FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
| Contact: |
Michelle Johnson |
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Director of Communications |
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EWTN Global Catholic Network |
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Phone: (205) 795-5769 |
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E-Mail: mjohnson@ewtn.com |
Friday, February 10, 2012
EWTN Responds to Announcement of Religious
Accommodation in HHS Healthcare Mandate
Irondale, AL – The following statement was released by Michael P. Warsaw, President & Chief Executive Officer of EWTN:
“I am certainly pleased to see that EWTN’s decision to file suit against the recent contraception mandate of the Department of Health and Human Services may have played some role in forcing the administration to revisit the application of these rules on religious institutions. However, we remain quite skeptical that the changes announced by President Obama will in fact address the concerns raised by EWTN.
According to a White House statement, some religious institutions may no longer be required to directly provide insurance coverage for contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs; however, this accommodation may not actually apply to EWTN or actually give any relief to the Network and other similar organizations. Like EWTN many religious institutions self-insure their healthcare plans, meaning that we will still be forced to pay for these services in violation of our religious beliefs. Today’s announcement certainly does not give any hope to countless individual business owners and people of faith who share the concern about being required to provide for these services which they personally find immoral.
EWTN is particularly concerned that the proposed rules for non-exempted religious organizations will still not be finalized until later in the coming year. This leaves EWTN and other such organizations very uncertain about what the future may hold with regard to this mandate. We will continue to consult with our legal counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty to determine the implications of this revised approach; however, our legal action against the administration will continue. “
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Anyone who believes President Obama just compromised on the government's plan to coerce religious employers to provide free contraception to employees is either "naive or gullible" says the Co-Chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus.
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In an attempt to placate the uproar from American faithful over the HHS mandate, President Barack Obama is expected to announce some kind of "accommodation" on the mandate at 12:15 today.
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The Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia, who run Aquinas College in Nashville, have put out a call to the faithful to combat the HHS mandate by praying and fasting for nine days from Feb. 11 until Feb. 19, to ask Our Lady to intercede on behalf of religious liberty.
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As the Church prepares to celebrate the World Day of the Sick tomorrow, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, Pope Benedict XVI issued a message reminding the faithful about the importance of the "sacraments of healing" - penance and Anointing of the Sick.
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CD writes: I recently received a forward from someone with music by Jan Siberry, with a song called, "Calling All Angels". It is also used in a movie, "Pay It Forward". I was wondering if this artist/song is connected with the new age genre of music?
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Woman of Grace: St. Scholastica (480 – 543)St. Gregory the Great recounts this story from the life of St. Benedict’s beloved twin sister, St. Scholastica, which shows how expressing our petitions to God with childlike faith and confidence sometimes yields immediate and amazing results.
After Benedict founded a monastery for men, Scholastica remained very close to her brother, founding a convent for women some miles away. Every year Scholastica went to visit Benedict at a little place just outside the monastery gate.
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“We must refer everything to God. It is the secret of being holy.”
Father Frederick Faber
For Reflection: This simple quote contains a deep and provocative message. Why do you think referring everything to God is the secret of being holy? How do we see Mary referring the pain of the third dolor of her heart to the will of God? How do you seek to live the reality of this quote? What current circumstance in your life is God asking you to refer to Him? Ponder it in your heart and journal your insights.
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Congratulations to EWTN for its courageous stand in suing the U. S. Government over the HHS Mandate requiring Catholic institutions to offer insurance coverage for contraception and abortion! As we so often emphasize through our television and radio programs and at our conferences and in our study groups, our day and time truly require heroic fortitude and perseverance. We MUST continue to preserve and protect all that is God-honoring in our culture and to reclaim that which has been lost. The Scripture passage from the Book of Esther says it all: "How do you not know that you have been born for such a time as this?" (4:14).
However, this will not be easily done. In many diverse ways we will all be called upon to exercise heroic virtue in the quest to rebuild a culture of life. It may, and will, cost us much. We need to prepare for trial and struggle. We need to embrace our holy duty to meet the challenge -- every challenge presented-- with faith and trust in the God who calls us to it. He will not abandon us nor will He leave us orphaned. But, He may well ask us to enter into the passion of His Son and to suffer with Him for the work to be accomplished. Remember, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of faith.
May we demonstrate by our faithful action and through thought and word that we are truly the sons and the daughters of the Most High God who understand the mission entrusted to us at this critical juncture in the history of man! And may the martyr saints and all of those who stood for truth in their day and time assist us by their prayers and holy example.
Mary, Help of All Christians, pray for us! Angels of God, assist us! Saints Triumphant and Suffering, pray for us! AMEN.
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The
Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) is refusing to allow the government to force it to either stop providing insurance to its employees or use donor funds to pay for insurance coverage of drugs and procedures that violate Church teaching, and has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Birmingham, Alabama to stop the imposition of the controversial mandate.
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