Cardinal George Takes On President Obama's 'Unjust' Birth Control Mandate In Stern Letter

Chicago Archbishop Cardinal Francis George this week entered the fray of a national debate over President Obama's plan requiring most religiously affiliated employers to cover the costs of their employees' birth control -- a mandate the cardinal called "unjust."

George, formerly the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has issued a letter, that is reportedly slated to be read at all of the city's Catholic masses Sunday.

In the letter [PDF], George contends that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services "seemingly ignored 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." The cardinal continues:

We cannot -- we will not -- comply with this unjust law. People of faith cannot be made second class citizens because of their religious beliefs. ... Our parents and grandparents did not come to these shores to help build America’s cities and towns, its infrastructure and institutions, its enterprise and culture, only to have their posterity stripped of their God given rights. All that has been built up over so many years in our Catholic institutions should not be taken away by the stroke of an administrator’s pen. This order reduces the Church to a private club, destroying her public mission in society.

The cardinal urges city Catholics to pray and fast "so that wisdom and justice may prevail."

As the Chicago Tribune reports, New York Archbishop and current U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops president Timothy Dolan has also blasted the ruling.

Last month, the Obama administration announced the new rule, set forth by the Affordable Care Act, allowing most women employed in the U.S. will have the cost of their birth control covered with no co-pay. While churches and other places of worship will be exempt from the ruling, religiously affiliated employers -- such as universities and hospitals -- will no longer be able to deny their employees full birth control coverage. These employers have a year to comply with the ruling.

The ruling has been met with outrage by conservative religious groups who claim the regulation "jolted" them as it forces people of faith to choose between upholding their faith's doctrine and serving the broader society.

Likely as a result of that outrage, the Obama administration is expected Friday to announce a new compromise for religiously affiliated employers who object to offering birth control to their employees.

Results of a survey released Thursday found that a majority of respondents disagreed with the Catholic Church and other conservative religious groups' stance that the mandate "forcing religious groups, individuals, health providers, and health plans to perform or pay for a service that they may find morally objectionable" is wrong.

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Comments

[Corpilot]

12:43 AM on 02/13/2012

Maybe these guys should spend more time protecting children from priests and less worrying about womens birth control options......just sayin...

[Jeffrey Boutte]

11:51 PM on 02/11/2012

I have never seen such a more ignorant group of liberals in my life. The Catholic Church bashing on this site proves that none of you understand the issue or the Catholic Church's belief on birth control.

The Church is simply saying that She will not pay for or cooperate with insurers who provide birth control, sterilization, or abortifacients.

Besides, since when does the president have the authority to mandate any private company provide a service to a customer for free!? Can anyone answer that question? Where does the constitution allow this?

[ManwithaParachute]

11:22 AM on 02/12/2012

The Catholic Church has been complying with the same laws at the state level. So, why the outrage now? Please explain the Catholic Church's hypocrisy. It is ok for the the Catholic Church to comply with State governments but not with the federal, HUH?

Your constitution question is answered in the commerce clause. Congress gave the authority to the administration.

If you are so into freedom of religion I expect you to get out and march for other religion's freedom. How about animal sacrifice, peyote, bigamy, hemp, Christian Scientists denial of medical care......?

Religious organizations do not have the right to ignore LAW. The Catholic church is free to stop offering insurance. If they choose to offer it, they have to comply with the law. The Catholic church currently complies with similar laws in Europe and is silent.

[Terry Magyar]

02:29 AM on 02/13/2012

I suspect the self insured religious organizations are exempt from the state law. Many religious organizations are exempt from federal law. The Amish don't pay social security taxes, motor vehicle tax, or fuel tax. Muslims are exempt from Obamacare, they don't believ in insurance.

If you haven't noticed, Europe doesn't have a Constitution which guarantees religous freedom, so I can be protected from unbelievers.

[Mister Serene]

12:48 PM on 02/12/2012

The doctrine stems from the centuries old concept of "natural law" professed by Thomas Aquinas. It was long been debunked by science. It has also been challenged socially as well. We have long since learned that there is more to being a woman than being a baby machine from puberty to menopause or someone who must perform her "duty" whenever and how often her husband demands it.

[Mercury2303]

06:45 PM on 02/11/2012

Cardinal George and the boys in Rome have become irrelevant with most Catholics on this matter. Further, it is clear that they are totally ignorant and insensitive to the medicinal value of birth control pills for many women who have ovarian and uterine problems.

