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Category Archives: refugees

The Coming European Revolution

22 Thursday Dec 2016

Posted by essaybee2012 in Angela Merkel, asylum tsunami, de-islamization, democratic political revolution, Geert Wilders, infidels, Koran, Mark Rutte, mass immigration, Merkel Muss Weg, Party for Freedom (PVV), police officers, refugees, soldiers, voluntary remigration

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Allah, Angela Merkel, Anis A., asylum seekers, asylum tsunami, Berlin terror attack, Breitbart News, Christians, de-islamization, democratic political revolution, denaturalization, dual nationality, Dutch army, Dutch Parliament, Geert Wilders, infidels, Islam, Islamic countries, Islamic State, Jews, Koran, liberation, Mark Rutte, mass immigration, Merkel Muss Weg, non-Muslims, Party for Freedom (PVV), patriotic parties, police officers, political correctness, political elite, radical Muslims, refugees, societies, soldiers, Syrian fighters, terrorists, Trojan horse, University of Amsterdam, voluntary remigration, western civilization, Western Europe

Breitbart News

http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/12/21/stop-terror-let-us-choose-new-leaders-de-islamize-countries/

Wilders:  ‘Political Revolution Is Brewing in Europe’

Getty

by Geert Wilders  21 Dec 2016

Yesterday, the Islamic State claimed the Berlin terror attack of Monday evening, in which twelve people were killed with a truck at a Christmas market.

The killer managed to escape.  However, in the truck the police found identity papers belonging to Anis A., a Tunisian who came to Germany as an asylum seeker in 2015.

When last year German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened Germany’s borders to almost one million refugees and asylum seekers, she invited the Trojan horse of Islam into her country.  Among the so-called refugees were many young men of Islamic background, filled with hatred for the West and its civilization.  One of them was Anis A.

It took almost a year for the German authorities to reject his asylum request, but meanwhile the man had disappeared.  The police are now looking for him as a prime suspect of Monday’s attack in Berlin.

The German authorities are dangerously underestimating the threat of Islam.  They signs are there for all to see.  In October, an Afghan asylum seeker raped and murdered a 19-year old German girl in Freiburg.  And a 12-year old Iraqi boy was caught before he could explode a nail bomb at a Christmas market in Ludwigshafen.

Last Summer, an Afghan with an axe attacked train passengers in Heidingsfeld, a Syrian murdered a pregnant woman with a machete in Reutlingen, another Syrian detonated a suicide bomb at a music festival in Ansbach, a Palestinian attempted to decapitate a surgeon in Troisdorf.  And who has forgotten last New Year’s eve, when migrant sex mobs assaulted hundreds of women in Cologne?

This year, 1,500 police officers will be patrolling the streets in Cologne on New Year’s eve.  Ten times more than last year.  But how many police officers will be needed next year?  And the year after that?  And what will happen when they are outnumbered?  What is needed are not just more police officers; what is needed is a democratic political revolution.

The Politicians Are Guilty

Let no-one tell you that only the perpetrators of these crimes are to blame.  The politicians, who welcomed Islam into their country, are guilty as well.  And it is not just Frau Merkel in Germany, it is the entire political elite in Western Europe.

Out of political-correctness, they have deliberately turned a blind eye to Islam.  They have refused to inform themselves about its true nature.  They refuse to acknowledge that is all in the Koran:  the permission to kill Jews and Christians (Surah 9:29), to terrorize non-Muslims (8:12), to rape young girls (65:4), to enslave people for sex (4:3), to lie about one’s true goals (3:54), and the command to make war on the infidels (9:123) and subjugate the entire world to Allah (9:33).

Instead of informing themselves, they have opened their country’s borders to mass immigration and invited asylum seekers in, despite the fact that IS had announced that it would send terrorists to the West as asylum seekers.

They even allowed Syria fighters to return to Europe, instead of denaturalizing them and blocking their re-entry.  They have not even imprisoned them.  In short, they are guilty of serious negligence.  They have betrayed their own citizens.

