Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 

Please allow me a moment to share some news with you concerning an alarming and serious matter that negatively impacts the Diocese of Winona and the Church in the United States directly, and strikes at the fundamental right to religious liberty for all citizens of any faith. The federal government, which claims to be “of, by, and for the people,” has just dealt a heavy blow to almost a quarter of those people-the Catholic population and to the millions more who are served by the Catholic faithful. 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that almost all employers, including Catholic employers, will be forced to offer their employees’ health coverage that includes sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception. Almost all health insurers will be forced to include those “services” in the health policies they write; and almost all individuals will be forced to buy that coverage as a part of their policies. 

In so ruling, the Administration has cast aside 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. As a result, unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics will be compelled either to violate our consciences, or to drop health coverage for our employees (and suffer the penalties for doing so). The Administration’s sole concession was to give our institutions one year to comply. 

We cannot-we will not-comply with this unjust law. People of faith cannot be made second- class citizens. Our brothers and sisters of all faiths, and many others of good will, already join us in this important effort to safeguard our religious freedom. 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. In generations past, the Church has always been able to count on the faithful to stand up and protect her sacred rights and duties. I hope and trust She can count on this generation of Catholics to do the same. Our children and grandchildren deserve nothing less. 

I am, therefore, asking two things of you. First, as a community of faith, we must commit ourselves to some extra time of prayer and fasting. I leave that time open to your good judgment and charity. We must pray that wisdom and justice may prevail and religious liberty may be restored. Without God, our efforts will amount to nothing; with God, our faith can move mountains! 

Secondly, I encourage you to please visit the Bishops’ Conference website at: www.usccb.org/conscience. There you can find a video presentation from Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York and the current President of the Conference of Catholic Bishops, concerning the importance of this matter and learn more about this severe assault on religious liberty. 

Sincerely yours in Christ, 

Most Reverend John M. Quinn 

Bishop of Winona

Conscience is “.. the ‘place’ where man is illuminated by a light which does not come to him from his created and always fallible reason but from the very Wisdom of the Word in whom all things were created.” (Bl. John Paul II, 1988)

Conscience then is the illumination deep within us arising from a Wisdom, a Word, whom we know is Jesus Christ. It is a meeting of a man or woman with that Wisdom in which directs him or her to do this and avoid that. It is an encounter with which speaks to us as we face moral decisions and issues. In this way, we must obey our consciences for it is the promptings of God and his Spirit that guide us.

This presumes, of course, that our consciences are well-formed. It is our duty to form our conscience, that is it is our duty to listen to God’s Word as revealed to us, not only in the particularity of our lives but in the communal experience – as interpreted by the Magisterium – of the People of God, the Church, the Body of Christ .

Indifference to the Truth leads to confusion and a profound adhesion to personal opinion or the opinion of the majority. The “journey toward a mature moral conscience cannot even begin if the spirit is not free from a mortal illness, very widespread today: indifference to the truth…” (Bl. John Paul II 1983)

Our national conscience needs reformation. It will only be done by consistently revealing to our fellow citizens the truth of human life, human sexuality, human relationships, and the common good, to which all people and nations are subject. In other words, we in the pro-life movement must consistently witness to the truth by our lives, how we vote, how we speak in the public arena, and our commitment to civic activity and in doing so form the national conscience.

Witnessing at times demands heroism. At times, it requires sacrifice. It never includes violence which is always false. It is non-violent in response to who God has revealed himself to be and how he has directed us to act in the immediacy of the moment.

I believe that if the national conscience is presented, relentlessly, the truth of Roe v. Wade and the injustice of abortion, it will eventually be reformed.

Let us pray that day will come soon.

The reality will be that all of us will be required to pay for contraception, sterilizations and abortions in violation of our consciences and infringing on our religious freedom.

This is unprecedented in our country, founded on religious freedom.

My bishop, John M. Quinn from the diocese of Winona alerted all his deacons and priests of this yesterday. I quote:

The decision of the Department of Health and Human Services is a radical incursion into freedom of conscience, which is central to the Constitution. Freedom of religion is not freedom from religion. I ask that we pray for the reversal of this decision and as citizens we let our elected leaders know that the rights of conscience and religious liberty are to be respected and this mandate rescinded.”

I include her also a couple of documents regarding all of this.

