CHICAGO — “Dear President Obama, can I ask you a question,” the young Catholic schoolgirl asks, staring resolutely into the camera. “Why are you trying to force my church or my school to pay for things that we don’t even believe in?”
That’s the start of the latest ad from CatholicVote.org, seeking to call attention to a range of actions by the Obama administration that impinge on the religious liberty of Catholic Americans. The 30-second spot will debut today on Good Morning America in Pittsburgh. It also will air on cable stations in southwest Florida.
Josh Mercer, director of communications for CatholicVote.org, says the ad was triggered primarily by an interim final rule issued by the Department of Health and Human Services in August. The rule requires that all private insurance plans cover sterilization and contraception, including abortifacients.
“We want to alert Catholics and people of all faiths, frankly, about the threats to religious liberty by the Obama administration,” Mercer said.
Mercer noted that Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, strongly criticized the contraceptive mandate and the narrowness of its religious employers’ exemption. The exemption is worded so narrowly that Catholic schools and hospitals would be forced to participate in plans that provide contraception and sterilization.
According to some reports, the concerns expressed by the U.S. bishops have prompted President Obama to reconsider some aspects of the contraceptive mandate.
“The reason that we’re doing the ad right now is because President Obama is reconsidering it, and we know the only reason he’s reconsidering it is because he’s looking at his re-election coming up in less than a year,” Mercer said. “And we want to let the voters of western Pennsylvania know — because Pittsburgh’s a very Catholic town — exactly what’s going on with this issue.”
Another example, cited by Mercer and mentioned in the CatholicVote.org ad, is the pair of recent National Labor Relations Board rulings that found that two historically Catholic colleges had become insufficiently Catholic to warrant a religious exemption.
“There’s a lot of Catholics today who are very upset about the direction of our Catholic schools and colleges,” Mercer said, “but to determine whether a college is Catholic or not is a decision that should be left to the local bishop and not to the federal government.”
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In late September, the U.S. bishops’ conference announced the formation of an Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, chaired by Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, Conn. Archbishop Dolan directly linked the creation of the new office to actions by the federal government, as well as a number of troubling state laws.
Religious freedom “in its many and varied applications for Christians and people of faith is now increasingly and in unprecedented ways under assault in America,” Archbishop Dolan said.
“This is most particularly so in an increasing number of federal government programs or policies that would infringe upon the right of conscience of people of faith or otherwise harm the foundational principle of religious liberty,” the archbishop continued. “As shepherds of over 70 million U.S. citizens, we share a common and compelling responsibility to proclaim the truth of religious freedom for all, and so to protect our people from this assault, which now appears to grow at an ever-accelerating pace in ways most of us could never have imagined.”
At the time of the formation of the new Committee on Religious Liberty, Archbishop Dolan had complained that the White House had not responded to his invitation for a discussion about the USCCB’s concerns. In November, the archbishop was finally invited to meet with the president, a signal that the White House might be reassessing its controversial policies.
In an interview with the Register, Bishop Lori noted that, at the White House meeting, “religious liberty matters were discussed.” Further, the committee he chairs will “engage public officials, but its main role is to teach about religious liberty, to the faithful and to others of good faith.”
Threats to religious liberty are long-standing, said the bishop, but have become a special focus for a variety of reasons. “Violations of religious liberty at the state level are on the rise, especially in those states that have redefined civil ‘marriage’ to include same-sex couples,” he said. “Certainly the bishops are concerned over the Health and Human Services (HHS) regulations. ... Similarly the federal government’s decision to end long-standing cooperative agreements with [Catholic Relief Services] and [Migration and Refugee Services] because these Catholic service providers will not provide ‘the full range of reproductive services’ is troubling. ... Over time, religious liberty has eroded in both law and culture, at all levels of government, and around the world.”
In previous published interviews, Bishop Lori has sought to unite Catholic national and grassroots activists from across the political spectrum by emphasizing the connection between religious liberty and the ability of all Catholic institutions — from adoption agencies to trafficking victims’ assistance programs — to fulfill their mission without interference by the state.
The Register contacted the White House press office for comment and was referred to HHS. A spokesman for the federal agency declined to reply directly to questions about whether the Obama administration has interfered with the religious freedom of Catholics or whether the president will give consideration to amending the contraceptive mandate.
The HHS spokesman repeated its recent statements, which implicitly challenge the assertion that some of its policies are anti-Catholic. The spokesman noted that grants to Catholic-affiliated organizations during the first three years of Obama’s term amounted to more than $650 million, compared to about $540 million during the last three years of the Bush administration.
Richard Thompson, the president of the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Thomas More Law Center, a nonprofit law firm dedicated to protecting the religious freedom of Christians, agrees that the religious liberty of Catholics has been seriously undermined during the Obama presidency.
“You can go right down the list of almost every major cultural issue that has been promoted by the Obama administration, as it relates to abortion, as it relates to homosexual ‘marriage,’” Thompson said. “It’s attempting to intimidate the Church into abandoning doctrine.”
