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White House fails to call Catholic bishops for mandate talks
Washington D.C., Feb 9, 2012 / 05:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Despite rumors of a compromise on the government's controversial contraception mandate, the White House has not offered any concessions to the U.S. bishops? conference and has not contacted them about possible negotiations.
Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Conn. told CNA in a Feb. 8 statement that ?no one from the Administration has approached the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops for discussions on this matter of a possible ?compromise.??
Bishop Lori, who chairs the bishops? committee for religious liberty, maintained that ?the only acceptable solution to the HHS mandate is for the Administration to rescind completely the mandate to cover abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception.?
He stressed that no organization or employer should ?be compelled to pay for, provide for, or to refer others in any way to ?services? which violate their consciences.?
Rumors of a possible compromise surfaced after David Axelrod, a senior adviser for President Obama?s re-election campaign, mentioned during a Feb. 7 MSNBC interview a need to find ?a way to move forward that both provides women with the preventive care that they need and respects the prerogatives of religious institutions.?
On Jan. 20, the Obama administration announced a new mandate that will require virtually all employers to purchase health insurance plans that include coverage of contraception, sterilization and drugs that cause abortions.
The announcement prompted a strong outcry from religious schools, hospitals and charitable organizations, as well as Catholic individuals running secular businesses, who say that the requirement would force them to violate their religious beliefs.
However, despite the storm of protest, the Obama administration has refused to broaden the exemption to the mandate.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said at a Feb. 8 press briefing that Obama remains committed ?to ensuring that women have access to contraception without paying any extra costs no matter where they work.?
He added that the administration is holding ?further discussions? with those that have voiced concerns about the mandate, to discuss ways to ?implement this policy? in a manner that will ?allay or resolve some of those concerns.?
When he was questioned about the administration?s decision not to reach out to the bishops during these ongoing ?conversations,? Carney responded, ?Certain individuals may say they haven't had a call, but others have been engaged in this conversation and will be engaged.?
Bishop Lori emphasized the importance of finding a solution that respects the conscience rights of both religious organizations and private individuals.
?Narrow solutions often end up entangling church and state in needless disputes, which result in government coercion of conscience,? he said.
?Religious liberty has been granted to churches and to individuals not by the State but by the hand of God,? Bishop Lori pointed out. ?It is the first of our freedoms in the Bill of Rights and at the heart of all the other freedoms.?
Bishop Lori called on the Obama administration ?to rescind those parts of the mandate that violate the religious freedom of our religious institutions, and the consciences of millions of Americans.?
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Vatican official: Culture of silence is deadly for handling abuse claims
Rome, Italy, Feb 9, 2012 / 03:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican?s sex crimes prosecutor says the Church should fight against a culture of silence as it combats the ?sad phenomenon? of sexual abuse in society.
?The teaching of Blessed John Paul II that truth is at the basis of justice explains why a deadly culture of silence or 'omertà' is in itself wrong and unjust,? said Monsignor Charles J. Scicluna, Promoter of Justice at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on Feb 8.
?Omertà? is a term that describes the code of silence practiced by members of the Mafia.
The 52-year-old Maltese cleric was addressing the ?Towards Healing and Renewal? symposium being hosted the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome from Feb 6-9. The gathering has brought together over 140 representatives from bishops' conferences and 30 religious orders worldwide.
All such groups have until May 2012 to submit new guidelines for preventing abuse to the Vatican for approval although many already have such guidelines in place.
He explained to delegates how the best guide on the Church?s ?moral and legal duty? to seek the truth when allegations are made can found in a 1994 address given by Blessed Pope John Paul II to the Vatican?s highest appeal court, the Roman Rota. On that occasion the late Pope outlined five principles that should inform the actions of those investigating allegations of abuse.
The first was that ?justice is at times called truth,? which means that a culture of silence has to be rejected. Msgr. Scicluna said this principle requires the facts to be established ?with a spirit of fairness? to both the alleged victim and the accused as guided by the Church?s canon law.
?Other enemies of the truth are the deliberate denial of known facts and the misplaced concern that the good name of the institution should somehow enjoy absolute priority to the detriment of legitimate disclosure of crime,? he explained.
Pope John Paul?s second principle was that justice based on truth ?evokes a response from the individual?s conscience.?
?The acknowledgment and recognition of the full truth of the matter in all its sorrowful effects and consequences,? explained Mgsr. Scicluna, ?is at the source of true healing for both victim and perpetrator.?
While experts in psychology could explain how and why perpetrators develop ?coping mechanisms? such as denial, there is ?no substitute? for ?the liberating effect on a cleric?s conscience? which comes from the ?full, humble, honest and contrite acknowledgment of his sin, his crime, his responsibility for the harm he has caused to the victims, to the Church, to society.?
