I really love the letter that Bishop Ricken of Green Bay issued this weekend. http://www.sspeterpaulgb.org/Documents/2379.pdf?1093905108

Now this is the Lord Jesus’s Catholic Church! Onward Christian soldiers!

if you decided not to support abortion, birth control, etc, you can do something about it - DONT buy insurance!!!
...
its a very scary prposition, especially if one has children, or elderly, or asthma, or broken bones, or migraines, or… well fill in the blanks…
...
if one business quits buying insurance for their employess, they would probablt lose employees…but how many more would they get?
...
if so many would quit buying insurance, prices for ins would go up, leading some so-called supporters to cut it because it costs too much…
...
what do we work for? insurance? no, we work for rent, for transportation, for clothes, for food…
...
so i quit working…not because it offered abortion/sterilization, contraceptives and some abortifacients…but because im working for…insurance…
...
so i quit…
...
now looking for pain to offer my LORD…

Any religious institution, should not have to go against their beliefs.  This is the first amendment.  What other rights will the administration go after.  This is why our nation was founded, to have religious freedom.

Please suggest to the parish priests that they talk about this issue.  If it weren’t for EWTN or Relevant Radio, a lot of us wouldn’t know anything about this horrible development.  I pray that Obama doesn’t get into office so that this world turns around and turns back to God.

Sebelius might be an American catholic, but, she is NOT a Roman Catholic & it is way past the time for the Bishops to start using Canon Law 915. I hate to say this, but, under Obama’s so called Obamacare (he really doesn’t care about a thing, except for himself); we, just as here in Mass. with Romneycare, WILL BE FORCED TO BUY “insurance” and we will have to buy it from one of Obama’s insurance companies, as he will finish what Hillary Clinton started: destroy the private insurance companies (& our health). Before Romney, very many people were struggling to buy food, pay bills, get medicine, keep a car on the road or even trying to feed our families,etc.. Now, we have this new horror of the government telling us what to do with our money. Hitler is not dead, just only his body, and the worst part is that this so-called insurance is phony as the health care & choices is getting very limited. The “doctor” that might see you is either over-burden or even one that has very limited skills. WE NEED TO STOP OBAMANISM NOW!!!  +JMJ+

All I have to say is…...it’s about time!. How did we get into this moral decay in the first place? I think a large part of this falls on many Bishops and Priests shoulders. Their rejection of the Church’s teaching on contraception when Pope Paul VI issued Humanae Vitae, their lack of teaching the faithful on moral issues in homilies and in Catholic schools, seminaries, and their continued blind support of the Democratic Party all started this disgusting state we are in today. Why are “catholic” politicians like Sebelius, Biden, Pelosi, Kerry, Kennedy, Durbin, etc still allowed to remain in the Catholic Church without any consequences? It’s great that Archbishop Dolan is speaking out, but where were they BEFORE all of this happened? Just like the lame response to “same-sex marriage” being passed in NY…...it’s too little too late.

Anyone could have found out and spoken about Barack Obama and the Democrat’s real agenda. Remember FOCA? They could have focused on the intrinsic evils of contraception, abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem-cell research, cloning and same-sex marriage. Instead the USCCB comes out with their “Faithful Citizenship” booklet which only confuses all these issues with social justice, war, the death penalty, immigration, etc and gives Catholics an ok to vote for someone who is not just “pro-choice” but who is the most pro-abortion president we’ve ever had! It would have been great if we could have closed the barn door BEFORE the horse got out ! There are consequences to elections…..and we’re finding out just what they are!

On the CNN news at 8:30 A.M. Monday, Jan. 30,2012, there was a one minute mention of the protests of the Catholic bishops to the HHS rule. The reporter said theat the bishops were objecting to the contraception requirement. She totally left out that it is “sterilization,abortifacients and contraception” that the bishops are protesting. It appears that CNN will never give a detailed account of exactly what sterilization,abortifacients and contraception(esp. the morning after pill)involves. Keeping its viewers ignorant is part of their strategy. This is tragic since CNN is supposed to give us information that is important.

