The March 14 Statement on Religious Freedom and the HHS Mandate, issued by the Administrative Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, calls the Obama contraception mandate "unjust and illegal." It's a powerful statement, worth reading in its entirety, but here's a key part of the statement: The exemption is not merely a government foray into internal Church governance, where government has no legal competence or authority-disturbing though that may be. This error in theory has grave consequences in principle and practice. Those deemed by HHS not to be "religious employers" will be forced by government to violate their own teachings within their very own institutions. This is not only an injustice in itself, but it also undermines the effective proclamation of those teachings to the faithful and to the world. This statement by the Catholic bishops comes nine days after release of a report by nine state attorneys general on 21 violations of law by the Obama...(Read Full Post)