Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, said at the evening press briefing, “Freedom of religion requires us also to live out our faith”.
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Father Federico Lombardi tells reporters that the Pope met with the religious sisters as “a sign of support” for them in their lawsuit against the Obama administration. In July, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit ruled that the nuns must comply with the contraception requirement. She is an NPR contributor and has contributed to USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, National Review Online, Politico and more, and has myriad television and radio credits as a commentator. By embracing this order of nuns, Pope Francis laid down an unmistakable marker: He rejects efforts by the Obama administration to force Catholic nonprofit organizations to pay for, or even sanction, abortion-inducing drugs in their health care plans. “All are called to be vigilant, precisely as good citizens, to preserve and defend that freedom from everything that would threaten or compromise it”, he had said. The Sisters say the law goes against their religious beliefs.
“The last thing the Little Sisters of the Poor want to do is sue somebody”, he continued. However, the Little Sisters argued that a letter would still violate their conscience because it would enable something they see as wrong to take place. If it was just a meaningless form, “there would be no need to insist on [the ministries’] compliance with” the government’s demands.
Pope Francis greets nuns of the Little Sisters of the Poor order during a private meeting at their convent in Washington on September 23.
Pope Francis has already discussed the fundamental importance of religious freedom both in his welcoming speech to President Obama on Wednesday morning and his address to a joint session of Congress on Thursday.
Sister Constance Veit, communications director for the Little Sisters, said the pope talked individually with each sister, ranging in age from novices to 102-year-old Sister Marie Mathilde, who is Colombian and spoke to the pope in Spanish.
Similarly, matters about which even Catholics can disagree, such as the Pope’s recommendations for best practices on capital punishment, are not really the best topics for prophetic witness.
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“This is a sign, obviously, of support for them” in their court case, he affirmed.
