Letter from Archbishop John G. Vlazny on the matter of freedom of conscience and decisions by HHS

Archdioces of Portland, Oregon ^ | January 25, 2012 | Archbishop John G. Vlazny

[Salvation]

Letter January 25, 2012 from Archbishop John G. Vlazny on the matter of freedom of conscience and decisions by HHS

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

It is important for you to know that the federal government has just dealt a heavy blow to 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.

By this ruling, the 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. Unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics will be compelled to violate our consciences or drop health coverage for our employees (and suffer the penalties for doing so). The Administration’s sole concession was to give our institutions one year to comply.

We cannot and 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.

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 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 Administration’s decision.

Thank you for all you do to build the Church and society.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend John G. Vlazny

Archbishop of Portland in Oregon

[Salvation]

Even from Oregon!

[Salvation]

Letter from Archbishop John G. Vlazny on the matter of freedom of conscience and decisions by HHS
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Phoenix bishop (Olmstead): defy feds on birth control
A letter from Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr concerning HHS edict

Speak honestly: abortion is ‘the killing of tiny human beings in the womb’ – Denver bishop
Bishop [Daniel Jenky] Blasts Secularist Intolerance, Calls For ‘Assertive Action’ to Defend Church
(Pittsburgh Bishop Zubik comments:) HHS delays rule on contraceptive coverage
Dolan: Natural law, not religious preference, dictates all life sacred
Religious leaders blast HHS over contraception mandate
Mandated Contraception, Sterilization: Caesar Demands Church Violate Conscience
OBAMA’S CONTEMPT FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY (mandates coverage of sterilization & contraception)
Implications of Obama Admin move to force Cath hospitals to provide contraception and sterilizations
Catholic doctors’ group launches petition against contraception mandate
Contraception mandate tramples religious freedom, US bishops say

[narses]

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[savagesusie]

And the State marches on——trying to eradicate God from worldview with force of law. We better wake up and get involved in a grass roots effort to put back God and our God-given rights before we find ourselves in Bonhoeffer’s shoes.

[rogator]

Pretty amazing. Better than I would have expected from Vlasney. He deserves to be complemented on this one.

[Warthog-2]

I see that you are the keeper of the prolife and Catholic lists.

Please pass this on: Little Bella Santorum is hospitalized, and Rick and Karen need urgent prayers for their baby. See thread.

[Warthog-2]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2839518/posts

Bella needs prayers!

(Sorry to hijack this thread, but I don’t know how to ping.)

[mrs. a]

“We cannot and will not comply with this unjust law.”

Man oh man, I sure hope the Church holds fast on this one, and in a unified manner. I think this is one case where the Government will “blink first” if the Church sticks to its guns.

[sayuncledave]

I’m very glad to see this. The one I posted the other day was read by our parish priest this morning after the Gospel. Needs to be spread everywhere in the country, now!

[Salvation]

**and in a unified manner**

I’m collecting the names of the Bishops, so if you hear or see anything about your local, please post it or let me know.

Thanks.

[sayuncledave]

Emails sent to Boehner, Brown and Portman. No, not holding my breath, but we have to try.

[RebelTXRose]

I think the Bishops had this written FOR them - that seems very close to what was in our bulletin this morning too - in the Diocese of Dallas. It’s TIME the Bishops speak out like Archbishop Timothy Dolan in NY - it is war and we Catholics MUST stand up. Heck - every one of faith must stand up to this shredding of the first amendment!

[Yooper4Life]

Bishop David Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay Wisconsin also sent the letter (or a very similar one) to parish priests to read this weekend.

View the letter at: http://www.gbdioc.org/images/stories/News_Events/pdf/Bishop-Ricken-HHS-Letter.pdf

He seems to be a good conservative bishop.

Unfortunately, our local parish priest declined to read it at today’s masses.

[ItsForTheChildren]

Gee, maybe Obama will win only 51% of the Catholic vote this time around.

[jobim]

Bishop Vlazny was my English teacher at Quigley North Seminary 1965/66. My history teacher that year was Father James Keleher who late became Bishop of Kansas City.

[Salvation]

It may have been some kind of a template that they could use.

[Salvation]

Why do you mention only the Catholic vote? What about the evangelicals, the Baptists, the other denominations, including the Jewish vote?

Obama won the overall religious vote, 52 percent to 46 percent, reversing President George W. Bush’s 51 percent to 48 percent “values voter” victory over Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry in 2004. Obama also won the Catholic vote, persuaded young evangelical voters to choose him and began to squeeze shut the so-called “God gap” yawning between religious Democrats and Republicans during the Bush era.

How will the roughly 9.1 million evangelical Christians who voted for Obama vote in the next election? Will Obama's actions compel the 31.2 million evangelicals who didn't vote in the 2008 election to vote next time?

Obama Receives 77% of Jewish Vote-- More Than Kerry
White US Catholics move toward GOP, Hispanic Catholics toward Democrats
Among Catholics, Obama job approval rating decreases to 50 percent

[Salvation]

50 percent of Catholics (Catholics make up about 22 percent of the U.S. population.) approve of his presidency, down from 67 percent in his first six months in office.

DOWN 17 POINTS

 

among non-Catholic Christians, who make up 55 percent of the U.S. population, had fallen from 58 percent to 43 percent.

DOWN 15 POINTS

 

Mormon respondents, who represent about two percent of U.S. adults, fell from 43 percent to 26 percent

DOWN 17 POINTS

 

About 78 percent of Muslim respondents approved of the Obama presidency, down eight percentage points from when the question was first asked.  (86)

DOWN 8 POINTS

 

atheists, agnostics, and members of other non-Christian religions, who comprise about 13 percent of the U.S. population -- While about 75 percent of these respondents approved of President Obama at the start of his term, their approval declined to about 64 percent.

DOWN 11 POINTS

 

Jews were the religious group third likeliest to approve of President Obama, giving him 61 percent approval. This too is a decline: in January-June 2009, their approval rating of the president was 77 percent.

DOWN 16 POINTS

 

Overall, 48 percent of Americans approve of President Obama’s job, down from 63 percent in the first months of his presidency. Gallup claims that its survey of over 276,000 adults claims an overall margin of error of plus or minus one percent.

DOWN 15 POINTS

 

 

 

 

[jafojeffsurf]

Amen, Facebook this and NYer’s Fr Rutler article. Sent to friends and family.

To bad they are waking up so late in the game to the evil that is on the move. Maybe it’s not to late... Maybe the Bishops should have read the bill before backing it? Or they could have ask me if it was bad and unconstitutional law. It would have made thing much easier.

[JoeFromSidney]

Sorry, Your Excellencies. Cry me a river. You wanted socialized medicine, and now you have it. And we, the Catholic faithful, have to pay for it and live with it.

I can remember when the USCCB committee interviewed candidate Jimmy Carter and came out proclaiming, "He's with us on everything but abortion." The message then was clear: all the "social justice" things outweighed abortion. So Catholics voted for Carter.

My personal prediction of how this is going to turn out: hospitals, schools and colleges will "disaffiliate" from the Church. Only churches, which are exempt from the Obama requirements, will remain officially "Catholic." All other institutions will go the way many formerly Catholic colleges have already gone. That way the Church saves face. No officially Catholic organization will be paying for contraception, but all formerly Catholic organizations will go along quietly. And the Bishops will have the socialized medicine they wanted so badly.