Question for Catholics

Please, please PLEASE calling all or any Catholics that could answer these questions. I have contacted several Catholic organizations several times--emails and phone calls over and over . I cannot get ANY answers from anyone. My priest doesn't know. Seminarians don't know. My diocese of Raleigh isn't answering my emails. When I CALL I get people who cannot answer--at any level including the Bishops conference!! (Spent an HOUR waiting on a cellphone to get on EWTN Radio and they didn't get to my phone call.) The Catholics at the fortnight of Freedom have no answers. These are CRITICAL questions--life altering questions for the Catholic and they must be answered.

[Background note: As my husband and I were at the Fortnight for Freedom, which in our parish is praying in the church from 7a to 7p, all the people leading the prayers and the people doing the responses would go out and discuss what was going on between shifts. ALL of them--no kidding--not one of them thought the Healthcare Law had anything to do with them personally. They all couldn't understand what we were saying. When we talked about having to personally pay for contraception and abortion in our insurance, they all just said they got their insurance through their employers and that this in no way would effect them! Not one of them understood that they would now have to pay for these coverages themselves. They thought this was only affecting the church organizations! 


When I asked one of the church leaders what we were supposed to do as Catholics, he said that all we could do was pray for the church, because he warned, "this is going to turn into a Tiananmen Square." I just agreed and I saw myself out there getting run over. Then he said, "It's going to make the people in DC really wake up when some of the priests and bishops are jailed." WHAT the HECK? What about US? WE are being forced to purchase contraception and abortifacient  medications now too. Aren't we also, as faithful Catholics supposed to be out there in the square getting run over WITH our priests and bishops? Is there something going on that I am not aware of? Did the bishops okay Catholics purchasing insurance that covered contraception in the past or something? ]

Here they are:

1. Most of the Catholics I have spoken with get their insurance through their employers and have NO idea if it covers abortion or contraception. Is this okay for the Catholic layman? Have the bishops come out and said that is an acceptable decision for the parishioner to purchase insurance that covers contraception and abortion? If so then you can understand their confusion as to why all of a sudden it is now immoral for the government to make the Catholics organizations do something that the parishioners have been allowed to do all along. This is confusing!! Why on EARTH would it be okay for us Catholics to do and not the Catholic organization? Help me out with understanding this.

If the church hasn't actually told its parishioners that it is immoral for it to purchase and pay for insurance that covers abortion and contraception, they have actually created a very terrible situation for themselves. But if it is immoral, then these questions need to be answered:

2. Are the parishioners now supposed to drop their insurance if it covers contraception and abortion?

3. If we choose to pay the fine for rejecting insurance coverage, where does the fine go? The healthcare tax seems to go straight back into the coffers of the healthcare pool that FUNDS the things we are against? Are we supposed to refuse to pay the fine?

And finally, will the USCCB acquiesce to the law once the religious exemptions are expanded to include Catholic organizations and then allow the Catholics (and all other pro-lifers who are not Catholic) to just be ignored? Will they give up the fight then? They say they will not but I have heard Catholic bishops and spokesmen continue to talk as if they will. They say that the primary concern right now is the expansion of the religious exemption. That is very frightening for us. Then WE will have to go to jail and the bishops will not. I cannot believe they would do that to their flock.

Please, if you could forward these questions I would so appreciate it!
God bless,
Arthur and Teresa Beem

(I posted this on my facebook page because someone asked. Thought I might post it here in case anyone is interested.)

  

What I am writing, I am not writings to proselytize or convince anyone. What I am doing is making clear what Catholics believe and why. I am aware the Protestants do not view this in the same way.

Catholics teach what they believe Christ handed down to the Apostles. They pass down the Word of God in two different ways--the oral and written word. The oral is "Tradition" ; the written is the Bible. Both are God-breathed and are authoritiative for the Catholic.

From the beginning of the church, it has been both pro-life and pro-babies (lots of documents to prove this). BEFORE the church had a unified, written doctrine of the Trinity or of the Divinity of Christ, the church was pro-life and against contraceptives. This is not only a cross over from Judaism, but Christ Himself taught this. It is one of the most ancient of all doctrines.

(Also note that ALL Christians--ALL Christians taught contraception was morally sinful until 1930 and the Anglican Church at the Lambeth Conference opened up contraception for married couples under certain circumstances. Since the 1970's only the Catholic Church continues to teach contraception is a sin.)

