Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on today’s address by Pope
Benedict XVI to U.S. Bishops on their “Ad Limina” visit:
Without explicitly naming President Barack Obama, Pope Benedict XVI made it
clear today that he sees the administration as a threat to religious liberty.
The pope spoke eloquently on the role that religious freedom has played since
the founding of America,
and of the need for Catholics to follow the natural law. But he also said, “The
legitimate separation of Church and State cannot be taken to mean that the
Church must be silent on certain issues.” Specifically, he called attention to
the “grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical
secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and cultural
spheres.”
How do we know that the pope was addressing the Obama administration when he
cited the threats emanating from the political sphere? Speaking of his
discussions with U.S.
bishops, the Holy Father said: “Many of you have pointed out that concerted
efforts have been made to deny the right of conscientious objection on the part
of Catholic individuals and institutions with regard to cooperation in
intrinsically evil practices. Others have spoken to me of a worrying tendency
to reduce religious freedom to mere freedom of worship without guarantees of
respect for freedom of conscience.”
Pope Benedict XVI is obviously aware of the public pronouncements of people
such as Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, Bishop William Lori, and others. They
have rightfully objected to the Obamacare provisions that would mandate
Catholic institutions to provide sterilization and contraceptive services
(including abortifacients) without any realistic religious exemption, and of
the decision to deny funding to a Catholic agency that combats human
trafficking simply because the Church opposes abortion. The term “freedom of
worship,” which was coined to distinguish it from “freedom of religion,”
expresses a highly privatized understanding of religious liberty that does not
embrace the public expression of religion. It is the preferred term of
President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.