In the Catholic tradition, responsible citizenship is a virtue; participation in the political process is a moral obligation. All believers are called to faithful citizenship, to become informed, active, and responsible participants in the political process. ---USCCB Statement, Faithful Citizenship: Civic Responsibility for a New Millennium (2000)
What's New
EEOC Violates Religious Liberty By Forcing Catholic College to Provide Insurance for Contraceptives
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has ruled that a small Catholic college must include coverage for artificial contraceptives in its employee health insurance plan, raising new concerns about the need for conscience protections and religious exemptions in America’s health care policies.
Senate Confirms Catholic Ambassador to Vatican Who Backed Pro-Abortion Pols
The National Catholic Register complained today about Diaz and abortion. "The Catholic theology professor’s beliefs regarding the life issues and other moral issues, where President Barack Obama’s stances differ sharply with Church teachings, remain something of a cipher," it said.
New Documentary "Blood Money" Seeks to Expose the Abortion Business
Obama Says Marriage Law Should Be Repealed
In a filing by the Justice Department, administration lawyers made it clear for the first time in court that the president thinks the 13-year-old Defense of Marriage Act, which denies benefits to domestic partners of federal employees and allows states to reject same-sex marriages performed in other states, discriminates against gays and should be repealed.
Pro-Abortion Kennedy Lauded as "Champion for Those Who Had None" at Funeral Mass
Despite the warnings of pro-life Catholic leaders that the public honoring of pro-abortion Sen. Ted Kennedy by the Catholic Church would lead to an enormous scandal, the Boston Archdiocese hosted an elaborate televised funeral Mass for the senator this past Saturday. The service, presided over by Boston's Cardinal Sean O'Malley, included prayers of the faithful endorsing health care reform and homosexualist policies, and a eulogy by President Obama, who remembered Kennedy as a "champion for those who had none."
The Gloves are Off: Planned Parenthood President Slams U.S. Bishops on Abortion, Healthcare
The president of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, has penned a scathing editorial in which she sets her sights on the U.S. Catholic bishops, slamming them for their opposition to the abortion mandate in the Obama health care bill, and to abortion in general.
Health care and the common good
Health-care reform is vital. That’s why America’s bishops have supported it so vigorously for decades. They still do. But fast-tracking a flawed, complex effort this fall, in the face of so many growing and serious concerns, is bad policy. It’s not only imprudent; it’s also dangerous….If Congress and the White House want to genuinely serve the health-care needs of the American public, they need to slow down, listen to people’s concerns more honestly—and learn what the “common good” really means.
Health Care Reform: "No health care reform is better than the wrong sort of health care reform"
“…the Church will not accept any legislation that mandates coverage, public or private, for abortion, euthanasia, or embryonic stem-cell research. We refuse to be made complicit in these evils, which frankly contradict what “health care” should mean. We refuse to allow our own parish, school, and diocesan health insurance plans to be forced to include these evils. As a corollary of this, we insist equally on adequate protection of individual rights of conscience for patients and health care providers not to be made complicit in these evils.
AP Confirms Health Bill Radically Opens Federal Funds to Abortion
The Associated Press confirmed pro-lifers' alarm over the Obama health care bill this week, reporting that the legislation would allow the public plan to cover abortions - although abortion groups are continuing to claim that the abortion mandate is a "myth."
