Maybe There Is a Catholic Vote

Maybe There IS a Catholic Vote!

By

JC Sullivan 

In a mandate that every U.S. employer must provide birth control, sterilization and abortion-causing drugs to their employees, free of charge, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, like the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, has awakened a sleeping giant – American Catholics. Not since Roe v Wade has there been such a firestorm in the American Catholic community regarding issues core to their moral beliefs and their rights of citizenship.  We believe the actions of the Obama administration are both unconstitutional and immoral.

In Rome, Pope Benedict XVI delivered a remarkable address to a group of visiting American bishops. He praised America’s founders for their commitment to religious liberty and their belief that Judeo-Christian moral teachings are essential to shaping citizens and democratic institutions. “The Holy Father warned that our heritage of religious freedom faces “grave threats” from the “radical secularism” of political and cultural opinion leaders who are “increasingly hostile to Christianity,” said Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez.  

In a letter to American Catholics, a portion which was obtained by Business Insider  reads “In so ruling, the Obama  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 to either violate our consciences, or to drop health coverage for our employees (and suffer the penalties for doing so). The Obama Administration’s sole concession was to give our institutions one year to comply.”

Adding insult to injury, the U.S. Army, obviously under the direction of the Obama White House, has now forbidden Catholic military chaplains from reading letters to parishioners from their respective Bishops. It is reported the Secretary of the Army fears any such letters could be viewed as a call for civil disobedience.

On January, 26, Archbishop for the Military Services Timothy Broglio emailed a letter to Catholic military chaplains with instructions that it was to be mentioned in the Mass announcements and included as an insert in church bulletins that would be distributed from the back of chapels. The very next day chaplains were told by the Army’s Office of the Chief of Chaplains that the letter was NOT to be read from the pulpit. The Archbishop is standing firm, based on legal case law, saying that such a directive from the army is a violation of the Constitution and the right of free speech and exercise of religion.

While the issues won’t be resolved until the U.S. Supreme Court decides, nonetheless, Catholic voters, and others, have been rightfully aroused and angered.