George and others should worry about the pedophilia problem and clean their own house. I think we've all had enough of their fire and brimstone.

[lakeshoretony]

01:01 PM on 02/11/2012

As a church going Catholic who site quietly every Sunday in pew 34 at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Chicago... I would like to say... I love to go to hear the word, but I also feel the Catholic Church should clean and organize within its own house, before they feel the need to come into mine and judge me, my house, or any others...

[1dogs2]

04:56 PM on 02/11/2012

Bravo. Whole-hearted agreement here.

[Michaela19801]

09:23 AM on 02/11/2012

My parents are practicing Catholics and beyond child rearing age, and they disagree with the Church's position on this.

[dans5843]

09:22 AM on 02/11/2012

Well Cardinal, you were "unjust" in calling gays are like the Nazi's".

Would you stop picking on people!

[hotbarb2614]

08:28 PM on 02/10/2012

It's against the teachings of the Catolic Church to use any form of Birth Control, So is it also against the teachings of the Cat6holic Church that let priests moleste little boys?

[robert horwitz]

07:07 PM on 02/10/2012

The Catholic Church should be given a lot of latitude regarding morality with all the pedophiles running around their organization. Thanks for your slant Cardinal George.

[BVictor1]

03:25 PM on 02/10/2012

What would a 'virgin' know about it?

[sdried]

02:19 PM on 02/10/2012

Cardinal George is exactly the kind of morally bankrupt mountebank that makes reasonable people, who would otherwise just as soon look the other way while he fleeces his flocks, DETEST organized religions!

[cminca]

02:02 PM on 02/10/2012

It has been reported that 98% of Catholic women use birth contol.

Cardinal George--your flock ain't buying what you are selling.

[VOTER]

09:03 AM on 02/11/2012

So true........

I wonder WHEN that FACT will finally become a REALITY for the Vatican?

[Gabriel Rodriguez Matos]

01:45 PM on 02/10/2012

Where was the outrage from all the bishops and cardinals when they were covering up criminal acts committed by priests and bishops all over the country? How is it that something like paying health insurance for contraception for employees in institutions that are not churches is such an uproar but your own priests molesting and sexually abusing little kids in their parishes didn't mess with their delicate sensibilities?

You should have been outraged then too! but instead, you were happy to cover it up and happy to pay for the silence of many victims, offering them cash hand over fist to buy their silence. The teachings of the church keep you from using money for contraception but it doesn't see a problem with paying for covering up the churches own criminal activities.

[helioszephyr]

01:23 PM on 02/10/2012

"...denying to Catholics our Nation’s first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty."

this mandate does not in any way impede religious liberty for anyone, including those Catholics wanting to participate in the program.
But the Cardinals mandate does impede "freedom from religion" as the constitution guarantees.

His assertion is contradictory in premise... telling the gov not to mandate, while he mandates and violates the right of choice for women. Personally, I don't even know any Catholic women who don't want this right. He's a bit out of touch.

The RCC should have no influence in legislation until it becomes a tax payer. Nor should it have a right to control anyone's health/body issues. Next, the RCC will want "personhood" status.

Why are grumpy old men, who have virtually no empathy/experience with women, always the ones pontificating what women should do with their personal health and bodies?

[allardkent]

01:06 PM on 02/10/2012

Francis George has a long history of throwing tantrums when people don't submit to him and his fossilized dogmatic world view. Like a king whose underling forgets to genuflect, he responds with anger and indignation. In his world the laws of the land are secondary to the neurotic designs of his universal church.

What he has yet to show is any passionate emotions regarding the brutal criminal horrors inflicted on children under his care and protection. The most he can dredge up is a sort of resignation that he can't spin the molestation like the control freak in him would prefer.

The sanctimonious passion he shows for the abstraction of a fertilized egg will never be matched by a passion for crushing the priestly fiends he has so consistently protected. Frankie George is truly beneath contempt, an enabler of the worst crime on earth, the sexual brutalization of children.

[DawnK]

01:02 PM on 02/10/2012

This coming from a man that recently accused participants in the pride parade as nazi's and who turned his head the other way while priests behaved like predators. All these men in the catholic church are nothing but a group of hypocritical dummies. I cannot wait until the catholic church is only comprised of men over 75 years of age.