Letter Bishops read at Masses vs. HHS Mandate

Letters Bishops read at Masses vs. HHS Mandate

In pursuit of the truth – www.cinopsbegoneblogspot.com –Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012

Preface: Now that the bishops have spoken out; when will the laity in the public arena? More than 115 U.S. Bishops read letters or inserted them into parish bulletins on Jan. 29th in opposition to HHSM.

l. One of the strongest letters* was issued by Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Neb., who said Catholics may be asked to suffer to maintain their Catholic beliefs. He also attacked HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius as a “bitter fallen-away-Catholic.” “We cannot and will not comply with this unjust decree. Like the martyrs of old<” Bruskewitz wrote in a letter he ordered to be read at all Masses, “we must be prepared to accept suffering which could include heavy fines and imprisonment. “Our American religious liberty is in grave jeopardy,” he explained. “This means that all of our Catholic schools, hospitals, social service agencies, and the like will be forced to participate in evil.”… [*Paul Likoudis wrote this article in “The Wanderer”- Feb. 9, 2012]

2. In Phoenix, Bishop Thomas Olmstead denounced the HHH regulations for making Catholics “second-class citizens,” “stripped of their God-given rights.

3. In Marquette, Mich., Bishop Alexander Sample said that when the rules go into effect next year – unless repealed by congressional legislation – “we Catholics will be compelled to either violate our consciences, or to drop health coverage for our employees and suffer the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.

4. In a letter to the faithful of New Orleans, Archbishop Gregory Aymond appealed for Catholics to take action against the regulation, describing the mandate as an “unprecedented attack on religious liberty” by which the state is “violating our rights to make choices based on our moral and Church teaching.”

5. Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh said the new HHS mandate “comes like a slap in the face.” “It is really had to believe that it happened. It comes like a slap in the face. “The Obama administration has just told the Catholics in the United States, ‘TO HELL WITH YOU!’ THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO PUT IT… “We’ll give you a year, they are saying, and then you have to knuckle under. As Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops responded, ‘in effect, the president is saying that we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences.’

6. In the Diocese of Peoria, Ill. Bishop Daniel Jenky asked that the faithful say the Prayer to St. Michael at all Masses until the issue is resolved. [ Health and Human Service Mandate a.k.a. Hell’s Human Sex Mandate.]

7. Bishop Paul Loverde of Arlington, Va., said: “I am absolutely convinced that an unprecedented and very dangerous line has been crossed that goes to the heart of the freedom of religion, and that this action does intolerable violence to our First Amendment rights,” and he called on the faithful to “be prepared to engage in a strong defense in the civil arena of the basic human right of religious liberty.”

8. In Harrisburg, Pa., Bishop Joseph McFadden asked that his letter be read in all parishes. He said the HHS mandate is “an alarming and serious matter that poses the greatest threat to religious liberty in our lifetimes. He asked parishioners to “prayerfully and respectfully make known your objections to this intolerable ruling and insist that your rights of conscience as a Catholic citizen be restored.”

George H. Kubeck: There is a need to evangelize in Orange County, California. It is more than pro-life. There is a war against the family. Whoever wrote Bishop Todd Brown’s “HHS Mandate & Religious Liberty” should resign?