Bishops rip HHS mandate That Forces Coverage of Birth Control, Abortion Drugs

[Allegra]

Don’t worry. The government always gets their fines. If they don’t pay up, they will sieze the money straight from the bank accounts. I wonder how much the fines would be?

 

[iloveangels]

I guess back to my original question, though-what if they refuse to pay the fines (even though they are less than the cost to cover employees?)

They could come after us, I guess. Is that what you want to hear?

Allegra–see the post above this one–probably has a good point.

 

[_Abyssinia]

I am confused over the Charlotte diocese post I posted - it says one of the options would be for a Catholic employer to stop insurance altogether to his or her employees. Could a Catholic employer do this? Or will Catholic employers be forced to offer insurance which cover contraception, sterilization, abortificants etc.

 

[iloveangels]

I am confused over the Charlotte diocese post I posted - it says one of the options would be for a Catholic employer to stop insurance altogether to his or her employees. Could a Catholic employer do this? Or will Catholic employers be forced to offer insurance which cover contraception, sterilization, abortificants etc.

Sure they could. Some employers don’t offer insurance to their employees.

The government apparently is trying to punish employers who don’t, but they can’t make them. They can only fine them if they don’t.

 

[iloveangels]

The bishops across the board are responding in unison, even the ones considered to be “progressives.”

If this law is not overturned in time, expect this to get interesting.

My expectation is that we will not buckle on compliance. If this means that diocese after diocese drops health coverage, then so be it. We should NOT be forced to consent to sinful practices. IF we do, then what will they try to do to us next?

 

[iloveangels]

Here you go:

"Bishop Olmstead of Phoenix…said that the rule as it now stands will force us (Catholic institutions) to either “violate our consciences, or drop health coverage for our employees.”

“We cannot – we will not – comply with this unjust law,” Bishop Olmstead pledged.

Here’s the link so you can read the whole thing if you want: catholicnewsagency.com/column.php?n=2017

 

[iloveangels]

Cardinal Francis George of Chicago recently said: “I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr”.

Only 8 bishops have not spoken out against the recent HHS ruling. That’s less than 10%.
The rest have spoken out against it, using almost exactly the same words as Bishop Olmstead in my post above.

 

[iloveangels]

Moreover, this last weekend, the Army’s Office of Chaplains tried to silence Catholic priests in the Army from reading a statement from their bishop on this topic. Here is the link:

cnsnews.com/news/article/archbishop-us-troops-obamacare-reg-blow-freedomfor-which-you-have-seen-your-buddies

The Army was unsuccessful and representatives have since said that they regretted the error (ostensibly since they were unsuccessful). This is not going to get better anytime soon.

 

[Laudate_Dominum]

Paying fines to the government to not violate our consciences? That’s exactly what happened to recusants in England.

 

[iloveangels]

Paying fines to the government to not violate our consciences? That’s exactly what happened to recusants in England.

Yes, indeed.

It’s a violation of constitutional rights in this country. Obama may think he’s king but he’s not. He’s an evil man.

 

[turtle18]

Cardinal Francis George of Chicago recently said: “I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr”.

Only 8 bishops have not spoken out against the recent HHS ruling. That’s less than 10%.
The rest have spoken out against it, using almost exactly the same words as Bishop Olmstead in my post above.

Wow, how prophetic was that!

Yes, indeed.

It’s a violation of constitutional rights in this country. Obama may think he’s king but he’s not. He’s an evil man.

You won’t get any argument for me on that.

 

[iloveangels]

Wow, how prophetic was that!

Don’t know yet. Remains to be seen. Hope it’s a prediction rather than a prophecy. We shall see.

Cardinal George is an intelligent man and well-informed. He knows what’s going on, and probably has seen this coming for some time. He said this in 2010.

 

[irishpatrick]

Don’t know yet. Remains to be seen. Hope it’s a prediction rather than a prophecy. We shall see.

Cardinal George is an intelligent man and well-informed. He knows what’s going on, and probably has seen this coming for some time. He said this in 2010.

Just added that quote to my signature.

 

[Dirt]

From Pope Leo XIII; Diuturnum:

“15. The one only reason which men have for not obeying is when anything is demanded of them which is openly repugnant to the natural or the divine law, for it is equally unlawful to command to do anything in which the law of nature or the will of God is violated. If, therefore, it should happen to any one to be compelled to prefer one or the other, viz., to disregard either the commands of God or those of rulers, he must obey Jesus Christ, who commands us to “give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s,”[18] and must reply courageously after the example of the Apostles: “We ought to obey God rather than men.”[19] And yet there is no reason why those who so behave themselves should be accused of refusing obedience; for, if the will of rulers is opposed to the will and the laws of God, they themselves exceed the bounds of their own power and pervert justice; nor can their authority then be valid, which, when there is no justice, is null.”

read the entire encyclical, Please! :papalencyclicals.net/Leo13/l13civ.htm

 

[JackQ]

No fines necessary. All they have to do is to stop paying for any health insurance for their employees. They can then take that money they would use to pay for the health insurance and add it to the wage of the employee.

The employee would then have to go out and buy their own health insurance.