Similarly, there is a ?radical need? for victims to be ?heard attentively, to be understood and believed, to be treated with dignity as he or she plods on the tiresome journey of recovery and healing,? he said.
Pope John Paul II?s third maxim was that ?truth generates confidence in the rule of law, whereas disrespect for the truth generates distrust and suspicion.?
He praised the late Pope for promulgating the 2001 Motu Proprio ?Sacramentorum sanctitatis? which updated and strengthened the Church?s laws for dealing with allegations and incidents of abuse.
He explained how the document had raised clerical abuse to the level of a ?delicta graviora? or ?grave crime? in Church law and, in doing so, took the issue to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. These rules have since been revised and strengthened by Pope Benedict XVI, he said.
?The law is clear,? said Mgsr. Scicluna, but ?the faithful need to be convinced that ecclesial society is living under the governance of law.?
It is ?not good enough,? he said, for the promotion of ?peace and order in the community? that the law is simply clear but also that ?people need to know that the law is being applied.?
The fourth principle proposed by Pope John Paul in his 1994 address was the duty of the Church ?towards the common good.? In alleged cases of abuse, said Msgr. Scicluna, the Church would include the safety of children as a ?paramount concern? which is essential to any understanding of ?the common good.?
He told delegates that this included a ?duty to cooperate with state authorities.?
?Sexual abuse of minors is not just a canonical delict or a breach of a Code of Conduct internal to an institution, whether it be religious or other. It is also a crime prosecuted by civil law,? he said.
The fifth and final principle of Pope John Paul II was that respect for the Church?s guidelines should not be distorted by ?pastoral? concerns.
Mgsr. Scicluna recalled how in 1994 Pope John Paul had warned of ?the temptation to lighten the heavy demands of observing the law in the name of a mistaken idea of compassion and mercy.?
The 2011 investigation into lapses of child safety in the Irish Diocese of Cloyne found that the former Vicar General of the diocese had not upheld the Irish Church?s 1996 guidelines on mandatory reporting as, he felt, they compromised his ?Christian duty of pastoral care.?
Mgsr. Scicluna again quoted Pope John Paul?s advice from 1994 that ?if the rights of others are at stake, mercy cannot be shown or received without addressing the obligations that correspond to these rights.?
He concluded his address to the symposium by stating his belief that ?the honest quest for truth and justice is the best response we can provide for the sad phenomenon of the sexual abuse of minors by clerics.?
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Poll finds half of Americans oppose contraception mandate
Washington D.C., Feb 9, 2012 / 01:08 am (CNA).- A recent national poll found that 50 percent of Americans oppose the Obama administration's mandate forcing religious groups to cover contraception in health insurance plans.
The Feb. 8 Rasmussen Reports telephone poll showed that only 39 percent of Americans think the government should require Catholic institutions to pay for ?birth control measures? even if Catholics are morally opposed to it. Ten percent of those who responded said they were undecided.
The analysis also indicated that 65 percent of Catholic voters oppose the mandate, along with 62 percent of Evangelical Christians and 50 percent of other Protestant denominations.
Over one third of people practicing other faiths oppose the Health and Human Services mandate.
The poll comes amid a storm of criticism over secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius' Jan. 20 announcement that virtually all employers will soon be required to purchase health insurance plans that cover contraceptives ? including abortion-inducing drugs ? and sterilization.
It also follows a Feb. 7 Public Religion Research Institute analysis which claimed that only 52 percent of voting Catholics oppose the mandate.
Catholic League president Bill Donohue called the Public Religion Research Institute poll ?flawed? because the questions failed to mention that the government would place sanctions on non-compliant organizations and that the mandate includes the coverage of abortifacients, not just contraception.
?In short,? Donohue said, ?the question was dishonest...wait until Catholics find out what's really at stake.?
Donohue criticized the Obama administration's mandate and said that it is ?just an opening for mandating abortion in every healthcare plan.?
The Rasmussen poll indicated that 77 percent of those polled believe individuals should have the right to choose between different types of health insurance plans, while only nine percent disapproved of an individual's ability to choose.
The same poll indicated that the majority of Americans, 54 percent, believe the cost of health insurance will increase if insurance companies are required to cover all government-approved contraceptives. Only 21 percent believe there would be no change in cost.
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World Youth Day organizers unveil Brazilian-themed logo for 2013
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Feb 8, 2012 / 08:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Brazil's coastline, its Sugarloaf Mountain, and the iconic ?Christ the Redeemer? statue are all part of the logo World Youth Day unveiled Feb. 7 for its 2013 celebration in Rio de Janeiro.
?In the faith of the nations the heart has a major role,? World Youth Day said in a note explaining the heart-shaped logo.