How about excommunicating Sebelius.  That would be a decisive action by the Bishops.

Have seen this from several sources in Cincinnati over the past week.  Hopefully you’ll see/hear more from your diocese, Gwen.

Praying for continued courage and leadership from all our US bishops…

Obama is the Anti-Chirst…He’s a king Herrod.  He’ll kill babies so it will keep him in the Oval Office.

When did Bishops start fearing to excommunicate?  Once or twice ought to do it.

Posted by Mary Kuziel on Monday, Jan 30, 2012 11:18 AM (EST):How about excommunicating Sebelius.  That would be a decisive action by the Bishops.

—MY Perply:  I think that is a great idea.  She obviously has no shame and is going against God.  Maybe the bishops need to start ex-communicating more of these Govt. poeple.

Great post, Matthew. The larger dialogue here is incredible. The range and complexity of the related issues would fill far too much space for this comment.

All weekend long, my friends from the Spirit and Truth young adult group at my parish were highly energized on this issue. In particular, one buddy of mine and I spent the better part of an hour and a half car ride discussing our disgust with the administration’s attitude on this.
I sincerely doubt that the administration has any appreciation for the number of re-election votes they have positioned themselves to lose.

Finally, the language used by the administration of “knuckling under” is inherently marxist-communist in nature and smacks of totalitarian violence. (Pun intended)
This administration needs a firm reminder that it is the employee of the people and if chooses to act as an unruly and inappropriate employee, the employee needs to be fired.

I add my prayers to those of the US Bishops that the President and his staff will have a change of heart.

I am so happy the bishops have finally come out againest the governmental rules that are being passed. They are definitely against the Catholic Church. We must pray and fast.

With all of the slack that has been given to the “occupy Wall Street groups”, the timing is ripe for a visible movement IF our Bishops are willing to do more than pray and talk.  “You can pray for potatoes, but you have to pick up a hoe!”

[Please do not use my name or e-mail address.] The First Amendment states that Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion. I pray that the Supreme Court will hold that the HHS rule’s narrow definition of religious employer is unconstitutional (albeit after the rule’s opponents will have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees to fight the government). Even the Washington Post editorialized (on Jan. 23) against the narrowness of the religious-employer definition. Libertarians and people of faith must oppose this and other attempts by the Obama Administration to force religious institutions and people of faith to act against their conscience and religious beliefs. [Please do not use my name or e-mail address.]

The Bishops need to attend to the ministry given to them to guard the faith.
No compromise with the administration on this issue.
Stand up Bishops and have courage and conviction.

Today: I am who am Obama. I rule. There are no longer three branches of government; there is Me, only Me. [henceforth, yes, upper case only for My pronouns].
Flashback 2009: Obama uses willing dupe Jenkins at Notre Dame and promises respect for conscience and religious liberty.
Flashback Mid-30s-scene from movie The Cardinal: Archbishop of Vienna schmoozes with and accommodates Nazis prior to peaceful mini-invasion of Austria, and he believes in Nazi promises of respect of religious liberty; then, scene with Hitler, Hitler says “Yes we promised; but now, screw you.”
Abortion, racism and marriage weren’t enough, the hirelings ran for the hills, and Catholics mistakenly in 2008 thought they could in good conscience vote for a Democrat, but now freedom of conscience has lit the fire under the bishops. ‘bout time!

I am absolutely heartbroken over this. Heartbroken because I had comforted myself with the idea that it was only Obama and his cronies who thought this was a good idea - but in my dealings with people I would normally call reasonable, it seems they either can’t see that this is a violation of the first amendment, and a blatant attack on Catholicism (first and foremost) and Religious Freedom as a whole.  THEY DON’T EVEN SEE IT HAPPENING!
.
And if I point out that if the Obama Administration succeeds here - it is their own closely held beliefs that are next—well, they just see me as a nut case!

The only thing I can think of is… those of us true Catholics should reject the coverage and have the monetary amount returned to us or our employer (as in such cases where an employee can pass on the insurance plan and is reimbursed the amount of the plan to purchase their own insurance or they’re spouse’s insurance)  and then we create a fund to reimburse the organizations that are forced to provide such coverage.
Of course, that doesn’t fix the problem, but it could make a statement.

