WASHINGTON, DC - Catholic dioceses and organizations, currently numbering 43, from across the country have filed religious liberty lawsuits against the federal government to challenge the Obama administration’s contraception mandate.
Timothy M. Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York called the act "a compelling display of the unity of the Church in defense of religious liberty.”The Cardinal, who is president of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), pointed out that the Bishops had made attempts at negotiation with the Administration and that "we'll keep at" but that "there's still no fix." He also called the action a great show of the diversity of the Church's ministries that serve the common good and that are jeopardized by the mandate.”"
In his Monday, May 21 statement, the Cardinal noted that “Time is running out, and our valuable ministries and fundamental rights hang in the balance, so we have to resort to the courts now.”
Though the USCCB is not a party to the lawsuits, several individual dioceses and archdioceses have taken the lead position.
The lawsuits argue that a federal mandate issued by the Obama administration violates their fundamental religious liberty. The controversial mandate will require employers to offer health insurance plans that cover contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, even if doing so violates their consciences.
The mandate has drawn heavy criticism from bishops in every diocese in the U.S. They warned that the regulation could force Catholic schools, hospitals and charitable agencies around the nation to close down.
At least 11 previous lawsuits have already been filed against the mandate by states, colleges, private employers and organizations throughout the U.S.
Now, 12 new lawsuits have been filed by 43 dioceses, hospitals, schools and church agencies in a dozen different jurisdictions across the country.
The Archdioceses of New York, St. Louis and Washington, D.C, are part of separate lawsuits against the measure, as are Catholic Charities organizations in several dioceses and the Catholic publishing group Our Sunday Visitor. Other dioceses filing lawsuits include, Rockville Centre, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Fort Worth, Jackson, Biloxi, Fort Wayne-South Bend, Joliet, and Springfield, Ill. -- all in their respective districts of federal court. In addition, several Catholic universities around the country also joined in the lawsuits, including The Catholic University of America, the University of Notre Dame and Franciscan University of Steubenville.
Notre Dame president Fr. John Jenkins, C.S.C., said the lawsuit was filed “neither lightly nor gladly, but with sober determination.”
He cautioned that when the government decides “which religious organizations are sufficiently religious to be awarded the freedom to follow the principles that define their mission,” the nation has started down a path that could lead to “the end of genuinely religious organizations in all but name.”