The Obama administration has been heavily influenced by “a strongly anti-Christian philosophy,” Thompson argued, adding that this philosophy also permeates other political institutions and key sectors of contemporary American society, such as higher education and the entertainment industry.
In this often hostile social context, Thompson said, it’s important that Catholics rally in support of their Church.
“We’re doing that in, of course, the courts,” Thompson said, referring to the work of the Thomas More Law Center. “But, obviously, Catholic voters have to understand what is going on and discern which of their representatives will truly support the constitutional protections that have been given to religion in general.”
Mercer says CatholicVote.org will continue to draw attention to religious-freedom issues between now and next year’s presidential election, giving particular attention to communicating with Catholic voters in Pennsylvania, Florida, Michigan and Wisconsin. All four states are potential swing states, having voted for Obama in 2008 and for the Republican Party in the 2010 midterm elections, and all four have a significant Catholic vote.
“We’ll be doing a lot of ads over the next year focusing on the presidential election,” Mercer said. “The Catholic vote itself is very much up for grabs in 2012. And we’re hoping to convince our fellow Catholics that they need to support a president who will be pro-life, pro-family and will be respectful of religious liberties.”
Register correspondent Tom McFeely writes from Victoria, British Columbia.
Edward Pentin: Images of Rome's 2013 March for Life
Tom Hoopes: Why Catholics Are Grateful to George W. Bush
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The word that struck me is ” reconsider”. If Mr. O was
Truly about religious liberties and the right to conscience
The mandate would not be in he bill period.
This ad is rather vague. How many people who see this ad will even know what it is referring to? I know, because I have been following this issue, but what about those who have not been following it?
Also, the problem isn’t that we don’t “believe in” contraception. The problem is that we believe that it is morally wrong.
I’m glad to see an ad on this topic, but the ad is sorely lacking in clarity, in my opinion.
This is great news. I am glad to see some action coming from the Catholic Church to oppose the attacks and assaults on our religion from politicians. This is long overdue but very welcome.
CatholicVote.org is a great organization. The leadership of HHS is Catholic with Kathleen Sebelius. This is designed to confuse the faithful. T. Dolan is “on the job”. However, forces within the Cathoic hierarchy alligned with the liberal establishment were able to have Archbishop (now Cardinal) Raymond Burke of St. Louis removed for standing in the way of the election of President Obama. I even have emails from the Chancery which will back my charges.
Everyone who pays taxes pays for things they don’t believe in.
@RussellInTexas As I understand it, the issue at stake isn’t about where our tax dollars go. We lost that battle a long time ago. We have all been materially-complicit in great evils by virtue of our being upstanding citizens and paying our taxes.
This is about forcing Catholic hospitals, schools, universities to pay for and provide services that the Catholic church views as gravely immoral. In this case, they’re saying that Catholic hospitals need to perform abortions and sterilizations, and dispense contraceptives, or that schools and universities need to dispense contraceptives.
It is one thing for us to render unto Caesar and for Caesar to do evil things with our money, but this is a bold-faced attack on our First Amendment rights.
I confess that I must agree with Paul H’s comment. If the creators of this ad are trying to ignite an inferno, well, a spark lights a fire, but if the blaze grows at the usual glacial Catholic pace—Mr O will be our president for the next four years with his team of pseudo-Catholics like vice-president Biden, Kathleen Sebelius and Nancy Pelosi and they may not even have noticed that a message was being sent or that the Church is calling them to true Metanoia and a wholehearted return to the Gospels.
A good intention, but why would they frame the question with such wimpiness? The question should not be limited to an insensitive policy. It should expressly condemn Obama’s objectively evil policy, with emphasis on the word evil. The young girl should be saying why are you forcing us to support evil?
Taxes? As we all know “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God”. I’m afraid as Catholics we have given to much of what belongs to God, our time and attention to our own pursuits. Besides the need to wake up and fight for our rights we need to put God back into first place in each of our lives through a deep prayer life and even deeper trust in God’s ability to direct our lives. Brother Lawrence’s classic “The practice of the Presence of God” is a great inspirational read especially for those with little time for set prayer times. Peter Kreefts “Prayer for Beginners” is a more modern work on prayer and the simple practice of talking to God through out our day. Work to stop these attacks on by anti-Catholics and anti-Christians yes but put God back into first place in our lives first. If we all work on becoming the Saints God wants us to be we will see great changes.
I live in Australia. Whatever is happening in other countries, especially the advanced countries like America, affects the world imcluding Australia. In matters of morals, religion, and faith, we need to support each other against suppression of expression in supporrt for what is true and Christian. Having said that, there are those of non- Christian belief that supports or believe in the existence of life from conception to natural cessation, and also believe in the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman. There are those that say ” agree with this” but then too shy or frigtened to say anything. This is the time, NOW! because we are running out of time, STAND UP AND BE COUNTED!
For a non-American, this article is very educative. “With liberty and justice for all” appears to have traveled out of America as far as religious liberties are concerned. We’ll pray the luminous mysteries for Mr O. May God Almighty shed light in his path.