It represents Brazil's welcome to the world ?as a nation of generous heart and hospitable people,? while also conveying the faith of ?the disciples who carry Jesus in their hearts?
Excitement surrounded the unveiling of the 2013 World Youth Day logo, which took place at an event hosted by Rio de Janeiro's Archbishop Orani João Tempesta.
Social media lit up on Tuesday with discussion of the image, as the Twitter hashtag ?#logoJMJ? made the network's list of trending topics among Brazilians for several hours.
A 25-year-old Brazilian man, Gustavo Huguenin, submitted the winning logo design in a contest held by organizers of the international Catholic gathering, which will take place July 23-28, 2013.
In his design, geographical and religiously-themed elements come together to form a heart, arranged around Christ's image taken from Brazil's internationally-known statue.
Its top half incorporates the outline of Sugarloaf Mountain, the peak overlooking Rio de Janeiro on Brazil's southeastern coast. World Youth Day's traditional ?pilgrim cross? is superimposed on the mountain.
Meanwhile, the lower right half of the heart shape combines with the right side of Christ's image to form the shape of Brazil's coastline. The logo shares the green, blue, and yellow color scheme of the country's flag.
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Vatican has no money or space for private plane, says priest
Rome, Italy, Feb 8, 2012 / 06:04 pm (CNA).- Contrary to popular belief, Pope Benedict does not own a private jet but instead travels on commercial airlines since the Vatican ?doesn?t have the space or the money? to maintain one, an insider said.
Mexican priest and journalist Father Gonzalo Meza told CNA on Feb. 2 that the Pope always departs Rome on Alitalia, and an airline from the country he is visiting usually brings him home.
However, he noted, the ?papal jet? is outfitted with special items, including pillows and seat covers embroidered with the papal coat of arms.
During his flight to Mexico for his March 23-25 visit, nearly one hundred people, mostly journalists, will accompany the Pope.
Security for the trip is always provided by the host country, Fr. Meza said.
After his visit to Mexico, the Pope ?will depart for Cuba on Aeromexico, and he will return to Rome either on Alitalia or on a Cuban airline,? he added.
Fr. Meza said that during his flights, Benedict XVI ?takes the opportunity to get ahead on his intellectual work or to pray. He likes to write, and he writes all of his homilies and speeches by hand, and then his translator transcribes and corrects them. He almost never uses a computer.?
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Boehner, Upton announce legislative plans to fight HHS mandate
Washington D.C., Feb 8, 2012 / 05:59 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) vowed Feb. 8 to use legislative means to fight the Obama administration?s controversial contraception mandate.
In a rare speech on the House floor, Boehner said that the recently announced mandate ?constitutes an unambiguous attack on religious freedom in our country.?
He warned that if President Obama does not reverse the mandate, ?then the Congress, acting on behalf of the American people and the Constitution we are sworn to uphold and defend, must.?
On Jan. 20, Department of Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced a new mandate that requires virtually all employers to purchase health insurance plans that include contraception, sterilization and drugs that cause early abortions.
Despite massive protests from Catholics and other believers, Sebelius has refused to extend a religious exemption to individuals and organizations that say the mandate forces them to purchase products and services that violate the teachings of their religion.
Boehner, who is Catholic, spoke about the mandate on the same day that Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) announced that he plans to advance legislation ?to reverse the controversial decision and restore longstanding conscience protections.?
Upton, who serves as the chair of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, said that he is ?deeply disappointed with the recent decision? by the Obama administration, which he called a violation of the First Amendment.
The committee held a hearing last November to examine the potential threat that the proposed health care mandate posed to conscience rights and access to health care.
Upton said that at the time, he had urged the administration ?to reconsider this threat to religious freedom.?
Now, he is ?preparing to move quickly? on the legislation, according to a Feb. 8 committee statement.
In addition, Sebelius is scheduled to testify on March 1 before members of the committee, who will have the opportunity to question her directly about the mandate.
Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) recently introduced a bill in the Senate that would overturn the mandate.
In his House floor speech, Boehner praised Upton for working towards an ?effective and appropriate solution.?
He said that by holding a hearing when the rule was first proposed last year, Upton ?began laying the groundwork for legislative action? against the mandate.
Boehner noted that ?Americans of every faith and political persuasion have mobilized? in opposition to the mandate in recent days.
?In imposing this requirement, the federal government has drifted dangerously beyond its constitutional boundaries,? he said.
He warned that the regulation encroaches on religious liberty ?in a manner that affects millions of Americans and harms some of our nation?s most vital institutions.?
?The House will approach this matter fairly and deliberately,? Boehner vowed, adding that the chamber would work ?through regular order and the appropriate legislative channels.?