Background:

The New Federal Mandate for Contraception/Sterilization Coverage

On August 1, 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued an “interim final rule” to require virtually all private health plans to include coverage for all FDA-approved prescription contraceptives, female sterilization procedures, and related “patient education and counseling for all women with reproductive capacity.”  These are listed among  “preventive services for women” that all health plans will have to include without co-pays or other cost-sharing  –  even if the insurer, the employer or other plan sponsor, or the woman herself object to such coverage.  There have been many protests, including formal comments filed with HHS by many organizations and a petition signed by over 430 Catholic leaders [will insert web address], but to date HHS has not changed its rule. Important points:

1. Pregnancy Not a Disease

- The mandate treats a healthy pregnancy as a disease in need of “prevention,” like breast cancer or AIDS (which other “preventive services” on HHS’s list do legitimately seek to prevent).    In reality, some of the mandated contraceptives are associated with an increased risk of AIDS, blood clots leading to stroke, and other ailments.  Inclusion of these drugs places HHS’s effort to prevent disease at war with itself.

- The claim that greater access to contraceptives will reduce abortions is not supported by the facts (http://old.usccb.org/prolife/issues/contraception/contraception-fact-sheet-3-17-11.pdf).  The contraceptive  mandate’s strongest advocates are groups that perform and promote abortion, who hope a coverage mandate for “prevention” will encourage government and others to see abortion as a “cure.”

- Everyone deserves access to basic life-affirming health care, and health care reform is supposed to serve that goal.  The effect of this mandate is just the opposite, as it pressures  organizations to drop their health coverage for employees and others altogether if they have a moral or religious objection to these particular items.

2. The Problem of Abortifacient Drugs

- By requiring coverage for all drugs approved for contraception and “emergency contraception” by the FDA, the mandate includes drugs that can interfere with implantation in the womb and therefore destroy the early human embryo.

- One such drug already approved, “Ella” (ulipristal), is very similar to the abortion drug RU-486 in its formula and its ability to cause an abortion in the first weeks of pregnancy. The new health care reform law forbids HHS to mandate coverage of abortion, but it is doing so here.

3. Violating Religious Freedom and Rights of Conscience

- The rule has an  incredibly narrow religious exemption for “religious employers” (not insurers, schools with student health plans, or families purchasing insurance).  Even religious employers are exempt only if their purpose is to inculcate religious doctrine, they hire and serve mainly people of their own faith, and they qualify as a church or religious order in a very narrow part of the tax code.  Most religious institutions providing health, educational or charitable services to others have no protection.  Jesus himself would not qualify as “religious enough,” since he healed the needy regardless of religious affiliation and taught followers to do the same (see the parable of the Good Samaritan).

- HHS says this exemption is like those enacted by most states that have a contraceptive coverage mandate, but that is false. None of the state mandates covers as wide an array of health plans, and the great majority have broader protection for religious freedom.

-  Many federal laws exempt individuals and institutions from having to take part in health services against their moral or religious convictions; some of these laws specifically protect from forced involvement in contraception or sterilization (http://old.usccb.org/prolife/issues/abortion/crmay08.pdf) .  HHS is violating this long federal tradition, and needs to return to it.  Congress should also approve the “Respect for Rights of Conscience Act” (H.R. 1179, S. 1467) to ensure that this happens.

More sources:

Comment letter to HHS with complete documentation: www.usccb.org/about/general-counsel/rulemaking/upload/comments-to-hhs-on-preventive-services-2011-08.pdf

USCCB statement on HHS mandate, August 1, 2011: www.usccb.org/news/2011/11-154.cfm

Here is the second document:

Background:

The New Federal Mandate for Contraception/Sterilization Coverage

On August 1, 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued an “interim final rule” to require virtually all private health plans to include coverage for all FDA-approved prescription contraceptives, female sterilization procedures, and related “patient education and counseling for all women with reproductive capacity.”  These are listed among  “preventive services for women” that all health plans will have to include without co-pays or other cost-sharing  –  even if the insurer, the employer or other plan sponsor, or the woman herself object to such coverage.  There have been many protests, including formal comments filed with HHS by many organizations and a petition signed by over 430 Catholic leaders [will insert web address], but to date HHS has not changed its rule. Important points:

1. Pregnancy Not a Disease

- The mandate treats a healthy pregnancy as a disease in need of “prevention,” like breast cancer or AIDS (which other “preventive services” on HHS’s list do legitimately seek to prevent).    In reality, some of the mandated contraceptives are associated with an increased risk of AIDS, blood clots leading to stroke, and other ailments.  Inclusion of these drugs places HHS’s effort to prevent disease at war with itself.

