FORTNIGHT FOR FREEDOM, CURRENT ISSUES, PART 2

Fortnight for Freedom, Part 2
Here is a summary of five other current situations that are threatening Religious Freedom along with links to more information on each of them.  Click on the titles to read the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Fact Sheet for each topic.

Adoption Services
1. Catholic foster care and adoption services. Boston, San Francisco, the District of Columbia, an d the State of Illinois forced local Catholic Charities out of adoption or foster care services— by revoking their licenses, ending government contracts, or both—because they refused to place children with same-sex couples or unmarried opposite-sex couples who cohabit.

Care to Immigrants
2. State immigration laws. Several states have passed laws that forbid what they call “harboring” undocumented immigrants—and what the Church deems Christian charity and pastoral care to immigrants.

Public Facility Rental Opportunities
3. Discrimination against small church congregations. New York City adopted a policy that barred the Bronx Household of Faith and other churches from renting public schools on weekends for worship services, even though non-religious groups could rent the same schools for other uses.

Humanitarian Services to Victims of Human Trafficking
4. Discrimination against Catholic humanitarian services. After years of excellent performance by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services (MRS) in administering contract services for victims of human trafficking, the federal government changed its contract specifications to require MRS to provide or refer for contraceptive and abortion services in violation of Catholic teaching.

Denial of Organizational Status to Groups with Religious Affiliation
5. Christian students on campus. In its over-100-year history, the University of California Hastings College of Law has denied student organization status to only one group, the Christian Legal Society, because it required its leaders to be Christian and to abstain from sexual activity outside of marriage. Pope Francis has asked American Catholics to preserve and defend religious freedom, both in the United States and throughout the world.

Source:  USCCB.ORG

%d