?This attack by the federal government on religious freedom in our country must not stand, and will not stand,? he said.
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Pope: Jesus' prayer on cross shows God hears prayers
Vatican City, Feb 8, 2012 / 04:10 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The cry of Christ on the cross should remind everyone that God always hears their prayers, even when he seems distant, Pope Benedict XVI said Feb. 8.
?Let us bring to God our daily crosses, in the certainty that he is present and listens to us,? he said at the Wednesday general audience, held with several thousand people in Paul VI Hall.
Pope Benedict made his remarks as part of his ongoing series of weekly reflections on prayer. Today he focused on the prayerful cry of Jesus Christ during his final agony on the cross on Good Friday ? ?My God, my God, why have you forsaken me??
?This cry comes after a three-hour period when there was darkness over the whole land,? noted the Pope, dwelling upon the accounts given in the Gospels of Sts. Mark and Matthew.
?Darkness is an ambivalent symbol in the Bible ? while it is frequently a sign of the power of evil, it can also serve to express a mysterious divine presence,? he said.
?Just as Moses was covered in the dark cloud when God appeared to him on the mountain, so Jesus on Calvary is wrapped in darkness.?
So ?what is the meaning of Jesus? prayer?? asked the Pope.
He replied, ?the words Jesus addresses to the Father are the beginning of Psalm 22, in which the psalmist expresses the tension between, on the one hand, being left alone and, on the other, the certain knowledge of God?s presence amongst his people.?
The psalmist, he explained, ?speaks of a ?cry? to express all the suffering of his prayer before the apparently absent God. At moments of anguish prayer becomes a cry.?
Pope Benedict said that the same thing should also happen ?in our own relationship with the Lord.? When people are faced with ?difficult and painful situations, when it seems that God does not hear, we must not be afraid to entrust him with the burden we are carrying in our hearts, we must not be afraid to cry out to him in our suffering.?
The Pope pointed to Christ on the cross, who ?at the moment of ultimate rejection by man, at the moment of abandonment,? is still ?aware that God the Father is present even at the instant in which he is experiencing the human drama of death.?
But even if people are convinced of God?s presence, a question still remains in many hearts, the Pope said. ?How is it possible that such a powerful God does not intervene to save his Son from this terrible trial??
He replied that it is important to understand that ?the prayer of Jesus is not the cry of a person who meets death with desperation, nor that of a person who knows he has been abandoned.?
Instead, by appropriating Psalm 22 to himself ? the psalm of the suffering people of Israel ? Jesus ?takes upon himself not only the suffering of his people, but also that of all men and women oppressed by evil.?
He subsequently takes that ?to the heart of God in the certainty that his cry will be heard in the resurrection,? so that ?his is a suffering in communion with us and for us, it derives from love and carries within itself redemption and the victory of love.?
Therefore, just as ?the people at the foot of Jesus? cross were unable to understand? his cry, so ?we likewise find ourselves, ever and anew, facing the ?today? of suffering, the silence of God,? the Pope said. But we also ?find ourselves facing the ?today? of the resurrection, of the response of God who took our sufferings upon himself, to carry them with us and give us the certain hope that they will be overcome.?
Pope Benedict explained that the ?prayer of the dying Jesus teaches us to pray with confidence for all our brothers and sisters who are suffering, that they too may know the love of God who never abandons them.?
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US Catholic bishops reject ruling against Prop. 8
Washington D.C., Feb 8, 2012 / 04:00 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The U.S. bishops condemned a federal court ruling that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional, saying the move defies the will of California voters and reflects ?basic confusion? about the nature of marriage.
?The people of California deserve better. Our nation deserves better. Marriage deserves better,? said Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan of New York City, president of the U.S. bishops? conference.
In a Feb. 7 statement, he called marriage ?one of the cornerstones of society? and stressed that the U.S. Constitution ?does not forbid? its protection.
The cardinal-designate said that Wednesday's ruling was a ?grave injustice? that ignores ?the reality that marriage is the union of one man and one woman.?
Bishop Salvatore Cordileone of Oakland, who chairs the bishops? Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, added that the court ignored the ?correctly-informed judgment? of California voters, who supported the 2008 ballot measure that defined marriage as between one man and one woman.
The people of California, he said, ?justly upheld the truth of marriage.?
On Feb. 7, a panel of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court?s decision against Proposition 8. It said the measure ?served no purpose, and had no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California.?
Supporters of the measure ? which received 52 percent of the vote ? plan to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Bishop Cordileone said that society does not exist in ?an amoral or value-less vacuum? but must be ?infused with moral direction that is grounded in the truth.?
The California Catholic Conference also weighed in after the ruling, noting that marriage ?between one man and one woman has been ? and always will be ? the most basic building block of the family and of our society.?
