Catholics hear anti-Obama letter in church

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During church services on Sunday, Catholics around the country were read a blistering letter assailing the Obama administration for an "assault on religious liberty" in the form of a coming requirement that most church-linked organizations - among them hospitals, schools and universities - offer birth control coverage as part of their health care plans.

Despite strong lobbying from religious groups, the Health and Human Services Department announced earlier this month that most church-linked groups will not be exempt from the requirements - which also mandate that no co-pay be charged for contraceptive services - though they will have an extra year to comply beyond the August 1 deadline. Churches themselves (along with any other employer that is explicitly focused on offering a religious message, and which primarily employs those who believe in that message) are exempt from the requirement. 

HHS gives religious groups more time to comply with birth control coverage rule

Religious groups were outraged by the decision - saying it forced employers at church-linked organizations to violate their conscience - and on Sunday Catholic leaders took their complaints directly to parishioners. As Business Insider reported, similar letters were read in churches around the country complaining that "the Obama Administration has cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, denying to Catholics our Nation's first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty."

In an appearance on "CBS This Morning" Monday, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich brought up the letters, using them as an opportunity to attack both the Obama administration and Republican rival Mitt Romney.

"The Obama administration has just launched an attack on Christianity so severe that every single church in Florida had a letter read from the bishops yesterday all across the country - Cardinal [Timothy] Dolan was leading an effort to explain that, literally, freedom of religion in America is now being attacked by Obama," he said. "The Romneycare does the same thing. Romneycare has tax-paid abortions. Romneycare put Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in America, in the bill. No right to life group's in the bill. Planned Parenthood is. Romney himself approved taking away a conscience clause from Catholic hospitals."

(As Hotsheet pointed out earlier this month, Gingrich's comment that Planned Parenthood is part of the health care law Romney signed as Massachusetts governor is misleading, and Massachusetts law mandated that the health care law cover abortion.)

In explaining the decision to require birth control coverage for chuch-linked groups, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that "Scientists have abundant evidence that birth control has significant health benefits for women and their families, it is documented to significantly reduce health costs, and is the most commonly taken drug in America by young and middle-aged women. This rule will provide women with greater access to contraception by requiring coverage and by prohibiting cost sharing."

"This decision was made after very careful consideration, including the important concerns some have raised about religious liberty," she added. "I believe this proposal strikes the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services. The administration remains fully committed to its partnerships with faith-based organizations, which promote healthy communities and serve the common good. And this final rule will have no impact on the protections that existing conscience laws and regulations give to health care providers."

Via Business Insider, the full letter from the Bishop of Marquette, read in church Sunday, is below.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

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

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

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

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

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

Sincerely yours in Christ,

+Alexander K. Sample
Most Reverend Alexander K. Sample
Bishop of Marquette

[slimjuco]

My issue with a Catholic Bishop forcing congregations to read his politically charged, fear based letter during mass, is not about whether or not contraception is a sin. My church believes it is. But as history has shown, the majority of Catholic women, myself included, want to have a say in their family planning. More than 80% of Catholic women have used some form of birth control in their lives. We want a choice. The morality of the decision is between us and our church, not between us and our govt. Our govt is giving us a choice and they have created a 'opt out' option for religious organizations, as well. Not only are the charges in the letter false, but to use fear tactics for political reasons screams Witch Trials. I'm ashamed my church would stoop to that. Before we decide to base our laws on religious doctrine, let me remind you that, although he's playing the Catholic card now, one of our Presidential candidates is Mormon, with very different views on spirituality. I'm not concerned with any of our candidates religion affiliations, until they decide to base their politics on them. I respect the Mormon faith, although I do not want to have laws based on the faith as I don't think laws should be based on the Catholic faith either. We're a nation of many people and many faiths. Our forefathers created a separation of church and state for a reason.

[liberalmike]

The catholic church are hypocrites and its clergy are child molesters and even the pope is guilty of shielding them from prosecution.

I used to be a catholic but NOW see the light.

Also imho all religion is pure bs!

Folks when you die your just dead there is no afterlife no heaven/hell just ashes and dust.

[liberalmike]

O'BAMA IN 2012!!!!!!

[vageorge]

Just possibly the the letter has the wrong title. It probably should be changed to a letter to the antichrist.

