           The Church has worked for universal health care in the United States since 1919, they added, and said the current issue “is not a Republican or Democratic, a conservative or liberal issue; it is an American issue.”

           The bishops called the HHS mandate “an unwarranted government definition of religion,” with government deciding who is a religious employer deserving exemption from the law.

           “The introduction of this unprecedented defining of faith communities and their ministries has precipitated this struggle for religious freedom,”the bishops said.

           “Government has no place defining religion and religious ministry,”they said.  “If this definition is allowed to stand, it will spread throughout federal law, weakening its healthy tradition of generous respect for religious freedom and diversity,” they said.

           The bishops said the government’s foray into church governance “where government has no legal competence or authority” is beyond disturbing. Those deemed by HHS not to be “religious employers,” the bishops said, “will be forced by government to violate their own teachings within their very own institutions. This is not only an injustice in itself, but it also undermines the effective proclamation of those teachings to the faithful and to the world.”

           The bishops also called the HHS mandate “a violation of personal civil rights.”  The new mandate creates a class of people “with no conscience protection at all: individuals who, in their daily lives, strive constantly to live in accordance with their faith and values,” the bishops said. “They too face a government mandate to aid in providing‘services’ contrary to those values – whether in their sponsoring of, and payment for, insurance as employers; their payment of insurance premiums as employees, or as insurers themselves – without even the semblance of exemptions.”

           The bishops called for the Catholic faithful, and all people of good will throughout the nation to join them in prayer and penance “for our leaders and for the complete protection of our First Freedom – religious liberty.”

           “Prayer is the ultimate source of our strength,” the bishops said,“for without God we can do nothing. But with God all things are possible.”

*****
visit http://bit.ly/zx7mC2 for information on the upcoming rally to protest the HHS infringement on our religious liberty.  Thank you for helping the Church in her hour of need.

HHS news - parish website

We encourage all our readers to visit our homepage - www.saintbenedicts.com - daily for the latest news on the Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate. Look for the picture of Bishop Edward Kmiec and the Statue of Liberty.

Join us for the Stand Up For Religious Freedom Rally in Buffalo as we participate with over 50 other cities nationally to oppose the recent HHS Mandate. This HHS mandate, including President Obama's so-called "compromise," violates our first amendment right to free exercise of religion. Let’s tell our federal representatives that we want our religious freedom protected and the HHS mandate stopped!

Rally Date: Friday, March 23^rd 2012

Time: 12 Noon

Location: Federal Building (Sen. Schumer’s Office)

130 South Elmwood Ave. Buffalo, NY 14202

*For more information email: Buffalo@StandUpForReligiousFreedom.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

For Catholics, for all religious people, and for people of good will, this is a serious religious liberty issue. As it currently stands, this mandate is an unprecedented infringement on our God-given rights, enshrined in the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment.

Our website homepage has links to the Diocese of Buffalo's new website on religious freedom. We ask that all our parishioners and friends do their part to protect religious liberty in the United States by remaining informed and taking action as necessary.

Please share our website address - www.saintbenedicts.com - with your friends on facebook, twitter, email, etc.

The Church needs your help!  So does America.

US Bishops Renew Call to Legislative Action

This statement was released late Friday night by the USCCB:
Bishops Renew Call to Legislative Action on Religious Liberty
February 10, 2012

Regulatory changes limited and unclear

Rescission of mandate only complete solution

Continue urging passage of Respect for Rights of Conscience Act

WASHINGTON – The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have issued the following statement:

The Catholic bishops have long supported access to life-affirming healthcare for all, and the conscience rights of everyone involved in the complex process of providing that healthcare. That is why we raised two serious objections to the "preventive services" regulation issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in August 2011.

First, we objected to the rule forcing private health plans — nationwide, by the stroke of a bureaucrat's pen—to cover sterilization and contraception, including drugs that may cause abortion. All the other mandated "preventive services" prevent disease, and pregnancy is not a disease. Moreover, forcing plans to cover abortifacients violates existing federal conscience laws. Therefore, we called for the rescission of the mandate altogether.

Second, we explained that the mandate would impose a burden of unprecedented reach and severity on the consciences of those who consider such "services" immoral: insurers forced to write policies including this coverage; employers and schools forced to sponsor and subsidize the coverage; and individual employees and students forced to pay premiums for the coverage. We therefore urged HHS, if it insisted on keeping the mandate, to provide a conscience exemption for all of these stakeholders—not just the extremely small subset of "religious employers" that HHS proposed to exempt initially.

Today, the President has done two things.
First, he has decided to retain HHS's nationwide mandate of insurance coverage of sterilization and contraception, including some abortifacients. This is both unsupported in the law and remains a grave moral concern. We cannot fail to reiterate this, even as so many would focus exclusively on the question of religious liberty.

