Archbishop urges flock to fight ‘alarming’ religious liberty threat By George Raine San Francisco Archbishop George Niederauer is assailing a new federal rule that forces almost all employers, Catholics among them, to offer workers health coverage that includes sterilization, abortion-including drugs and contraceptives, labeling it an unjust redrafting of the principle of religious liberty. In a strongly worded rebuke of the edict, Archbishop Niederauer said in a statement that the government has effectively determined that religious institutions such as Catholic hospitals, Catholic Charities and Catholic Relief Services “are not truly religious employers because they
At the conclusion of the letter, dated Feb. 6, Archbishop Niederauer asks parishioners to email or write the White House and elected representatives urging them to reverse or repeal the regulation. He added, “We cannot – we will not – accept this unjust redrafting of the principle of religious liberty which our founders so rightly saw as an inalienable gift of God. People of faith cannot be made second-class citizens. And faith-based services to those in need in our society cannot be classified as non-religious by our national government.” The rule on preventive health services, said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, “will ensure that women with HHS, page 5
do not have as their primary purpose ‘the inculcation of religious values’ and do not primarily limit their services to those of their own faith.” The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, on Jan. 20, promulgated what Archbishop Niederauer called “a new and radical interpretation of religious freedom” when it announced new regulations regarding health insurance coverage of reproductive services which will be mandatory for employers in the United States. He slammed the rule as an “alarming and serious matter that negatively impacts the church in the United States” and asked pastors and administrators to include a copy of his letter to Catholics in parish bulletins the weekend of Feb. 11-12.
Appeals court upholds ruling overturning marriage initiative as unconstitutional
Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
By Valerie Schmalz
Irish abuse victim speaks
(CNS PHOTO/TONY GENTILE, REUTERS)
Irish abuse victim Marie Collins talks during a press conference in downtown Rome Feb. 7. Collins is attending a four-day symposium, “Toward Healing and Renewal,” at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. The symposium aims to prevent sexual abuse of minors by the Catholic clergy. Story on Page 4.
California voters violated the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution when they amended the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry, a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled Feb. 7. The long-awaited ruling on the 2008 voter initiative Proposition 8 sets the stage for a decisive battle on the issue at the U.S. Supreme Court. Advocates of the voter-enacted definition of marriage as only between a man and a woman said they would appeal to the nation’s highest court, as the state’s Catholic bishops responded with a statement reaffirming the marriage of a man and a woman as “the most basic building block of the family and society.” Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan, archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, denounced the ruling as “a grave injustice.” Oakland Bishop Salvatore Cordileone, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, called it “tragic for California, for the nation and especially for children.” Bill May, president of Catholics for the Common Good and a spokesman for the ProtectMarriage.com coalition that sponsored Prop. 8 and has defended it in court, said the ruling “was completely expected, and from the most-overturned court in the country.” MARRIAGE, page 8
Doctors wonder how federal mandate will affect practice of medicine By Nancy Frazier O’Brien WASHINGTON (CNS) – Whether they are just starting out or nearing the end of their careers, Catholics who want to practice medicine in conformity with the church’s teachings wonder how a new federal regulation requiring health plans to cover contraceptives and sterilization free of charge will affect their work. Although the requirement will not directly impact physicians, some said it represents a governmental intrusion into health care that could grow in the future. Dr. Anne Nolte, a family physician with the National Gianna Center for Women’s Health and Fertility in New York, thinks the mandate represents “such a dramatic violation of such clearly defined civil rights” that it is bound to be overturned in court.
Reality checks The U.S. bishops issued a six-point fact check on the impact of the U.S. Health and Human Services mandate on Catholic health care providers. The list of clarifications, which noted that commentators otherwise supportive of Obama administration health care policies have denounced the mandate, also countered “false and misleading” statements about the mandate that appeared in a White House blog post. More on Page 16. But, she said, “If Congress failed to pass an act that provides an exemption for the groups affected by this, and the courts in some incomprehensible way allow (the
mandate) to stand, then Catholic health care will have to make a decision to practice civil disobedience.” Dr. Kim Hardey, an obstetrician and gynecologist in Lafayette, La., said he hopes the decision by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Obama administration will cause Catholics and other Christians to rise up against “the liberal left” and “misguided feminists” who would like to see abortion also become a required part of every medical practice. “If we can allow the infringement of any group’s beliefs,” everyone’s beliefs are threatened, he told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview Jan. 31. The new contraception mandate, with a narrow exemption for religious organizations, is part of implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, DOCTORS, page 16
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION On the Street . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 News in brief. . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Father Barron . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Question Corner . . . . . . . . . 14
Persevering, ambitious Police Chief Greg Suhr ~ Page 3 ~ February 10, 2012
St. Anthony’s: Last meal in old building ~ Page 6 ~
Father Rolheiser . . . . . . . . . 15 Red hats: Close-up on cardinals, cardinal-making Datebook of events . . . . . . . 17 ~ Page 10-11 ~ www.catholic-sf.org
ONE DOLLAR
VOLUME 14
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No. 5