March 23rd,National Rally for Religious Freedom: If It Were Up to Planned Parenthood, This Little Gent Would Never Dunk a Twinkie

Occupy an hour. Join Cardinal George and many more Catholics, including your humble correspondent, at Federal Plaza and object strongly to Planned Parenthood's Triumph of Will and Planned Parenthood's President's HHS Mandate. It is that important.

Our religious liberty is at stake.

This will be a national protest

Nationwide Rally for Religious Freedom
Friday, March 23, 2012 Noon – 1:00 pm
Federal Plaza, 50 W. Adams Street , Chicago



Six Things Everyone Should Know About the HHS Mandate 1. The mandate does not exempt Catholic charities, schools, universities, or hospitals. These institutions are vital to the mission of the Church, but HHS does not deem them "religious employers" worthy of conscience protection, because they do not "serve primarily persons who share the[ir] religious tenets." HHS denies these organizations religious freedom precisely because their purpose is to serve the common good of society—a purpose that government should encourage, not punish.

2. The mandate forces these institutions and others, against their conscience, to pay for things they consider immoral. Under the mandate, the government forces religious insurers to write policies that violate their beliefs; forces religious employers and schools to sponsor and subsidize coverage that violates their beliefs; and forces religious employees and students to purchase coverage that violates their beliefs.

3. The mandate forces coverage of sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs and devices as well as contraception. Though commonly called the "contraceptive mandate," HHS's mandate also forces employers to sponsor and subsidize coverage of sterilization. And, by including all drugs approved by the FDA for use as contraceptives, the HHS mandate includes drugs that can induce abortion, such as "Ella," a close cousin of the abortion pill RU-486.

4. Catholics of all political persuasions are unified in their opposition to the mandate. Catholics who have long supported this Administration and its healthcare policies have publicly criticized HHS's decision, including columnists E.J. Dionne, Mark Shields, and Michael Sean Winters; college presidents Father John Jenkins and Arturo Chavez; and Daughter of Charity Sister Carol Keehan, president and chief executive officer of the Catholic Health Association of the United States.

5. Many other religious and secular people and groups have spoken out strongly against the mandate. Many recognize this as an assault on the broader principle of religious liberty, even if they disagree with the Church on the underlying moral question. For example, Protestant Christian, Orthodox Christian, and Orthodox Jewish groups--none of which oppose contraception--have issued statements against the decision. The Washington Post, USA Today, N.Y. Daily News, Detroit News, and other secular outlets, columnists, and bloggers have editorialized against it.

6. The federal mandate is much stricter than existing state mandates. HHS chose the narrowest state-level religious exemption as the model for its own. That exemption was drafted by the ACLU and exists in only 3 states (New York, California, Oregon). Even without a religious exemption, religious employers can already avoid the contraceptive mandates in 28 states by self-insuring their prescription drug coverage, dropping that coverage altogether, or opting for regulation under a federal law (ERISA) that pre-empts state law. The HHS mandate closes off all these avenues of relief.

Six More Things Everyone Should Know About the HHS Mandate 1. The rule that created the uproar has not changed at all, but was finalized as is. Friday evening, after a day of touting meaningful changes in the mandate, HHS issued a regulation finalizing the rule first issued in August 2011, “without change.” So religious employers dedicated to serving people of other faiths are still not exempt as “religious employers.” Indeed, the rule describes them as “non-exempt.”

2. The rule leaves open the possibility that even exempt “religious employers” will be forced to cover sterilization. In its August 2011 comments, USCCB warned that the narrow “religious employer” exemption appeared to provide no relief from the sterilization mandate—only the contraception mandate—and specifically sought clarification. (We also noted that a sterilization mandate exists in only one state, Vermont.) HHS provided no clarification, so the risk remains under the unchanged final rule.

3. The new “accommodation” is not a current rule, but a promise that comes due beyond the point of public accountability. Also on Friday evening, HHS issued regulations describing the intention to develop more regulations that would apply the same mandate differently to “non-exempt, non-profit religious organizations”—the charities, schools, and hospitals that are still left out of the “religious employer” exemption. These policies will be developed over a one-year delay in enforcement, so if they turn out badly, their impact will not be felt until August 2013, well after the election.

4. Even if the promises of “accommodation” are fulfilled entirely, religious charities, schools, and hospitals will still be forced to violate their beliefs. If an employee of these second-class-citizen religious institutions wants coverage of contraception or sterilization, the objecting employer is still forced to pay for it as a part of the employer’s insurance plan. There can be no additional cost to that employee, and the coverage is not a separate policy. By process of elimination, the funds to pay for that coverage must come from the premiums of the employer and fellow employees, even those who object in conscience.

