It appears the U.S. Catholic bishops have finally awakened to the fact that their "cotillion" with President Obama was nothing but a one-sided shoving match, with the President shoving the nation's bishops right out the side door of the White House. If that wasn't bad enough, Mr. Obama then had a minion---the Catholic Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius---throw them under a DC Metro bus.
The Motley Monk can only recall how the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops characterized the November 8th meeting between Archbishop Dolan of New York and President Obama. According to CatholicCulture.org:
The meeting between President Obama and Archbishop Dolan on November 8 at the White House was very cordial and included pertinent moral concerns arising in foreign and domestic policy, issues of both agreement and disagreement.
That was followed by a November 14 press conference where Archbishop Dolan said that he left the meeting "a bit more at peace [about religious liberty] than when I entered" and that he believed President Obama to be "very open to the sensitivities" of Catholics about religious liberty.
At the time, The Motley Monk was extremely disappointed because, in his opinion, the bishops didn't seem to "get it." The Motley Monk surmised that the bishops believed that President Obama wasn't an old-fashioned, Chicago-style, Democrat politician. No, the bishops sincerely believed that the President was "post-conventional," the nation's first Black President whom they could trust to provide the type of leadership that would support, nurture, and extend the bishops' vision of "social justice."
How could the bishops have not known better?
After all, a small, southern Catholic college, Belmont Abbey College, had already filed suit against Kathleen Sebelius, whose Obamacare regulations were based upon a narrow understanding of religious liberty!
So, taking their lead from Pope Benedict XVI's statements concerning threats to religious liberty, the bishops are now arguing against the Obama administration's narrow definition of religious liberty and it's now up to the U.S. Supreme Court to mediate the Dolan-Obama fight. In this battle to be staged at the U.S. Supreme Court in March, The Motley Monk believes the paramount issue to be decided is not the more focal issue concerning the constitutionality of Obamacare. No, it's whether the federal government through Obamacare can restrict religious liberty by requiring Catholic schools, universities, hospitals, and charities to provide free contraceptives and abortofacients to their students and employees.
There's some good reason for hope in this regard.
This month's unanimous Supreme Court's decision in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission et al was a stunning defeat for the Obama administration. Not only did the decision expand the definition of religious freedom by asserting that the First Amendment gives "special solicitude to the rights of religious organizations" in decisions about their employees. More importantly, this definition will on trial when the Supreme Court hears oral arguments concerning Obamacare in March.
Hopefully, the Justices will follow precedent and rule against the Obama administration, in general, and Mme. Sebelius, in particular.
Let the discussion begin...
To read the CatholicCulture.org article, click on the following link:
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=12368
To read The Motley Monk's blog detailing Secretary Sebelius' regulations in The American Catholic, click on the following link:
http://the-american-catholic.com/2012/01/20/kathleen-sebelius-and-her-hhs-regulations-a-violation-of-religious-liberty-and-inconsistent-with-the-catholic-faith/
To read the Belmont Abbey College suit, click on the following link:
http://www.becketfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/HHS-Complaint-Final11.10.11.pdf
To read The Motley Monk's blog in The American Catholic detailing the Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission et al, click on the following link:
http://the-american-catholic.com/2012/01/11/scotus-derails-womens-ordination/
To read Cardinal-designate Dolan's statement responding to Pope Benedict XVI's assertions concerning threats to religious liberty, click on the following link:
http://usccb.org/news/2012/12-010.cfm
The Hierarchy of Church got to be part of the Hierarchy of the Church because they played politics. They mastered the art of 'going along - to get along' and they got their reward.
ReplyDeleteWhen these 'leaders of the Church' go up against real politicians, they learn that politics is a contact sport! The moral high ground is merely a phrase not a way of life for the likes of those on Capital Hill and at the White House.
Morality, Conscience, Values, Freedom are antiquated terms to the likes of Sebelius, Durbin, Biden and the POTUS. They have perfected the art of double-speak and situational ethics. When confronted, they back peddle or dismiss the challenge because THEY know more than the Church and Organized Religion. They are enlightened and the Church is out of touch.
The only reason they don't challenge Islam or castigate Muslims is they know their political 'talking-heads' would, literally, be severed before their next press conference.