The Catholic Church teaches that this isn't our opinion or interpretation of scripture, the Apostles actually taught this and the church--HEARING it from them, passed and passes it down (the source of this doctrine is NOT scripture but actually those listening to the disciples teach it and then they go and teach it as well.)... This was the VERY WORD of God and cannot ever under ANY circumstance change. We, as Christians, are under the most solemn command to pass this on as His Word whether or not we agree or like or dislike it.  

 The woman's womb is the Lords and He opens and closes it. It is a grave sin--in fact an insulting slap in the face of God--to tell our Creator that we don't want to have His babies. (Again, Catholic use the written word to support this teaching of Christ, but the teaching itself is derrived from the early church listening to the Apostles and passing it down orally through the church. We teach this a directly coming from the mouth of Christ and given as truth for His Apostles to teach. That is the source of the doctrine--the oral teachings of Christ.)

 The very first command to the humans was "be fruitful and multiply" and that was commanded after Noah's ark landed and again with Israel. God's ultimate gift to mankind is to be like Him and create children in our own image just as God created us in His own image. It is a profound and powerful gift of God. ALL sexual immorality stems from this concept of the gift of pro-creation and our sinful attempt to possess it and manipulate it. 

For a Catholic, this is not something we can redefine, Christ's doctrine cannot "grow" wiith the times or be in anyway dilluted for the culture. It is what it is and we must remain faithful to our responsibility to pass down the Word of God even if we have to die doing it.

With this HHS mandate (part of the Heathcare Law) that requires Catholics to purchase contraception and abortifacient drugs, we are placed in an absolute crossroads. There is no compromise available to us--either capitulating to the legal process or standing and insisting that "we will NOT comply" with a law that causes us to sin against our Father. 

Adventists will understand with the whole Sabbath law prophecies of being "forced to worship on Sunday." Now, that I have presented the dilemma, some personal commentary.

 1. It is a little irritating that the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) have forever pushed the Democrat candidates and couldn't see this one coming. If Catholics had not voted in Obama, we wouldn't be in this predicament. So for the church to now ask God to come in and intervene with a miracle is showing a lack of understanding and naivete.

 Jesus taught that He will NOT be mocked, what we sew we will reap. America has sewn bad seed and now wants to reap a harvest of plenty? I personally could NEVER deliberately take action in one way and when the outcome is exactly what was anticipated then go and ask God to please get me out of the mess I made. (Well, not totally true, but it is what I logical demand of myself. If you eat ice cream every day, it is immature to beg God not to allow it to go to fat!)

 2. First we need to pray for repentence. This whole focus on praying for freedom just cuts me the wrong way. We need to be humble and submissive to God's will in this one and our Constitutional rights as American citizens need to be a secondary issue. We have lots of repenting to do before we can petition our Creator for His help.

So the whole Fortnight of Freedom is the Catholic Church having 24/7 prayers at church and is encouraging fasting and writing congress in order to restore our religous liberties taken away with the Obama Healthcare Law. I support that and I will be involved in all of it, from fasting to praying to petitioning my government. 

I will first, however, petition God for mercy upon us, to forgive us our sins both as an individual Christian (me) and then as Christians and then as a nation. Repentance needs to be our first and primary focus, then ask our Father for intervention in this horrible situation. We deserve this, gulp. We really do. God have mercy on us.....

United for Religious Freedom

A Statement of the Administrative Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:


March 14, 2012

The Administrative Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, gathered for its March 2012 meeting, is strongly unified and intensely focused in its opposition to the various threats to religious freedom in our day. In our role as Bishops, we approach this question prayerfully and as pastors—concerned not only with the protection of the Church's own institutions, but with the care of the souls of the individual faithful, and with the common good.


To address the broader range of religious liberty issues, we look forward to the upcoming publication of "A Statement on Religious Liberty," a document of the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty. This document reflects on the history of religious liberty in our great Nation; surveys the current range of threats to this foundational principle; and states clearly the resolve of the Bishops to act strongly, in concert with our fellow citizens, in its defense.

One particular religious freedom issue demands our immediate attention: the now-finalized rule of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that would force virtually all private health plans nationwide to provide coverage of sterilization and contraception—including abortifacient drugs—subject to an exemption for "religious employers" that is arbitrarily narrow, and to an unspecified and dubious future "accommodation" for other religious organizations that are denied the exemption.

We begin, first, with thanks to all who have stood firmly with us in our vigorous opposition to this unjust and illegal mandate: to our brother bishops; to our clergy and religious; to our Catholic faithful; to the wonderful array of Catholic groups and institutions that enliven our civil society; to our ecumenical and interfaith allies; to women and men of all religions (or none at all); to legal scholars; and to civic leaders. It is your enthusiastic unity in defense of religious freedom that has made such a dramatic and positive impact in this historic public debate. With your continued help, we will not be divided, and we will continue forward as one.

