As we prepare to celebrate the fourth annual “Fortnight for Freedom” from June 21 – July 3, 2016, let us remember the words that Pope Francis evoked during his visit to the United States last September: “American Catholics are committed to building a society which is truly tolerant and inclusive, to safeguarding the rights of individuals and communities, and to rejecting every form of unjust discrimination. With countless other people of good will, they are likewise concerned that efforts to build a just and wisely ordered society respect their deepest concerns and their right to religious liberty. That freedom remains one of America’s most precious possessions. And, as my brothers, the United States Bishops, have reminded us, all are called to be vigilant, precisely as good citizens, to preserve and defend that freedom from everything that would threaten or compromise it.”
If you haven’t done so already, please voice your opposition to the federal health care mandate by calling U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Mathews Burwell at 202-205-5445, and your elected state representatives. Let them know that the mandate is in violation of our First Amendment right to religious freedom.