{"id":1447,"date":"2012-10-26T08:07:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-26T08:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/pennsylvania-bishop-highlights-issues-at-stake-in-election\/"},"modified":"2012-10-26T08:07:00","modified_gmt":"2012-10-26T08:07:00","slug":"pennsylvania-bishop-highlights-issues-at-stake-in-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/10\/pennsylvania-bishop-highlights-issues-at-stake-in-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania bishop highlights issues at stake in election"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Greensburg, Pa., Oct 26, 2012 \/ 02:07 am (CNA<\/a>).- The right of the Catholic institutions to exist with integrity is threatened by the Health and Human Services contraception and sterilization mandate, Bishop Lawrence E. Brandt of Greensburg said in a pastoral letter to his diocese.<\/p>\n

\tThe mandate \u201crelegates religious freedom to the sacristy, and will not allow it to exist or be operative outside of the Church and in the public square,\u201d the Pennsylvania bishop wrote in \u201cIntegrity and the Political Arena,\u201d which was issued on Oct. 11.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThis corresponds to a conception of religious freedom which means only freedom of worship. But those who share the same faith also have the right to a collective or institutional religious freedom which is public,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

\tBishop Brandt's comments come with the elections only two weeks away, and Pennsylvania is expected to play a key role as a battleground state. Though Democrats won the last three presidential votes there, the Republican Party won the governorship and Senate elections in 2010.<\/p>\n

\tUnder the contraception mandate, \u201creligious freedom becomes just a type of privacy right which can be given, restricted or withdrawn as the government sees fit,\u201d wrote Bishop Brandt.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe founding documents of this country, however, clearly indicate that religious freedom is an inalienable right which comes not from government but from the Creator Himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tMuch of the letter was dedicated to the importance of integrity among politicians, particularly on the issue of abortion. Bishop Brandt said citizens can use their right to vote to \u201cbring our faith perspective \u2026 to evaluate the integrity of the candidates and the validity of the positions they advance or support.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe bishop said that a Catholic politician who has \u201can established pattern of voting in favor of abortion legislation and an established pattern of public rejection of a core teaching of the Church\u201d is \u201cengaged in public cooperation with a grave moral evil.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe bishop said he also believes that Catholic politicians who continue to receive Communion \u201cshould be challenged to take ownership of the consequences of a lack of integrity by publicly acknowledging that what they do contradicts who they say they are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cAny individual who says he can advocate for and enable the practice of abortion and claims that he can still be a Catholic in good standing, has a very serious problem with integrity which any community can ignore only at its own peril.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tPoliticians who live in such a disintegrated way are a matter of concern not only to Catholics, but to \u201csociety itself,\u201d Bishop Brandt said.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIt is a cause of very serious concern for all the citizenry about a matter of integrity. It is a very serious concern about placing public trust in a person who has demonstrated public misrepresentation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Greensburg, Pa., Oct 26, 2012 \/ 02:07 am (CNA).- The right of the Catholic institutions to exist with integrity is threatened by the Health and Human Services contraception and sterilization mandate, Bishop Lawrence E. Brandt of Greensburg said in a pa…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nPennsylvania bishop highlights issues at stake in election<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Greensburg, Pa., Oct 26, 2012 \/ 02:07 am (CNA).- The right of the Catholic institutions to exist with integrity is threatened by the Health and Human Services contraception and sterilization mandate, Bishop Lawrence E. 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