My mantra, the soft tyranny of big government turned hard.
Military Chaplains are being forbidden from reading the letter from the bishops protesting the HHS mandate. If they do, they are considered seditious. ht Gateway.
The emerging conflict between the Catholic Church and the Obama administration may have a new front: in the U.S. military itself.
The Catholic Church is fighting mad about an HHS ruling that would have them buy insurance for things they consider sinful–contraception, sterilization and abortion.
All the bishops in the country sent out a letter to be read in their parishes promising that the Church “cannot-and will not-comply with this unjust law.”
Even Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who is in charge of Catholic military chaplains sent out the same letter.
But after he did, the Army’s Office of the Chief of Chaplains sent out another communication forbidding Catholic priests to read the letter, in part because it seemed to encourage civil disobedience, and could be read as seditious against the Commander-in-Chief.
More than one Catholic chaplain who spoke to us off the record confirmed that many chaplains disobeyed this instruction and read the letter anyway. Others sought further instructions from their Archbishop.
February 6, 2012 at 7:39 am
This Rutherford (doesn't deserve the title "Father") is a priest of Albany. Simple matter for the Military Archdiocese to withdraw its ecclesiastical endorsement, which forces said liberal priest out of the Service and back to the frozen wastes of the Empire State. I encourage others to contact the Military Archbishop and his auxiliaries (one just died– RIP) and suggest this. I did at http://www.milarch.org.
FrMichael
February 7, 2012 at 7:50 am
The Chief of Chaplains is a Catholic priest? No man can serve two masters. Does he serve the Church or not?