Published February 07, 2012 | FoxNews.com

 Army chaplains have been told not to read a letter in Masses on Sunday that expresses disapproval of a new regulation in the Obama administration's health care law because the language in the letter speaks too strongly against the commander in chief. 

According to a senior Army official, Chief of Chaplains Donald Rutherford was asked not to let chaplains read the Jan. 26 letter sent by Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio because of the sentence that states: "We cannot -- we will not -- comply with this unjust law." 

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"There was a worry that would be a call for civil disobedience," said a senior Army official.

In the letter, Broglio writes to pastors telling them that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rule that requires coverage of sterilization, abortifacients and contraception be included in virtually all health plans is a direct violation of the First Amendment allowing religious liberty.

"As a result, unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics will be compelled to choose between violating our consciences or dropping health coverage for our employees (and suffering the penalties for doing so)," he wrote.

"We cannot -- we will not -- comply with this unjust law. People of faith cannot be made second-class citizens. We are already joined by our brothers and sisters of all faiths and many others of good will in this important effort to regain our religious freedom. 

"Our parents and grandparents did not come to these shores to help build America’s cities and towns, its infrastructure and institutions, its enterprise and culture, only to have their posterity stripped of their God-given rights. In generations past, the Church has always been able to count on the faithful to stand up and protect her sacred rights and duties. I hope and trust she can count on this generation of Catholics to do the same. Your children and grandchildren deserve nothing less," he wrote. 

Click here to read more on this story from Fox News Radio. 

Broglio then urged pastors to "learn more about this severe assault on religious liberty and how to contact Congress in support of legislation that would reverse the administration's decision."

That legislation is already in the works. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and 20 cosponsors filed the the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012, which would repeal the mandate that Rubio says "violates the religious liberties and conscience rights of faith-based institutions by forcing them to offer employees insurance coverage for contraceptives."

"As Americans, we should all be appalled by an activist government so overbearing and so obsessed with forcing mandates on the American people that it forces such a choice on religious institutions," Rubio wrote in an editorial Friday in The New York Post.

The Obama administration defends the decision to require Catholic groups fund reproductive medications and procedures by saying that many lay individuals work in these institutions.  

"There are tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of women who work in these hospitals and universities who are not Catholic or they may be Catholic but they use birth control and the question is whether they will have the same, the same package that every other woman in the country has, the same right and access to basic preventive care," Obama senior adviser David Axelrod told MSNBC on Tuesday. 

But the administration could shift its maneuvers. White House spokesman Jay Carney said Monday that besides the year the Catholic institutions were given to comply, lost in the coverage is the effort "to work with those religious institutions to try to implement this policy in a way that ensures that women have access to preventive care, but tries to allay the concerns of these institutions."

Democratic senators on Tuesday were planning a full-throated defense of the administration policy, calling it a "protection of women's health." Some see a concerted GOP attack on women's health starting with efforts to shut down the government last year over abortion policy, the Komen Foundation-Planned Parenthood flap over breast cancer funding and now the controversy over the decision to require Catholic institutions to provide contraceptives free of charge.

But Jordan Sekulow, director of policy and international operations at the American Center for Law and Justice, told FoxNews.com that the legislation may win support from the few Democrats who are either pro-life or have large Catholic constituencies. 

"I don't think it's as partisan as people think," Sekulow said. "Bob Casey from Pennsylvania is probably key there. Joe Manchin of West Virginia I think would be someone who would side on this quickly. He already said he's already concerned about this. So if Rubio can get enough support from that community then you could handle this. It would obviously pass through the house and hten the Senate and then the president would have to make a decision on his desk, not on (Health and Human Services Secretary) Kathleen Sebelius issuing the order." 

Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood has released a poll from the Democratic firm, Public Policy Polling, that says 53 percent of Catholics surveyed agree with the decision to require Catholic hospitals and universities to provide prescription birth control without no additional out-of-pocket fees. According to the poll, 37 percent are opposed. 

The poll showed 53 percent of Catholics also agree that women employed by Catholic hospitals and universities should have the same rights to contraceptive coverage as other women while only 39 percent say these institutions should be exempted because contraception runs counter to Catholic teachings.

Democrats also released a similar poll from the Public Religion Research Institute, which says 49 percent of Americans say that religiously affiliated colleges and hospitals should be required to provide their employees with health care plans that cover contraception or birth control at no cost. Forty-six percent say they should not have to provide this type of coverage.

With 300,000 Catholics serving in the Armed Forces not hearing the letter in services, retired Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer of the Center for Advanced Defense Studies said he hopes the White House "backs down." 

"Clearly, the Army's job is to be a military organization, not be in the middle of a social values conflict," he told Fox News. "This is something we've got to resolve quickly. Otherwise it will diminish our ability to fight as a military.



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/02/07/military-chaplains-told-not-to-object-to-contraceptive-mandate-as-senators-look/#ixzz1ljW0SMl2 

Dallas, Texas, Feb 1, 2012 / 01:26 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In the midst of a congressional investigation, Planned Parenthood has lost the support of the nation's leading breast cancer charity, Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Last year Planned Parenthood received roughly $680,000 in grants from Komen and $580,000 the year before.

Komen spokeswoman Leslie Aun told the Associated Press that the cutoff is a result of the charity's recently adopted criteria which prohibits giving grants to organizations undergoing investigations by local, state or federal authorities.

Planned Parenthood has been the subject of a federal investigation headed by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) since last year.  The investigation was launched after the pro-life group Americans United for Life issued a report indicating financial irregularities and involvement in assisting those involved in sex-trafficking and prostitution.

