{"id":259,"date":"2012-06-08T18:45:00","date_gmt":"2012-06-08T18:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/mandate-lawsuits-stem-from-faith-not-politics-bishop-says\/"},"modified":"2012-06-08T18:45:00","modified_gmt":"2012-06-08T18:45:00","slug":"mandate-lawsuits-stem-from-faith-not-politics-bishop-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/mandate-lawsuits-stem-from-faith-not-politics-bishop-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Mandate lawsuits stem from faith, not politics, bishop says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Pittsburgh, Pa., Jun 8, 2012 \/ 12:45 pm (CNA<\/a>).- The Catholic Church has challenged the U.S. government's contraception mandate to protect faith, not to influence politics, Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik explained in a June 7 USA Today editorial.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThese lawsuits have nothing to do with politics,\u201d the Pittsburgh bishop wrote. \u201cWe did not pick this fight nor this timing during a presidential election year. The government chose to impose this on us now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIn fact, the lawsuits take the issue out of partisan politics and place it before courts that exist to protect our constitutional freedoms. These lawsuits ask that religious freedoms be recognized and respected as they were before the mandate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tOn May 21, 43 Catholic dioceses and organizations announced lawsuits against the mandate \u2013 which requires employers to provide health insurance covering contraception, sterilization and abortion-causing drugs, regardless of their moral objections. Eleven similar lawsuits had been filed previously.<\/p>\n

\tIn his editorial, Bishop Zubik highlighted the Obama administration's refusal to broaden an exemption for groups with religiously-rooted objections to the rule.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe only church-sponsored organizations exempted are those that primarily employ and serve people of the same faith,\u201d he noted. \u201cThis means that none of our social service agencies \u2013 hospitals, universities, free health clinics and soup kitchens \u2013 would be exempt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tAnd despite the president's talk of a further \u201caccommodation\u201d for faith-based organizations, \u201cthe mandate remains firmly in place,\u201d with ministries expected to come into compliance by August 2013.<\/p>\n

\tBishop Zubik stressed that representatives of the Catholic Church \u201calready have\u201d tried to negotiate with the administration.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cBut what exactly can we negotiate when it comes to religious freedom already guaranteed by the Constitution?\u201d he asked. \u201cWhy are we now forced to concede to the government religious freedom that has always been guaranteed by the Constitution?\u201d<\/p>\n

\tSome critics have suggested that the bishops are challenging the mandate as a political move against the Obama administration. But Bishop Zubik stressed that the Church was not acting on a partisan agenda.<\/p>\n

\tThe Church, he said, had been forced to defend its rights, and those of others, against an unwanted attack.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe Church cannot be forced to violate its own sacred beliefs,\u201d he stated. \u201cTo do so starkly contradicts everything we have been taught and know about religious freedom in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

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

Pittsburgh, Pa., Jun 8, 2012 \/ 12:45 pm (CNA).- The Catholic Church has challenged the U.S. government's contraception mandate to protect faith, not to influence politics, Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik explained in a June 7 USA Today editorial.
\n…<\/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-259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nMandate lawsuits stem from faith, not politics, bishop says<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pittsburgh, Pa., Jun 8, 2012 \/ 12:45 pm (CNA).- The Catholic Church has challenged the U.S. government's contraception mandate to protect faith, not to influence politics, Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik explained in a June 7 USA Today editorial. ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/mandate-lawsuits-stem-from-faith-not-politics-bishop-says\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mandate lawsuits stem from faith, not politics, bishop says\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pittsburgh, Pa., Jun 8, 2012 \/ 12:45 pm (CNA).- The Catholic Church has challenged the U.S. government's contraception mandate to protect faith, not to influence politics, Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik explained in a June 7 USA Today editorial. ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/mandate-lawsuits-stem-from-faith-not-politics-bishop-says\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-08T18:45:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/mandate-lawsuits-stem-from-faith-not-politics-bishop-says\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/mandate-lawsuits-stem-from-faith-not-politics-bishop-says\/\",\"name\":\"Mandate lawsuits stem from faith, not politics, bishop says\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-08T18:45:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-06-08T18:45:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\"},\"description\":\"Pittsburgh, Pa., Jun 8, 2012 \/ 12:45 pm (CNA).- The Catholic Church has challenged the U.S. government's contraception mandate to protect faith, not to influence politics, Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik explained in a June 7 USA Today editorial. ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/mandate-lawsuits-stem-from-faith-not-politics-bishop-says\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/mandate-lawsuits-stem-from-faith-not-politics-bishop-says\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/mandate-lawsuits-stem-from-faith-not-politics-bishop-says\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mandate lawsuits stem from faith, not politics, bishop says\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\",\"name\":\"CNA Daily News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CNA Daily News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mandate lawsuits stem from faith, not politics, bishop says","description":"Pittsburgh, Pa., Jun 8, 2012 \/ 12:45 pm (CNA).- The Catholic Church has challenged the U.S. government's contraception mandate to protect faith, not to influence politics, Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik explained in a June 7 USA Today editorial. ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/mandate-lawsuits-stem-from-faith-not-politics-bishop-says\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mandate lawsuits stem from faith, not politics, bishop says","og_description":"Pittsburgh, Pa., Jun 8, 2012 \/ 12:45 pm (CNA).- The Catholic Church has challenged the U.S. government's contraception mandate to protect faith, not to influence politics, Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik explained in a June 7 USA Today editorial. ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/mandate-lawsuits-stem-from-faith-not-politics-bishop-says\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2012-06-08T18:45:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/mandate-lawsuits-stem-from-faith-not-politics-bishop-says\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/mandate-lawsuits-stem-from-faith-not-politics-bishop-says\/","name":"Mandate lawsuits stem from faith, not politics, bishop says","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-06-08T18:45:00+00:00","dateModified":"2012-06-08T18:45:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"Pittsburgh, Pa., Jun 8, 2012 \/ 12:45 pm (CNA).- The Catholic Church has challenged the U.S. government's contraception mandate to protect faith, not to influence politics, Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik explained in a June 7 USA Today editorial. ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/mandate-lawsuits-stem-from-faith-not-politics-bishop-says\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/mandate-lawsuits-stem-from-faith-not-politics-bishop-says\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/mandate-lawsuits-stem-from-faith-not-politics-bishop-says\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mandate lawsuits stem from faith, not politics, bishop says"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/","name":"Catholic News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1","name":"CNA Daily News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CNA Daily News"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1031"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}