[Apologetics] Catholic Bishops Call For Two Weeks of Action Against Obama

[Dianne Dawson]

Source:  http://www.newsmax.com/US/catholic-bishops-protest-obama/2012/04/24/id/436836

      Newsmax
Catholic Bishops Call For Two Weeks of Action Against Obama  
Tuesday, April 24, 2012 07:40 
AM  
By: Martin Gould 
Roman Catholic leaders are calling for two weeks of public protests against 
President Barack Obama's policies as they intensify their argument that the 
administration is engaged in a war on religion.

The days between June 21 
and July 4 have been set aside by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops which 
has sought to end the administration's contraception mandate, among other 
policies.

The protests against the Obama administration’s policies could 
be “the game-changer” in the presidential election, one leading lay churchman 
told Newsmax on Tuesday.

The protests, dubbed “A Fortnight for Freedom” 
will be an “unprecedented, aggressive attack” against policies that church 
leaders see as an assault on religious freedom, said Catholic Advocate chairman 
Deal Hudson.

Editor's 
Note: Biblical Prophecies 
Revealed: The Second Coming of Jesus

“The bishops are seeing – 
rightly – a pattern of emerging of hostility towards the Catholic faith for 
upholding protection of the life of the unborn and because of its position on 
contraception,” said Hudson.

And Bill Donohue, the president of the 
Catholic League pointed out to Newsmax that the protests will come around the 
time the Supreme Court issues its judgment on the constitutionality of the 
Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Unless the justices throw 
the act out completely, the protests could not be timed better, he 
said.

“If the individual mandate falls and the rest stands it will be 
more important than ever for Catholics to step forward and get involved,” said 
Donohue. “We will have to make the point that we are not going 
anywhere.”

Donohue said the mandate to make insurance companies cover not 
only contraceptives but abortion-inducing drugs is the key, he said. “It was 
done on purpose as a wedge to open the door. If we don’t fight it the next step 
is to force Catholic hospitals to provide abortion facilities,” he 
said.

“The idea that I as a Catholic should have to pay for some woman’s 
abortion makes me want to reach for the vomit bag.”

Donohue praised the 
bishops for their proactive stance “if for no other reason than to make the 
point that they are furious,” he said.

“Over the years there have been 
times when the resolve of the bishops wasn’t quite what we wanted it to be. 
Today that resolve is extremely strong,” he said.

The two weeks of 
protest has been called by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “That is not 
the type of body that goes out of its way to pick a fight,” Catholic Advocate’s 
Hudson pointed out.

“That is precisely what makes this so unusual a 
moment. The bishops have been provoked to such a degree that they will go to 
this extreme. They would prefer quiet negotiations leading to a principled 
compromise, instead they are talking about the probability of civil 
disobedience.”

Republicans are hoping the protests, planned for June and 
July will have a major bearing on the election which will follow four months 
later. They look forward to TV shots of robed priests and nuns being led away in 
handcuffs.

“These would be devastating images for the Obama 
administration,” GOP strategist Ron Bonjean told The Hill. “You have a very 
important religious demographic coming out in protest of Obama’s policies and 
being arrested for their expression.”

And Hudson agreed. When asked if 
the protests could be a game-changer come election time, he responded. 
“Potentially it could be the game-changer.

“It is a mistake to 
prognosticate with certainty this far out from the election, but two weeks of 
protest in mid-summer will help put this before the conventions and make it a 
major issue in the campaign.”

Hudson said Catholic Advocate has already 
been working in battleground states including Iowa, Ohio, North Carolina and 
Pennsylvania to get its message across and is about to start work in New 
Mexico.

“At one meeting in Des Moines, we had about 80 people and one guy 
sat in the corner and at the end he raised his hand and said he had been a 
life-long social justice Catholic – so I was getting ready for the big smackdown 
on all the stuff we had been doing.

“But he said, ‘I’ve just had it with 
Obama.’ That was a moment that really got my attention.”

The bishops 
outlined their plan in an April 12 statement signed by Conference general 
secretary, Msgr. Ronny Jenkins. The statement entitled “Our First, Most 
Cherished Liberty” was drawn up by the ad hoc committee for religious liberty, 
which includes 11 bishop members including Archbishop of Washington Cardinal 
Donald Wuerl, one of Obama’s fiercest critics in the 
church.

Editor's 
Note: Biblical Prophecies 
Revealed: The Second Coming of Jesus 

They called on 
fellow bishops to focus “all the energies the Catholic community can muster” to 
arrange special events to highlight the importance of defending religious 
liberty.

The dates were picked to run from the feast day of martyrs St. 
John Fisher and St. Thomas More to Independence Day. “This special period of 
prayer, study, catechesis, and public action would emphasize both our Christian 
and American heritage of liberty,” the bishops said.

“Dioceses and 
parishes around the country could choose a date in that period for special 
events that would constitute a great national campaign of teaching and witness 
for religious liberty.”

It referred to the mandate that church-affiliated 
organizations such as hospitals, schools and universities would have to provide 
contraceptive coverage in their employees’ insurance policies as well as state 
and local moves that the church says affects its freedom.

“Religious 
liberty is not only about our ability to go to Mass on Sunday or pray the Rosary 
at home,” the statement said. “It is about whether we can make our contribution 
to the common good of all Americans. Can we do the good works our faith calls us 
to do, without having to compromise that very same faith?

“What is at 
stake is whether America will continue to have a free, creative, and robust 
civil society—or whether the state alone will determine who gets to contribute 
to the common good, and how they get to do it.”

Hudson said that in many 
ways the statement itself is more important than the two weeks of action, but he 
accepted it would not get as much publicity.

“This is not something to 
get giddy about,” he said. “It would be sad if it came to priests or lay people 
or bishops being led away in handcuffs. What could be a sadder moment in the 
history of our nation than to see Catholics arrested for simply refusing to 
compromise on a central moral principle of their 
faith?”








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