Planned Parenthood officials reacted to today’s decision by Susan G. Komen with surprise and dismay. They claimed that the move was politically motivated.

“It's hard to understand how an organization with whom we share a mission of saving women's lives could have bowed to this kind of bullying. It's really hurtful,” Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America told the Associated Press.

With nearly 800 centers nationwide, Planned Parenthood is the nation's leading abortion provider.

By Michelle Bauman 

Washington D.C., Jan 24, 2012 / 06:16 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Representative Chris Smith thinks that the Obama administration’s decision to force religious organizations to purchase health insurance plans in violation of their consciences is an attempt to force “Catholic health care to cease to be.”

“That’s the end goal here. I think we have to be very blunt about it,” he said in a Jan. 23 interview with CNA.

The Republican congressman from New Jersey also responded to President Barack Obama’s Jan. 22 statement on the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion in the United States.

President Obama reaffirmed his commitment to abortion, which he called a “fundamental constitutional right.” He added that the 1973 decision “also affirms a broader principle: that government should not intrude on private family matters.” 

Rep. Smith said that President Obama’s statement reveals his “bigotry and prejudice against the unborn child,” whom he fails to include as a family member.

He also observed that the president’s professed commitment to avoid interfering with the private matters of citizens is inconsistent with his administration’s Jan. 20 decision to require virtually all health care plans to cover sterilization and contraception – including abortion-causing drugs – at no cost.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also announced that its finalized “preventative services” mandate would not contain an expanded religious exemption for employers who object to its requirements on religious grounds.

Since it was first proposed, the religious exemption policy has been harshly criticized as being too narrow. 

The overwhelming majority of religious organizations will not qualify for the exemption, which applies only to organizations that exist for the purpose of inculcating religious values and that primarily serve and employ members of their own faith.

Rep. Smith said that the mandate violates the conscience rights not only of those who object to contraception, but also those who object to abortion. The early abortion drugs  Plan B and Ella are included in the “preventative services” that insurance companies are required to cover.

The congressman warned that the “misguided” policy might be a foreshadowing of further coercive abortion policies in the future.  

He explained that during the heath care overhaul debate, Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) offered the preventive health care amendment, upon which the HHS mandate is based.

Sen. Mikulski was asked during the debate if she would exclude abortion as a “preventative service” and she said no.

Rep. Smith said this illustrates a move toward saying that “preventive health care equals abortion, because you’ve got to get rid of that unwanted pregnancy.”

A pro-abortion mindset sees an unwanted child as a “disease” or “a tumor to be excised,” he explained.

Rep. Smith also stated that “coercion is embedded” in the legal abortion movement, and that he believes more attempts to force compliance can be expected under the current administration.

He illustrated his point by noting that “coercion begins in the first place against the baby,” who has “no say in the violence that’s coming his or her way.”

Congressman Smith said that Americans must realize the significance of the threats being posed by the Obama administration’s attacks on conscience rights.  

“The mask is off,” he said. “It’s about time we woke up.”

Vatican City, Jan 6, 2012 / 12:29 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI named 22 new cardinals on Jan. 6, including two prominent American archbishops.

“This is an honor for these outstanding church leaders as well as an honor for the Church in the United States,” said Archbishop Kurtz of Louisville, vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“As men of prayer, wisdom and dedication, they will bring many talents and graces to their new roles as advisors to the Holy Father.”

The Pope also announced a consistory for Feb. 18, at which the new cardinals will be formally elevated to their new rank.

Two Americans – Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York and Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien, Pro Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem – were included among the nominees. The two men are 61 and 72 years old, respectively.

Archbishop Dolan is the current president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He leads the Archdiocese of New York, home to about 2.6 million Catholics.

Archbishop O’Brien is currently the apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, where he served as archbishop from October 2007 until August 2011, when the Holy Father appointed him Pro Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

He will continue to shepherd the Archdiocese of Baltimore until a successor is installed.

In a statement responding to his nomination, Archbishop Dolan said that he is “honored, humbled, and grateful,” but added, “let’s be frank: this is not about Timothy Dolan.”

He explained that the appointment is both “an affirmation of love from the Pope” and a “summons to its unworthy archbishop” to continue serving Christ.

The New York archbishop asked for prayers as he assumes his new role.

Archbishop O’Brien was also quick to deflect attention from himself. “While this honor may be a reflection of my new position, I believe it is also the result of the great collaboration and zealous faith that I have so consistently experienced in the Church in Baltimore,” he said.

“I am grateful to our Holy Father for his confidence in me and pledge my continued support and fraternal love as I continue to serve this historic Archdiocese and the Church in the Holy Land.”

Archbishop Thomas C. Collins of Toronto and Bishop John Tong Hon of Hong Kong were also among the new cardinals, which were announced by Pope Benedict in St. Peter’s Square on Jan. 6, after delivering his midday Angelus address.

Ten of the remaining nominees are from the Roman Curia, including Archbishop Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Cardinals advise the pope and vote in papal elections. However, four of the new cardinals will not be able to vote in the conclave because they are over the 80-year age limit.

On Jan. 6, Pope Benedict XVI also ordained Monsignor Charles Brown an archbishop for his new role as apostolic nuncio, or papal representative, to Ireland.

Archbishop Brown joins Archbishop Dolan and Archbishop O’Brien as a third former New York priest who was honored by the Pope today.

“It’s a great day for New York,” he told CNA, “a triple header!”