- The claim that greater access to contraceptives will reduce abortions is not supported by the facts (http://old.usccb.org/prolife/issues/contraception/contraception-fact-sheet-3-17-11.pdf).  The contraceptive  mandate’s strongest advocates are groups that perform and promote abortion, who hope a coverage mandate for “prevention” will encourage government and others to see abortion as a “cure.”

- Everyone deserves access to basic life-affirming health care, and health care reform is supposed to serve that goal.  The effect of this mandate is just the opposite, as it pressures  organizations to drop their health coverage for employees and others altogether if they have a moral or religious objection to these particular items.

2. The Problem of Abortifacient Drugs

- By requiring coverage for all drugs approved for contraception and “emergency contraception” by the FDA, the mandate includes drugs that can interfere with implantation in the womb and therefore destroy the early human embryo.

- One such drug already approved, “Ella” (ulipristal), is very similar to the abortion drug RU-486 in its formula and its ability to cause an abortion in the first weeks of pregnancy. The new health care reform law forbids HHS to mandate coverage of abortion, but it is doing so here.

3. Violating Religious Freedom and Rights of Conscience

- The rule has an  incredibly narrow religious exemption for “religious employers” (not insurers, schools with student health plans, or families purchasing insurance).  Even religious employers are exempt only if their purpose is to inculcate religious doctrine, they hire and serve mainly people of their own faith, and they qualify as a church or religious order in a very narrow part of the tax code.  Most religious institutions providing health, educational or charitable services to others have no protection.  Jesus himself would not qualify as “religious enough,” since he healed the needy regardless of religious affiliation and taught followers to do the same (see the parable of the Good Samaritan).

- HHS says this exemption is like those enacted by most states that have a contraceptive coverage mandate, but that is false. None of the state mandates covers as wide an array of health plans, and the great majority have broader protection for religious freedom.

-  Many federal laws exempt individuals and institutions from having to take part in health services against their moral or religious convictions; some of these laws specifically protect from forced involvement in contraception or sterilization (http://old.usccb.org/prolife/issues/abortion/crmay08.pdf) .  HHS is violating this long federal tradition, and needs to return to it.  Congress should also approve the “Respect for Rights of Conscience Act” (H.R. 1179, S. 1467) to ensure that this happens.

More sources:

Comment letter to HHS with complete documentation: www.usccb.org/about/general-counsel/rulemaking/upload/comments-to-hhs-on-preventive-services-2011-08.pdf

USCCB statement on HHS mandate, August 1, 2011: www.usccb.org/news/2011/11-154.cfm

 Please be aware, and respond.

Something to think about, isn’t it?

We are hearing a lot nowadays about how the media, the government and other sources are more and more antagonistic if not outright hostile to the Church and its teachings. This is so obvious to most of us Catholics, yet seems so hidden to others. We are rightly concerned that our religious liberties are eroding and our culture more and more without a firm mooring in Christian principles. It’s a big deal, quite frankly, and we need to take notice and action.

Yet, here the pope reminds us of a deeper reality: the powers of the world cannot overcome the Church, even though they may persecute her. It is sin that is the real threat to the health of the Church, and to our personal spiritual lives. Sin keeps us apart from Jesus (although he is never far from us). The sin of her members weaken the Church’s credibility in the eyes of the world. It saps her of strength, for it saps her disposition and openness to the grace of God which is always there.

Let us then turn to Jesus ever more fervently for assistance in living out our Christian lives, and let us turn to Mary’s intercession with her Son.

Read more at: www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1104798.htm

In the article, he speaks about the three “Hs” of health care. By this he means three ethical principles of concern to all health care workers. They are: honesty, humility, and heart for humanity.

By honesty, he means doing the best job you can, and being honest with yourself when you are not.

By humility, he means realizing you are not God (Lord, I hope physicians take this to heart now-a-days for some of the approaching economic inroads into medical decisions could easily leave a doc acting as if he or she is God.)

