Folks thought it couldn’t be done. Others may have thought that some of them would get all pastoral, and start squawking about how the HHS Mandate really didn’t matter.
But there’s a difference between bishops being pastoral, and bishops being forced to ignore the teachings of the Church. The former is discretionary, while the latter is coercion.
So they sent a little reminder to the Administration with the feet of clay.
Look out below.
As the government’s implementation of the mandate against us approaches, we bishops stand united in our resolve to resist this heavy burden and protect our religious freedom. Even as each bishop struggles to address the mandate, together we are striving to develop alternate avenues of response to this difficult situation. We seek to answer the Gospel call to serve our neighbors, meet our obligation to provide our people with just health insurance, protect our religious freedom, and not be coerced to violate our consciences. We remain grateful for the unity we share in this endeavor with Americans of all other faiths, and even with those of no faith at all. It is our hope that our ministries and lay faithful will be able to continue providing insurance in a manner consistent with the faith of our Church. We will continue our efforts in Congress and especially with the promising initiatives in the courts to protect the religious freedom that ensures our ability to fulfill the Gospel by serving the common good.