5. The “accommodation” does not even purport to help objecting insurers, for-profit religious employers, secular employers, or individuals. In its August 2011 comments, and many times since, USCCB identified all the stakeholders in the process whose religious freedom is threatened—all employers, insurers, and individuals, not just religious employers. Friday’s actions emphasize that all insurers, including self-insurers, must provide the coverage to any employee who wants it. In turn, all individuals who pay premiums have no escape from subsidizing that coverage. And only employers that are both non-profit and religious may qualify for the “accommodation.”

6. Beware of claims, especially by partisans, that the bishops are partisan. The bishops and their staff read regulations before evaluating them. The bishops did not pick this fight in an election year—others did. Bishops form their positions based on principles—here, religious liberty for all, and the life and dignity of every human person—not polls, personalities, or political parties. Bishops are duty bound to proclaim these principles, in and out of season.

The Polls Closed and Archbishop Sartain is Secretary of USCCB - Is Chicago His Next Stop?

Archbishop Sartain, who will become USCCB secretary in November 2012 and serve for three years, was elected on a 136-102 vote over Bishop Robert J. Cunningham of Syracuse, N.Y. As secretary, he also will chair the USCCB Committee on Priorities and Plans.

There was a vote yesterday. The American Catholic Bishops voted for leadership positions in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The structure of the conference (USCCB) consists of 16 standing committees (whose members are bishops) and the departments, secretariats, and offices that carry out the work of the committees. The leaders of these departments, secretariats, and offices report to the general secretariat of the conference.

The membership of the USCCB consists of all active and retired Latin-rite Catholic and Eastern Catholic bishops (i.e., archbishops, bishops, coadjutor bishops, and auxiliary bishops) of the United States and the Territory of the Virgin Islands, but not the bishops of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Territory of American Samoa, and the Territory of Guam

Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York is the President and the Executive Director

The Secretariat is the next level of significance with leadership over four Associates

Associate General Secretary — Pastoral Ministry and Planning
Associate General Secretary and Secretary of Policy and Advocacy
Associate General Secretary and Secretary of Administration
Assistant General Secretary for Planning

The Secretary of the Conference is a huge job. The former Bishop of Joliet, IL and current Archbishop of Seattle, WA is Archbishop J.P. Sartain.

Like Archbishop Timothy Dolan, Sartain is relatively young and orthodox in his ministry. In an interview with a Seattle newspaper Sartain stated,
“My stand on things is with the church. Always has been,” he said, noting that he not only accepts church teachings but has come to understand the wisdom of them. “I don’t see my role in any way as changing church teachings or challenging it.”




He manages by walking around. The Seattle Archdiocese has 600,000 registered Catholics in its rolls, but also ministers to the 1,000,000 folks who consider themselves Catholic. Coming from a very Catholic town, Joliet, Archbishop Sartain will get a great deal of walking around in the vast Pacific Northwest.


Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), which works for attorney Jeff Anderson in suing the Catholic Church called for Pope Benedict XVI to revoke his appointment to the Seattle Archdiocese. That is to be expected because Jeff Anderson has not had near enough of a pay day in Illinois.

If SNAP were not so heavily funded by the Catholic Church Traget-Specific new breed of ambulance chaser, I would be far less cynical of their motives.

Everyone hates pedophiles, almost as much as they hate soulless opportunists.

The Catholic Church is under attack from the Obama Administration, dedicated to Abortion and pandering to the GLBTQ activists for Homosexual Marriage.

The Catholic Church is under attack in Illinois from Planned Parenthood's Governor Pat Quinn and the Rahm Emanuel Administration in Chicago, which dangles the tax threat every other day - water, utilities, you name it.

Catholic schools remain a threat to the daffy stand-up comics of Public Education - Catholic schools do not fix lisps, they educate through core values with great success.

Interesting to note - Francis Cardinal George was a USCCB heavyweight serving as Vice President and President and came to Chicago from the American Northwest as Bishop of Yakima and Archbishop of Portland.

Could be that USCCB not only elected a Secretary, but may put Cardinal George's successor as Archbishop of Chicago into the limelight.

Hope so, Archbishop J. Peter Sartain knows Illinois, the challenges our Faith face, the threats, and the particular individuals who do not wish well of Catholics or their Church. More so, the guy likes to fish and manages by walking around.



Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/06/05/1693712/new-archbishop-nurturing-his-flock.html#ixzz1ds6pI4Fk