My dear parishioners,

As pastor, I have had many conversations of late with good people, regarding the current issue of religious freedom—and nearly all are unanimous in their support of the long standing tradition and protected right in our nation. However, many are confusing the current debate on religious freedom with their individual choice to use artificial contraception as a form of family planning. I am not writing today to discuss contraception, suffice it to say that as a priest; my role is to educate the faithful to the Church’s teachings on all matters of faith and morals. Then, the role of the laity is to, with a well-formed conscience, pray over and consider their situation and make a well-formed decision be-tween them, their spouses, and God. The final decision is between the individual(s) and God. The Church is called to proclaim the Truth and Good News of Jesus Christ as handed to her by Christ. I am not an enforcement agent but rather a teacher.
 
It is my hope that we, as a faith community, can prayerfully listen to God’s Word in Sacred Scripture and hear the consistent teachings of the Church, and then apply them as best we can as individuals attempting to follow Christ. No one is perfect, and thankfully God is forgiving, and so we are called to faithfully do our best with the gifts, the graces, and the talents God has given us.
 
I suppose, like me, many of you are tired of the ad nauseam discussion of the proposed HHS Healthcare Mandate—issued by the current Administration—from the politicos, talk shows, minute-by-minute news coverage, and even from the pulpit. It is hard to believe that this—and its contrived side issues of supposed “healthcare”—are the mainstay of “public discourse” while some 24 million Americans remain unemployed, housing bankruptcies rise, and gas prices escalate, and that does not even include the myriad of international issues we are facing. It is “a sad state for a state to be in,” to quote the musical Evita.
 
And while we may be aggravated by the confusion of issues, the weasel wording, and the gamesmanship, there is still a very serious issue at the center of it all: Religious freedom.  While many want to confuse the issue of religious freedom with “healthcare”, make no mistake about it, the singular issue in this debate is the right to practice one’s religious beliefs without interference from the government. While pro-choice proponents want you to think that this is about “contraception,” or “women’s access to healthcare,” we need to look beyond the misinformation, the yelling and the screaming—even beyond the fear-filled rhetoric of election campaigns, and focus on the only issue at hand—religious freedom.
 
Let’s be honest and clear:
While the Church does not approve of artificial contraception or abortion or sterilization—and this should come as no surprise to anyone—she is not seeking now to eliminate “healthcare” for anyone. Rather, she seeks to practice her faith without direction from the government. The Church is not demanding that any other healthcare insurance company be forbidden to offer contraception coverage through its various employer benefit programs;
The Church simply wants to protect her right and the right of all religions—through a Rights of Conscience Act—and as an employer not to be forced by the federal government to participate in actions that she holds to be morally repugnant—the killing of innocent life, contraception, or sterilization. And that is what this issue is about—the federal government forcing the Church to participate in actions it holds to be immoral;  Neither is the Church seeking a “one size fits all” insurance program. If you work for a non-Catholic institution and choose to participate in one of the aforementioned acts, then do not work for a Catholic employer. No one is forcing anyone to work at a Catholic institution. The only one forcing anything is the federal government as it attempts to make the Catholic Church cooperate in and to pay for procedures that go against more than 2,000 years of her religious beliefs. No other issue is at hand, no matter how many times the pro-choice organizations stand up and attempt to confuse or comingle the issues.
 
The First Amendment states: “Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievance.” The so-called “accommodation” offered by President Obama forces the Catholic Church to violate her beliefs. This is not a compromise at all since many Catholic institutions, including the Archdiocese of Hartford, are self-insured. How then can she freely exercise her beliefs when forced to violate them?

It is also my prayer that as educated people we will not only work toward well-formed consciences, but we will also step out of the fray of politics and confusion and see this issue for what it is—religious freedom and the Church’s right to proclaim and live-out the faith she has received from Christ Himself. May He strengthen us in this endeavor, may He forgive us when we fail.
 
Thank you for your consideration of the real issue. May we all act now to defend our religious freedom to follow Christ.
 
Sincerely in Him.
 
-Fr. Michael