The asylum tsunami of 2015 has only exacerbated an already terrible situation.  Almost a decade ago, in 2008, a study by the (very leftist) University of Amsterdam revealed that 11% of all Muslims in the Netherlands agree that there are situations in which they find it acceptable for themselves to use violence for the sake of their religion.

This means that, in my country, the Netherlands, alone, there are 100,000 Muslims who are personally prepared to use violence.  The Dutch army, however, is less than 50,000 soldiers strong.  Hence, even if we deploy the entire army to protect Christmas markets, theaters, night clubs, festivals, shopping malls, churches and synagogues, we cannot guarantee the safety of all our citizens.

That is why there is little doubt that 2017 will bring Germany and the entire West more violence, more attacks on our women and daughters, more bloodshed, more tears, more sorrow.  The terrible truth is that, in all likelihood, we ain’t seen nothing yet.

But this does not mean that there is no hope.

Just as the present dangerous situation has been created by politicians refusing to see the horrible reality of Islam and refusing to do their duty, the solution to the gigantic self-inflicted problem the West is currently suffering from, needs to be a political one.

Fixing a broken Europe

We will have to de-islamize our societies.  Indeed, every single measure we take to achieve this goal, from ending all immigration from Islamic countries, to preventive detention of radical Muslims, to the promotion of voluntary remigration, to the denaturalization and expelling of criminals with dual nationality, will be a step towards a safer society for ourselves and our children.  But it all begins with politicians with the courage to face and speak the truth.

More and more citizens are aware of that.  This is why a political revolution is brewing in Europe.  Patriotic parties are rapidly growing everywhere.  They are Europe’s only hope for a better future.

We have to drive politicians, such as Angela Merkel, my own weak Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and their like minded colleagues in other countries, from power.  We must liberate our countries.

And believe me, my friends, that is exactly what we are going to do.  Terrorists, who hope to break our resolve with bloody atrocities will not succeed.  We will choose new and brave leaders, we will de-islamize, we will win!

Geert Wilders MP is a member of the Dutch Parliament and leader of the Party for Freedom (PVV)

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Angela Merkel calls for ban on full facial veils

06 Tuesday Dec 2016

Posted by essaybee2012 in Alternative for Germany (AfD), Angela Merkel, asylum seekers, burqas, Christian Democratic Union Party, European Union (EU), full facial veils, German law, Islamic law, Matteo Renzi, Muslim immigrants, Populism, refugees, Shariah

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Alternative for Germany (AfD), Angela Merkel, anti-establishment, Anton Troianovski, asylum seekers, burqas, Christian Democratic Union Party, constitutional changes, European Union (EU), freedom of religion, full facial veils, German law, German reunification, globalization, international institutions, interpersonal communication, Islamic law, Italian voters, liberal values, Matteo Renzi, Muslim immigrants, Populism, refugees, rule of law, Shariah, Wall Street Journal, West

Wall Street Journal

http://www.wsj.com/articles/germanys-merkel-takes-tough-stance-on-full-facial-veil-1481031798

  • World
  • Europe

Germany’s Merkel Pushes to Ban Full Facial Veil

Chancellor toughens rhetoric toward Muslim immigrants

German Chancellor Angela Merkel gives her speech at the Christian Democratic Union party convention.   Photo:   Getty Images
~

by Anton Troianovski

Updated Dec. 6, 2016 11:16 a.m. ET

ESSEN, Germany—German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for the prohibition in some situations of the full facial veil, toughening her rhetoric toward Muslim immigrants as she sought to shore up her party’s conservative flank at its annual convention on Tuesday.

“We show our face in interpersonal communication,” Ms. Merkel told delegates of her Christian Democratic Union party to some of the strongest applause of her more than hourlong speech.  “Because of this, the full veil is unacceptable for us.  It should be banned wherever legally possible.”

Ms. Merkel also said that German law superseded Islamic law, or Shariah, in a nod to criticism that her policy of accepting refugees had undermined the rule of law in the country.  Some 890,000 asylum seekers arrived in Germany last year, largely from Muslim countries, as Ms. Merkel refused to close the country’s borders to refugees.

