I was amazed and dumbfounded to see a full page ad in Friday’s (June 1, 2012) USA TODAY offered by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, an organization dedicated to “nontheism” and to keep government and religion separate. (I do not read USA TODAY; it was given to me after Mass). However, the ad was nothing less than misinformation, weasel wording, and outright lies, all in the hoped-for purpose of calling “liberal” and “nominal” Catholics to leave the Church, in the ad’s own words.

I guess what saddens me most about this advertisement is that many Catholics, even regular church attendees will “drink from this cup” of misinformation and, without considering its truthfulness, will accept this misinformation as fact. Just look at the fiction known as The Da Vinci Code and consider the confusion it whipped-up in many minds. We live in an age where billions of dollars are spent annually on reporting sports and entertainment stories—from NESN and ESPN to Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood to the networks—big bucks are paid to professionals in the fields of sports and entertainment so as to offer knowledgeable reports on games and of scores and even the too-much-information of what passes for “news” of the Hollywood celebrities. Nonetheless, experts in these fields are paid considerably to report the story. Yet, when it comes to religious news, few if any television networks or print media have welleducated theologians or philosophers on their reporting staffs. Rather, it appears that the “beat reporter” becomes a “catch-all expert” for every topic…and few if any questions what is presented as truth. In fact, at least locally, it would seem that most religious articles (or at least stories that are opposed to the Catholic Church) are reported by columnists in the papers—columnists which offer their opinions rather than hard news stories, hence their name. Many Catholics can tell you what the Church teaches (the “thou shall nots”) on any given moral subject but few can explain the depth of the Church’s teachings as to the why we believe what we believe. With busy lives and work schedules, with all the pressures on families today just to survive, one cannot blame people for not investigating the truth more thoroughly. Yet, it is sad to hear some Catholics easily join-in on the secular criticism of the Church just because they read it in the paper or heard some reporter on the news.

The ad by the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is a case in point for the perpetuation of misinformation. Here’s why: the ad presents the current debate about the president’s HHS Healthcare Mandate (HCM) as an "Inquisition” by the Church against women’s health by opposing artificial birth control as well as a war on humanity. In fact, the ad holds the Roman Catholic Church as the source of all that is wrong in our world—from “acute misery, poverty, needless suffering, unwanted pregnancies, overpopulation and social evils to death;” and even a war on embryonic stem-cell research…but what are the factual truths that are conveniently missing in this ad? Consider this, next to the federal government: (a) it is the Roman Catholic Church that serves humanity’s needs like no other institution on earth when it comes to feeding the poor, educating the ignorant, offering free healthcare to women and children, building hospitals, caring for abandoned children, welcoming immigrants, or helping poor nations feed and develop clean water sources through Catholic Relief Services.

Consider locally in the Hartford Archdiocese the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal and the untold number of good works by more than 220 Catholic parishes—just in our archdiocese (here at St. Catherine of Siena we helped in 2011-2012 the Malta Mobile House of Care, the Town of Simsbury through Pantry Partners, the City of Hartford through Feed the Hungry and St. Elizabeth’s House, Sacred Heart Church—just to name a few). And that does not even take into account that no other religious faith offers as much pastoral care as your Catholic Church; and, (b) it is the Catholic Church that defends all human life as sacred and dignified—whether that life is white or black, male or female, Catholic, Jew, Muslin or pagan, whether it is in the womb or on a hospital gurney or on death row—seeing all life consistently as human and dignified by God; and, (c) it is the Catholic Church—one of the earliest creators of the university research system—who noted from the very beginning that more hope for “medical miracles” would hail from adult stem-cell research than from embryonic stem-cell research at this time. But the so-called “experts” ridiculed the Church from the beginning—and continue to do so today.

The only fact in this debate between the Healthcare Mandate and all Churches is: that the government of the United States of America is seeking to define what is or is not a religious practice, and what you can or cannot practice as a faith. The debate is not about free contraception or abortion or sterilization as a healthcare product. It is as simple—and as serious—as that: Freedom—freedom with a capital “F” to practice faith. The Catholic Church in this debate is only arguing that She should not be forced to involve herself in what she believes to be immoral and repugnant— she simply wants a conscience waiver for herself, not for all. It is simply arguing that the government cannot force a religious institution to violate its beliefs. If the Catholic Church is forced to perform or pay for abortions, than it is no longer the Catholic Church (by the way, we hear no debate that the government has already granted the Quaker Church a waiver from this healthcare mandate because it does not believe in health insurance). Where is the argument on that? Where is the logic? I hope everyone—particularly Catholics—will take the time to really look into the facts on this issue. Normally the Catholic Church and the words “pro-choice” are rarely connected in the same sentence—but the choice in this debate on the healthcare mandate will have serious consequences— both now and in the future—and it is the obligation and duty of every citizen who believes in the importance of religious freedom to make sure they understand the facts and not just hear the conventional misinformation now flowing in the public arena. Thank you.

-Fr. Michael