Second, the President has announced some changes in how that mandate will be administered, which is still unclear in its details. As far as we can tell at this point, the change appears to have the following basic contours:

It would still mandate that all insurers must include coverage for the objectionable services in all the policies they would write. At this point, it would appear that self-insuring religious employers, and religious insurance companies, are not exempt from this mandate.

It would allow non-profit, religious employers to declare that they do not offer such coverage. But the employee and insurer may separately agree to add that coverage. The employee would not have to pay any additional amount to obtain this coverage, and the coverage would be provided as a part of the employer's policy, not as a separate rider.

Finally, we are told that the one-year extension on the effective date (from August 1, 2012 to August 1, 2013) is available to any non-profit religious employer who desires it, without any government application or approval process.

These changes require careful moral analysis, and moreover, appear subject to some measure of change. But we note at the outset that the lack of clear protection for key stakeholders—for self-insured religious employers; for religious and secular for-profit employers; for secular non-profit employers; for religious insurers; and for individuals—is unacceptable and must be corrected. And in the case where the employee and insurer agree to add the objectionable coverage, that coverage is still provided as a part of the objecting employer's plan, financed in the same way as the rest of the coverage offered by the objecting employer.

This, too, raises serious moral concerns.

We just received information about this proposal for the first time this morning; we were not consulted in advance. Some information we have is in writing and some is oral. We will, of course, continue to press for the greatest conscience protection we can secure from the Executive Branch. But stepping away from the particulars, we note that today's proposal continues to involve needless government intrusion in the internal governance of religious institutions, and to threaten government coercion of religious people and groups to violate their most deeply held convictions. In a nation dedicated to religious liberty as its first and founding principle, we should not be limited to negotiating within these parameters. The only complete solution to this religious liberty problem is for HHS to rescind the mandate of these objectionable services.

We will therefore continue—with no less vigor, no less sense of urgency—our efforts to correct this problem through the other two branches of government. For example, we renew our call on Congress to pass, and the Administration to sign, the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act. And we renew our call to the Catholic faithful, and to all our fellow Americans, to join together in this effort to protect religious liberty and freedom of conscience for all.

HHS US Bishops Studying White House Movement

BISHOPS STUDYING INITIAL WHITE HOUSE MOVEMENT ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY


The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued the following statement, responding to President Obama’s announcement about religious freedom that was made today (Feb. 10, 2012).   The USCCB statement is fully-endorsed by Bishop Edward U. Kmiec, and will serve as the statement of the Diocese of Buffalo.  The diocese will not have any further public comment on this issue until the U.S. bishops have examined the details of the President’s proposal. 


WASHINGTON - The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) sees initial opportunities in preserving the principle of religious freedom after President Obama’s announcement today. But the Conference continues to express concerns. “While there may be an openness to respond to some of our concerns, we reserve judgment on the details until we have them,” said Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, president of USCCB.           

“The past three weeks have witnessed a remarkable unity of Americans from all religions or none at all worried about the erosion of religious freedom and governmental intrusion into issues of faith and morals,” he said.            

“Today’s decision to revise how individuals obtain services that are morally objectionable to religious entities and people of faith is a first step in the right direction,” Cardinal-designate Dolan said. “We hope to work with the Administration to guarantee that Americans’ consciences and our religious freedom are not harmed by these regulations.”

Bishop Kmiec on HHS 1st Amendment Violation

Versión Española abajo.

                                                                                    January 27, 2012

TO BE BROUGHT TO THE ATTENTION OF YOUR PEOPLE IN A SIGNIFICANT WAY.

My Dear Diocesan Family,

I write to you concerning an alarming and serious matter that negatively impacts the Church in the United States directly, and that strikes at the fundamental right to religious liberty for all citizens of any faith.  The federal government, which claims to be “of, by, and for the people,” has just dealt a heavy blow to almost a quarter of those people—the Catholic population—and to the millions more who are served by the Catholic faithful.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that almost all employers, including Catholic employers, will be forced to offer their employees’ health coverage that includes sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception.  Almost all health insurers will be forced to include those “services” in the health policies they write.  And almost all individuals will be forced to buy that coverage as a part of their policies.

In so ruling, the Administration has cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, denying to Catholics our Nation’s first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty.  And as a result, unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics will be compelled either to violate our consciences, or to drop health coverage for our employees (and suffer the penalties for doing so).  The Administration’s sole concession was to give our institutions one year to comply.