Conference leaders said they were ?disappointed? by the most recent ruling but noted that it has ?always been clear? that the U.S. Supreme Court would likely decide the issue.
?In the end, through sound legal reasoning, we believe the court will see this as well and uphold the will of the voters as expressed in Proposition 8. We continue to pray for that positive outcome.?
Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles also criticized the Ninth Circuit's opposition to the measure.
?Marriage, in every culture and every age, has been recognized as the lifelong union of a man and woman for their own well-being and for the creation and nurturing of children,? he said on Feb. 7.
The government has a ?vital interest? in promoting marriage because it is the ?foundation of society? and because the government has a duty towards the well-being of children, he said. Children ?have the right to be born and raised in a family with both their mother and their father.?
Government officials also have ?no competence and no authority? to redefine or ?expand? the definition of marriage to include other kinds of relationships, he continued. To do so is ?to say that marriage no longer exists? and this would have ?grave consequences? for children and for the common good.
Archbishop Gomez pledged continued prayer for an outcome that ?supports and strengthens the true meaning of marriage.?
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Pope's visit will encourage a Cuba founded on love
Rome, Italy, Feb 8, 2012 / 02:02 pm (CNA).- A Cuban priest believes that Pope Benedict's upcoming trip to the country will bring profound change and show that ?love is the only path possible for the present and the future of Cuba.?
?I am convinced in faith that God our Lord will bring great benefit out of the Pope?s visit and out of everything that Cuba is experiencing at this time for our people and for our Church,? Father Jorge Luis Perez Soto told CNA on Feb. 2.
The priest served as pastor of the Cathedral of Havana before relocating to Rome to study dogmatic theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University.
He said that Pope Benedict's March 26-28 visit will serve to strengthen the bond between Cubans and the Vatican. Catholics in the country are especially called to be ?a means of reconciliation in Cuba,? in order to bring healing to the wounds of the past, he added.
They must also strive to ?participate more in the social commitment to transform society, to transform the country at this time of great change in Cuba, and to participate actively in the life of the Church,? he said.
Fr. Perez Soto referred to the beginnings of the Communist regime in Cuba, saying it ?certainly decimated the Church during those years.?
However, ?I think it also did the Church a favor,? he observed, ?because the Church stripped of all its incidentals had to seek after what was essential, what was central, and that made us a small Church, weak but united around our pastors, a Church united around the Holy Father.?
He recalled that the visit by John Paul II to Cuba in 1998 was ?a new experience? for the Church on the island, and his messages formed the basis for pastoral ministry in the country during the following 14 years. The Communist regime also slowly began to allow greater freedoms in Cuba, he said.
?I think the people?s view of the Pope changed. They knew about him before, but to see him in person, to see him preaching the Gospel, from the Gospel of his suffering and his old age had a great impact on the Cuban people.?
Because of this experience, he added, ?the Cuban people today likewise are preparing for the visit of His Holiness Benedict XVI,? who as successor to St. Peter, will come ?to confirm the pilgrim flock of Christ in Cuba.?
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Santorum wins three states, paints election as battle over rights
Washington D.C., Feb 8, 2012 / 12:59 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum swept three Feb. 7 contests in the GOP race for the nomination, he stated that this election is about whether rights come from God or the government.
Santorum said at a rally in Missouri on the evening of Feb. 7 that ?freedom is at stake in this election,? and that he would defend religious liberty and listen to the American people as president.
?This is the most important election in your lifetime,? he said.
On Feb. 7, Santorum won the GOP caucuses in Colorado ? where Mitt Romney had recently been leading in the polls ? as well as the Minnesota caucuses and the non-binding Missouri primary, a symbolic contest that serves as a straw poll before the state?s official caucuses in March.
Although Romney is still ahead in the delegate count, Santorum has now surpassed Romney?s three state victories with his trio of recent wins, in addition to his late win in Iowa.
In his Missouri speech, Santorum emphasized the importance of the 2012 election in determining the future of America.
After thanking God for ?the grace to be able to persevere,? he also thanked his wife, Karen, for being ?a rock through these last few weeks.?
?We have had more drama than any family really needs,? he said. ?And she has just been an amazing rock and a great blessing to me.?
When his three-year-old daughter, Bella, was recently admitted to the hospital with pneumonia, Santorum briefly left the campaign trail, just days before the Jan. 31 Florida primary to be with her.
Bella, who is now recovering at home, has a genetic disorder known as Trisomy-18. Because of this, illnesses can quickly turn serious and even be fatal for her.
Santorum sent his love to his youngest daughter and promised to be home soon.
?I love you, sweetie,? he said. ?Thank you so much for getting healthy.?
