蜜桃交友

By Pope

In a dated 6 May and released on their website, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) write 鈥渢he Little Sisters of the Poor again find themselves in court defending their community against attempts to force Catholic religious to violate their conscience鈥�.

Three chairmen of USCCB committee issued the statement: Youngstown's Bishop George V. Murry, S.J. cChairman of the Committee for Religious Liberty, Kansas City, Kansas's Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, Chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Oakland's Bishop Michael C. Barber, S.J., Chairman of the Committee on Catholic Education:

Little Sisters of the Poor

On 5 May, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments via telephone in the case of Little Sisters of the Poor v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In 2011 the US government added contraception to a list of preventive services that must be covered in employee insurance. Since then, Catholic Institutions around the country, including the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor, have been fighting against this mandate, as it opposes the beliefs and teachings of the Catholic Church.

Minesterial exemptions

The Court will also hear oral arguments on 11 May in the consolidated cases of Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru and St. James School v. Biel. 鈥淭hese cases involve the right of Catholic schools, free of government interference, to choose teachers who will teach and model the Catholic faith鈥�, write the US Bishops.

Right for religious freedom

The Bishops go on to express their support for all three religious institutions involved in the court cases. Through their work with the elderly poor, the Little Sisters of the Poor are 鈥渃ommitted to building a culture of life鈥�, write the Bishops. The two schools, Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. James, 鈥渃ontinue the Catholic tradition of offering Christian education鈥�.

The Bishops then write that 鈥渞eligious organizations have a right, recognized by the Constitution, to select people who will perform ministry, and the government has no legitimate authority to second guess those ministerial decisions鈥�. Likewise, the government has no authority to 鈥渇orce a religious order to violate the religious beliefs that animate its mission鈥�.  

The Bishops describe the 鈥渁ttacks鈥� made by Pennsylvania and other states as 鈥渄ismaying鈥�, particularly after the federal government 鈥渆xpanded religious exemptions to the HHS contraceptive mandate鈥�.

Nonetheless, they express their hope that the Supreme Court will 鈥渞eaffirm the freedom of our Catholic religious orders and schools to practice their faith and to serve others in love鈥�.

Second case at the Supreme Court

This is not the first time the U.S. Supreme Court has heard a case involving the Little Sisters of the Poor. In March, 2016, the Court heard a case involving them and another 5 religious institutions. Two months later, the Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling against the Congregation. In addition, the Supreme Court instructed the lower court to work with the government to find alternatives so health services deemed unethical could be provided without requiring religious institutions to provide them.