We cannot—we will not—comply with this unjust law.  People of faith cannot be made second class citizens.  We are already joined by our brothers and sisters of all faiths and many others of good will in this important effort to regain our religious freedom.  Our parents and grandparents did not come to these shores to help build America’s cities and towns, its infrastructure and institutions, its enterprise and culture, only to have their posterity stripped of their God given rights.  In generations past, the Church has always been able to count on the faithful to stand up and protect her sacred rights and duties.  I hope and trust she can count on this generation of Catholics to do the same.  Our children and grandchildren deserve nothing less.

And therefore, I would ask of you two things.  First, as a community of faith we must commit ourselves to prayer and fasting that wisdom and justice may prevail, and religious liberty may be restored.  Without God, we can do nothing; with God, nothing is impossible.  Second, I would also recommend visiting www.usccb.org/conscience, to learn more about this severe assault on religious liberty, and how to contact Congress in support of legislation that would reverse the Administration’s decision.

Let us continue to pray fervently and work together to protect and defend our religious liberty as Roman Catholics and citizens of the United States of America.

            Be assured of my prayers and all best wishes.

            Sincerely in Christ,   


            Most Rev. Edward U. Kmiec 
            Bishop of Buffalo

******************

            27 de Enero, 2012

                                                                        PARA SER PRESENTADO A LA ATENCION

DE SU GENTE DE UNA MANERA SIGNIFICATIVA.

Mi querida familia Diocesana,

     Me dirijo a ustedes acerca de un asunto grave y alarmante que repercute negativamente la Iglesia en los Estados Unidos directamente, y que ataca el derecho fundamental a la libertad religiosa para todos los ciudadanos de cualquier fe.  El Gobierno federal, que reclama ser "de, por y para el pueblo", sólo ha asestado un golpe fuerte a casi una cuarta parte de esas personas, la población Católica — y a los millones más que son servidos por los fieles Católicos.

     El Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos de Los Estados Unidos anunció la semana pasada que casi todos los empleadores, incluyendo los empresarios Católicos, se verán obligados a ofrecer cobertura de salud a sus empleados que incluye la esterilización, medicamentos que inducen el aborto y métodos anticonceptivos.  Casi todos los aseguradores de salud se verán obligados a incluir estos "servicios" en las pólizas de salud que escriben.  Y casi todos los individuos se verán obligados a comprar esa cobertura como parte de sus pólizas.

     Con tal decisión por lo tanto, la administración va ha dejar de lado La Primera Enmienda de la Constitución de los Estados Unidos, negando a los Católicos la primera y fundamental libertad de nuestra nación, la libertad religiosa.  Y como resultado, a menos que la regla sea revocada, nosotros los Católicos nos veremos obligados ya sea para violar nuestras conciencias, o para rechazar la cobertura de salud para nuestros empleados (y sufrir las penalidades por hacerlo).  La concesión exclusiva de la administración fue de dar un año a nuestras instituciones para cumplir.

     No podemos, y no lo haremos — cumplir con esta ley injusta.  No pueden convertir a la gente de fe en ciudadanos de segunda clase.  Ya estamos unidos por nuestros hermanos y hermanas de diferentes creencias y muchos otros de buena voluntad en este importante esfuerzo para recuperar nuestra libertad religiosa.  Nuestros padres y abuelos no llegaron a estas costas para ayudar a construir ciudades de Estados Unidos, su infraestructura y las instituciones, sus empresas y la cultura, sólo para que su posteridad sea despojada de sus derechos dados por Dios.  En generaciones pasadas, la iglesia siempre ha podido contar con los fieles para defender y proteger sus sagrados derechos y deberes.  Espero y confío que ella puede contar con esta generación de Católicos para hacer lo mismo.  Nuestros hijos y nietos no merecen nada menos.

     Y por lo tanto, pido a ustedes dos cosas.  En primer lugar, como una comunidad de fe debemos comprometernos a oración y ayuno para que la sabiduría y Justicia puedan prevalecer y poder recuperar nuestra libertad religiosa.  Sin Dios, no podemos hacer nada; con Dios, nada es imposible.  En segundo lugar, también se recomienda visitar www.usccb.org/conscience  para obtener más información acerca de este grave ataque sobre nuestra libertad religiosa y cómo ponerse en contacto con el Congreso en apoyo de legislación que podría revertir la decisión de la administración.

     Debemos seguir orando fervientemente y trabajar juntos para proteger y defender nuestra libertad religiosa como los Católicos y los ciudadanos de los Estados Unidos de América.  

     Pueden estar seguros de mis oraciones y todos mis mejores deseos.

         Sinceramente en Cristo,

         Su Exelencia

         Rev. Edward U. Kmiec

         Obispo de Buffalo

******************
You are also encouraged to consult "Six Things Everyone Should Know About the HHS Mandate" from the US Catholic Bishops' website - http://www.usccb.org/news/2012/12-021.cfm