Ms. Merkel’s tougher rhetoric doesn’t necessarily herald a change in policy.  In September, she said that a ban on burqas would be appropriate in certain situations such as in courtrooms or the civil service, but wearing the veil was generally protected by the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion.

The convention speech amounted to Ms. Merkel’s road map to fighting populism as her center-right party enters an election year that she said would be the most difficult since German reunification.

‘We show our face in interpersonal communication.  Because of this, the full veil is unacceptable for us.  It should be banned wherever legally possible.’

—German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Ms. Merkel repeated her promise that last year’s chaotic wave of migration to Germany wouldn’t repeat.  The detention of a 17-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker on suspicion of raping and murdering a university student in Freiburg, and the detention of a 31-year-old Iraqi asylum-seeker for two alleged sex crimes against students in Bochum, have inflamed the immigration debate in recent days.

In next September’s general election, Ms. Merkel will run for a fourth term as chancellor and will face the strongest right-wing populist party, the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, in the country’s postwar history.

The Christian Democrats still hold a wide lead in the polls, and the upstart, anti-immigrant AfD has virtually no chance of entering government next year.  But the party’s rise has made Christian Democrats nervous because it has attracted past supporters of Ms. Merkel who are upset by her refugee policy and could complicate her ability to form a new government next year.

The internal discord was reflected in Ms. Merkel’s less-than-unanimous reelection as party chairwoman.  About 89.5% of the party delegates voted for her on Tuesday, compared to 96.7% at the previous election, in 2014.

Ms. Merkel exhorted her colleagues to avoid divisive rhetoric and defended European integration.

“In this situation in which the world has come out of joint, we must first do everything to make sure that Europe doesn’t come out of its crises even weaker than how it entered them,” Ms. Merkel said.  “We must do this deeply in our own interest, since Germany will do well in the long term only when Europe also does well.”

The anti-establishment mood sweeping Europe has rattled Ms. Merkel, the European Union’s most influential politician and a staunch defender of liberal values and international institutions.  The latest blow came on Sunday, when Italian voters rejected Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s proposed constitutional changes.

Ms. Merkel said that managing the consequences of the digital revolution and globalization was one of the party’s main challenges, casting the rise of populism in the West as a by-product of those economic changes.  She said financial-market regulation needed to be improved and tax loopholes for global corporations removed.

While some people benefited from the modern economy, she said, others feared losing their jobs and that things were changing too fast.

“Some blame the liberal, constitutional state for all of this and fight against its values,” Ms. Merkel said.  To defend liberal society, she said, politicians had to show that “hard work will still pay off, today and in the future.”

Write to Anton Troianovski at anton.troianovski@wsj.com

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Austria to block migrants with expanded border wall

31 Sunday Jul 2016

Posted by essaybee2012 in Austria, Balkans migration route, border controls, European Union (EU), free movement, Hungary, illegal migration, migrants, refugees, Schengen zone, Syria

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Austria, Balkans migration route, border controls, border fence, Brussels Belgium, Budapest Hungary, Dublin agreement, European Union (EU), express.co.uk, free movement, Germany, Hungary, illegal migration, migrant crisis, migrants, Monika Pallenberg, Nick Gutteridge, police dog teams, refugees, Schengen zone, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, Syria, troops, Turkey, Vienna Austria

Express.Co.UK
~
Sunday Express
~
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/691905/Austria-plan-build-huge-border-fence-stop-migrants-Schengen-EU-Brussels?_ga=1.59719725.1244699211.1469928307

Austria announces plan to build huge border fence to stop migrants as Schengen crumbles

AUSTRIA has unveiled plans to build a massive 100km fence along its border to stop migrants and refugees crossing into the country.

By Nick Gutteridge and Monika Pallenberg
PUBLISHED: 15:00, Thu, Jul 21, 2016 | UPDATED: 15:10, Thu, Jul 21, 2016Migrants at a fence in HungaryGETTY
Austria is to build a huge new border fence
~
Engineers in the central European state have finalised plans for the vast barrier, which would stretch along its entire southern border with Hungary.  Austria has repeatedly clashed with Brussels over its clampdown on illegal migration and has already put a daily cap on the number of people who can claim asylum.

