‘Threat is lifted’

Richard A. Sokerka

“We welcome the news that this particular threat to religious freedom has been lifted.” Those were the words included in a statement by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, chair of the U.S. bishops’ religious liberty committee, after new exemptions to the HHS Obama contraceptive mandate were announced.

The bishops said the new rule “recognizes that the full range of faith-based and mission-driven organizations, as well as the people who run them, have deeply held religious and moral beliefs that the law must respect.”

Dr. Matthew Franck, director of the William E. and Carol G. Simon Center on Religion and the Constitution at the Witherspoon Institute, called the actions “cause for much celebration.”

“Groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor, who dedicate their lives to the indigent elderly, can finally expect the restitution of their conscience-rights in court,” Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie, policy adviser with The Catholic Association, said.

The new rules “substantially expand the scope of that religious exemption,” Greg Baylor, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, said.

Last week’s announcement followed through on two promises made in President Trump’s May 4 executive order on religious liberty — relief from the HHS mandate for religious and conscientious objectors, and Department of Justice (DOJ) guidance to federal agencies on implementing religious freedom protections found in existing federal law.

The 25-page DOJ guidance is just as important as relief from the Obama mandate because it outlines religious freedom protections in existing federal law that federal departments and agencies must incorporate into their functions. It boldly states that “Religious liberty is not merely a right to personal religious beliefs or even to worship in a sacred place. It also encompasses religious observance and practice.” Effectively, this guidance reinforces religious freedom as being on the same level as freedom of speech.

While these two actions are major victories for our religious freedoms, Archbishop Lori cautioned, “We’ll see more challenges to our religious liberty…. In addition to the various challenges we face on religious liberty at the federal and local levels, the biggest thing we need to do is effectively catechize, evangelize, and teach about religious freedom. That is job No. 1 for the bishops’ religious liberty committee.”

It must indeed be a top priority, for as the archbishop also said Americans risk “frittering away” freedom of religion if they do not actively work to protect it.