Second, we wish to clarify what this debate is—and is not—about. This is not about access to contraception, which is ubiquitous and inexpensive, even when it is not provided by the Church's hand and with the Church's funds. This is not about the religious freedom of Catholics only, but also of those who recognize that their cherished beliefs may be next on the block. This is not about the Bishops' somehow "banning contraception," when the U.S. Supreme Court took that issue off the table two generations ago. Indeed, this is not about the Church wanting to force anybody to do anything; it is instead about the federal government forcing the Church—consisting of its faithful and all but a few of its institutions—to act against Church teachings. This isnot a matter of opposition to universal health care, which has been a concern of the Bishops' Conference since 1919, virtually at its founding. This is not a fight we want or asked for, but one forced upon us by government on its own timing. Finally, this is not a Republican or Democratic, a conservative or liberal issue; it is an American issue.

So what is it about?

An unwarranted government definition of religion. The mandate includes an extremely narrow definition of what HHS deems a "religious employer" deserving exemption—employers who, among other things, must hire and serve primarily those of their own faith. We are deeply concerned about this new definition of who we are as people of faith and what constitutes our ministry. The introduction of this unprecedented defining of faith communities and their ministries has precipitated this struggle for religious freedom. Government has no place defining religion and religious ministry. HHS thus creates and enforces a new distinction—alien both to our Catholic tradition and to federal law—between our houses of worship and our great ministries of service to our neighbors, namely, the poor, the homeless, the sick, the students in our schools and universities, and others in need, of any faith community or none. Cf. Deus Caritas Est, Nos. 20-33. We are commanded both to love and to serve the Lord; laws that protect our freedom to comply with one of these commands but not the other are nothing to celebrate. Indeed, they must be rejected, for they create a "second class" of citizenship within our religious community. And if this definition is allowed to stand, it will spread throughout federal law, weakening its healthy tradition of generous respect for religious freedom and diversity. All—not just some—of our religious institutions share equally in the very same God-given, legally-recognized right not "to be forced to act in a manner contrary to [their] own beliefs." Dignitatis Humanae, No. 2.

A mandate to act against our teachings. The exemption is not merely a government foray into internal Church governance, where government has no legal competence or authority—disturbing though that may be. This error in theory has grave consequences in principle and practice. Those deemed by HHS not to be "religious employers" will be forced by government to violate their own teachings within their very own institutions. This is not only an injustice in itself, but it also undermines the effective proclamation of those teachings to the faithful and to the world. For decades, the Bishops have led the fight against such government incursions on conscience, particularly in the area of health care. Far from making us waver in this longstanding commitment, the unprecedented magnitude of this latest threat has only strengthened our resolve to maintain that consistent view.

A violation of personal civil rights. The HHS mandate creates still a third class, those with no conscience protection at all: individuals who, in their daily lives, strive constantly to act in accordance with their faith and moral values. They, too, face a government mandate to aid in providing "services" contrary to those values—whether in their sponsoring of, and payment for, insurance as employers; their payment of insurance premiums as employees; or as insurers themselves—without even the semblance of an exemption. This, too, is unprecedented in federal law, which has long been generous in protecting the rights of individuals not to act against their religious beliefs or moral convictions. We have consistently supported these rights, particularly in the area of protecting the dignity of all human life, and we continue to do so.

Third, we want to indicate our next steps. We will continue our vigorous efforts at education and public advocacy on the principles of religious liberty and their application in this case (and others). We will continue to accept any invitation to dialogue with the Executive Branch to protect the religious freedom that is rightly ours. We will continue to pursue legislation to restore the same level of religious freedom we have enjoyed until just recently. And we will continue to explore our options for relief from the courts, under the U.S. Constitution and other federal laws that protect religious freedom. All of these efforts will proceed concurrently, and in a manner that is mutually reinforcing.

Most importantly of all, we call upon the Catholic faithful, and all people of faith, throughout our country to join us in prayer and penance for our leaders and for the complete protection of our First Freedom—religious liberty—which is not only protected in the laws and customs of our great nation, but rooted in the teachings of our great Tradition. Prayer is the ultimate source of our strength—for without God, we can do nothing; but with God, all things are possible.

NO CatholIc Charities in Two Years!

