Bishop Slattery addressing the Obama Administration’s “Accommodation.”
The following is +Slattery’s original address concerning the HHS Mandate.
FULL TEXT
February 2, 2012
Solemnity of the Presentation of Our Lord
To all the Clergy, Religious and Lay Faithful of the Diocese of Tulsa,
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
These are dire times in which we live and dire times require that we not mince words but speak with authority when it comes to matters of faith, conscience and truth.
I wish to join the Bishops of this country in expressing my fear that religious liberty in the United States is even now under attack from those elected officials whose duty it is to protect the inalienable right we have from God to worship Him and to defend the Constitution of the United States which guarantees that our right of conscience may neither be violated nor held in contempt.
With the Bishops and with all right thinking Americans, I protest as strongly as I can the decision made by the Secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services on January 20 which will require every Catholic in the United States to violate his or her Christian conscience and support abortion, abortion-inducing drugs, unnatural chemical contraception and direct sterilization.
As you know, in 2010 President Obama signed into law the Health Care Reform Act. This Act, the legality of which has already been challenged in the Supreme Court, makes it compulsory for every citizen to buy or procure health insurance. This same law gives to President Obama’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, unprecedented power over all health insurance. On January 20, Ms. Sebelius issued a ruling that will require every insurance policy – even policies issued privately – to cover the cost of those actions which are in themselves always and everywhere immoral and contrary to the law of God.
This means that all of our Catholic schools and hospitals, our charitable agencies and welfare institutions, our dioceses and all our parishes will be required to cover the complete cost of chemical contraception, sterilization and abortion. If this mandate is not overturned, we Catholics will be compelled by law either to violate our conscience in a matter of grave sin, or to cancel the health insurance we offer to those who work for the Church, or for the hospitals, schools and agencies through which the Church exercises it mission.
Until now, nonprofit religious institutions have always had the right to exempt themselves from having to offer coverage if it contradicts their basic religious beliefs or violates their conscience. This right was guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution. This is no longer the case. Sebelius’ January 20 decision gives us one year to comply or suffer the consequences.
As your bishop, I want to make it clear that I consider this mandate unconstitutional, unjust and evil.
This mandate is unconstitutional because it does not allow us the full and unfettered practice of our faith. The religious freedom guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution is not simply the freedom to worship God on Sunday morning, but also the freedom to worship Him by living moral lives. No Catholic can claim to live a moral life and at the same time support contraception, direct sterilization and abortion. The first amendment guarantees us the freedom not to participate in health care plans that would require us to insure and pay for actions that are gravely sinful.
Because this mandate is unconstitutional, we will refuse to comply with it.
This mandate is evil, because not only does it require that all Catholics cooperate in sin by providing for and paying for coverage for gravely immoral actions which have as their final end the destruction of human life, but also by requiring that Catholics who do not cooperate in this should be punished. Were we to comply with this law, we would offend God and imperil our souls. We will not comply.
This mandate is unjust because it imposes a secular definition of religious freedom that makes it a crime to practice our faith in the public square. It is the Church – not the government – which has the right to determine how and when we practice our faith. In this matter, President Obama’s administration has overstepped its authority. This is what Pope Leo XIII cautioned against when he wrote over a hundred years ago: “if the will of rulers is opposed to the will and the laws of God, then those rulers exceed the bounds of their own power and pervert justice. Nor can their authority be valid, since authority without justice is null.”
From the founding of our nation, we Catholic have always obeyed the laws. But this law, we cannot obey.
I ask you as a fellow American, I beg you as your Bishop, pray and do penance that this matter be resolved according to God’s will. I also hope you will contact your senators and congressmen in Washington to protest this outrage against our religious liberty and demand that this decision be overturned.
In this difficulty as in all things, let us place our confidence in Jesus.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Rev. Edward J. Slattery
Bishop of Tulsa -
12 comments
Randell F Busby says:
Feb 7, 2012
On Sunday I sat in church as our Pastor read a screed from the Roman Catholic bishop of Tulsa personally attacking President Obama for requiring the billion-dollar Catholic healthcare industry to provide reproductive healthcare for its female employees. As the shepherd of his flock, Tulsa bishop Edward Slattery has the right to communicate the moral principles espoused by his church. However, his diatribe contained statements and accusations that were materially false—he lied.
Most troubling was the repeated linkage of birth control pills and abortion as moral equivalents—this from the same hierarchy that proclaimed the rape of children by priests and discussion of the ordination of women as morally equivalent. As a faithful Christian and Roman Catholic, I believe that in all instances abortion is murder and intrinsically evil. But, I also believe there are occasions when abortion is, tragically, the lesser of two evils.
The timing of this personal attack on President Obama was neither coincidental or without co-conspirators: the Roman Catholic and Mormon hierarchies (both with a history violence and subjugation of marginalized peoples) have been in cahoots for years as they work to subvert American democracy. Neither is it coincidental that every viable candidate in the 2012 GOP Presidential primary is either Mormon or Roman Catholic.
Loyal Americans must fight to protect our constitutional rights. We must stand for the right of women to control their bodies—even when we consider their choices abhorrent. We must prevent zealots (left or right) from further eroding American liberty.
Oz says:
Feb 12, 2012
@Randell
Many points to be made from your comments. First, it was the Obama administration that came out with this mandate. Not a choreographed screed from Catholics and Mormons (there’s one I haven’t heard). As a matter of fact they did this prior to the Pro-Life March. A direct slap in the face. Second, you call yourself a Catholic and in the same sentence go against the Church. Which is it? Are you a Catholic and abide by Church teaching or do you conveniently pick and choose what to ascribe to?
Sadly, it’s pretty obvious you are not a Catholic who follows this particular teaching. You rail against the Church and post defamations and allegations that aren’t backed with any links or anything at all.