Santorum then turned his attention to the election and said, ?Americans understand that there is a great, great deal at stake.? In his assessment, this election ?is about a country that believes in God-given rights, and a Constitution that is limited to protect those rights.?
But President Obama ?does not believe that,? and has shown over the last three years that he thinks ?the government can give you rights,? he said.
This is a problem because when the government thinks it is the source of your rights, then the government can also ?tell you how to exercise those rights? and can even ?take them away.?
Santorum pointed to a recent mandate issued by the Obama administration that will require virtually all employers to buy health insurance that covers sterilization and contraception for free, including the drug Ella, which can be used for early abortion.
The administration has refused to allow exemptions for most religious organizations, despite strong objections from groups that say the mandate will force them to violate their consciences and the teachings of their religion.
Santorum said that in issuing the decision, that Obama administration has told Catholics that ?you have a right to health care, but you will have the health care that we tell you.? In this worldview, the government has the ultimate authority over what you ?give your people, whether it is against the teachings of your church or not,? he explained.
The former Pennsylvania senator said that he is ?a first-generation American, whose parents and grandparents loved freedom and came here because they didn't want the government telling them what to believe and how to believe it.?
But he never imagined that America would have a president ?who would roll over that and impose his secular values on the people of this country.?
?When the majority of Americans oppose these radical ideas and they speak loudly against them, we need a president who listens to them,? Santorum said.
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Over 150 congressional leaders demand repeal of HHS mandate
Washington D.C., Feb 8, 2012 / 09:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A letter from 154 bipartisan members of Congress is urging the Obama administration to reverse a contraception mandate that religious employers say would require them to violate their consciences.
The Feb. 6 letter to Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, condemned the recent mandate as an ?unprecedented overreach by the federal government.?
Congressional leaders urged Sebelius to ?reconsider the final rule? as it applies to employers and individuals who have moral or religious objections to the coverage required by the mandate.
They also asked her for ?specific details on the process followed in the reading and evaluating of the public comments submitted? about the mandate.
The letter comes amid a storm of criticism over Sebelius? recent announcement that virtually all employers will soon be required to purchase health insurance plans that cover contraceptives ? including abortion-inducing drugs ? and sterilization.
In their letter, the congressmen noted that Sebelius? department had received more than 200,000 comments on the rule during its public comment period. Many of these comments objected to the ?narrow scope of the religious exemption? included in the mandate.
The religious exemption applies only to those organizations that exist to instill religious values and limit their employment and services to primarily members of their own faith. While most churches are covered by the exemption, huge numbers of religious schools, hospitals and charitable organizations are not.
However, despite the massive wave of criticism, Sebelius refused to broaden the exemption in issuing the final rule on Jan. 20.
In response, Rep. Steve Scalise (R - LA) led a Congressional effort to compose a letter voicing ?strong opposition? to the mandate, which he described as ?radical? and an ?attack on the religious freedoms guaranteed to all Americans by the Bill of Rights.?
In their joint letter, congressional leaders observed that the mandate infringes upon the conscience rights not only of those who object to contraception, but also ?of those who, for moral or religious reasons, oppose abortion.?
They explained that the regulation requires coverage of certain ?drugs and devices that can function as abortifacients,? such as Plan B and Ella.
They also said that the one-year extension granted to religiously-affiliated organizations that object to the mandate ?only delays the inevitable violation of conscience.?
The members of Congress asked Sebelius to consider the concerns that had been raised.
They requested that she ?suspend the final rule? until an arrangement has been made to ?ensure that both employers and individuals are afforded their constitutionally protected conscience rights.?
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Critics anticipate Supreme Court hearing after anti-Prop. 8 ruling
San Francisco, Calif., Feb 8, 2012 / 06:09 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Critics found the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals? Feb. 7 ruling against the constitutionality of California?s Proposition 8 to be ?absurd? but not surprising.
?This decision was completely expected,? said William B. May, head of Catholics for the Common Good. ?You have to remember, this is the most liberal, most-overturned appeals court and most-overturned judge in the country.?
Backers of Prop. 8 never expected to prevail at the appellate level, but saw it as a step to the U.S. Supreme Court. They will now appeal directly to the Supreme Court rather than ask for a full hearing from the Ninth Circuit, May told CNA on Feb. 7.
The California ballot measure Prop. 8 defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman. It passed in 2008 with 52 percent of the vote. In 2010, U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker overturned the decision as unconstitutional.
On Tuesday the federal appellate court ruled that Prop. 8 ?served no purpose, and had no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California.? It rejected claims that the ballot measure protected religious freedom and parents? rights to educate their children as they see fit.
May countered that it is ?absurd? to say there is no rational reason or public interest in ?protecting the only institution in society that unites kids with their moms and dads.?
?They?re looking at marriage as merely something for the benefit of adults, not as the foundation of the family.?
