General Assembly Of Bishops Unanimously Adopts ‘United For Religious Freedom’ Statement

ATLANTA—TheU.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) reaffirmed by a unanimous voicevote on June 13 a recent statement of the USCCB Administrative Committeeregarding the HHS mandate.

At the endof their hour-long discussion of religious freedom in the United States,Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of USCCB, asked the body of bishops if itwould be willing to declare its approval of “United for Religious Freedom,” theunanimous statement of the Administrative Committee issued on March 14. BishopStephen Blaire of Stockton, California seconded Cardinal Dolan's motion, whichwas put to the body by a voice vote and unanimously affirmed.

“United forReligious Freedom” describes the bishops as “strongly unified and intenselyfocused in ... opposition to the various threats to religious freedom in ourday,” and explains that the HHS mandate “demands our immediate attention.” Thedocument identifies three basic problems with the mandate: “an unwarranted governmentdefinition of religion,” “a mandate to act against our teachings,” and “a violationof personal civil rights.”

“United forReligious Freedom” is available on the USCCB website at: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/march-14-statement-on-religious-freedom-and-hhs-mandate.cfm

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Keywords: U.S. bishops, USCCB, Atlanta,Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Administrative Committee, “United for ReligiousFreedom,” HHS mandate, Health and Human Services

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