Post-Election Thoughts and New Religious Freedom Resources

Details: 16 November 2012

Tuesday’s presidential election was a tough day for the pro-life cause. Although neither candidate was ideal from the pro-life perspective (or the totality of Catholic teaching), President Obama’s record and positions on the right to life of unborn human beings and some other "non-negotiable" truths (e.g. the right to religious freedom and the nature of marriage) are objectively contrary to our Catholic faith.

Sadly, it is likely that the President’s impoverished views and policies on these non-negotiable truths will be continued and even amplified in his second term. Among other serious concerns, the prospect of President Obama appointing one or two more U.S. Supreme Court Justices (whom he said in the past must support Roe v. Wade) could enshrine Roe for several more decades.

Furthermore, the outcome of the presidential and U.S. Senate elections means that the last remaining avenue for overturning President Obama’s offensive, intolerant contraceptive and sterilization insurance mandate is the court system. On this front, there is some hopeful news in that the initial rulings on the merits of two cases agreed with the opponents of the mandate.

Needless to say, we all need to be steadfast in praying for our president’s conversion on these positions, and in our actions to oppose his policies which run contrary to our faith and objective truth. Equally important, we must never give in to discouragement or cynicism in our call to proclaim God’s Truth about human life and love. To help inspire all of us to this call, I share with you these powerful words from the late Father Richard John Neuhaus:

"...So long as we have the gift of life we must protect the gift of life. So long as it is threatened, so long must it be defended. This is the time to brace ourselves for the long term. We are today laying the foundations for the prolife movement of the twenty-first century. Pray that the foundations are firm, for we have not yet seen the full fury of the storm that is upon us.

"But we have not the right to despair. We have not the right and we have not the reason to despair if we understand that our entire struggle is premised not upon a victory to be achieved but a victory that has been achieved.

"If we understand that, far from despair we have right and reason to rejoice that we are called to such a time as this, a time of testing, a time of truth. The encroaching culture of death shall not prevail, for we know, as we read in John’s Gospel, ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’ The darkness will never overcome that light."

Finally, I’m pleased to announce the latest educational/liturgical resources on religious freedom from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Earlier this year, the USCCB prepared practical and catechetical resources for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day to address conscience rights, religious freedom, and the HHS coercive mandate in particular.

Now, the USCCB has prepared new educational/liturgical materials (homily notes and prayers of the faithful) that may be useful for Thanksgiving Day Masses (November 22) as well as the Solemnity of Christ the King (November 25). Also available is a one-page resource (available in English and Spanish) that provides background on the Solemnity of Christ the King and its connection to religious liberty.

Finally, the USCCB has created a new religious liberty website, www.firstamericanfreedom.com, with the hope that it will be useful to people of any religion who would like to learn more about religious liberty and who would like to support us in prayer in our effort to educate the public about this important issue. Additional resources will continue to be posted at www.usccb.org/conscience and www.usccb.org/freedom.

You can contact Greg at The Nebraska Catholic Conference, 215 Centennial Mall South Suite 310, Lincoln, NE 68508; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.