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=13461

Cardinal George: no Catholic hospitals in 2 years unless HHS mandate is rescinded

February 27, 2012

From Our Store: The Documents of the Second Vatican Council: A Summary and Guide (eBook)

Warning that the Church is being “despoiled of her institutions” as “freedom of conscience and of religion become a memory from a happier past,” Cardinal Francis George of Chicago observes that “the Catholic Church in the United States is being told she must ‘give up’ her health care institutions, her universities and many of her social service organizations.”

“So far in American history, our government has respected the freedom of individual conscience and of institutional integrity for all the many religious groups that shape our society,” he continues. “The government has not compelled them to perform or pay for what their faith tells them is immoral. That’s what we’ve meant by freedom of religion. That’s what we had believed was protected by the U.S. Constitution. Maybe we were foolish to believe so.”

Cardinal George adds:

What will happen if the HHS regulations are not rescinded? A Catholic institution, so far as I can see right now, will have one of four choices: 1) secularize itself, breaking its connection to the Church, her moral and social teachings and the oversight of its ministry by the local bishop. This is a form of theft. It means the Church will not be permitted to have an institutional voice in public life. 2) Pay exorbitant annual fines to avoid paying for insurance policies that cover abortifacient drugs, artificial contraception and sterilization. This is not economically sustainable. 3) Sell the institution to a non-Catholic group or to a local government. 4) Close down …

Freedom of worship was guaranteed in the Constitution of the former Soviet Union. You could go to church, if you could find one. The church, however, could do nothing except conduct religious rites in places of worship-no schools, religious publications, health care institutions, organized charity, ministry for justice and the works of mercy that flow naturally from a living faith. All of these were co-opted by the government. We fought a long cold war to defeat that vision of society.

The strangest accusation in this manipulated public discussion has the bishops not respecting the separation between church and state. The bishops would love to have the separation between church and state we thought we enjoyed just a few months ago, when we were free to run Catholic institutions in conformity with the demands of the Catholic faith, when the government couldn’t tell us which of our ministries are Catholic and which not, when the law protected rather than crushed conscience. The state is making itself into a church.

"If you haven't already purchased the Archdiocesan Directory for 2012, I would suggest you get one as a souvenir,” the cardinal continued, saying:

On page L-3, there is a complete list of Catholic hospitals and health care institutions in Cook and Lake counties. Each entry represents much sacrifice on the part of medical personnel, administrators and religious sponsors. Each name signifies the love of Christ to people of all classes and races and religions. Two Lents from now, unless something changes, that page will be blank.

Contraception and Church Epistemology

Ephesians One:

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of His will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. 

In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit....

...that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened... 

And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church,  which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (vs.7-11, 13, 17, 22) 

Summation: Christ lavished upon His Body, the Church, His wisdom to unite all things. 

Within this first chapter of Ephesians, the great epistemological question is answered for all and for eternity. He has made known to us the mysteries of wisdom and salvation and knowledge and enlightenment and gave these things to His Body, the church.

Upon this rests the infrastructure, the first cause, the heart and core of how Catholics and Protestants differ in their thinking. Catholics have always read Ephesians one (and all of the New Testament) in the context of the church being visible, organized--one that is catholic and apostolic.(1)

 For Protestants this concept of a visible church organization, started by Christ that continues to today, is alien and utterly rejected. The body is an invisible group of believers.

I offer this post, not to convince or proselytize, but to clearly contrast the understanding of Catholic and Protestant world views. The way we imbibe the truths of Ephesians one will point out the differences in how Protestants and Catholics experience God. For the very way we experience God and Truth differ. For both of us it is richly multifaceted.

How We Experience God

Protestant(2) Perceptions: 

The Holy Spirit draws us to God through the beauties and complexities of nature, through other Christians in socialization and corporate worship, through divine instruction of scripture and through prayer. For Protestants the most intimate and immediate of spiritual connections with Christ for is through a direct relationship in prayer. The physical link for a Christian to Christ is a book, the Bible. It is the historical “paper trail,” the object, the evidence, the substance that attaches a reader to the author (God). 

Catholic Perceptions:

Catholics would not diminish the Protestant way of experiencing God but add to it a new dimension with the sacraments. Catholics most intimate spiritual connection with Christ is directly partaking in His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist (Communion Service) as well as in prayer. The Church itself is the physical link that attaches a Christian to Christ. The Word of God in Flesh instructed the Apostles who transmitted His teachings to their successors by speaking and writing. Both are infallible records of the Truth. Catholics “paper trail,” the object and evidence that attaches the believer to the source is the Catholic Church itself (The Bible being an important part of her paper trail).