Related articles

  • Massive anti-migrant Austrian march descends into violence

  • Austria warns Europe of impending breakup over migrant mistakes

And earlier this year the country’s parliament voted through a motion allowing it to declare a state of emergency if migrant numbers suddenly rise, meaning it could instantly shut its borders.  The new border fence will mark a considerable escalation in Austria’s physical attempts to bring down migration, with the country only having constructed one small 4km fence along its border with Slovenia to date.

Hungary's border fenceGETTY

The 100km fence will run along the border with Hungary

Migrants crossing into AustriaGETTY

The number of migrants using the Balkans route has dropped off recently

State officials have reached agreements with hundreds of landowners along the 100km stretch of border which will allow the fence to be put up in record time should the number of refugees increase again, according to a police spokesman.  Austria is on the Balkan migration route to the ‘promised lands’ of Germany and Sweden, where most asylum seekers arriving in Europe want to settle and start a better life.  At one point last year the country was brought to its knees by thousands of people crossing its borders every day, but the numbers have tailed off significantly since the EU signed its migrant deal with Turkey.  Only between 20 and 30 migrants arrive in Austria from Hungary every day at the moment but, with the political chaos in Turkey and the possible collapse of the current agreement, the country has decided to take precautions.
~

Migrants go to incredible lengths to cross borders

Wed, July 20, 2016

Desperate migrants fleeing Syria and surrounding places have been trying to sneak across borders in incredible ways.  These include hiding in suitcases and sleeping next to car bonnets

[For slide show, see:  http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/691905/Austria-plan-build-huge-border-fence-stop-migrants-Schengen-EU-Brussels?_ga=1.59719725.1244699211.1469928307%5D

This is the moment a lorry full of migrants said 'we are from Europe' after being pulled over by police in Britain's capital.

Tom Andrews / SWNS.com
 

This is the moment a lorry full of migrants said ‘we are from Europe’ after being pulled over by police in Britain’s capital.

The fence will cover just a third of the 300km border between the two countries, but officials have said that they other sections are too remote and difficult to traverse to provide an attractive migration route.  It will be patrolled day and night by troops and police dog teams in the event of a state of emergency being declared, providing an impregnable barrier to the movement of large numbers of people northwards.  Neighbour Hungary is no stranger to border fences, having angered EU officials by building its own 175km fence along its border with Serbia last year when the migrant crisis was at its peak.  But relations between Hungary and Austria have been strained in recent months, with Vienna demanding that Budapest take back several thousand migrants under the Dublin agreement – a request which has so far been refused.  For video, see:
~
http://players.brightcove.net/2540076170001/4kfqgmETl_default/index.html?videoId=5037072829001
~
The sight of border fences going up across central Europe has been the most visible sign of the crumbling of the Schengen zone and the slow death of the Brussels dream of free movement.  Hungary and Austria are two of a number of nations to have reintroduced border controls and checks in light of the migrant crisis.  Despite the EU demanding they now drop what are supposed to be emergency measures, Austria’s move to further secure its frontiers indicates Brussels will find it tough to return the continent to the status quo.

Related articles

  • The Great Wall of Europe: Hungary splits continent in two with huge fence to stop migrants
  • Hungary strengthens its border as it cracks down on migrants
  • Hungary struggling to patch up anti-migrant fences as thousands come

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Cardinal Takes Over for Bishop and Advances on King

08 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by essaybee2012 in abortifacients, abortions, Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty (USCCB), administrative government, America, America Magazine, Bishop Robert Lynch, Bishop Stephen Blaire, Bishop William Lori, bureaucracy, Cardinal Francis George, Catholics, charitable agencies, citizens, civil disobedience, communication, Congress, Constitution, constitutional government, contraception, democracy, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), equality, ethics, Federal Registry, freedom, georeligious, health care, Hosanna-Tabor ruling, human trafficking, immigrants, Legislature, liberty, majority, Mike Huckabee, ministries, minority, morality, nature, Pope Benedict XVI, power, President Barack Obama (1961- ), principles, privacy, progressivism, refugees, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, republic, sterilization, street language, Supreme Court, Timothy Cardinal Dolan, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, White House, White House Press Secretary

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I’ve been away from the blog for a bit.  The letter I’m providing here is from six days ago, but it’s still worthy of noting for the below reasons.

