The following comes from a December 19 posting on the Daily Caller.
A religious order of nuns is concerned about its future presence in the United States because of Obamacare’s impact on its charitable operations. The Little Sisters of the Poor told The Daily Caller that it may not qualify for a long-term exemption from Obamacare’s healthcare mandate. The law requires the order to provide government-approved health insurance to its 300 sisters who tend to the elderly in 30 U.S. cities.
The exception is needed, said Sister Constance Carolyn Veit, the Little Sisters’ communications director, because Catholic teaching opposes contraception and medical treatment that cause sterility or can cause abortions.
President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul law requires employers to include those services in qualifying health care plans they provide for their employees. Failure to comply will bring hefty fines — even for religious orders whose members have taken vows of poverty.
“[I]t could be a serious threat to our mission in the U.S.,” Constance told TheDC, “because we would never be able to afford to pay the fines involved. We have difficulty making ends meet just on a regular basis; we have no extra funding that would cover these fines.”
The crux of the matter is a religious exemption that the federal government is expected to make available to Catholic churches, but not to other Catholic institutions.
That’s because unlike Catholic parishes and dioceses, the church’s many affiliated schools, charities, religious orders and hospitals don’t discriminate in their hiring or service, often employing staff — and serving people in need — who come from other Christian denominations or from other faiths entirely.
“We are not exempt from the [Obamacare] mandate because we neither serve nor employ a predominantly Catholic population,” Constance added. ”We hire employees and serve/house the elderly regardless of race and religion, so that makes us ineligible for the exemption being granted churches.”
To read entire story, click here.
Oh, but so many liberal “Catholics” think Obama is so great and voted for him…again! The Diocletian-like persecution of the Church is in high gear under Obama. This is just the beginning.
Clinton,
Not “Diocletian” but “Plutarco Calles like persecution of the Church is in high gear under Obama.
Viva Cristo Rey!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
I looked up Calles’ bio on Wikipedia, and you are right, Obama is waging a Plutarco Calles like persecution on the Church. And thanks to liberal “Catholics” and a weak clergy, he is winning. For now.
Just have to look for strong Catholic representatives to legislate this exception but they need to act fast!
Obama destroys Catholic nuns yet collects catholic votes. The Redistributer-in-Chief has no incentive for respecting religious freedom. Obama is against Christian Civilization.
Barack Hussein Obama’s agenda is falling right into place. Barack Hussein Obama does not truly care about the plight of these wonderful compassionate Sisters or the poor. Just ask his own flesh and blood relatives who still live in extreme poverty.
Whatsoever Barack Obama did not do for the least of his own blood relatives , that he will ALSO not do here. Barack Hussein Obama is only working to enslave and steadily weaken an already weakened nation, with false promises of government handouts in order to have the majority of future voters totally reliant and totally dependent on the government instead of upholding a great nation that once depended on God.
The Little Sisters of the Poor do the most incredible selfless works of true charity. The Little Sisters of the Poor depend and rely on God first. With God All Things Are Possible!
With only Barack Hussein Obama, all varieties of evil are possible.
CATHERINE, what’s his name again?
i’ve forgotten…
max while heaping red hot coals upon his very own head blindly asks, “Catherine, What’s his name again? I’ve forgotten”….
I know you have forgotten. Sadly you have made that fact very apparent. Be Not Afraid though max! There is still time to say that you are very sorry for that terrible post of disrespect. Sadly now the entire blogosphere also knows that you have forgotten. Your previous words have made that so shamefully apparent but since you are asking once again, I will lovingly remind you that His name is FATHER Karl in persona Christi and yes it is definitely true that you have forgotten.