By heart for humanity, he means an awareness of the horrible poverty that inflicts our world today in so many places on the globe, a poverty that prevents even elemental health care for millions.

Having been in the field of mental health for nearly thirty years now, and having worked in a medical center for over twenty-five of those years, I think he is spot on, if you take what he says briefly and think about the implications.

I am of the opinion that all health care workers should have a portion of their work done pro bono. I was really impressed by a local dentist who has taken a large portion of his practice and dedicated it to those on Medical Assistance. His attitude has become one of gratitude for what has been given him over the years, and now he is giving back to the poor. Someone like him can do this as he has a private practice. Those of us who work for someone find it nearly impossible to give free of reduced fee services in the present medical environment.

When you have been a recognized as a professional in your field for as long as I have been, it is tempting to remember you are only human and not extraordinary, even though your patients will experience you in that manner. It is always good to remember you have that kind of influence in people’s lives, but also to know your limitations and failures.

It is also easy to beguile oneself into thinking you are always operating at the top of your game, especially after practicing your profession for so long. In reality, the longer you are in the profession, the more you need to update and refine your skills… and your heart for what you do.

When you think about it, these three ethical principles are good ones for all of us.

With the loss of knowledge, understanding and appreciation of such external truth in our political processes we find ourselves struggling with political unruliness, discord, a disintegration of basic social structures (such as marriage and family) and for some, a sense of despair with politics itself.

It confuses me why we nearly universally accept the necessity of a constituitions that lay out fundamental political truths but we have bought into moral relativism in the religious and spiritual spheres, a relativism that essentially says there is no truth outside of ourselves or our personal judgment as to truth and untruth, right and wrong, good and evil. We acknowledge the Constitution as being inherent to who we are as Americans, something that exists independently of us that we need to cooperate with and incorporate into our political and social lives, and something that has authority over us. Yet we are slow to acknowledge that there exists a natural moral law that corresponds with God’s divine law, something with which we need to cooperate, appreciate and incorporate into our lives, something that has authority over us, and without which we can only expected rancor, disorder and unhappiness.

Cardinal Raymond Burke recently said at a Knights of Colombus meeting that faith “purifies” politics for it offers moral grounding upon which the political process can function.

I think he has a point. Faith expresses the natural law that is inherent in the human person and offers what moral relativism cannot: peaceful order, social cohesion and a respect for the human person.

“N” IS FOR NIHILISM

If there is an enemy for us to confront in our current culture, this is it. Some rock star celebrity reportedly said that “the only sin in not being good to yourself.” Merriam-Webster defines nihilism as “a doctrine that denies any objective ground of truth, and especially of moral truths.” Nihilism is tied with narcissism.

Thanks, Deacon Marv. Agreed.

Today, the bishops of the United States approved a statement on this encroaching evil in our country. Its title is To Live Each Day with Dignity: A Statement on Physician-Assisted Suicide.

I believe it to be a well-crafted document and worth your time to read and study. Click on the highlighted link above. I have yet to read it in its entirety, but I want to share a few paragraphs.

As Christians we go even further: Life is our first gift from an infinitely loving Creator. It is the most fundamental element of our God-given human dignity. Moreover, by assuming and sharing our human nature, the Son of God has more fully revealed and enhanced the sacred character of each human life.

Effective palliative care also allows patients to devote their attention to the unfinished business of their lives, to arrive at a sense of peace with God, with loved ones, and with themselves. No one should dismiss this time as useless or meaningless. Learning how to face this last stage of our earthly lives is one of the most important and meaningful things each of us will do, and caregivers who help people through this process are also doing enormously important work. As Christians we believe that even suffering itself need not be meaningless — for as Pope John Paul II showed during his final illness, suffering accepted in love can bring us closer to the mystery of Christ’s sacrifice for the salvation of others.

Attached to the statement are various fact sheets, educational articles, an archive on Assisted Suicide, and prayers during serious illness.

Take the time tonight to read it.

So we bishops get both blessed and blasted…”

Read Archbishop Dolan’s comments in their entirety at: The Gospel in the Digital Age.

I might add as an aside, not only bishops, but priests and deacons are also blessed and cursed in similar fashion — yes, all witness to the fullness of the Gospel. To withstand this, we all must burn with the love of God and Church.