USCCB welcomes Hobby Lobby decision

July 01, 2014

The president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, joined by the chairman of the bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, has issued a statement welcoming the Supreme Court’s ruling on the HHS contraceptive mandate.

“We welcome the Supreme Court’s decision to recognize that Americans can continue to follow their faith when they run a family business,” said Archbishop Joseph Kurtz and Archbishop William Lori. “In this case, justice has prevailed, with the Court respecting the rights of the Green and Hahn families to continue to abide by their faith in how they seek their livelihood, without facing devastating fines. Now is the time to redouble our efforts to build a culture that fully respects religious freedom.”

“The Court clearly did not decide whether the so-called ‘accommodation’ violates RFRA [the Religious Freedom Restoration Act] when applied to our charities, hospitals and schools, so many of which have challenged it as a burden on their religious exercise,” they added. “We continue to hope that these great ministries of service, like the Little Sisters of the Poor and so many others, will prevail in their cases as well.”

 

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Further information:

• Supreme Court Decision On Hobby Lobby: A Great Day For The Religious Freedom Of Family Businesses (USCCB)
• Supreme Court upholds Hobby Lobby challenge to contraceptive mandate (CWN, 6/30)