We do not stand for Christ when we use our God given gifts to stand up for anything and everything just to get along. To remain silent and only love the underdog of the moment is to forget WHO the Real Paschal Victim is and it shows that we have forgotten that Jesus said “I came not to bring peace but division.” Luke 12:51
The word “host” is taken from the Latin word hostia which means “victim.” We are reminded that Jesus Christ is the paschal victim the Lamb of God slain for us …
max, “Let us not lose sight of Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection: for the sake of the joy which was still in the future, he endured the cross, disregarding the shamefulness of it”…(Heb 12:2)
“Think of the way he stood such opposition from sinners and then you will not give up for want of courage. In the fight against sin, you have not yet had to keep fighting to the point of death.” (Heb 12:3-4)
Open max’s eyes Lord, help him not to forget You. Help him to see YOUR HOLY FACE when they have been written in the words of a faithful alter Christus.
max if only you would remember…perhaps that is a flaw in which you continue to be sarcastic about and therefore losing the point.
oh, bother, to have to explain something so darned obvious: when I said “what’s his name, again, CATHERINE?” i was referring to obama, whom she named about 20,000 times in her post.
i was not referring to JESUS or THE FATHER or anyone else.
What on earth does any of this mean?
well max you have gone bonkers on us, missing the point as usual. If you criticize less Mr. English teacher you, and paid more attention, then the Obama over use won’t get to you but you will only appreciate her the more…who says that kids learn better through repetition…well it looks like adults don’t…or the question is “are you smarter that a fifth grader?…
Good post Catherine. Just watch what happens after his second inaugeration. I’m sure he and his little minions have their ducks all in a row, on the ready to mow us all down.
What did Hitler do when he came into power? He got rid of all the people in power who were not with his views….he managed to weed them out and that is what made him stronger!
yup, Abeca. The difference is obama is not the one doing the thinking here. I doubt he knows how to get from a to c without asking someone where b is, but he has keepers that have been planning this a long time. Bill Ayers wrote his book Dreams of my Father for him. O! would still be a community rabble rouser in Chicago if it were all his doing.
Why is this a surprise? Obama and his Administration (many members of which are Catholic, as are the supporting Democrats in Congress), consciously support evil. Groups like those nasty Little Sisters of the Poor are clearly un-American and need to go, according to leaders elected by the help of American Catholics. In fact, American Catholics should rejoice, because the election of Obama, and many of his political kind, will assuredly help in the elimination of the “Medieval Church” that so many Catholic leaders hate. Soon, all religions that survive in America will need State sponsorship. And, as political entities, women priests, homosexual marriages (who knows, maybe a NAMBLA Order?) will be required. Yup, drive out those Little Sisters (and why do they wear those habits, anyway). Oh yes — our good President refers to “Mohammed” as “The Prophet,” when history teaches that he was a vile military and political leader, with multiple wives and who may have been a child molester. Much better to forget the battles of Tours, Lepanto, and the many other Catholic military victories against Islam, than to appear too “triumphalist”.
Another good post. It’s probably a good idea to air our grievances now, for who know what the future holds. I’m thankful to be surrounded by faithful Catholics who feel as I do, even if it does not solve our problems it does give comfort to know I’m not alone.
St. Christopher, you hit the nail right on the head. In the near future, either Catholics will go along with Obama’s agenda and fall in line or they will be forced into the catacombs. Sadly with today’s poorly catechized, post Vatican II generation who hate Catholic tradition, and water down the Church’s doctrines, and see all religions as equal to the True Faith, the former is most likely. Those who are true Catholics must pray for God’s grace and strength for the upcoming persecution. +JMJ+
This is not the first time in modern history that a government has forced religious of of a nation due to unjust laws. As a matter of fact the anti-Catholic laws in various European countries such as France and Germany in the 19th century is was brought so many religious orders to the USA, seeking a place to minister and accept candidates in peace. Our loss will be another nation’s gain.
And where would that be Dante? In what other nation would they find welcome? The whole world is being turned upside down. Doors are closing to religious orders around the world.
This would be a tragedy for so many of our elderly and for all of us. Obamacare may drive many of us out of this country. It is nothing less than an obamanation.
This is a very serious dilemma for this and other orders of nursing nuns. But, if they are given an exception I wonder if there would be compromise involved in the type of service that these orders will be required to give to their elderly patients?
Might the Gov’t say okay you don’t have to provide reproductive benefits to your employees but in exchange you will have to allow Compassion and Choices type groups to come in and sell your patients on the POLST end-of-life form? POLST is physicians orders on life sustaining treatment, but it should be read as physician orders limiting sustainable treatment.
No exception would be right, we MUST stand and fight!
Viva Cristo Rey!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
You and the Little Sisters of the Poor are doing a great work, Sr. Constance. And from the beginning, Catholics have, as part of our moral and daily life, cooperated with, and obeyed, our government in the US.
But this might be an exception.
Perhaps the willingness of some of your staff to go to jail, might be needed to waken those in Washington who wish to impose these draconian measures on the Church. Imagine the effect, of a picture of Little Sisters of the Poor being arrested, on the front page of the Washington Post, would have. It may be that many of our Legislators in Washington really need this type of action, to jolt them out of their present anti-Catholic attitude.
joe,
Dream on, most of those so called legislators in government would rejoice at the site of good Religious Women being humiliated. If you don’t want to believe me, just study what happened in the Gulags and Lao Gai and in the French Revolution!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
And in the USA.
And who will take the place of the 300 Sisters? Probably at least 1500 well-paid secular “professionals” who will see it their duty to dispatch the elderly before their time. And with the boom in the numbers of the elderly, with few or no relatives to care for them, there will always be replacements to “care for”. Such is our modern Obama world.
It appears that part of the Obamanation plan is to force all Catholic institutions to close, including schools. When the Catholic schools are closed, the children can be indoctrinated in the public schools to obey the government propaganda. The government can take care of the sick, the elderly, orphans and disabled. The all-powerful government can ration healthcare to the elderly and disabled, thus shortening their lives, saving money. We have abortions on demand now. The next step is to coerce women who may have a disabled child to have an abortion. It worked for Hitler, they do it in Russia and China, why not here? Yet, Catholics voted for him overwhelmingly. Go figure.
Sarah,
We don’t really know that “Catholics voted for him overwhelmingly” we do know that there was massive voter fraud!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
OH, but Joe Butthead told us that religious institutions were exempt? What, you can’t trust good ‘ole Joe to tell the truth? I thought he was a Democrat who supported the poor. I thought he was a “good” Catholic whose faith formed him Iinto the superior pro-life, pro-marriage person he is today. Oh, yeah, I think I heard him “threaten” that if Romney were to become president, then he would (Lord, forbid) would nominate a pro-life justice to the Supreme Court. Not that! CAN’T YOU PEOPLE SEE THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS THE PARTY OF DEATH????????????????
He learned the “truth” from some of the bishops.
With the assistance and blessings of the Catholic hierarchy here in the United States, Obama is destoying Catholic health care. Most of the bishops signed on to Obamacare, even though the wise experts told them NOT to trust Obama. Because the Catholic Church is no longer preaching Christ crucified, she is teaching communism/marxism instead.The Catholic Church is HERSELF to blame for playing and dancing with the devil, and as a result, she has committed partial suicide.Christ promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against the Church, but the Catholic Church will be much weaker and smaller than in the glory days before Vatican II.
These wonderful nuns have done such admirable & loving work for so many years. I simply can’t imagine a world without them but with the ‘glorious’ obamacare taking effect, this is a distinct possibility. Anyone who calls themselves Catholic & voted to re-elect this ‘obamanation’ will have to answer to God for their sin…they voted for the murder of unborn babies, partially born babies & other aberrations that this monster supports & I hope they’re proud of themselves. One CANNOT be Catholic & have voted to re-elect this Godless man. By the way, if you don’t like what I’ve written, don’t bother to reply to me because I’ll simply ignore you because you can’t have anything to say that would have any worth.
The Little Sisters of the Poor could set up a self-funded account to directly reimburse anyone in the order paying out of pocket for such contraceptives. This would meet the criteria of the mandate. No one’s conscience will be violated unless someones actually uses the funds; which would be a scandal in itself. Non-issue here. No innocent victims of the mandate. Nothing to see here.
Be of good cheer.
Persecution is at hand, it has never been easier to merit the rewards of Christ’s Triumph, simply hold fast to the Faith once delivered, and leave the rest to God.
Little Sisters, please do not go, please do not pay, please do not worry, allow them to come and steal your buildings, your property, imprison you if they dare.
Such is what marturia (witness) is all about.
Rejoice and be glad………great is your reward in heaven.
