A Call to Action -A question of conscience.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has finalized a rule requiring that all employers provide full prescription contraception coverage to their employees. A house of worship would not have to include such coverage in their health plans, but all other religious organizations, including, for example, diocesan offices, Catholic schools, catholic charities such as soup kitchens or Catholic Community Services, would be forced to pay for prescription contraceptives, including abortifacients such as the "morning-after pill," as well as sterilization. Find out more about this rule on the diocesan website.
Letter to parishioners from Bishop Wester.
"Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I write to you concerning an alarming and serious matter that negatively impacts the church in the United States directly, and that strikes at the fundamental right to religious liberty for all citizens of any faith.
The U. S. Department of Health and Human Services promulgated a new and radical interpretation of religious freedom last week when it announced that new regulations for health coverage regarding reproductive services will be mandatory for employers in the United States.
For the first time in federal law, the government has determined that religious institutions such as Catholic hospitals, Catholic Charities, and Catholic Relief Services are not truly religious employers because they do not have as their primary purpose "the inculcation of religious values" and do not primarily limit their services to those of their own faith.
In other words, this administrative decision suggests that the religious activities of our Catholic hospitals, our social services to the poor, and our outreach to the hurting and the marginalized in our society are not truly religious activities. Indeed, they are protected by the First Amendment because they enshrine the Catholic belief --shared by virtually every religious community in the United States -that religious communities are called to reach out to feed the poor, shelter the homeless, and heal the sick regardless of the recipients' religions.
The implications of this insidious new legal and policy principle, if allowed to stand, are chilling. Once it is accepted that religious institutions that serve the poor, the sick and the elderly do not enjoy the full protections of religious liberty, future administrations could compel religious hospitals and service organizations to pay for insurance and other policies that mandate medical procedures at odds with Catholic teaching. In addition, such a principle would likely create crises of conscience for religious institutions of virtually every faith, so that over time they would be forced out of the mainstream of the social fabric.
We cannot- and we will not- accept this unjust redrafting of the principle of religious liberty which our Founders so rightly saw as an inalienable gift of God. People of faith cannot be made second class citizens. And faith based service to those in need in our society cannot be classified as non-religious by our national government. We are already joined by our brothers and sisters of many other faiths as well as others of good will in this important effort to regain our religious freedom. Indeed, many journalists across the political spectrum, both supporters and opponents of the present administration, have called for a reversal of this policy.
Therefore, I ask for your help. Please email or write the White House and your representative in Congress to call for a reversal of this new regulation. The [websites] are listed below. Finally, please join me in prayer for our church and for the wider religious community engaged in this struggle.
Sincerely yous in Christ
The Most Reverend John C. Wester
Bishop of Salt Lake City
Representative Rob Bishop (1st Dist.)
Repreentative Jim Matheson (2nd Dist.)
Representative Jason Caffetz (3rd Dist.)