Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/070614.cfm

A Big Victory for Religious Freedom

In Time for Independence Day

Last Monday, the Supreme Court upheld religious freedom in the Hobby Lobby case.  Writing the 5-4 majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito issued the decision for the court, “The Supreme Court holds government can’t require closely held corporations with religious owners to provide contraception coverage.”  This decision guarantees the rights of Americans to live out their faith in daily life through the closely held businesses they run.  The court based its decision on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which Congress passed in 1993 with bipartisan support and President Bill Clinton signed into law.  Many Americans may not have heard of RFRA, but the law has worked very well over the past two decades to allow people to live out their faith, both inside and outside of church.  Pope Francis has recently reiterated the importance of the public dimension of our faith: “Religious freedom is not simply freedom of thought or private worship. It is the freedom to live according to ethical principles, both privately and publicly.”

Even though the majority ruled in favor of religious liberty, it is disappointing that the Supreme Court did not rule unanimously 9-0.  (Does this say something about the ideologies of the dissenting Justices?).  Furthermore, the Hobby Lobby decision only applies to companies that are privately held, not publicly traded; and the ruling only applies to the abortion mandate, not other various practices to which people may have religious objections.  Non-profit organizations (e.g., Little Sisters of the Poor, EWTN, et al.) are still waiting for a ruling about their right to opt out of the mandate, but this decision at least signals hope for a favorable ruling in the near future.  A statement from the USCCB commented, “The Court clearly did not decide whether the so-called ‘accommodation’ violates RFRA when applied to our charities, hospitals and schools, so many of which have challenged it as a burden on their religious exercise. 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.”

We should commend the Green family of Hobby Lobby for risking their entire business and economical well-being for their Christian beliefs.  God has rewarded their courage and faith.  May He also give a religious freedom victory to organizations of the Catholic Church that are threatened by the ruthless HHS contraception mandate.