His Eminence Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, President, and His Excellency
Most Reverend William E. Lori, Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee for
Religious Liberty, have released a very strong statement regarding the
current status of the HHS mandate, dated February 21, 2012, to the
bishops of the United States.
The statement warns of the severe danger posed to religious liberty by
"an all-encompassing, extreme form of secularism" and notes that the
narrow "exemption" in the mandate was "instituted only by executive
whim" and so "can be taken away easily." Cardinal Dolan and Archbishop
Lori present the mandate as an assault on foundational principles and
ask, "If the government can, for example, tell Catholics that they
cannot be in the insurance business today without violating their
religious convictions, where does it end?"
Dear Brother Bishops,
Since we last wrote to you concerning the critical efforts we are
undertaking together to protect religious freedom in our beloved
country, many of you have requested that we write once more to update
you on the situation and to again request the assistance of all the
faithful in this important work. We are happy to do so now.
First, we wish to express our heartfelt appreciation to you, and to
all our sisters and brothers in Christ, for the remarkable witness of
our unity in faith and strength of conviction during this past month.
We have made our voices heard, and we will not cease from doing so
until religious freedom is restored.
As we know, on January 20, the Department of Health and Human
Services announced a decision to issue final regulations that would
force practically all employers, including many religious institutions,
to pay for abortion inducing drugs, sterilizations, and contraception.
The regulations would provide no protections for our great
institutions—such as Catholic charities, hospitals, and universities—or
for the individual faithful in the marketplace. The regulations struck
at the heart of our fundamental right to religious liberty, which
affects our ability to serve those outside our faith community.
Since January 20, the reaction was immediate and sustained. We came
together, joined by people of every creed and political persuasion, to
make one thing resoundingly clear: we stand united against any attempt
to deny or weaken the right to religious liberty upon which our country
was founded.
On Friday, February 10, the Administration issued the final rules.
By their very terms, the rules were reaffirmed “without change.” The
mandate to provide the illicit services remains. The exceedingly narrow
exemption for churches remains. Despite the outcry, all the threats to
religious liberty posed by the initial rules remain.
Religious freedom is a fundamental right of all. This right does not
depend on any government’s decision to grant it: it is God-given, and
just societies recognize and respect its free exercise. The free
exercise of religion extends well beyond the freedom of worship. It
also forbids government from forcing people or groups to violate their
most deeply held religious convictions, and from interfering in the
internal affairs of religious organizations.
Recent actions by the Administration have attempted to reduce this
free exercise to a “privilege” arbitrarily granted by the government as
a mere exemption from an all-encompassing, extreme form of secularism.
The exemption is too narrowly defined, because it does not exempt most
non-profit religious employers, the religiously affiliated insurer,
the self-insured employer, the for-profit religious employer, or other
private businesses owned and operated by people who rightly object to
paying for abortion inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception.
And because it is instituted only by executive whim, even this unduly
narrow exemption can be taken away easily.
In the United States, religious liberty does not depend on the
benevolence of who is regulating us. It is our “first freedom” and
respect for it must be broad and inclusive—not narrow and exclusive.
Catholics and other people of faith and good will are not second class
citizens. And it is not for the government to decide which of our
ministries is “religious enough” to warrant religious freedom
protection.
This is not just about contraception, abortion-causing drugs, and
sterilization—although all should recognize the injustices involved in
making them part of a universal mandated health care program. It is not
about Republicans or Democrats, conservatives or liberals. It is about
people of faith. This is first and foremost a matter of religious
liberty for all. If the government can, for example, tell Catholics
that they cannot be in the insurance business today without violating
their religious convictions, where does it end? This violates the
constitutional limits on our government, and the basic rights upon
which our country was founded.
Much remains to be done. We cannot rest when faced with so grave a
threat to the religious liberty for which our parents and grandparents
fought. In this moment in history we must work diligently to preserve
religious liberty and to remove all threats to the practice of our
faith in the public square. This is our heritage as Americans.
President Obama should rescind the mandate, or at the very least,
provide full and effective measures to protect religious liberty and
conscience.
Above all, dear brothers, we rely on the help of the Lord in this
important struggle. We all need to act now by contacting our
legislators in support of the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act,
which can be done through our action alert on www.usccb.org/conscience.
We invite you to share the contents of this letter with the faithful
of your diocese in whatever form, or by whatever means, you consider
most suitable. Let us continue to pray for a quick and complete
resolution to this and all threats to religious liberty and the
exercise of our faith in our great country.
Timothy Cardinal Dolan
Archbishop of New York
President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Most Reverend William E. Lori
Bishop of Bridgeport
Chairman, Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty