Attorney says church faces 'multifaceted affront' in public arena

Published: 2003-11-12

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Regulatory and legislative pressures are becoming "a complex and multifaceted affront to the integrity and identity" of religious institutions operating in the public arena, U.S. bishops were told Nov. 12 by their general counsel. Mark Chopko told the bishops the threat comes from laws such as those that would require church-run social service agencies to include contraceptives in prescription drug plans for employees, or that seek to use charitable trusts or tax exemptions as ways of forcing changes in policies that are based on church teachings. For instance, in one state, a public board was asked to condition the issuance of tax-exempt bonds for a Catholic hospital on the requirement that abortions be provided there, he said. "That government claims the power to remake religious agencies within our society, sweeping aside religious differences, is something all citizens, whether they agree with the church or not, should find dangerous and deeply offensive," Chopko said in his report during the annual fall meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He warned that if Catholic and other faiths' agencies are confronted by the choice of conforming to some societal standards or withdrawing from society, they might have to stop serving the poor, the vulnerable and needy.

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