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Christendom College, known throughout the world for its faithful adherence to the teachings of the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church, joined seventeen other Catholic colleges and universities and The Cardinal Newman Society in an appeal to the Obama administration to exempt all religious objectors from a mandate requiring health insurance plans to cover sterilization and contraceptives—both of which are contrary to Catholic Church teaching. “It is very troubling that our government, which claims to believe in freedom and tolerance, would take such a draconian measure,� Christendom College President Dr. Timothy O’Donnell said. “This mandate violates the natural rights of conscience and should never be forced upon Catholic institutions of higher learning.� The appeal was organized by The Center for the Advancement of Catholic Higher Education, a division of The Cardinal Newmanp Society (CNS), and authored by attorneys Kevin Theriot and Matthew Bowman of the Alliance Defense Fund. Joining the Center and 18 colleges in the letter were the Society of Catholic Social Scientists and Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Curry of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Bishop Curry, who signed in his individual capacity, is chairman of the Committee for Catholic Education at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. “This health insurance mandate is potentially very damaging to Catholic higher education, both in its immediate impact on the moral climate of colleges and universities and its broader implications for the Constitutional rights of religious employers,� said Msgr. Stuart Swetland, Executive Director of the Center for the Advancement of Catholic Higher Education and Vice President for Mission at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, MD. The letter sent to the Obama Administration cites the official summary of the mandate, in which HHS acknowledges “that one reason it
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was rushed to finalization prior to the notice and comment period was precisely to ensure that collegiate women would have access to ‘contraception,’ abortifacients, sterilization and the like as quickly and as freely as possible.� The mandate will likely force Catholic colleges to include such coverage in student health plans. “These regulations, which claim to be defending the rights and the dignity of women, are actually completely destructive to the dignity of women,� O’Donnell said. Together the Catholic colleges, Catholic higher education groups, and Bishop Curry call on HHS to issue “a blanket, non-discretionary exemption from the Mandate for any employer, issuer, payer, individual, or entity who in his or its own determination has any religious or moral objection to providing, issuing, enrolling in, participating in, paying for or otherwise facilitating or cooperating in coverage of any required practice or of any required provision of information.� “I commend The Center for the Advancement of Catholic Higher Education for taking a leadership role,� O’Donnell said. “We are honored to add our voice to this cry for fundamental justice.�
%VPMRKXSR (MSGIWI 4VMIWX *V 4EYP 7GEPME HIPMZIVIH E PIGXYVI to students on November 7 entitled Clarity and Charity: The Catholic Response to the Challenge of Homosexuality.
Winter 2011
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