Obama may “reconsider” with his mouth, but his actions say something else. Don’t forget that Eve bought into the lies of the devil and the big “o” sold his soul to the evil one many years ago and he has not been honest unless it was by accident since he came onto American soil. This ad is a good start, but as it has been mentioned, it is too weak. Maybe if they show it on that hideous show “the view”, Obama might see it as he only watches stuff that makes him look good (I know, it is impossible). I’m glad that D Paul made his statement about Cardinal Burke. This is what I have been saying every since “pope” Ted Kennedy of the American catholic church had the good Bishop deported to the Vatican. +JMJ+
There are natural and logical consequences when we elect fools to high office, and I am speaking of fools in the Biblical sense, see Psalm 14 vs 1 “The fool says in his heart there is no God, Such are corrupt they do abominable deeds…” And this President and his administration act as if they either do not believe in God or if they do are, at least, exempt from having to follow God’s laws. We Catholics and all religious believes should learn from this sad experience and we should also pray and do some penance that God will have mercy on our country despite it’s sins.
Most Americans took their freedoms for granted like breathing. However, since he has been in OUR WH, More and More people are waking up that we MUST always pay attention to what is going on in OUR Country.
I have been shocked over and over again by liberals thinking everything is peachy. I have wondered if they are missing nuts and bolts in their brains.
We will be in rough shape for quite a while—at least 8 years even if he gets out of office. It will take 4 years of the next president just to “undo” all the damage he has done…if “he/she” takes the time to do it. They must be strong enough to be elected for the 2nd term to begin new things to make us strong again.
We’re in a battle for the soul of America. I pray the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel, that he will defend us in battle, and to Mary, the Mother of God under her title of the Immaculate Conception; she is the patroness of the United States. We need divine intervention and powerful intercession in these perilous times.
Perhaps this is a poor analogy but this is the best i know. If you tell your mother you just robbed a bank and she says it is wrong you might say I will reconsider it. That is how much sense the President makes. This President is anti christian and someone better start speaking up.We are recreating Germany in the 30’s all over again.Bernard Janecki P.S. Am I wrong . I don’t think so. The Churches have been silent too long.
@Bernadette, we need constant prayers for Our Country. He has the Muslim Brotherhood infiltrating our Govt., and other agencies. He “admitted” his Muslim faith. The Muslim faith is to the extremes of what Christ teaches.
@ Bernard, He is NOT going to take responsibility for anything. He mentioned in a speech in the beginning, that the sound of prayers from the Mosque was the most beautiful sound he has ever heard. In my own, humble opinion, we have a good example of the Anti-Christ IF he is not, in fact, the Anti Christ himself.
Just had a wonderful discussion last night at dinner that started out because of one man’s negative reaction to our Archbishop’s endorsements of this upcoming media blitz. He made two points: 1) the church should stay out of politics and 2)“Obama’s Health Plan would not spend public taxes on these church issues, but that these will come only from private funds. Are these really outdated facts? Our very long healthy conversation, led us back to the basic foundational differences, namely: the other couple’s came from a RELATIVISM position and mine from an ABSOLUTE TRUTH position, one being, DELIBERATE MURDER IN ANY FORM IS ABSOLUTELY AGAINST BOTH GOD AND MAN.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen around 1950 worried about the resurgence of Islam. While he loved the Muslims and was well schooled in their theology, the theocratic aspects of Sharia Law spell serious problems for a world where the bankruptcy - both moral and financial of the West has created a vacuum easily filled by a well organized process for takeover that is well underway. Sadly, our armed forces are being used to support the “clearing the decks” of dinosaur Muslim dictators to make way for a world wide caliphate. Everything the current Administration does seems to be in support of this horrific vision. Our Lady is highly regarded by Islam and will ultimately be the force that binds us together in love. The question remains; How much suffering and death will result before that wonderful victory?
1st Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;” 10th Amendment: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”- This means any law, ruling, or judgement, by the Executive, Legislative, or Judicial branches of State, Local, or Federal Government, concerning religion, are Unconstitutional. The so-called Separation of Church & State ruling prohibiting prayer is unconstitutional. Any law, ruling, or judgement, that prohibits an establishment of religion is Unconstitutional!
We should join with the American Center for Law and Justice in defending our faith. If, at any point, our institutions are forced to participate
in actions that are against our faith, we must withdraw from our social
outreach in that institution whether it be an agency or a hospital, etc..
We are first and foremost a church of holiness, not a protestant
social justice church.
It’s great that we finally have something on secular television to bring out what is going on that affects our religious freedoms. We as Catholics for some reason don’t defend our faith as we should. Look at the Muslims and how they stand up for their beliefs (and I’m not referring to the radicals). We must pray, defend, and be heard or this will just continue. Thank you Catholic Vote for taking a stand and God bless!
Give a background on those countries that lost their religious liberties and the consequences they suffered.
As for a group who has been defending the faith for awhile, check out the Catholic League
http://www.catholicleague.org/
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