[vageorge]

The Catholic church is absolutely correct in it's condemnation of the obama administration. This is only one of the many rights obama has been slowly taking away from our people. Not just the Catholic churches but all faiths and all citizens.
obama has to be voted out and candidates elected that will have the good of our country and our citizens art heart.
By the way when the obama group (Socialists) voted in oobamacare, obama gave many large corporations exemptions. (MacDonalds etc) Over 2000 large Corporation have been given exemptioms to obamacare. The small businesses and churches are left to foot the bill. Doesn't sound like a Democracy to me. More like obama making himself Emperor of the US.
It's up to the citizens of the USA to get out and campaign against obama and his Socialistic government. If we do not vote him out of office along with many of the Democrats that support him we will lose our country. There will not be any difference between the USA and many Islamic and Muslim countries

[feminist50]

It would be so nice if these Catholics were as outraged at the pedophiles within their church. The Catholic church has been wrong on many, many things and most of the Catholics seem to be lemmings who are are so willing to listen to the Bishops and the Pope who protected the pedophiles within their organization.

[vageorge]

The Catholic church is absolutely correct in it's condemnation of the obama administration. This is only one of the many rights obama has been slowly taking away from our people. Not just the Catholic churches but all faiths and all citizens.
obama has to be voted out and candidates elected that will have the good of our country and our citizens art heart.
By the way when the obama group (Socialists) voted in oobamacare, obama gave many large corporations exemptions. (MacDonalds etc) Over 2000 large Corporation have been given exemptioms to obamacare. The small businesses and churches are left to foot the bill. Doesn't sound like a Democracy to me. More like obama making himself Emperor of the US.
It's up to the citizens of the USA to get out and campaign against obama and his Socialistic government. If we do not vote him out of office along with many of the Democrats that support him we will lose our country. There will not be any difference between the USA and many Islamic and Muslim countries

[james0tempe]

There are people who would remain in the room, and people who would return, after hearing anything denouncing a sitting President of the United States. I would not. I don't really understand people who would. The only mention that was ever made of the President in my church was in the opening of Prayers of the People. I'd have walked out, and nothing bad would have happened to me as a result.

[vageorge]

You should make the difference between a sitting president and a presidential leader that deserves respect. I respect the office but I do not respect obama in any way. I refuse to capitalize his godawful name because it might be taken that I have a little respect for the Socialistic moron that is in office that was elected because so many voters were duped by his lies and manipulations. Also so much foreign money in his campaign. The reason he would not accept US federal campaign money was to avoid disclosure. He is a fraud and most realize it now

[Magic1369]

"Yours in Christ" LOL. The Catholic church likes to imagine that it still matters in world affairs. It does not. In fact, it's an irrelevant organization based on a collection of myths and lies known as Christianity. There isn't a shred of historical evidence that an actual historical Jesus even existed. This is the 21st century and for the first time in human history we have the world's knowledge and history at our fingertips. Anyone who does 20 mins of research can ascertain that Christianity is merely a myth with no historical validity whatsoever. It's the big sham and the Greatest Story Ever Sold.

[vageorge]

How is it that so many ignorant atheistic servants of Satan are trying to dominate the comments? You may be going to hell but spare the rest of us from your ignorance.

[feminist50]

The Bishops have all their priorities mixed up. Who in their right mind would ever listen to anything the Catholic church has to say. They worked very hard to protect the pedophiles within their institution at the expense of the expolied kids. Now, they have some nerve dictating their anti birth control policies on others. If they accept Federal money they have to abide by the secular laws of the country.

These pedophile loving Bishops know that most Catholics use contraception and why this insane preoccupation these creatures have with telling a woman how to live her life is very very strange.

[RLaitres]

Far too many, including many in the Catholic Church hiearchy, cannot distinguish between their personal religious beliefs and convictions and the State. When looking at this, as well as many other positions they take, what some of us see is "pride" and an attempt to dictate to others what should be their conscience. That leads them, as that same organization has done many times in the past, to disregard humanity. They do, just like any other zealot does in any other area, place themselves "above" others. That they believe as they do is not in question but they should bear in mind a very basic lesson repeated many times and in many ways in the Bible they claim to believe in. It is that they, just like everyone else, is but a human being, nothing more and nothing less. And, to that, there is no "Yes, but..." as there is no "but". If it shows up anywhere in the discourse, it does so for one of two reasons. Those are (1) that they either do not understand the lesson or; (2) that they refuse to accept it. If churches need taxpayer money to do what they consider "good works", then perhaps their teachings are lacking in humanitarian concern and obligation toward one's neighbor, a basic and integral part of Christianity (at least as some of us understood it). Religious characters should take heed that in their zealotry to "collect souls for the Lord", that they do not show up for the final judgment they believe in, only to be asked "Where did all that blood you are covered with come from?"

[itgranny]

Why isn't the church upset with it's leaders for not getting the message across that to them it's wrong for birth control.

Take for instance theft. There's a strong message out there that it's wrong. Most people abide by it and don't steel. Same with drinking and driving.

Obama is getting blamed for the church's failure.

[itgranny]

Mind you, I'm all for letting birth control be freely available, but if they aren't, they need to be better at promoting their ideas.