understanding the basics * defending a right

God's Gift, America's Heritage (1 of 7)

To the west of Nassau and Suffolk counties, a tower in lower Manhattan, rising ever-higher into the sky, bears the name of that which makes this nation great: freedom. America is synonymous with freedom. It is the hallmark of our republic.

Living in the land of the free, we inherit a legacy of liberty passed down from our founders. They put forth clearly and succinctly what freedom entails, enshrining the basic rights of every American in our nation's founding documents, most especially in the Bill of Rights. It was the genius of the American project to take what belongs to each person by virtue of their human dignity, their God-given liberties, and place these freedoms at the heart of a democratic society. In the United States, rights and freedoms were no longer the domain of rulers to parcel out. Here, those God-given rights were documented for all to see and none to snatch.

As believers, we hold especially dear our nation's guarantee to religious freedom and freedom of conscience. When the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1789, this freedom had the distinction of being the First Amendment. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," our founders wisely declared. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty's recent statement Our First, Most Cherished Liberty stresses the esteem with which those first citizens regarded this right.

"By the end of the 18th century, our nation's founders embraced freedom of religion as an essential condition of a free and democratic society. James Madison, often called the Father of the Constitution, described conscience as 'the most sacred of all property.' He wrote that 'the Religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate.' George Washington wrote that 'the establishment of Civil and Religious Liberty was the Motive that induced me to the field of battle.'"

With this appreciation of religious liberty. firmly in place alongside other freedoms, the founders and a new nation set out on a bold experiment. Over the centuries, injustices in the application of our fundamental rights were overcome despite resistance and because of courage: freedom would no longer be conditioned by color; suffrage would belong to all. Setbacks came with growth, most egregiously, when the fundamental right to life was denied to our most vulnerable, the unborn. However, as our union strove to become more perfect, respect for our fundamental rights, including our right to religious liberty and freedom of conscience, seemed assured. That is, until recently.

First in a series of seven bulletin inserts.

for further information visit www.usccb org and www.cirvc.org

Writing recently in America magazine, Harvard Law Professor Mary Ann Glendon noted that in the United Sates, "Citizens of all faiths have long taken for granted the unique model of religious freedom that has enabled the nation's diverse religions to flourish and to coexist in relative harmony." How true. Certainly on Long Island, where believers from every, tradition live side-by-side, we can quickly overlook the gift of religious freedom that is ours. We can take for granted its splendor and forget the impact it has in shaping our nation and community.

Undoubtedly, America's greatness is built upon hard work and daring. But there is more to the country than sweat and courage. Its greatness stems from the fact that people are free to be themselves, free to live life according to the dictates of their conscience. America's proud heritage of religious freedom, though not always appreciated, has given the country a firm foundation. It has enabled people to be themselves and contribute that greatest gift—their total self, faith included—to the life of the nation.

Presently, however, Professor Glendon sees this vital freedom, so crucial to American life, as endangered. She warns, "Recent legal and political developments.. suggest that the first freedom in our First Amendment maybe en route to becoming a lesser right—one that can be easily overridden by other rights, claims and interests." Our first freedom is being reduced from the fullness it had in the eyes of our founders to freedom of worship. Freedom of conscience is being left behind. Two examples of this pattern stand out. They directly impact the charitable work of the Church:

• In recent years, Boston, San Francisco, the District of Columbia, and the state of Illinois have driven local Catholic Charities out of the work of providing adoption or foster care services—by revoking their licenses, by ending their government contracts, or both—because those Charities refused to place children with unmarried opposite-sex couples who cohabit or same-sex couples.
• Notwithstanding years of excellent performance by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Migration and Refugee Services in administering contract services for victims of human trafficking, the federal government changed its contract specifications to require the Church to provide or refer for contraceptive and abortion services in violation of Catholic teaching.

In both circumstances, by curtailing the robustness of our religious liberty and impinging on our freedom of conscience, America's heritage of religious freedom is threatened. Unfortunately, these two instances are part of a bigger trend. More recently, and in an unprecedented manner, the federal government issued a mandate concerning contraception and sterilization which again threatens to limit our cherished first freedom.

On January 20, 2012, President Obama approved new regulations from the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that would require most private health insurers, including, with few exceptions, all Catholic employers, to cover sterilization, contraception and drugs that induce abortion, even if they have religious objections against doing so. Despite a so-called accommodation by, the Administration on February 10, the sweeping HHS mandate stands today little changed. Some were satisfied with the President's concession, but not our shepherds. Speaking for his brother bishops about the current regulations, Cardinal Dolan said, "We're still as worried as ever."

In an unprecedented way, the Administration's plan for better healthcare impinges upon the religious liberty of the nation's citizens. The HHS regulations will both force religious institutions to facilitate and fund a product contrary to their own moral teaching and purport to define which religious institutions are religious enough to merit protection of their religious liberty. Upon taking effect next year, the mandate will force religious employers, like Catholic Health Services of Long Island and Catholic Charities, which provide services beyond the Catholic community, to violate their moral convictions and religious beliefs.

Some see the issue as concerning only contraception or sterilization, but it encompasses much more. As Archbishop-designate William Lori of Baltimore testified to Congress,"This is not a matter of whether contraception may be prohibited by the government. This is not even a matter of whether contraception may be supported by the government. Instead, it is a matter of whether religious people and institutions may be forced by the government to provide coverage for contraception or sterilization, even if that violates their religious beliefs."

Bishop Murphy makes clear what is at stake: our cherished freedom. "This mandate," he says, "directly interferes with the freedom of conscience of individuals and with the freedom of religious belief and practice of our Catholic institutions. The Administration has chosen to cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, denying to Catholics our nation's first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty and free exercise of conscience."

The HHS mandate is alarming. It is the most recent infringement upon our nation's understanding of religious freedom. It shrinks the grandeur of religious freedom that Americans have long valued as both freedom to worship and freedom of conscience. It continues a pattern that seeks to marginalize faith, making it a purely private matter, irrelevant to the shaping of the life of the nation.

"As a community of faith, we must commit ourselves to prayer and fasting that wisdom and justice may prevail and religious liberty may be restored."

BISHOP WILLIAM MURPHY

Almighty God, Father of all nations, for freedom you have set us free in Christ Jesus (Gal5:1).

We praise and bless you for the gift of religious liberty, the foundation of human rights, justice, and the common good. Grant to our leaders the wisdom to protect and promote our liberties; By your grace may we have the courage to defend them, for ourselves and for all those who live in this blessed land.

We ask this through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, our-patroness, and in the name of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, with whom you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.