Catholic rites, rituals and prayers unify us with ancient worship. Through the Liturgy, we feel the blood of the early church coursing through our veins.

How we experience Truth

Protestants: 

The Holy Spirit guides the Christian in interpreting scripture and in gleaning from the trusted sources of Christian scholarship. The fullness of truth is entrusted to the believer’s conscience convicting him of good and evil. 

Catholics: 

The Holy Spirit guides His Bride in interpreting scripture and teaching the fullness of truth. The conscience must be formed by God’s Word passed down by the Apostles through the Catholic Church.

For the Protestant, this means of transmittal of truth is invisible, for the Catholic, visible. Analogies might include that Truth is received for the Protestant more like Wifi, the Catholics firewire. For the less computer savvy, Protestants use cellphones while Catholics use land lines or perhaps Protestants use Star Trek transport beams while Catholics use train tracks.

Here’s a better, but more extensive metaphor:

Protestants see themselves as little tributaries being fed by the rain from heaven. Coming together they create a great river bringing Truth to the world. Catholics see the great Truth river as the Catholic Church fed by God’s rain. They are the trees planted by it, absorbing its waters and producing fruit. Truth is received by drinking.

Does that mean the Catholic church thinks unless you drink from her river you have no truth? Absolutely not. The rain of truth falls on the just and the unjust. It is freely given to all and you can find truth in pagan cultures, in atheists, world religions and everywhere. But the fullness of truth is not in a droplet or pond. God gave the river of truth to the Catholic Church. 

Protestants, of course, protested that claim, hence their name. Having been a Protestant the vast majority of my life, I can see how that claim comes across arrogant and totalitarian. I will not attempt an apologetic here, rather I think it necessary for both sides to understand each other and their way of getting to God and His truth.

To understand Catholics you need to see where they find the source of Truth. They see the fullness of Truth not directly implanted into our hearts and minds (via Holy Spirit inspired Bible study) as individuals, but given to the Apostles to hand down, infallible, pure and unadulterated within the structure of a visible organized church.

For unity sake, the Catholics would say that though Christians have the Holy Spirit bringing us truth, God never promised that each would have all, the entirety, of truth. Rather believers have a piece of the puzzle and only together as a Body of Christ will the whole be seen perfectly. That limitation is supposed to brings humility and harmony. 

So, let’s step out of philosophical worldviews and into a current tangible example of what I am describing.

Most Protestants interpret scripture in a way that does not oppose contraceptives, so their consciences are not violated by using them. They would also dismiss as dictatorial a church attempting to impose such a view. 

The Catholic Church can point to certain passages in scripture that reinforce what they teach, however, the Bible is not the source of their knowledge, but its proof. They received the information verbally by Christ, their Head and Groom. It was transmitted to the church by the Apostles and some of what they learned was put in inerrant, God-breathed written form--the New Testament.

Catholics claim that Christ instructed His Apostles that contraception is a grave moral sin and they are obligated to pass on that information. Catholics do not invent or formulate their dogmas, they believe they received it and then are required by God to pass it on. Catholic dogmas and doctrines are not their opinions and can never be changed by a pope, a magisterium, by democratic vote, etc. When people tell the church it needs to update its doctrines, they do not understand Catholic thought. The doctrines were never theirs, they were commissioned only to preserve them and teach them, they can’t change them.

When a new problems such as cloning and in vitro fertilization arise about which Christ didn’t specifically teach, the church doesn’t take an opinion poll, it doesn’t take the pulse of the cultural norms, they don’t even ask the pope and let him decide. When the Catholic Church today makes disciplinary statements they convene the magisterium who then do mountains of research in the church archives learning what all the church fathers passed down in order to follow the spirit of the written and oral Word of God.

The Catholic Church recognizes that no personal interpretation of scriptures is infallible, so the church studies the situation in the context of what the 2,000 years of inspiration and call upon the promise the Lord made to His church, that the gates of hell cannot prevail against her and that whatsoever she binds will be bound in heaven, and then the magisterium follows the Holy Spirit’s guidance in teaching about faith and morals. 

Protestants will of course disagree, but this is what Catholics truly believe and teach. 

The Catholic Church believes that Christ gave Truth to His Bride to unify and not divide. Wisdom and insight was lavished upon us “making known to us the mystery of His will.” That in the fullness of time He gave the church, “which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” (Eph. 1)

In today’s climate, it is important for the government and Protestants to understand how the Catholic Church thinks, that we might have a better understanding and respect for each other.

1. Which would include the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

2. It would be impossible to describe each Protestant denomination's beliefs, so this is a general statement.