Employers are not obligated to pay for health insurance of any kind. It has just become a part of a person’s wages.

Not so. Employers are required to provide health insurance under the health care reform law.

 

[Semper_Zelare]

Cardinal Francis George of Chicago recently said: “I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr”.

Only 8 bishops have not spoken out against the recent HHS ruling. That’s less than 10%.
The rest have spoken out against it, using almost exactly the same words as Bishop Olmstead in my post above.

When you say only 8 Bishops have not spoken out… where do you get that from?
Aren’t there something like 300 Bishops in the U.S.?

Is there anywhere that has listed the Bishops who HAVE spoken out? Or… sources which substantiate that the vast majority of Bishops are united on this issue?

 

[Teelynn]

I totally agree. My sincere suggestion is to do all you can to wake people up. The least we can do is to tell people what has happened and urge them to take action - sign petition, call Congress, tell other people. It is amazing how many people are clueless. It always upsets me when I mention HHS and their expression goes blank. They know nothing, literally nothing what Obama has done. If we don’t tell, they will never have a clue. If we tell, it may not wake them up, but at least we do what we can. Utilize your righteous anger and make it constructive. Urge others do the same.

It’s a plan…I’m already on it.

 

[Teelynn]

Not going to post a link but I read somewhere that by his language, the President may be signaling that he is willing to work something out with the mandate. He just may be feeling more heat than he anticipated.

The problem if this happens and something is able to be worked out…are people going to trust him enough to vote for him in November? I am hoping most people are not that naive. I am hoping the toothpaste is already out of the tube, but???

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

Not so. Employers are required to provide health insurance under the health care reform law.

You are wrong on this. Tthe health care reform law says that employers musr provide health insurance if they have more than a set number of employees (I think it is 50) or pay a fine if they chose not to do so.

There is a choice and choosing to pay the fine is not going against any law, it is selecting one of the provided for options.

 

[incense]

From Pope Leo XIII; Diuturnum:
read the entire encyclical, Please! :papalencyclicals.net/Leo13/l13civ.htm

Here’s some more quotes, which tell us how our Bishops should be acting. Which by the way, isn’t what all the Protestant experts on the Constitution are saying.

And they who say that this power depends on the will of the people err in opinion first of all; then they place authority on too weak and unstable a foundation.

Therefore, the pastors of souls, after the example of the Apostle Paul, were accustomed to teach the people with the utmost care and diligence “to be subject to princes and powers, to obey at a word,”[22] and to pray God for all men and particularly “for kings and all that are in a high station: for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.”[23] And the Christians of old left the most striking proofs of this; for, when they were harassed in a very unjust and cruel way by pagan emperors, they nevertheless at no time omitted to conduct themselves obediently and submissively, so that, in fact, they seemed to vie with each other: those in cruelty, and these in obedience.

1. This great modesty, this fixed determination to obey, was so well known that it could not be obscured by the calumny and malice of enemies. On this account, those who were going to plead in public before the emperors for any persons bearing the Christian name proved by this argument especially that it was unjust to enact laws against the Christians because they were in the sight of all men exemplary in their bearing according to the laws. Athenagoras thus confidently addresses Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Lucius Aurelius Commodus, his son: “You allow us, who commit no evil, yea, who demean ourselves the most piously and justly of all toward God and likewise toward your government, to be driven about, plundered and exiled.”[24] In like manner, Tertullian openly praises the Christians because they were the best and surest friends of all to the Empire: “The Christian is the enemy of no one, much less of the emperor, whom he knows to be appointed by God, and whom he must, therefore, of necessity love, reverence and honor, and wish to be preserved together with the whole Roman Empire.”[25] Nor did he hesitate to affirm that, within the limits of the Empire, the number of enemies was wont to diminish just in proportion as the number of Christians increased.[26] There is also a remarkable testimony to the same point in the Epistle to Diognetus, which confirms the statement that the Christians at that period were not only in the habit of obeying the laws, but in every office they of their own accord did more, and more perfectly, than they were required to do by the laws. “Christians observe these things which have obtained the sanction of the law, and in the character of their lives they even go beyond the law.”[27]

1. The case, indeed, was different when they were ordered by the edicts of emperors and the threats of praetors to abandon the Christian faith or in any way fail in their duty. At these times, undoubtedly, they preferred to displease men rather than God. Yet, even under these circumstances, they were so far from doing anything seditious or despising the imperial majesty that they took it on themselves only to profess themselves Christians, and declare that they would not in any way alter their faith. But they had no thought of resistance, calmly and joyfully they went to the torture of the rack, in so much that the magnitude of the torments gave place to their magnitude of mind. During the same period the force of Christian principles was observed in like manner in the army. For it was a mark of a Christian soldier to combine the greatest fortitude with the greatest attention to military discipline, and to add to nobility of mind immovable fidelity towards his prince. But, if anything dishonorable was required of him, as, for instance, to break the laws of God, or to turn his sword against innocent disciples of Christ, then, indeed, he refused to execute the orders, yet in such wise that he would rather retire from the army and die for his religion than oppose the public authority by means of sedition and tumult.