I provided an introductory blog on why the Catholic Church has been, is now and should be taken seriously as a georeligious/geopolitical force [ Georeligious Power: A Paris Revolution. A Polish Revolution. An American Revolution? ].  Then, I posted this follow-up article [ The President Caves to Georeligious Powers on Obamacare ].  Consider this present blog the third in a series, the three of which cover the four recent moves on the tournament chessboard that America has become for the “seasoned” Catholic Church and the “rather brazen” newcomer, the Obama administration.

I encourage all to read this, regardless of interest or disinterest in the issues of religious freedom, freedom in general, religion in general, healthcare, sexual freedom, sex in general, privacy, civil disobedience or whether government should act as protector or director of freedoms.  Why?  Simply because it’s invasive to all (non-American citizens as well) at some level.  In other words, if it’s not in your face already, it will be.

At the very least, it adds to the correction of any misconception that the Catholic Church has no influence in today’s world.  It does, and even when not understood on a common-citizen level, it’s understood almost unanimously on national and international levels.  The Church has been, is and will continue to be a major player on our world’s “chessboard.”  And, they’re not going away.  President Obama may be jousting with them at the moment, but he knows it as well.

If you’re a person of any conviction, ranging from no conviction at all (a conviction in itself) to a monk in a monastery, this present match concerns your life at a much higher level.  Are you a person who wants to be left alone without anyone telling you what you can or can’t do with your life (outside of crimes against property, person, government, etc.)?  Or, are you a person who is fine with ceding some, many or all of your freedoms to the government as a director and even enforcer of freedoms custom-fitted for all citizens by a majority vote of citizens?

In a constitutional republic, which is still what we live in within America, the government protects all freedoms without creating / directing / enforcing them upon a minority.  When you’re an equal people, there can be no minority.  It’s only within a democracy, where majority rules over the lives of a minority, that you will find our inherent equality-by-nature of whites, Blacks, women, men, religious, atheist or otherwise trumped by a custom-fitted nature for all.

In this specific match between the Church and President Obama, the president is not acting as an equal-by-nature protector of a constitutional republic where religious freedoms (including those of no convictions) are defended equally.  He’s not even acting as a protector of sexual freedoms when trying to establish one policy that applies to all, regardless of one’s beliefs, religious or otherwise.  He is acting from out of a form of social democracy where he very clearly seeks to direct “the many” of all citizens along “the one” same path — ultimately, with no variance allowed.

Whether you’re in the majority or minority (where you’ll least like it), you’ll be affected.  If you think you’ll wind up in the majority for every issue close to your heart, think again. 

This is a letter from the recently promoted Timothy Cardinal Dolan, formerly Archbishop of New York, to all of the bishops of the Catholic Church, dated March 2, 2012.  I’ve given the link at the bottom for a copy of the entire letter, with his signature included.  For this blog, I’ve condensed the letter to its most directly stated points, and I’ve highlighted in bold the “boldest” of bold statements from the new Cardinal.  Then, I’ve underlined the words and statements, in my view, to taken most seriously.  If nothing else, please view the highlights.

As a side note, if there’s one thing, for me, that has led to the present and growing disconnect between parish-level Catholics and the Church heirarchy, it’s that the Bishops, Archbishops and Cardinals (who do most of the letter-writing and “attempted” communicating that finds its way to the street-level parishioners) have no sense whatsoever (meaning, none) of “street language,” so to speak.  They tend to talk and write like they’re still in the first century Church of Peter or Paul. 

