CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Catholics must fight against forces seeking to remove the influence of religion from American culture, Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore told over 1,000 Catholics at a Mass beginning a 14-day campaign for religious freedom.<\/p>\n\t\u201cIn differing ways, both the Church\u2019s teaching and our nation\u2019s founding documents acknowledge that the Creator has endowed individuals with freedom of conscience,\u201d said Archbishop Lori. \u201cSuch freedom goes to the heart of the dignity of the human person.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe archbishop delivered the opening homily for the Fortnight for Freedom, the two-week period leading up to the Fourth of July that the bishops have dedicated as a time for prayer, education and advocacy for religious liberty.<\/p>\n
\tThe June 21 Mass took place at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption in Baltimore, the nation\u2019s first Catholic cathedral.<\/p>\n
\tArchbishop Lori, who leads the U.S. bishops\u2019 religious freedom committee, was met with standing applause when he entered the overflowing cathedral, as well as after the homily and at the conclusion of Mass.<\/p>\n
\tIn his homily, he observed that the date chosen to kick off the fortnight was the eve of the feast day of St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher, 16th century English martyrs who were beheaded because they would not comply with a law that made King Henry VIII the head of the Church and broke communion with the Pope. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\tHe explained that these two saints symbolize the \u201ctwo aspects of religious freedom\u201d that the Fortnight for Freedom is striving to protect and foster.<\/p>\n
\tAn accomplished lawyer who served as the Chancellor of England, St. Thomas More was willing to accept martyrdom courageously rather than \u201cto betray his principles and his conscience.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tArchbishop Lori said that More represents the conscientious private employers and employees who simply seek to \u201cgo about their daily work in accord with their faith\u201d and the demands of social justice, while avoiding \u201cdoing or facilitating moral evil in course of daily work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tWhile perhaps less well-know, St. John Fisher also witnessed courageously as the Bishop of Rochester in Kent, he added.<\/p>\n
\tFisher helped renew the Church from within while opposing external state interference. After his martyrdom, royal forces seized churches, monasteries and learning centers, either destroying them or forcing them to break ties with the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n
\tThe archbishop explained that St. John Fisher symbolizes for us the \u201cstruggle to maintain religious freedom for church institutions and ministries such as our schools and charities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tWhile we are not met with the \u201cdire brutality\u201d that these two saints faced, the U.S. Church today is in \u201cperilous waters,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\tHe pointed to a federal mandate that will require employers to offer health insurance plans that cover contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs. While the mandate includes a religious exemption, it applies only to non-profit organizations that exist to inculcate religious values and that primarily serve and employ members of their own faiths.<\/p>\n
\tReligious organizations such as Catholic hospitals, inner-city schools and charitable agencies do not qualify for the exemption because they are committed to serving all in need, regardless of their faith.<\/p>\n
\tThus, the Church is only \u201creligious enough\u201d for a religious exemption if it \u201cconfines itself to the sacristy,\u201d but not if it attempts to reach out \u201cby hiring those of other faiths and by serving the common good,\u201d Archbishop Lori observed.<\/p>\n
\tHe warned that this very narrow definition of church and religion that is embedded in the mandate \u201cis likely to spread throughout federal law\u201d if not swiftly removed.<\/p>\n
\tWith the mandate scheduled to go into effect on August 1, private employers will be forced to \u201cviolate their consciences\u201d in less than six weeks, he said.<\/p>\n
\tRecalling how religious freedom \u2013 in both private worship and public life \u2013 drew many people to America from its very beginning as a nation, the archbishop called on the faithful to \u201cdefend the Church\u2019s freedom to fulfill her mission\u201d through proclaiming the Gospel and manifesting God\u2019s love in organized works of education and charity.<\/p>\n
\tHe stressed the need to defend the religious freedom of both individuals and church institutions, which find both their identity and their mission in firmly-held religious convictions. It is important to protect both, because the two are \u201cinseparably linked,\u201d and a threat to one poses a risk to the other as well, he said.<\/p>\n
\tEven if the mandate is overturned, Archbishop Lori cautioned, Catholics must still fight forces of secularism that are seeking to prevent religious faith from having any impact on culture.<\/p>\n
\tHe urged the faithful to act courageously \u201cthroughout this Fortnight and beyond,\u201d to defend freedom and bear witness to the moral values and truths that serve as the foundation for \u201ca society that is just, peaceful and charitable.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Baltimore, Md., Jun 22, 2012 \/ 12:26 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Catholics must fight against forces seeking to remove the influence of religion from American culture, Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore told over 1,000 Catholics at a Mass beginning a 14-…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\n
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