Archbishop to U.S. Troops: Obamacare Reg 'Is a Blow to Freedom'

By Terence P. Jeffrey
2/7/2012
CNSNews (www.cnsnews.com)

It is a blow to a freedom that you have fought to defend and for which you have seen your buddies fall in battle

Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who leads the Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services, wrote a letter to be read at all Sunday Masses for U.S. military personnel around the world that said that a regulation issued by the Obama Administration under the new federal health care law was "a blow" to a freedom that U.S. troops have not only fought to defend but for which some have recently died in battle.

Archbishop Timothy Broglio

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WASHINGTON,DC (CNSNews.com) - Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who leads the Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services, wrote a letter to be read at all Sunday Masses for U.S. military personnel around the world that said that a regulation issued by the Obama Administration under the new federal health care law was "a blow" to a freedom that U.S. troops have not only fought to defend but for which some have recently died in battle.

"It is a blow to a freedom that you have fought to defend and for which you have seen your buddies fall in battle," the archbishop wrote.

Another line in his letter said: "We cannot-we will not-comply with this unjust law."

The message from the archbishop touched off a controversy both in and outside the military when the Army's Office of the Chief of Chaplains told the service's senior chaplains that Catholic priests serving as Army chaplains should be told not to read the archbishop's letter from the pulpit.

The Archdiocese for the Military Services has described that move as a violation of the archbishop's First Amendment rights as well as the First Amendment rights of the Catholic chaplains involved and their congregations.

The regulation the archbishop spoke about was finalized by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Jan. 20. It mandates that all health-care plans in the United States cover sterilizations and all FDA-approved contraceptives, including those that cause abortions.

A "religious" employer exemption included in the regulation only applies to organizations that primarily focus on inculcating the tenets of the church in question, primarily employ members of the church, primarily serve members of the church, and is organized under the section of the Internal Revenue Code used by actual parishes.

Catholic hospitals, universities and charitable institutions would not be exempt from the regulation, nor would Catholic individuals, business owners, or insurers.

Because the Catholic Church teaches that sterilization, artificial contraception, and abortion are morally wrong and that Catholics cannot be involved in them, and because the Obamacare law requires that all individual purchase health insurance and that larger employers provide health insurance to their workers or face a penalty, the regulation would force Catholics to act against the teachings of their faith and against their consciences.

Archbishop Broglio's letter opposing the regulation and describing it as a violation of the constitutional rights of Catholics was read verbatim at Masses served by Navy and Air Force chaplains around the world.

However, the Army's Office of the Chief of Chaplains attempted to silence Catholic Army chaplains from reading it at their Masses-an effort rejected and resisted by Archbishop Broglio.

"On Thursday, January 26, Archbishop Broglio emailed a pastoral letter to Catholic military chaplains with instructions that it be read from the pulpit at Sunday Masses the following weekend in all military chapels," the Catholic Archdiocese for the Military said in a statement.

"The letter calls on Catholics to resist the policy initiative, recently affirmed by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, for federally mandated health insurance covering sterilization, abortifacients and contraception, because it represents a violation of the freedom of religion recognized by the U.S. Constitution," said the statement by the archdiocese.

"The Army's Office of the Chief of Chaplains subsequently sent an email to senior chaplains advising them that the Archbishop's letter was not coordinated with that office and asked that it not be read from the pulpit," said the archdiocese's statement. "The Chief's office directed that the letter was to be mentioned in the Mass announcements and distributed in printed form in the back of the chapel."

On Saturday, Jan. 28, after the Army's Office of the Chief of Chaplains issued this directive, Archbishop Broglio spoke with Secretary of the Army John McHugh, a political appointee of President Barack Obama.

Archbishop Broglio's position was that, in trying to stop Catholic Army chaplains from reading his pastoral letter, the Army was violating his First Amendment rights to free speech and the free exercise of religion and the First Amendment rights of Catholic chaplains and Catholic service members.

"Archbishop Broglio and the Archdiocese stand firm in the belief, based on legal precedent, that such a directive from the Army constituted a violation of his Constitutionally-protected right of free speech and the free exercise of religion, as well as those same rights of all military chaplains and their congregants," said the statement from the archdiocese.

