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Baltimore, Md., Nov 12, 2012 \/ 03:54 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- <\/span>In the aftermath of the Nov. 6 elections, the U.S. bishops stressed that they will push ahead with defending religious liberty<\/strong> from the Obama administration\u2019s contraception mandate, which cannot be lived with as it stands.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cCurrently the HHS mandate is on the books,\u201d said Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, who leads the bishops\u2019 ad hoc religious freedom committee. \u201cThat\u2019s what we actually concretely have to deal with now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd as it stands, certainly we would not be able to live with it,\u201d he explained, \u201cespecially the four-part definition of what Church activity is.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s just not who we are, and we don\u2019t find it appropriate for any government to draw lines in our mission where we don\u2019t draw them,\u201d Archbishop Lori said.<\/p>\n The archbishop explained that Church leaders are monitoring and engaged in the ongoing federal rule-making process that will determine how religious organizations are accommodated under that mandate, and as that continues, \u201cour range of options will probably become a little clearer.\u201d<\/p>\n Archbishop Lori spoke at a Nov. 12 press conference during the U.S. bishops\u2019 fall general assembly in Baltimore.<\/p>\n He and other panelists reacted to the outcome of various ballot measures in the Nov. 6 election. The bishops explained that the Church does not identify with any one political party because Catholic social teaching transcends party agendas.<\/strong><\/p>\n And Catholic teaching should not be seen as divided, added Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco, who leads a conference subcommittee on defending marriage.<\/p>\n He called it unfortunate that \u201ca lot of our people view these issues politically, rather than through the lens of the Gospel.\u201d<\/p>\n If Catholics saw societal issues through the lens of the Church\u2019s social teaching and the common good, Archbishop Cordileone said they would see \u201cthe consistency among all these issues,\u201d including life, the economy and immigration.<\/p>\n