I’ve purposely excised as much as possible of that in my below condensation simply because I believe that communication is a bridge between one and another (including those at a street level like me).  I truly want an inclusive “all” to understand the Cardinal’s argument.  Take a peek at the original document, and you’ll see what I’m getting at.  In all fairness, though, the Cardinal addressed the letter to fellow Cardinals, but I still say they need to talk “to” the people instead of “down to” them to encourage a much needed healing of the widening disconnect.  –SB

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)  March 2, 2012:

I have written you to express my gratitude for our unity in faith and action as we move forward to protect our religious freedom from unprecedented intrusion from a government bureau, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

. . . we as a body have had opportunities during our past plenary assemblies to manifest our strong unity in defense of religious freedom.

Since January 20, when the final, restrictive HHS Rule was first announced, we have become certain of two things:   religious freedom is under attack, and we will not cease our struggle to protect it.

Benedict XVI . . . “Of particular concern are certain attempts being made to limit that most cherished of American freedoms, the freedom of religion.”

Bishop Stephen Blaire and Bishop William Lori, with so many others, have admirably kept us focused on this one priority of protecting religious freedom.  We have made it clear in no uncertain terms to the government that we are not at peace with its invasive attempt to curtail the religious freedom we cherish as Catholics and Americans.  We did not ask for this fight, but we will not run from it.

. . . each of us would prefer to spend our energy engaged in and promoting the works of mercy to which the Church is dedicated:  healing the sick, teaching our youth, and helping the poor. . . . each of the ministries entrusted to us by Jesus is now in jeopardy due to this bureaucratic intrusion into the internal life of the church. . . . we were doing those extensive and noble works rather well without these radical new constrictive and forbidding mandates.

Our Church has a long tradition of effective partnership with government and the wider community in the service of the sick, our children, our elders, and the poor at home and abroad, and we sure hope to continue it.

. . . this is not a “Catholic” fight alone. . . . to quote . . . a nurse who emailed me, “I’m not so much mad about all this as a Catholic, but as an American.” . . . Governor Mike Huckabee, observed, “In this matter, we’re all Catholics.”

. . . We are grateful to know so many of our fellow Americans . . . stand together in this important moment in our country.  They know that this is not just about sterilization, abortifacients, and chemical contraception.  It’s about religious freedom, the sacred right of any Church to define its own teaching and ministry.

When the President announced on January 20th that the choking mandates from HHS would remain, not only we bishops and our Catholic faithful, but people of every faith, or none at all, rallied in protest.  The worry that we had expressed — that such government control was contrary to our deepest political values — was eloquently articulated by constitutional scholars and leaders of every creed.

On February 10th, the President announced that the insurance providers would have to pay the bill, instead of the Church’s schools, hospitals, clinics, or vast network of charitable outreach having to do so.  He considered this “concession” adequate.  Did this help? . . . while withholding final judgment, we would certainly give the President’s proposal close scrutiny. . . . we did — and as you know, we are as worried as ever.

For one, there was not even a nod to the deeper concerns about trespassing upon religious freedom, or of modifying the HHS’ attempt to define the how and who of our ministry.

Two, since a big part of our ministries are “self-insured,” we still ask how this protects us.   We’ll still have to pay and, in addition to that, we’ll still have to maintain in our policies practices which our Church has consistently taught are grave wrongs in which we cannot participate.

And what about forcing individual believers to pay for what violates their religious freedom and conscience?  We can’t abandon the hard working person of faith who has a right to religious freedom.

And three, there was still no resolution about the handcuffs placed upon renowned Catholic charitable agencies, both national and international, and their exclusion from contracts just because they will not refer victims of human trafficking, immigrants and refugees, and the hungry of the world, for abortions, sterilization, or contraception.  In many ways, the announcement of February 10 solved little and complicated a lot.  We now have more questions than answers, more confusion than clarity.

What to do now?

For one . . . we will continue our strong efforts of advocacy and education.  In the coming weeks the Conference will continue to provide you, among other things, with catechetical resources on the significance of religious freedom to the Church and the Church’s teaching on it from a doctrinal and moral perspective.  We are developing liturgical aids to encourage prayer in our efforts and plans on how we can continue to voice our public and strong opposition to this infringement on our freedom.  And the Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty, that has served the Conference so well in its short lifespan, will continue its extraordinary work in service to this important cause.

