‘We will not violate our faith’: Hearing examines mandate’s impact on liberty
Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
(CNS PHOTO/ALESSANDRO BIANCHI, REUTERS)
By Carol Zimmermann
New US cardinals share quips, reflections Newly elevated U.S. Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York laughs next to his mother, Shirley Dolan, wearing a white sweater, at the Vatican Feb. 20. Asked about Italian news media speculation that Cardinal Dolan could make pope one day, fellow newly inducted U.S. Cardinal Edwin F. O’Brien quipped, “His mother thinks so.” When Cardinal Dolan was asked about being “papabile” – “pope-able” in Italian – the New York archbishop laughed it off, claiming – in Italian – that he did not understand the question. On Feb. 17, Cardinal-designate Dolan delivered a well-received address to the College of Cardinals on evangelization. Read about the speech on Page 3.
WASHINGTON (CNS) – During a nearly five-hour congressional hearing Feb. 16, religious leaders explained how the contraceptive mandate in the U.S. health reform plan is an affront to their religious liberty rights. Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Conn., chairman of the bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, and two Catholic college presidents were among 10 panelists who addressed the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Panel members included an Orthodox rabbi, a Baptist minister, the president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and officials from Christian universities. The hearing took place nearly a week after President Barack Obama revised a federal contraceptive mandate, saying religious employers could decline to cover contraceptives and sterilization if they were morally opposed to them, but the health insurers that provide their health plans would be required to offer contraceptives free of charge to women who requested such coverage. The revision came after three weeks of intensive criticism that Department of Health and Human Services’ contraception mandate would require most religious institutions to pay for coverage they find morally objectionable, despite a limited religious exemption. The religious leaders at the hearing said the change still violated their religious freedoms because it involved the government requiring their participation, even indirectly, in practices they disagreed with on moral grounds. Democrats at the hearing were highly critical of the lack of female panelists and two of them walked out after expressing concern that women were not able to discuss the importance of free access to contraception. There were no women on the first panel and two on the second. None of the witnesses spoke in favor of the contraceptive mandate in the health reform law. U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., committee chairman, reminded lawmakers that the hearing was not about contraception but about the law’s impact on freedom of religion and conscience. The hearing was titled: “Lines Crossed: MANDATE, page 6
Kenyan man who grew up hungry devotes career to famine relief By George Raine There were many days when Peter Kimeu, growing up in Kenya, sat on a small hill above a path waiting for passers-by to spit out chewed-up sugar cane or toss a banana peel. He’d race down the hill and collect the garbage, then chew it. It gave him the energy to go back to class. At night, at the family’s mud hut, he kept a pot of water boiling in the hope that his parents would somehow bring home food that could be cooked. Often they came home emptyhanded, and said to Peter and his three sisters, “Tough luck.” “I would not even go to the market area because I am afraid of seeing or even smelling food,” said Kimeu, “It was very challenging, because I knew I can’t have it. I have no food and I can’t afford it.” That gave Kimeu motivation. He has spent the past 31 years working for Catholic Relief Services seeking to reduce hunger – hunger that makes people angry. He has also been engaged in health care, emergency response, community participation and the building of reservoirs and other improvements for people who have very little, in East Africa. He is in the United States as Lent begins to encourage
‘It is part of our responsibility as Catholics to raise our voices where the poor are going to be injured in any way.’ – Peter Kimeu Catholics to generously participate in Operation Rice Bowl, CRS’ Lenten program that began in 1975 as an ecumenical response to the drought in the African Sahel. Today, donations help fund development programs designed to increase food security around the world. The Horn of Africa, it happens, is one of the most food insecure regions of the world. Coupled with conflict in Somalia, it is insecure on every front. The worst drought since 1950 struck the region in 2011, bringing suffering to 4.5 million people, said Kimeu, who also develops partnerships between Catholic dioceses in
the U.S. and African communities – although none are in California. Decent rain fell during the “short rain” period, October to December, and so cows and goats are eating and supplying milk, he said. There are bountiful and nutritious cowpeas. The number of people in most need fell some. The “long rain” is the period February into May, but the forecast is not promising, Kimeu said last week while visiting Santa Clara University. “If the long rains do not show up and there is drought the situation will be back to what it was in 2011,” he said. FAMINE, page 21
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION On the Street . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 News in brief. . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Father Barron . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Local news . . . . . . . . . . 20-22 Father Rolheiser . . . . . . . . . 23
Wedding Guide ~ Pages 8-13 ~ February 24, 2012
‘Faithful Citizenship’ in an election year ~ Page 16 ~
Sculptor: Realism is back in church art ~ Page 20 ~
ONE DOLLAR
Service Directory . . . . . . . . 26 Classified ads . . . . . . . . . . . 27
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