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Washington D.C., Jun 5, 2017 / 02:23 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A draft federal rule from the Trump administration regarding the contraception mandate is “encouraging news” that could help return federal health care policy to a better approach toward matters of conscience, the U.S. bishops have said.

“Regulations like these reflect common sense, and what had been the consistent practice of the federal government for decades to provide strong conscience protection in the area of health care,” Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, chair of the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, said June 1.

The bishops voiced hope that the final version of the regulations would remain strong. The bishops’ conference will analyze the final version in a more careful manner for more formal comment.

“Throughout, our goal will remain to protect both the conscience of individuals and our mission of sharing the Gospel and serving the poor and vulnerable through our ministries,” the bishops said.

Their comments responded to a 125-page draft memo of a religious liberty rule reportedly under consideration at the Department of Health and Human Services. The memo, dated May 23, was leaked and posted to the Vox news and opinion site.

The rule would add to, not replace, an Obama-era HHS rule, announced in late 2011, that required employers’ health plans to include coverage of sterilization and contraception. The mandate included some contraceptives that can cause abortion.

The initial rule’s religious exemption was so narrow it only exempted houses of worship, drawing widespread objections and lawsuits from more than 300 plaintiffs. Among those suing over the mandate is EWTN Global Catholic Network. CNA is part of the EWTN family.

Subsequent revisions allowed changes to the mandate for some religious entities. However, groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor objected that the rule still required their complicity in providing such coverage, which violates their religious and moral ethics. Refusal to comply with the current rule would result in heavy fines.

While the U.S. bishops noted the rule is still not approved, they said it is “long overdue.”

“If issued, these regulations would appropriately broaden the existing exemption to a wider range of stakeholders with religious or moral objections to the mandated coverage – not just houses of worship,” said Archbishop Lori, speaking on behalf of the U.S. bishops.

“This not only would eliminate an unwarranted governmental division of our religious community ‘between our houses of worship and our great ministries of service to our neighbors,’ but would also lift the government-imposed burden on our ministries ‘to violate their own teachings within their very own institutions’.” they said, citing the bishops’ 2012 statement “United for Religious Freedom.”

Other support for the draft rule came from Mark L. Rienzi, an attorney at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the legal group that represents the Little Sisters of the Poor.

He told a May 31 press call that the draft rule acknowledges that, given how widely available the mandated products are, “there is simply no need for the government to force unwilling religious groups who serve the poor to provide them or to pay massive fines that would shut down these types of ministries.”

In 2014, the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Supreme Court decision ruled that the mandate violated the religious freedom of closely-held private companies; but this did not apply to the Little Sisters’ case, as their organization is a non-profit.

In May 2016, the Supreme Court ordered a lower court to re-hear the nuns’ case, a decision considered a technical win for the Little Sisters.

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Vatican City, Jun 5, 2017 / 03:47 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis on Monday challenged the Consolata Missionaries to give a “new impetus” to their missions work, including by inculturation of the Gospel, promoting family values, and dialogue with Islam.

“It will be above all your apostolic fervour that will sustain the Christian communities entrusted to you, especially those that have been recently founded,” the Pope said June 5 to the Consolata Missionaries who were gathered at Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.

“In the effort of the re-qualification of the style of missionary service, it will be necessary to favour certain significant elements, such as sensitivity to inculturation of the Gospel, and the choice of simple and poor forms of presence among the people. Special attention is due to dialogue with Islam, commitment to the promotion of the dignity of women and family values, and sensitivity to the themes of justice and peace.”

The Consolata Missionaries are a community of religious priests and sisters consecrated to God for the evangelization of peoples, especially wherever the Gospel is not yet known. The communities, founded by the Blessed Giuseppe Allamano in 1901, are holding their 13th General Chapter in Rome this month.

Pope Francis urged the Consolata Missionaries to further their charism and reignite their zeal for evangelization by how they encounter the culture and the mercy of God. He said they must follow the example of Blessed Guiseppe, whose faithfulness was identified by how he used his gifts to evangelize and his dedication to sharing the gospel to all people regardless of race or nationality.

“Let yourselves be continually challenged by the concrete realities with which you come into contact and seek to offer in appropriate ways the witness of charity that the Spirit infuses in your hearts.”

He told the community they are called “to project yourselves with renewed zeal in the work of evangelization, in view of pastoral urgencies and new forms of poverty. While I joyfully thank the Lord for the good that you are doing in the world, I would like to urge you to carry out a careful discernment on the situation of the peoples among whom you perform your evangelizing work.”

He urged them to “never tire of bringing comfort” to those whose lives “are often marked by great poverty and acute suffering”, as in much of Africa and Latin America as an example.

Applauding the fruitfulness of the Consolata Missionaries, he identified the sacrifices made by the order’s men and women, to the point of death: “May their evangelical choice, without reserve, illuminate your missionary effort and be of encouragement for you all to continue with renewed generosity on your special mission in the Church,” he said.

In order to move forward in this mission with renewed generosity, Pope Francis said the Consolata Missionaries must have an increasing awareness of God’s mercy.

“It is necessary to live communion with God with increasingly awareness of the Lord’s mercy that we receive. It is much more important to be aware of how much we are loved by God, than of how we love Him ourselves!”
We should consider first of all the “priority of the gratuitous and merciful love of God,” he said, experiencing “our commitment and our effort as a response.”