Redefining marriage will tend to isolate religious groups, including Catholic parishes, from the wider community, he predicted, adding that it will change what children are taught.
?If marriage is redefined, that?s what will be taught in the schools. That?s a fact,? May said.
?It?s not prejudiced for the people of California to want their kids to learn the reality of what marriage is, in a way that supports them and influences positive decisions they make about marriage and family in their lives.?
Other supporters of Proposition 8 criticized the ruling.
?No court should presume to redefine marriage,? Alliance Defense Fund senior counsel Brian Raum said Feb. 7. ?No court should undercut the democratic process by taking the power to preserve marriage out of the hands of the people.?
He said Americans ?overwhelmingly? reject changing the definition of marriage, noting the millions of people who voted in 31 states to preserve marriage as the ?timeless, universal, unique union between husband and wife.?
?We are not surprised that this Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage ? tried in San Francisco ? turned out this way. But we are confident that the expressed will of the American people in favor of marriage will be upheld at the Supreme Court,? Raum stated.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said the decision was ?disappointing but not surprising.?
?This is not about constitutional governance but the insistence of a group of activists to force their will on their fellow citizens,? he charged.
?This ruling substitutes judicial tyranny for the will of the people, who in the majority of states have amended their constitutions, as California did, to preserve marriage as the union of one man and one woman.?
Perkins expressed confidence that the Supreme Court will reject ?the absurd argument that the authors of our Constitution created or even implied a 'right' to homosexual 'marriage,' and will instead uphold the right of the people to govern themselves.?
May told CNA he thought the prospect of success in the Supreme Court is ?good? because the Ninth Circuit Court?s decision is ?really out of line with every other court and the Supreme Court in cases similar to this.?
?This will ultimately be decided in the Supreme Court and we think that is the place to get a sober review of the arguments based on law, not on emotional rhetoric.?
He asked supporters of Prop. 8 to pray and to voice their opinions in letters to the editor and in calls to television and radio talk shows.
?It?s really important for supporters of Prop. 8 to realize that this debate about marriage is going on continuously. It?s going on in families. It?s going on in public forums. It?s going on in legislatures.
?It?s critical that people become informed about how to talk about the reality of marriage in secular terms, and to be able to engage in a positive way, related not only to protecting but promoting the only institution that unites kids with their moms and dads.?
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Bishop Estabrook, military auxiliary, dies at 67
Washington D.C., Feb 8, 2012 / 03:08 am (CNA).- Bishop Joseph W. Estabrook, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, passed away on Feb. 4, in Houston, Texas, after a lengthy illness. The bishop was 67 years old.
?The Archdiocese for the Military Services has lost an energetic and sensitive Successor of the Apostles,? said Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, who leads the archdiocese.
He described Bishop Estabrook as a shepherd ?whose pastoral zeal and love for the men and women in uniform and their families electrified everything he did.?
?His valiant struggle with cancer and his sense of hope have given us all a lesson in how to live and how to face death,? the archbishop said.
Born in Albany, N.Y. in 1944, Bishop Estabrook studied at St. Bonaventure University and Christ the King Seminary in Olean, N.Y. He was ordained on May 30, 1969 as a priest for Diocese of Albany, where he served at St. Vincent de Paul Parish.
He also worked as Chaplain to the Parsons Child Development Center, before being appointed as the first diocesan family life director in 1971.
Fr. Estabrook became a Navy Chaplain in 1977 and served on ships throughout Europe as well as in chaplaincy positions in the U.S.
He eventually returned to Washington, D.C., where he worked as the executive assistant to the Navy Chief of Chaplains. In addition, he served as an ethics consultant for the Navy Surgeon General and the Department of Defense.
In 1995, Fr. Estabrook became a Captain in the U.S. Navy, where he received multiple medals and awards.
He continued serving in various capacities as chaplain until 2004, when he was named Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services. He was assigned to shepherd those in the Western Vicariate.
A funeral Mass for Bishop Estabrook will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 10 at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Alexandria, Va.
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Majority of Catholic voters oppose federal contraception rule
Washington D.C., Feb 8, 2012 / 01:06 am (CNA).- Most Catholic voters oppose the federal rule requiring religious institutions to buy insurance that covers contraception and sterilization, according to new research published Feb. 7.
Public Religion Research Institute's poll found that 52 percent of voting Catholics do not believe the contraception coverage mandate should apply to religiously-affiliated colleges and hospitals. Only 45 percent of Catholic voters said the rule should apply to these ministries.
This figure, indicating Catholic voters' disapproval with a prominent Obama administration policy, may add to growing speculation about their role in the 2012 election. A Pew Research Center analysis released Feb. 2 showed that Catholics had drifted from the Democratic Party since 2008.