The President has corrupted the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Now he has thrown out the First Amendment and Bill of Rights,  Will freedom be the next thing we lose completely if he is reelected?  My confidence in the intelligence of the American voters will return only when they remove him from office. If they reelect him, they deserve to be enslaved. What a blessing being an octogenarian could be then.

i only hope and pray we will still have an election…

Thank you Arch Bishop Dolan,
  Now the laity must pull together with the Bishops. We must come out of the comfort zone and start blitzing our elected officials to enforce the constitution and protect our religious rights.  We should not be forced to choose between God laws and Obama’s laws.  Catholics make up a hugh part of this country, make your vote count in November.

I believe the proper way is to say, Archbishop Dolan, or Cardinal elect Dolan, not just “Dolan” ,as it is very disrespectful.  I do not like it when we do that to everyday people, let alone the Archbishop.

Thank you and Christ’s peace,

Judy

Are you planning on capitalizing “catholic” is your article at all? I mean, really?

Judy - Thank you and you’re welcome! And technically it’s “Cardinal-designate Dolan,” which is exactly how I referred to him in the post. It’s acceptable in headlines to abbreviate for the sake of brevity, clarity and space. It’s not a form of disrespect and I certainly meant none.

Thank you for your reply, Matthew. Although it may be acceptable, in this case, an others like it, going beyond the acceptable is the right and proper thing to do.  Casey, I so agree with you. I did not read the whole article, so did not catch that.  Great, and correct, point.

Judy - Thanks for the clarification. I stand corrected.

Casey - yes, I’m planning to do so. Thanks for the catch.

Yesterday, Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne wrote an op-ed (entitled “Obama’s breach of faith over contraceptive ruling”). In it, he notes a possible compromise by using a Hawaii policy that allows religious employers to decline coverage if they first inform the employee and give them info re how to access contraception. I applaud Mr. Dionne and the Washington Post for their journalistic integrity in criticizing HHS and the Obama Administration for failing to include Catholic hospitals, colleges, and other institutions under the religious-employer exemption.  The free-exercise clause of the First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion (and freedom of conscience) seven days a week, not just on Saturday or Sunday (the limited, one-day-a-week, so-called “freedom of worship”).

I totally agree with some comments about where were the Bishops all this time?  I am thankful we have some Bishops willing to stand up today! Where were they all this time? chumming with the Kennedy’s?  What about the parish priest?  I have been married almost twenty years and I have only herd one sermon on birth control.  My wife and I were newly married and had never herd of natural family planning before a priest, Monseigneur Swinger talk about it in a sermon. Parish priest, and some bishops are to worried about not affecting the collections so they stay with safe sermons. So we now find ourselves in this position of weakness.  I think Obama has calculated that Catholics are not going to challenge him.  Why should he, we invite him to our universities, and we voted for him?  Father Jenkins remains at Notre Dame as President even though he disregarded his Bishop.  He was applauded at Notre Dame by over 20,000 thousand people(Catholics). I hope the Catholic people come out to support our brave Bishops, but I am not expecting this to go well for us.

Obama needs to be told that in America, it is we the poeple, not we the government. 
Anti-God=Communism

Obama is ruining what Reagan did for our country and for the world…

We have let our anger cloud our responsibility to be impartial until all points have been weighed. There are two issues of import that must be considered and balanced without infringing or stepping on the rights of the other. I truly believe that the government should not overstep its bounds regarding separation of power provisions. But the religious institutions in question (hospitals and clinics) as I understand hire and or employ non-catholic personnel. Thus, in providing heathcare to those non-catholic employees there have to be further tweaking to the HHS decision to protect the rights of both parties. Now if the institutions in question is not private and receive funds from the government must understand that those monies come with strings attached. The Catholic Church has ample representation, but who will speak on behalf of the non-catholic employee women that have no voice to redress potential violations of their constitutional rights?

