If at first they don't succeed, the U.S. bishops are determined to try, try again. And so this summer, the bishops have announced they will sponsor the second annual Fortnight for Freedom campaign, another two weeks devoted to trying to prove that Catholics' religious freedom in the United States is in grave danger
Many readers say marriage is not strictly a religious institution and there should be a separation of church and state.
The Catholic Sentinel is published twice monthly by Oregon Catholic Press, and is the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Portland.
To the Catholic Sentinel:
I am saddened that the U.S. bishops have chosen to deal with their disagreement with the Obama Administration over the insurance/contraception issue in the public and emotional way they have.rious disagreement over public policy, but not a question of religious freedom. I would be interested in how the bishops would respond if the Jehovah’s Witness religion had the same political power as the Catholic Church and chose to deny coverage for blood transfusions to all who worked in their institutions?
I am curious as to why the American bishops have not released full information on who funded the expensive Fortnight for Freedom program.
Gerald Stanley, Yachats
The above is taken from : It's not about religious freedom - Catholic Sentinel - Portland, OR
The Cardinal also said that both President Obama and Mitt Romney will lay down their verbal swords for at least one night to break bread at the Al Smith Dinner on Oct. 18.
Both men have accepted the invitation Dolan extended in August, sparking criticism from some conservative Catholic leaders who are angry with Obama.
Dolan said he knows for “a fact” that the Democrats weren’t motivated to invite him simply because the Republicans already had done so, reiterating that he had placed a courtesy call to an unnamed Democratic leader to give the party a heads-up about his participation tonight in Tampa and subsequently got an ask for Charlotte, too.
Although Dolan has waded deep into the political thicket in recent months, most notably clashing with the Obama administration over a contraception coverage mandate (wearing his hat as president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops). But he stressed that his appearance at the conventions will be decidedly nonpartisan.
In fact, Dolan said, he’ll be giving the same prayer “in substance” at both events
St. Louis Post-Dispatch | By Tim Townsend Posted: 06/21/2012 7:09 am
But while Catholic leaders frame the events as a fight for religious liberty, critics see signs of political partisanship and electioneering. Questions over the financing of the bishops' campaign have caused those suspicions to multiply.
The Knights of Columbus are clearly one of the major sources of funding (against the mandate), as well as other fraternal organizations," Schneck said.
….Knights of Columbus life insurance sales neared $8 billion in 2010, and last year, it contributed $158 million to charity. In the last decade, the Knights have donated more than $1 billion to charity.
The group's 2010 tax forms show that the Knights gave more than $3 million to the Vatican that year, nearly $2 million to the U.S. bishops conference and $25,000 to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which has guided much of the legal action against the contraception mandate.
2011 tax forms. But Andrew Walther, a Knights of Columbus spokesman, said the group has asked for an extension in filing the documents, making them unavailable until the fall.
