Archbishop Schwietz: "The Church cannot comply with this unjust law"

Archbishop Roger Schwietz

From the Catholic Anchor:

In a letter to be read at all Masses throughout the archdiocese on Jan. 28 and 29, Archbishop Schwietz called on the current generation of Catholics to defend the religious liberties previous generations established. Similar letters from Catholic bishops are scheduled to be read in dioceses all across the country.

“The federal government, which claims to be ‘of, by, and for the people,’ has just dealt a heavy blow to almost a quarter of those people — the Catholic population — and to the millions more who are served by the Catholic faithful,” Archbishop Schwietz wrote.

The new rules from the Department of Health and Human Services mandates insurance coverage for sterilization, contraception and abortion inducing drugs. These are immoral according to Catholic teaching and yet the mandate’s religious exemption does not apply to many Catholic institutions and organizations.

“Almost all health insurers will be forced to include those ‘services’ in the health policies they write. And almost all individuals will be forced to buy that coverage as a part of their policies,” Archbishop Schwietz wrote.

He added that “with this ruling, the Administration has 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 as a result, unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics will be compelled either to violate our consciences, or to drop health coverage for our employees (and suffer the penalties for doing so).”

Archbishop Schwietz noted that the “sole concession” in the mandate was to give Catholic institutions one year to comply with the new rule.

“The Church cannot comply with this unjust law,” Archbishop Schwietz said. “People of faith cannot be made second class citizens. We are already joined by our brothers and sisters of all faiths and many others of good will in this important effort to regain our religious freedom.”

The Archbishop went further:

In a call to action, Archbishop Schwietz urged Catholics to speak out publicly.

“In generations past, the church has always been able to count on the faithful to stand up and protect her sacred rights and duties,” he wrote. “I hope and trust she can count on this generation of Catholics to do the same. Our children and grandchildren deserve nothing less.”

For the full article please see the Catholic Anchor

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