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In general, employers who provide health insurance
to workers were required as of Jan. 1 to comply with
a government mandate that those policies include vari-
ous types of contraceptives, including sterilization and
abortifacients. The penalty for noncompliance is poten-
tially thousands of dollars daily in fines. Although the
Obama administration has made some allowances for
exemptions for religious institutions, when final rules
were issued in June, some Catholic employers said the
exception still did not address their moral objections.
Obama met Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican in
July 2009. The pope gave the president a signed, leath-
er-bound copy of his encyclical,
“Caritas in Veritate”
(“Charity in Truth”)
, and a copy of the 2008 instruction
“Dignitas Personae” (“The Dignity of a Person”
) on
bioethics issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine
of the Faith.
Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky.,
speaking in his capacity as president of the USCCB,
said in a statement released Jan. 25 that the bishops
“welcome the court's protection of ministries like the
Little Sisters, whose vital work is at the heart of what it
means to be Catholic.”
The Supreme Court's order said: “If the employer
applicants inform the secretary of Health and Human
Services in writing that they are nonprofit organizations
that hold themselves out as religious and have religious
objections to providing coverage for contraceptive
services, the respondents are enjoined from enforcing
against the applicants the challenged provisions of the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and related
regulations pending final disposition of the appeal by
the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.”
The requirement to provide coverage for contracep-
tives in employee health insurance does have an accom-
modation, or waiver, the government says would keep
certain religious organizations from having to comply
with the mandate.
A statement from Mark Rienzi, senior counsel at the
Becket Fund, which represents the Little Sisters, said
they are “delighted that the Supreme Court has issued
this order protecting the Little Sisters.”
The statement said the order means the sisters and
the other organizations whose benefits are managed
by Christian Brothers Services and Christian Brothers
Benefits Trust “must simply inform HHS of their reli-
gious identity and objections.”
The statement added that the suit is a class-action
case on behalf of more than 400 Catholic organizations
whose benefits are managed by the Christian Brothers.
The Little Sisters and Christian Brothers Services
and Christian Brothers Benefits Trust, which manages
the religious orderʼs benefits, object to being required
to justify to the government that they should be entitled
to an exemption from the mandate. They argue that fill-
ing out the paperwork for a waiver that would instruct
a third party to provide the contraceptive coverage
amounts to them being part of the mechanism for pro-
viding abortion and other morally objectionable types
of coverage.
“To meet the condition for injunction pending ap-
peal, applicants need not use the form prescribed by the
government and need not send copies to third-party ad-
ministrators,” the order said.
The courtʼs order specified that the injunction
“should not be construed as an expression of the courtʼs
views on the merits” of the religious groupsʼ legal
claims.
Gulf Pine Catholic
•
January 31, 2014
17
Partnering with parents and community, we
provide students with the religious and
academic training to ensure success as strong
Christian citizens in society.
• Catholic education for children of St. Charles Borromeo Parish
& surrounding area;
• T
he only national and state accredited private school in Pearl
River County;
• Offers Pre-K3 through eighth grades;
• Educates the whole child; emphasizing intellectual, spiritual,
moral, physical, and social values with a strong classical
curriculum including Latin, History, Logic and an Enrichment
program.
“To Know, Love, and Serve God...”
For more information, call (601) 799-0860
•
St. Charles Borromeo
Catholic School
Home of
the
Blue Angels
10482 LeMoyne Blvd., D’Iberville, MS 39540
228-392-4180
G
Daily Religious Education
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Accelerated Reading & Math Programs
G
Library, Computer, Music, Art & Spanish
G
Physical Education & Health
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Weekly Mass with student involvement in
Liturgy & Choir
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Before & After School Care
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After School Activities: Voice, Piano, Lego
League & Band
PreK 3-6
th
Grade
If your goal is to have a safe and
challenging academic curriculum
where your child is encouraged
to reach their fullest potential
spiritually and socially, in a
self-disciplined Catholic Christian
environment, then Sacred Heart is
the place for you!
A Family of Faith-Building the
Future and Serving God’s Children
Since 1927