The Public Religion Research Institute released its findings one day after the U.S. bishops published a fact sheet on Health and Human Services' recently-finalized mandate. The bishops said the rule makes schools, hospitals, and charities act ?against their conscience, to pay for things they consider immoral.?
Approved over objections from Catholic bishops and laypersons along with other religious groups, the rule applies to many types of faith-based institutions. Only those organizations that mainly hire and serve members of the same faith, for the purpose of promoting religious values, are exempt.
While politically active Catholics tended to disapprove of the mandate being applied to religious ministries that serve the public at large, their non-voting Catholic counterparts leaned toward a different view. With non-voters included, Catholic support for a mandate of this kind reached 52 percent.
Catholic voters, however, were joined in their opposition to the contraceptive mandate by many Evangelical Protestants. Only 31 percent of white Evangelicals said religious colleges and hospitals should be forced to buy insurance to give employees access to the drugs and methods without a co-pay.
Minority Catholics were more likely to believe the insurance mandate should apply to the Church's schools and hospitals, compared with their white co-religionists. Only 41 percent of white Catholics believe the contraception rule should apply to these institutions.
Among Americans of no religious affiliation, 59 percent thought the government should require religious colleges and hospitals to purchase insurance covering contraception. A slightly higher proportion of the non-religious, 61 percent, said employers in general should have to do so.
While 73 percent of Democrats said employers in general should be forced to make contraception available to employees without a co-pay, only 36 percent of Republicans agreed.
The Public Religion Research Institute describes itself as a ?nonprofit, nonpartisan organization specializing in research at the intersection of religion, values, and public life.?
Its CEO, Dr. Robert P. Jones, is known for his work with groups such as Progressive Christians Uniting, the People for the American Way Foundation, and Human Rights Campaign.
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Pope urges faithful to overcome selfishness with Lenten charity
Vatican City, Feb 7, 2012 / 08:10 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Catholic Church must demonstrate the power of love and show the limitations of an individualistic worldview, Pope Benedict XVI taught in a Lenten message released two weeks before Ash Wednesday.
In the letter released Feb. 7, the Pope contrasted an ethic of ?custody' of others,? with ?a mentality that, by reducing life exclusively to its earthly dimension ? accepts any moral choice in the name of personal freedom.?
A society with this mindset, he warned, ?can become blind to physical sufferings and to the spiritual and moral demands of life. This must not be the case in the Christian community!?
The Pope's message for Lent of 2012, which begins Feb. 22, drew from the New Testament's Letter to the Hebrews ? particularly the verse that proclaims, ?Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works.?
?All too often, however, our attitude is just the opposite,? Pope Benedict observed, describing ?an indifference and disinterest born of selfishness and masked as a respect for 'privacy.'?
?Today too, the Lord?s voice summons all of us to be concerned for one another. Even today God asks us to be 'guardians' of our brothers and sisters, to establish relationships based on mutual consideration and attentiveness to the well-being, the integral well-being of others.?
He encouraged believers ?to recognize in others a true 'alter ego,' infinitely loved by the Lord.?
?If we cultivate this way of seeing others as our brothers and sisters, solidarity, justice, mercy and compassion will naturally well up in our hearts.?
But when this love and care for others diminishes, social and global problems correspondingly increase.
The Pope cited the words of his predecessor, the Servant of God Paul VI, who declared that the world was ?sorely ill? ? with a sickness caused not by material factors, but by selfishness and ?the weakening of brotherly ties between individuals and nations.?
?Contemporary culture seems to have lost the sense of good and evil,? Pope Benedict said, as he warned about the danger of ?a sort of 'spiritual anesthesia' which numbs us to the suffering of others.?
?What hinders this humane and loving gaze towards our brothers and sisters?? he asked.
?Often it is the possession of material riches and a sense of sufficiency, but it can also be the tendency to put our own interests and problems above all else.?
?We should never be incapable of showing mercy towards those who suffer. Our hearts should never be so wrapped up in our affairs and problems that they fail to hear the cry of the poor.?
Yet even when the world's love grows cold, goodness ?does exist and will prevail ? because God is 'generous and acts generously',? through those who work on behalf of ?life, brotherhood, and communion.?
?In a world which demands of Christians a renewed witness of love and fidelity to the Lord, may all of us feel the urgent need to anticipate one another in charity, service and good works,? the Pope stated, as he called all believers to practice the traditional Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
?This is a favorable time to renew our journey of faith, both as individuals and as a community, with the help of the word of God and the sacraments. This journey is one marked by prayer and sharing, silence and fasting, in anticipation of the joy of Easter.?
All of these ancient practices are meant to help the faithful grow in charity ? which Pope Benedict described as ?the very heart of Christian life.?
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