Obama Versus the Catholic Church

The American Catholic Church is not happy with Barack Obama. For several days now, priests’ homilies and declarations from on high have strongly criticized an aspect of the health reform bill close to the heart of the White House. Since Jan. 20, the bill, which was passed in 2010, has forced all organizations managed by the Catholic Church to cover 100 percent of their employees’ health insurance costs linked to contraception.

Other health insurance costs, such as those related to critical illnesses, continue to be shared by the insured and their employer, including the Catholic Church. But contraception, judged sacrilegious by the Vatican, must be fully covered by the employer. Free contraception has become a right thanks to Barack Obama.

A torrent of protest broke out within days. Barack Obama had thought he had the implicit support of the Catholic authorities at the time the reform was drafted in 2010. He was sorely mistaken.

The churches themselves are certainly not obligated to violate their conscience, as the law does not require persons directly employed by a parish to benefit from free contraception. It involves, instead, all the other Catholic organizations. That is where the problem becomes serious: The Catholic Church is one of the principal actors in the arena of health and education in the United States.

There are 230 American universities and colleges, with more than a million students and 65,000 professors, which are Catholic institutions, such as Georgetown University in Washington. Other prestigious Catholic establishments include Notre Dame (Ohio), Loyola (Chicago) and Villanova (Pennsylvania). Their teaching is not particularly religious or Catholic; however, they fall, nonetheless, under the cloud of the Holy See.

There are, in addition, 625 Catholic hospitals generating a total of 30 billion dollars of revenue. The doctors and nurses at these establishments are not necessarily Catholic, but here again the ethic and the spirit of the church imbues their activities. It is the same for hundreds of charitable organizations.

On top of this, a percentage of the offerings which Catholics donate to their parish every Sunday goes indirectly towards financing these public services. This means that the Catholic religion is indirectly funding the treatment for one in five medical conditions in the United States, whether the elite, who are hostile toward the Catholics who dominate the American media, like it or not.

Fortunately, it is still up to Catholics to decide individually whether or not to obey their faith. It is a fact that the majority do not follow the birth control practices dictated by their church. Nonetheless, incredible though it may seem, some believe more in Benedict XVI than in Barack Obama.

The Republicans have naturally waded into the affair, seeing an attack on religious liberty. America was not founded on the principle of sexual liberty, but rather on a principle dear to many non-Catholic Americans, that of the separation of church and state.

In its embarrassment, the White House is now seeking to delay the enforcement of the insurance requirement. It is a priority to move this to a date after the November election, in order not to reduce the hoped-for margin of victory in regions where Catholics are heavily represented. In 2008, 54 percent of Catholics voted for Barack Obama. For practicing Catholics, the issue of compulsory free contraception is a question of principle. No change of date will resolve this fundamental problem.