By Bishop Michael D. Pfeifer, Bishop of the Diocese of San Angelo

Because of recent decisions and actions by the Obama administration and other government offices, the U.S. Catholic bishops are concerned that religious liberty—the First Freedom is under attack. The U.S. Catholic bishops clearly state that we need to safeguard religious liberty inherent in the dignity of the human person. We recognized our need to protect this foundational principle of our country one that has been enshrined in the United States Constitution, further enumerated in the First Amendment, and explicitly extended to all U.S. citizens. The Framers of the Constitution themselves understood this “First Freedom” to be based on the norms inherent in Natural Law—namely, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, and that among these rights are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

This basic right, in its many and varied applications for Christians and people of faith, is now increasingly and in unprecedented ways under assault in America. This is most particularly so in an increasing number of federal government programs or policies that would infringe upon the right of conscience of people of faith or otherwise harm the foundational principle of religious liberty.

To address this urgent and critical situation, the U.S. Catholic bishops, guided by the President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Most Reverend Archbishop Timothy Dolan, have set up a special committee to address these abuses of religious liberty. For the rest of this article I share with you the light and direction given to the bishops and the Catholic people of our country to address this critical issue—Religious Liberty—the First Freedom is under attack.

Linked to these life issues mentioned by Archbishop Dolan, I add another concern of the bishops. Recently the Department of Health and Human Services released fewer Funding Opportunity announcements for initiatives that promote healthy marriages—as long as those projects do not include abstinence- education programs. Preventing funding for abstinence programs will especially prevent youth from receiving sexual—abstinence kills, and this is indeed very troubling as it completely ignores the body of research that now link teen sex to future divorce in marriage. This is just another number of blows against abstinence education by the presidential administration.

“As shepherds of over 70 million U.S. citizens we share a common and compelling responsibility to proclaim the truth of religious freedom for all, and so to protect our people from this assault which now appears to grow at an ever accelerating pace in  ways most of us could never have imagined.”

“Accordingly, I am pleased now to announce to you the establishment of the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty. I have asked Bishop William Lori to chair the committee and he generously accepted my invitation. Over the next few weeks, members of the committee will be added who have particular expertise in this area as well as those who have shown interest. The Ad Hoc Committee will work closely with national organizations, charities, ecumenical and interreligious partners and scholars to form a united and forceful front in defense of religious freedom in our nation.”

Archbishop Dolan points out that to address the abuses in the vital area of liberty, he points out a list of new threats to religious liberty that have arisen in the past few months.

“The federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued regulations that would mandate the coverage of contraception (including abortifacients) and sterilization in all private health insurance plans. There is an exception for certain religious employers, but, to borrow from Sr. Carol Keehan, DC, President of The Catholic Health Association, it would cover only the “parish housekeeper.” And the exception does nothing to protect insurers or individuals with religious or moral objections to the mandate.

HHS is also requiring that MRS provide the “full range of reproductive services” to trafficking victims and unaccompanied minors in its cooperative agreements and government contracts—and we all know what that means. This is exactly the position urged by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in the ongoing lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of MRS’s contracts as, ironically, a violation of religious liberty.

Catholic Relief Services is also concerned that USAID, under the Department of State, is increasingly requiring comprehensive HIV prevention activities (for example, condom distribution), as well as full integration of reproductive health activities including provision of artificial contraception, within a range of international relief and development programs. Under the direction of the board, CRS is following up on these concerns.

The federal Department of Justice has ratcheted up its attack on the Defense of Marriage ACT (DOMA) as an act of bigotry. As you know, in March, the Department stopped defending DOMA against constitutional challenges, and the Conference spoke out against that decision. But in July, the Department started filing briefs actively attacking DOMA’s constitutionally, claiming that supporters of the law could only have been motivated by bias and prejudice. If the label of “bigot” sticks to us—especially in court—because of our teaching on marriage, we’ll have church-state conflicts for years to come as a result.

The New York legislature passed, and the Governor signed, a law redefining marriage, with only a very narrow religious exemption. Already, county clerks face legal action for refusing to participate in same-sex unions, and gay rights advocates are publicly emphasizing how little religious freedom protection people and groups will enjoy under the new law.

Additionally, last week I wrote to President Obama to object to the continuing threats to religious liberty in the context of the effort to redefine legal marriage promoted by his Administration. I had previously written to him privately, as had my predecessor Cardinal George, but, since neither of us had received a response, and, since the trends continued, I decided to make this letter public. I have offered to meet with the President to discuss these concerns and to impress upon him the dire nature of these actions by government.

Never before have we faced this kind of challenge to our ability to engage in the public square as people of faith and as a service provider. If we do not act now, the consequence will be grave.”

These critical life issues as regards religious liberty need to be studied carefully by all Catholics in the framework of divine truth as given to us by God and the define teaching of our Catholic Church. Soon we will enter into the presidential year, and these are very important issues that every responsible Catholic, and people of good will, must take into account as we consider casting a vote for the highest office of our land.

More than ever we need to pray for the assistance of the Holy Spirit to guide us with light, wisdom, courage and especially teach us how to be faithful to the truth. Please join me in prayer to ask the Holy Spirit to give us guiding light in these troubling times.