We all know that people fall. The Church knows that and has fought that for its 2,000 years of existence. It’s been attacked from the inside and the outside. How have you helped? By going on online and posting invective? How about you post something praising the clergy, the nuns, and so on who help millions of people day in and day out.
Please, this disgusting president and his administration are a disgrace. They are NOT the victims. What a lame try by you.
Bravo Kim C!
Kim C says:
Feb 7, 2012
Birth control pills can cause an early abortion. They act in 1 of 2 ways: prevent ovulation or prevent implantation by altering the lining of the uterus. He isn’t wrong. Most Americans just don’t know that. Therefore contraception can cause abortions.
Not providing contraceptive coverage isn’t subverting American democracy unless you believe ‘democracy’ actually means a group of radical secularists redefining the Constitution and imposing their views on the rest of Americans. Your last line cracks me up; how can you not see this as eroding of American liberty unless you believe the sentence immediately preceding this one?
The fact that employers be allow to exempt from covering contraception doesn’t limit a woman from using them anymore than the fact that they don’t now cover them limits a woman. There are plenty of places where a woman can buy her contraception and plenty that offer them at a reduced cost. The Church need not be one of those places. Might I point out that contraception fails from the intent of preventing pregnancy so it isn’t the best thing to use for a woman to ‘control her body’. Might I also point out, as a woman, that the most ‘controlling’ thing I can do with my body, in terms of pregnancy or not, is to decide whether or not to engage in an act whose biological end is pregnancy. As a side, NFP can be as effective (or more) than the pill to prevent pregnancy, and your local Catholic church agency would be more than happy to point you to an instructor.
P.S. conspiracy theories need to go. It’s the equivalent of me saying “The secular radicalists have been in cahoots for years as they work to subvert American democracy. It isn’t coincidental that every viable candidate in the 2012 Democrat primary is a radical secularist”; although actually, mine sounds a lot more like the truth we’re seeing unfold.
Randell F Busby says:
Feb 9, 2012
The actions of a minority group of people to subvert the will of the greatest political system ever to exist, is indeed a conspiracy… nothing theoretical about it.
Both the Mormon and Roman Catholic Churches (note that I correctly name the *Roman* wing of the universal church since there are 20 other communicant bodies of Catholicism and some others are, apparently, “baby killers” too).
The right wing (neo-fascists) is trying to legislate morality because of their complete lack of moral or ethical suasion in the modern arena. The Roman Catholic Church, in particular, is morally destitute. In fact, your hero Ed Slattery is wasting parishioner’s money as we write as he defends sexual predators and cover-ups in his own administration.
This is not a constitutional issue!!!! For 200 years, the first amendment has been interpreted one of two ways: 1) prohibiting the establishment of a national religion by Congress, or 2) the preference by the U.S. government of one religion over another. Neither of these approaches applies to this situation. In fact, it only becomes a constitutional question when the President or Congress exempt a specific non-sectarian entity from the requirements of a law or statute.
Twenty-eight states already require this benefit (some with NO religious exemption), and thousands of Roman Catholic colleges, hospitals, and agencies already provide women’s reproductive healthcare. Where was the hierarchy when all that happened!?!?
This is politics, plains and simple. It disgusts me that our “shepherds” are intentionally, and with malice, manipulating the well meaning and good hearted faithful into a lather for craven political ends.
Kim C says:
Feb 7, 2012
Way to go Bishop Slatery! When the administration seeks to trample on the religious liberty of others, I hope they are appreciative of the fight the Catholic bishops and laity put up for them.
K. Michael O'Donovan says:
Mar 17, 2012
This might be the first time some of our “Catholic” politicians ever heard the word “NO” from a Catholic Bishop. It’s about time.
Jeff Becerra says:
Sep 17, 2012
So am I to believe that in order for me to be a good Catholic I have to vote Republican? This article is very upsetting to me. It sounds like the Church is more concerned with costs and the bottom line than allowing poor and needy people to receive free health care. I do not want to offend anybody here, but I am a proud Catholic and I am also a Democrat. I am also against contraception of any kind and have raised my kids to believe in this way of thinking as well.
Tino says:
Oct 4, 2012
Jeff, hang in there. I, too, am Democrat and constantly have to listen to more affluent church members rant about their “issues” with our president. You are doing the right thing in my book. We all err and I will always err on the side of the poor and needy. Someone we go to see every Sunday did the same thing. How wrong can we be??
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Nov 19, 2012
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Christina says:
Oct 25, 2012
Jeff & Tino, The Church is not saying you always have to vote Republican in order to be a Good Catholic. But YOU must vote life and religious freedom in order to be a Christian. The word Christian is Christ Like. If Jesus himself had to decide between 2 people, 1 for life and 1 for killing babies, which one do you think he would choose? I personally hurt for the murdered babies, however if you want to kill your child or take birth control it is not my call. I just do not want to be forced to pay for it. One day I will stand before God in Judgement and I do not want the stain of unborn children’s blood on my soul. As far as religious freedom is concerned, today a little is taken away and it’s only the beginning! If we allow the Government they will run all Churches by way of new laws and regulations in the name of the poor. I too support the poor and needy and know it is our duty as Christian’s to help when and where we can. I am a Democrat as well; But I am a Christian first and I will not vote for anyone who is for abortion or for taking our religious freedoms away.
How wrong can LIFE be?
glenda chester white says:
Jan 2, 2013
I believe that All Churches have a lot of power and united they can stand together and support our religious freedom. Religious freedom is not the only Freedom at stack here.
Bishop Lic Canot,Th.D.DD. says:
Mar 14, 2013
The Lord be with all of your.
CATHOLIC APOSTOLIC AUTONOMY CHURCH