{"id":1461,"date":"2012-10-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/nebraska-catholics-dedicated-to-cause-of-religious-freedom\/"},"modified":"2012-10-29T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-10-29T00:00:00","slug":"nebraska-catholics-dedicated-to-cause-of-religious-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/10\/nebraska-catholics-dedicated-to-cause-of-religious-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"Nebraska Catholics dedicated to cause of religious freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Omaha, Neb., Oct 28, 2012 \/ 06:00 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- A group of Nebraska Catholics has created and donated banners for 147 Catholic churches that bear messages about defending religious liberty, the unborn, and marriage between a man and a woman.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThey are outstanding banners,\u201d Fr. Ryan Lewis, pastor of Omaha\u2019s St. Thomas More Parish, told CNA Oct. 26. \u201cI thought the message was incredible. The people in my parish are all fired up about concerns about attacks on religious liberty as it relates to the current administration and the HHS mandate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tOne of the banners reads: \u201cReligious Liberty: Our Most Cherished Freedom.\u201d The 4-by-12 foot banner also bears the website address of the Archdiocese of Omaha, though the archdiocese is not a financial backer of the project.<\/p>\n

\tThe Department of Health and Human Services has mandated that most employers with over 50 employees provide no co-pay insurance coverage for sterilization and contraception, including some abortion-causing drugs. Only some religious employers are exempt under certain narrow conditions.<\/p>\n

\tMany Catholic health care systems, colleges, and charities do not qualify for the exemption, despite Catholic objections to providing the coverage. Violators pay heavy fines, prompting opponents to object that the mandate punishes Catholic employers who want to follow their consciences.<\/p>\n

\tFr. Lewis\u2019 parish was the first to display the banners.<\/p>\n

\tHe said the members of his \u201cvery diverse, working-class parish\u201d in a historically Democratic part of town are \u201cvery, very excited\u201d about the banners.<\/p>\n

\tIn his view, a message distilled down to religious liberty makes Catholics rise above any partisan considerations.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThey\u2019re saying \u2018hey this is something we can all get behind. The Catholic Church is being attacked, our religious liberties are in danger, and we need to respond,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\tKnights of Columbus volunteers from 100 councils across the Archdiocese of Omaha will be erecting banners this weekend. Another smaller banner reads \u201cProtect the Unborn, Defend Marriage, Safeguard Liberty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tJim Carroll, executive director of Omaha\u2019s Spirit Catholic Radio, helped create the banners as part of an ad hoc group called the Faithful Citizens Coalition.<\/p>\n

\tHe said the project idea originated out of reflection on the U.S. bishops\u2019 \u201cFaithful Citizenship\u201d document and its discussion of \u201cintrinsic evils\u201d in political life. The project expanded from his station to the members of the Catholic businessmen\u2019s group Legatus, participants in the men\u2019s program That Man Is You and members of the Knights of Columbus.<\/p>\n

\tProject organizers noticed the \u201cvery large\u201d religious freedom rallies in Lincoln and Omaha this year and felt some issues were \u201cignored by the mainstream media,\u201d Carroll told CNA.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cPeople are concerned, with this election coming up, that religious liberty is being eroded,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of what we call intrinsic evils are just being accepted. They\u2019re not really a point of discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tCarroll said the project is not intended to be partisan and the banners could be up around the year.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe just want people to know what the Catholic Church stands for, and that we feel our religious liberties are being assaulted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\tFr. Lewis said there have not yet been any complaints about the banners.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe\u2019re talking about issues that have to do with our Catholic faith, not delving into partisan politics,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe signs talk about cherishing and safeguarding religious liberty, defending marriage and protecting the unborn. That\u2019s Catholic dogma, not partisan politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe Faithful Citizens Coalition has produced 2,500 religious liberty yard signs for Catholics and others to place in their yard. It has also funded a full-page ad in today\u2019s Sunday edition of the Omaha World-Herald which echoes the themes of the banner and includes a letter Archbishop George Lucas will send to the 230,000 Catholics of the Omaha archdiocese this weekend.<\/p>\n

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

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

Omaha, Neb., Oct 28, 2012 \/ 06:00 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- A group of Nebraska Catholics has created and donated banners for 147 Catholic churches that bear messages about defending religious liberty, the unborn, and marriage between a man and a woman.<\/p>\n

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