Donald, are you Catholic?  The Church could never offer such things, as it is against what Christ taught. What about their rights?  And this is just not about this particular issue with the Church, it goes further, as if they can do this to the Church, who/what will be next?  History is repeating itself once again, with a socialist dictator, Mr. Obama and his cohorts, putting out mandates, and he must be stopped.  It is unconstitutional, as are many things he has been doing of late, and that has emboldened him to cross yet another line.  All or our freedoms are at stake. This is what people need to realize.

Donald -  “violations of their constitutional rights” to what - sterilization/birth control/abortion meds? 

Too many people, including in all three branches of government, seem to forget that constitutional is an adjective, in reference to the actual US Constitution.  And there are ways for the Constitution to be modified - and not by the executive or judicial branches.

Feb. 11th, yes, it’s true,Card. delegate Dolan sharply criticized the contraceptive mandate.  But I heard him also say that he greatly admired Obama and that it was an ‘honor’ to be in Obama’s presence. This is something I don’t understand…how can it be an honor to be in the presence of someone who not only advances aggressively the extermination of human babies in the womb but who also supports infanticide…Obama!

Someone commented that Sebelius should be excommunicated. Actually, Sebelius’ Bishop did order her not to receive Holy Communion. However, why is Pelosi still receiving Holy Communion? She not only advocates aggressively for abortion and receives money and awards for her anti-life agenda, but she publicly mocks the Bishops and the teachings of the Catholic Church. She almost dares the Bishops to stand against her…and so they don’t. I don’t understand why. By allowing Pelosi to continue to receive the Eucharist, her Bishop is declaring that Pelosi is a Catholic in good standing giving ammunition to the enemies of life:  abortion can’t be such a grave moral evil if Pelosi is considered a Catholic in good standing. And this also denies Pelosi a catalyst for conversion because she is permitted to believe that she is indeed a Catholic in good standing..she herself publicly declared that the Bishops in America are divided on this issue and - she is right so the slaughter of the innocent goes on…

Dear Cardinal-Elect Dolan,

You have my prayers and full support to appose all the EVIL legislations that Obama is trying to pass.
May the Holy Spirit give all of us the COURAGE and BOLDNESS to stand for our believes as Catholics!

Dear Cardinal-Elect Dolan,
        You have my prayers and full support to abolish any Evil legislation that president obama is trying to pass.
        May the Holy Spirit give us all the Boldness and Courage to stand up for our beliefs as Catholic Christians!

This is my reply to Judy and Ray H; no I am not Catholic but I agree with everything you have said. But the HHS decision (AS YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND)is and deals with employment law. I understand your concerns and respect your comments but as any executive official some balancing act in which to accomodate the rights of the parties involved must be considered. As I understand, some of the services the HHS decision has made mandatory is essential to prevent certain cancers in women. I am not catholic but I do beleive in the scriptures and as a believer I cannot super-impose my beliefs on someone who believes not. As as matter of biblical fact, all I or we can do is be a WATHCHMAN AND COUNSELOR to that offending conduct to which is inconsistent with Yahweh’s command. see Ezekiel 3:17-21. To have it otherwise, the catholic institutions currently affected by the HHS decision (employment law) would discriminate against non-catholic women in providing heathcare. The issues have to be balanced to meet the desires of all parties involved. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH CANNOT BE EQUALLY YOKED IN EMPLOYMENT WITH NON-BELIEVERS ONLY TO CRY SEPERATION OF POWERS WHEN A VOICE SPEAKS MANDATING IT TO PROVIDE WOMWEN’S HEALTHCARE, YOU CANNOT HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT TO. Again, I do respect your postitions on this highly debated issue.

Below is an insightful, explanation of the Church’s teaching on the issue of contraception.

Personally, I think the Church’s teaching on marriage, sexuality and the family is incredibly beautiful, dignified, and uplifting.

Whether one agrees or disagrees, this short essay provides a succinct and powerful explanation of the teaching, while leaving the open-minded reader with a lot of food for thought.

http://allhands-ondeck.blogspot.com/2012/02/contraception-and-catholicism-what.html