Two, we will ardently continue to seek a rescinding of the suffocating mandates that require us to violate our moral convictions, or at least insist upon a much wider latitude to the exemptions so that churches can be free of the new, rigidly narrow definition of church, minister and ministry that would prevent us from helping those in need, educating children and healing the sick, no matter their religion.

In this regard, the President invited us to “work out the wrinkles.”  We have accepted that invitation.  Unfortunately, this seems to be stalled:  the White House Press Secretary, for instance, informed the nation that the mandates are a fait accompli (and, embarrassingly for him, commented that we bishops have always opposed Health Care anyway, a charge that is scurrilous and insulting, not to mention flat out wrong. . . .)

The White House already notified Congress that the dreaded mandates are now published in the Federal Registry “without change.”  The Secretary of HHS is widely quoted as saying, “Religious insurance companies don’t really design the plans they sell based on their own religious tenets.”  That doesn’t bode well for their getting a truly acceptable “accommodation.”

At a recent meeting between staff of the bishops’ conference and the White House staff, our staff members asked directly whether the broader concerns of religious freedom—that is, revisiting the straight-jacketing mandates, or broadening the maligned exemption—are all off the table.  They were informed that they are.  So much for “working out the wrinkles.”

Instead, they advised the bishops’ conference that we should listen to the “enlightened” voices of accommodation, such as the recent, hardly surprising yet terribly unfortunate editorial in America [prominent Jesuit publication].  The White House seems to think we bishops simply do not know or understand Catholic teaching and so, taking a cue from its own definition of religious freedom, now has nominated its own handpicked official Catholic teachers.

We will continue to accept invitations to meet with and to voice our concerns to anyone of any party, for this is hardly partisan, who is willing to correct the infringements on religious freedom that we are now under.  But as we do so, we cannot rely on off the record promises of fixes without deadlines and without assurances of proposals that will concretely address the concerns in a manner that does not conflict with our principles and teaching.

Congress might provide more hope, since thoughtful elected officials have proposed legislation to protect what should be so obvious:  religious freedom.  Meanwhile, in our recent debate in the senate, our opponents sought to obscure what is really a religious freedom issue by maintaining that abortion inducing drugs and the like are a “woman’s health issue.”  We will not let this deception stand.

Our commitment to seeking legislative remedies remains strong.  And it is about remedies to the assault on religious freedom.  Period.

(By the way, the Church hardly needs to be lectured about health care for women.  Thanks mostly to our Sisters, the Church is the largest private provider of health care for women and their babies in the country.)

Bishop William Lori, Chairman of our Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty, stated it well in a recent press release:  “We will build on this base of support as we pursue legislation in the House of Representatives, urge the Administration to change its course on this issue, and explore our legal rights under the Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.”

In the recent Hosanna-Tabor ruling, the Supreme Court unanimously defended the right of a Church to define its own ministry and services, a dramatic rebuff to the administration, apparently unheeded by the White House.  Thus, our bishops’ conference, many individual religious entities, and other people of good will are working with some top-notch law firms who feel so strongly about this that they will represent us pro-bono.  In the upcoming days, you will hear much more about this encouraging and welcome development.

Given this climate, we have to prepare for tough times.  Some, like America magazine, want us to cave-in and stop fighting, saying this is simply a policy issue; some want us to close everything down rather than comply (In an excellent article, Cardinal Francis George wrote that the administration apparently wants us to “give up for Lent” our schools, hospitals, and charitable ministries); some, like Bishop Robert Lynch wisely noted, wonder whether we might have to engage in civil disobedience and risk steep fines; some worry that we’ll have to face a decision between two ethically repugnant choices:  subsidizing immoral services or no longer offering insurance coverage, a road none of us wants to travel.

. . . we know so very well that religious freedom is our heritage, our legacy and our firm belief, both as loyal Catholics and Americans.  There have been many threats to religious freedom over the decades and years, but these often came from without.

This one sadly comes from within.

As our ancestors did with previous threats, we will tirelessly defend the timeless and enduring truth of religious freedom.

Timothy Cardinal Dolan

Archbishop of New York

President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)

http://usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&pageid=51472

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