November 14, 2013
Bill Donohue comments on the decisions reached by the United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) this week in Baltimore:
Those who have been pushing the bishops to abandon their opposition to the Health
and Human Services (HHS) mandate, abortion and gay marriage lost big time this
week. Yesterday, the bishops voted unanimously to continue their fight against
the HHS mandate.
The bishops invoked the name of Pope Francis, sending a message to those who
are trying to hijack the pope's words to pressure the bishops to abandon their
cultural concerns. "Pope Francis has reminded us," they said, that
"there is only one thing which the Church quite clearly demands: the
freedom to proclaim the Gospel in its entirety, even when it runs counter to
the world, even when it goes against the tide."
By electing Archbishop Joseph Kurtz as president, and Cardinal Daniel DiNardo
as vice president, the bishops affirmed their commitment to religious liberty,
the life of the unborn, and marriage equity.
Archbishop Kurtz took to the streets of Louisville
last year protesting the HHS mandate; Cardinal DiNardo, as chairman of the
USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, wrote letters to the U.S. senators
expressing the bishops' opposition to the mandate.
On abortion, Kurtz said yesterday that "the deliberate destruction of
unborn children at their most vulnerable stage is a travesty." In June,
when Texas Sen. Wendy Davis filibustered a pro-life bill, DiNardo called on
Gov. Rick Perry to call for a special session to revive the bill.
Archbishop Kurtz, previous chairman of the USCCB's Ad Hoc Committee on the
Defense of Marriage, set the agenda for the bishops in opposing gay marriage.
In June, Cardinal DiNardo called the Supreme Court's ruling allowing gay
marriage a "grave injustice."
Kudos to the USCCB for affirming tradition and holding the line.