It is your witness that will convert the dupes of the Demoncrat bishops.
Rather than just closing shop, it might be a strong political statement for them to move to a strictly RC employee and client base. (I just wish that we could get beyond calling the Affordable Health Care Act something that aggrandizes a single individual by using his name. It’s an automatic shutoff to meany folks’ listening process–usually mine.)
It is a grave sin and a scandal when religion is prevented from doing what is it supposed to do. Christ commanded that we do good to others, help and nurture the weak, and take care of the dying. Because of Obama, these dear sisters will not be able to carry out their valuable ministry. This is an outrage, but what are the bishops doing? Worrying about immigration, the budget, and canonizing Dorothy Day. This is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. The poor nuns are being betrayed, like Our Lord, by the Judases of our time, the liberal bishops, who care only about Marxist causes, and not for true Catholic programs, which conform to Christ’s teaching..
I have a serious question:
Would you stop going to a hospital because it performed abortions even if it did everything else to an amazing level?
I don’t understand why having to include abortion and various other procedures within a wide spectrum insurance policy is a bad thing. No, the Catholics who are under it will not use these services, but not having the option limits those who are non-Catholic or aren’t anti-abortion and having a secondary option that discludes various things would be a bureaucratic nightmare to be completely honest and open it up to so much fraud.
It seems as though to stand by their beliefs they are planning to shoot themselves in the foot. It seems just as ridiculous as a gunshot victim choosing not to go to a hospital because the hospital didn’t have its same religious beliefs.
This isn’t a trolling post. This is a serious question of me not understanding the logic behind all of this and anyone who is willing to enlighten me, please do. Why does having an option within an insurance plan you don’t have to use make it impossible to take it?
Will, I too have a serious question. Would you stop going to the only grocery store in town which has the most “amazing” food in your state rather than drive 100 miles to the next nearest grocery store, just because the owner of your town’s grocery store enslaves his clerks?
Will, Catholics believe that procuring an abortion is a mortal sin. We cannot receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion if we do so. We would need to confess our sin to a priest (possibly a bishop) to receive absolution. So a Catholic employer is morally bound not to pay for an insurance policy that covers abortion. Contraception (artificial methods) is also a mortal sin. To pay for another’s contraception is to participate in their sin. Catholics believe that mortal sin destroys God’s life in the soul. Should one die in that state they would be damned.
While these developments are certainly concerning, times have been MUCH worse for Catholics. Consider that far more clergy participated in a centuries-long pattern of intrinsic evil during the Spanish Inquisition when Church officials tortured suspected heretics, seized the property and worldly riches of accused heretics, then executed people for having the wrong opinions about God—including regrettable inaction by numerous Popes. That crisis passed and so will this one, as Jesus has promised. Catholics have been openly persecuted and executed in many other places, including pogroms in Russia, Mexico, and England. Of course, the Romans openly attacked Christians for many centuries.
How much more evidence do we need to prove that this administration, albeit reelected by a majority of Catholics, is truly evil?
What were you thinking when you pulled the lever for Obama et al.? We are our own worst enemy. We are now ruled by the most godless and anti-Christian government since the old USSR.
We are helpless….we have no power over this situation…so it seems and it seems very strong. Obama is managing to win his dream….God have mercy on us all. What can a speck like me do…I try to hold on to that scripture passage from Matthew 17:20:
“Jesus said to them: Because of your unbelief. For, amen I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Remove from hence hither, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you.”
Kenneth, who posts a lot on this site, always ends his posts with “God bless, yours in Their Hearts”
Would anyone care to explain what exactly this means? I must be dense but after much consideration it means nothing to me.
To mrpkguy, I believe Kenneth’s closings using “God bless, yours in Their Hearts” is addressing the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
MRPKGUY, i rather imagine dear old KENNETH means something like this:
“GOD bless you.”
“yours in the hearts of JESUS and MARY.”
In effect, the bishops have helped the govt get rid of Catholic care workers. It is the fault and probably aim of the bishops. They take more and more money from the govt in return for turning out their own religious workers.
The problem, if you read the article that is linked, is that they have over 1000 employees, many of whom get their health insurance through the Little Sisters of the Poor.