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1 - 10 of 14 Comments

Hooter
1 month ago
Ever read the Didache codex teaching of the Apostles, goes back to the first generation followers of the way, ACTS 15...... Abortion is listed among the grave sins.... Get over it liberals (Seekers of Smooth Things), for two thousand years your not going to change the church.. We have faced tougher foes in our history.. This isn't canon law, rather Gods law Shall not Kill....
Irl Gladfelter, LTC, USA (RET)
1 year ago
The problem is that military chaplains serve two masters. In order to serve as a military Chaplain, a clergyman must be in good standing with his Church (the endorsing institution) and serve in the chain of military command under the terms and provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. When there is a conflict between the two, a chaplain has recourse to his endorsing institution, but he must obey the lawful orders of his chain of command. He can question the legality of an order only after obeying it to the letter. Conflicts of substance between military policy as set by the Federal Chaplain's Board through the chain of military command and a Church's doctrines such as this incident is may possibly leave the sponsoring institution (in this case the Military Ordinariate) with no choice but to rescind the sponsorship of chaplains because of conflicts between military requirements and Church doctrine. It is up to the Military Ordinariate and its Bishop to be sure that the Chaplain's Board be fully aware of the doctrinal requirements of the Catholic Church; to be aware that there are boundaries which cannot be crossed by the Church and its priests; take steps to be sure that those boundaries are not approached by the military; and if crossed, take whatever actions are necessary, including the removal of Catholic chaplains from military service. I would truly hate to see it come to that, but the fact is that there are boundaries, which the Church can not and will not cross; which it will not permit its military chaplains to cross; the Federal Chaplain's Board and the Chief of Chaplains of the Armed Forces know precisely where those boundaries are. Then, if the situation is not resolved in a way satisfactory to the Catholic Church, in consultation with the USCCB and the Vatican, to take whatever action is necessary to preserve the integrity of the Church regardless of the consequences.
Betty
1 year ago
As a Catholic health care worker, who have spent many years working in maternal and infant care, I love babies. I also know first hand that women and girls will get and use birth control no matter with the church says, they have faith in God that they are doing the right thing for their bodies, and that He has unconditional love for them. Thye will also have abortions for unwanted pregancies, some by health care professionals and others by butchers.. No man should tell a female that she has to carry and give birth to a child that she is not prepared to mother. No child should be born of parents that resent them.
robert
1 year ago
wake up catholics...and every other religion for that matter..This is only a "nudge"...it is not about contraception it is about secular irradication of organised religion which the current administration despises.....france circa 1789..."we shall strangle the last priest with the guts of the last King."....pretty extreme...yes...but , the intent is the same...67 million catholic voters now is the time to stand up for God and your Country that currently allows you to recognize your God...
Renton
1 year ago
I served in the military myself and think that this comming from the pulpit is not seperation of church and state but is a political statement to support a particular political party. why is it okay to prescribe viagra to enhanse sexual activity? why does't the church condem the use of birth control and say those who use it should not recieve the sacrament of the holy euchrist? If the church is always right, explain to me how the why Galliao was excommunited. OH just a mintake because of ignorance or execution of power. Those of us that have served in the military served to protect our counry and preserve our rights and freedom. one of the rights and freedoms is seperation of church and state.
Woody
1 year ago
If the Catholic church accepts federal monies they have to play by the rules. Simple as that.
Tom Roe
1 year ago
This is why Government should not be involved in health care. Any time the Government gives you something, they can control you. No matter what it is. Slipper slope
George Ronald Adkisson
1 year ago
This is a good month for a discussion about freedom or even any form of slavery...not enjoying that freedom of choice and finding it levied upon you...by rulers that do not measure one measure the equal of those within the Church.
In the book of Philemon...Paul made it clear from the cell he was imprisoned in...using Onesimus as example what his view of slavery was...period.
You never put an individual or group of individuals in those circumstances and not know just what you will miss...and Onesimus was a good example...as Onesimus had even been accused of being a thief to grant his return to a fellow Christian that was polity told...slavery is not a characteristic of a Christian... Paul also made it clear he expected as usual, his friend or even we make a place for him to visit when he was freed and returned to thank his friend or us personally.
I have to recall it was Paul too...that stated he would join hands with us and in any event see us then and there in a blink of an eye.That man Paul, was confident.James would then even say...correct. Thomas would have to whisper...we already should know what to do...less the sky would have burning boulders falling down from it.
Everyone have a pleasant day...
Tom Evans
1 year ago
I do believe that the Catholic church has made way too much of this whole discussion. Birth control is not an affront on the church, the teachings of the church nor the sanctity of marriage. There has been a freedom to married couples to use artificial means to prevent pregnancy. With the way that the world is now, people should have the right and the ability to practice birth control. The president is not dictating what a person does, but only giving the freedom to people who work for facilities that are owned by the church but not a purely religious insititution to use birth control. The real issue to worry the church should be abortions. As the president said at a graduation ceremonies at Notre Dame, the real issue is to prevent unwanted pregnancies before they happen and not have to make the decision to abort them later.
Bill Barter
1 year ago
I am Catholic and abide with my church. However, my health care is a personal thing and not something for my employer to "cherry-pick" or to know what I or my family does. Healthcare is a human right in my opinion it is a shame that it is not for all. It is a shameful too that a medical person causes these grave sins to occur or the me (s) that commit them. Was Christ not tempted by Satan? Look what happens in Iraq, Europe (not too long ago) and most countries that religion dominated the law. My advice is to live with it...teach what is wrong...give unto Caesar what is Caesar. Pitting American against American is just plan wrong, too.

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