Dear Friends,
As we celebrated Memorial Day this week, I know that our thoughts and prayers were, and are, very much with our men and women who serve so generously and courageously in the armed forces and those who have gone to see the face of Christ, especially those who have made the supreme sacrifice.
Tag: freedom
‘Heavenizing’ our freedom
Dear Friends,
This past Sunday we marked the Feast of the Ascension when, the Gospel tells us, Jesus took His place at the Father’s right hand; He took His place as the Eternal High Priest. This means something very powerful and very real for us today, for Jesus ascended and became the Eternal High Priest who leads all creation in the Eternal Divine Liturgy in Worship of God the Father, in the Communion of the Holy Spirit.
Freedom through Christ’s Resurrection
Dear Friends,
What a joy the celebration of the Sacred Triduum was and what a joy this Easter has been for me, and I hope it was the same for each of you!
Among the joys for me at Easter was the spending of time with many of our diocesan seminarians, who always inspire me with joy and with hope for the future.
It’s not just an issue in Pakistan and China
Thirty-some years ago, I spent a fair amount of time on religious freedom issues: which meant, in those simpler days, trying to pry Lithuanian priests and nuns out of Perm Camp 36 and other GULAG islands.
Had you told me in 1982 that one of my “clients,” the Jesuit Sigitas Tamkevicius, would be archbishop of Kaunas in a free Lithuania in 2012, I would have thought you a bit optimistic.
If you had also told me, back then, that there would eventually be serious religious freedom problems in the United States, I would have thought you a bit mad.
Sr. Marie Frederic Lucks, OP, dies
SINSINAWA — Sr. Marie Frederic Lucks, OP, died March 15, 2012, at St. Dominic Villa, Hazel Green, Wis. The funeral Mass was held in Queen of the Rosary Chapel at Sinsinawa March 19, followed by burial in the Motherhouse Cemetery.
Sister Marie Frederic made her first religious profession as a Sinsinawa Dominican Aug. 5, 1948, and her final profession Aug. 5, 1951. She taught for 46years and served as school support staff for 12 years, with eight years overlapping. Sister Marie Frederic served in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Texas and Oklahoma.
Sr. Mary James (Alice Margaret Mary) Geenen, dies
Sister Mary James (Alice Margaret Mary) Geenen entered Eternal Life February 20, 2012, the third child of Henry R. Geenen and Gladys Catherine (McCormick) Geenen. She was born March 31, 1919 in Freedom. She attended Saint Nicholas Elementary School. After graduating from high school she attended Saint Norbert College and Silver Lake College where she earned a BA Degree in Elementary Education with majors in Philosophy and English. She attended the University of Dayton earning a MS Degree in Elementary Education.
President’s ‘compromise’ still infringes upon religious liberty
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When President Obama mandated that religiously-based organizations violate core tenets of their faith, Americans were rightly outraged.
The president then announced an “accommodation” policy to these organizations, but the so-called compromise is not a compromise at all because it does not take away the mandate that infringes upon religious liberty.
On January 20, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, affirmed a rule that requires church-affiliated hospitals, agencies, and universities to provide contraception and sterilization in the health insurance for their employees.
Violation of religious liberty cannot stand
Normally this column addresses state policy issues. This time it speaks to a national question — the scope of religious liberty in our national health care reform legislation.
On January 20, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reaffirmed a rule forcing nearly all private health plans to include coverage for all FDA-approved prescription contraceptive drugs and devices, as well as surgical sterilization. These are listed among “preventive services” for women.
Nearly all health plans will have to cover these services without co-pays or other cost-sharing. The mandate applies regardless of whether the insurer, the employer or other plan sponsor, or even the woman herself, objects to such coverage.
Violation of religious liberty cannot stand
Normally this column addresses state policy issues. This time it speaks to a national question — the scope of religious liberty in our national health care reform legislation.
On January 20, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reaffirmed a rule forcing nearly all private health plans to include coverage for all FDA-approved prescription contraceptive drugs and devices, as well as surgical sterilization. These are listed among “preventive services” for women.
Nearly all health plans will have to cover these services without co-pays or other cost-sharing. The mandate applies regardless of whether the insurer, the employer or other plan sponsor, or even the woman herself, objects to such coverage.
Contraception mandate: endangers religious liberty, women’s health
In implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) now requires almost all private health plans to cover contraception and sterilization as “preventive services” for women.