“We have a great need always to rediscover the love and mercy of the Lord to develop our familiarity with God. Consecrated persons, inasmuch as they make an effort to conform more perfectly to Christ, are most of all, familiar with God, intimate with Him, those who interact with the Lord with full freedom, and with spontaneity, but also with astonishment at the wonders He performs.”

Religious life can thus “become a journey of the progressive rediscovery of divine mercy, facilitating the imitation of the virtues of Christ and His attitudes … to then bear witness to them to all those you encounter in your pastoral service.”

Invoking the intercession of the Blessed Mother, Pope Francis ended his address with hope that their consecrated lives and the guidelines which will be developed in the General Chapters may lead to a greater encounter with Christ's love, the source of consolation for all humanity.

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Katie Scott, Catholic

By Katie Scott

PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) -- Countless immigrants across the country live in a climate of fear sparked by actions in the new administration, including President Donald Trump's plan to build a U.S.-Mexico wall, his executive order on immigration enforcement and several highly public raids.

Alongside the concerns of adult immigrants are the worries of their children. At dinner tables and in classrooms, young Latinos are trying to make sense of overheard conversations, the onslaught of immigration-related stories disseminated by news outlets and activists, and -- foremost -- the instability in their families.

"Students are on edge, often distracted, occasionally distraught because they fear for their family's well-being," said Tim Joy, principal of De La Salle North Catholic High School in Portland, which is nearly 40 percent Latino. "We've had many students in tears."

He said some parents are too fearful to leave the house to shop for food, "so students are the ones running family errands."

Over the past several months, Joy and fellow Catholic school administrators in the Archdiocese of Portland have been trying to find ways to support Latino students and their parents.

"Our teachers and counselors do what they can to comfort, forbear with missed assignments -- helping in any way possible," Joy told the Catholic Sentinel, newspaper of the Portland Archdiocese.

A 2013 study by the California-based advocacy organization Human Impact Partners found that deportation scares take a physical and mental toll on the children of immigrants who entered the country without authorization. Not surprisingly, researchers concluded: "U.S.-citizen children who live in families under threat of detention or deportation will finish fewer years of school and face challenges focusing on their studies."

In western Oregon's Catholic schools, Hispanic students make up about 10 percent of total enrollment; nationally, 15 percent of Catholic schoolchildren are Hispanic. The schools do not track immigration status.

Tayz Hernandez is Hispanic and a student at Jesuit High School in Beaverton. She said the past few months have been "very stressful."

Her mother, a native of Mexico who does not have legal documentation, has heard terrifying rumors about sudden deportations from Hispanic co-workers. "She tries not to believe them, but it's difficult," said Hernandez.

The high school senior, bound for Seattle University in a few months, said she follows the news closely, trying to absorb and understand the latest developments so she can explain them to her mother. She attempts to put her mom's mind at ease while suppressing her own worries.

"When I look at the news, I have to remind myself that nothing has happened yet, she hasn't committed any crimes so there's no reason for her to be deported," Hernandez said. "But there's always this impending fear."

Like De La Salle, St. Andrew Nativity School in Northeast Portland has a large number of Latino students and serves low-income families. Nativity eighth-grader Elizabeth -- her last name has been withheld at the school's request -- said she constantly worries about her parents and brothers, all of whom were born in Mexico.

"You don't open the door for anyone unless you know them," Elizabeth told the Catholic Sentinel. "My parents talk about it, my friends talk about it," she said. "What would I do if my parents were deported? What would happen to me?"

But Elizabeth said her parents have tried to help her stay calm. "My parents taught me that what's going to happen is going to happen, so try not to worry about it."

Hispanic families with legal documentation are not immune from fear. For example, Teresa Ramirez, mother of a ninth-grader at La Salle Prep in Milwaukie, said she feels "like everything is up in the air, everything is unstable."

"I have cousins who are here illegally, and I was once there, too, so I know the feeling," she said, adding that she's at times received suspicious looks when in public. "Sometimes I feel like I want to hide, but I'm proud of my culture and my faith; my faith keeps me going."

Ramirez and a number of Hispanic parents with children in Catholic schools expressed gratitude for the support from Portland Archbishop Alexander K. Sample. The archbishop told a crowd of Hispanic Catholics at a Dec. 10 Mass to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. "It does not matter to me from where you have come, when you came, or whether you have the proper documents or not. You are loved."

Schools have taken several steps to support families. They've offered prayers for unity, disseminated information and provided opportunities for students to articulate their concerns.

In the front office at Nativity are handouts in Spanish and English about what to do if U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents knock on the door. The school sent home a message assuring parents and students that Nativity is "a safe place, nobody has to self-identify on their immigration status and we welcome conversation," said Lizzie Petticrew, vice principal of the middle school.

Nativity also hosted a know-your-rights event for parents in March, led by a Catholic Charities of Oregon staff member.

Scott Powers, Christian service director at Jesuit High School, said most Jesuit universities have taken a strong stance against Trump's immigration policies and that "Jesuit high schools have stood with them."

Jesuit has regular brown-bag lunches where tough topics are addressed head-on, including immigration. "We want to have these discussions," said Powers. "We are promoting Catholic social teaching."

Maritza Mendez is a guidance counselor at La Salle, and her office saw an influx of concerned students after the election.

"We're just trying to create a space where students can come and express what their thoughts and feelings are," she said. For many Latinos with immigrant families, these fears have long been present. But now, she said, "they are carrying so much more."

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Scott is special projects reporter for the Catholic Sentinel, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon.

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