(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday made an unscheduled visit to the convent of the Little Sisters of the Poor, which is near the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, where he celebrated the Mass of Canonization of St. Junipero Serra.
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Last August, an appeals court sided with the government, but an unusual dissent by five judges this month called that decision “clearly and gravely wrong – on an issue that has little to do with contraception and a great deal to do with religious liberty”.
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“This is a sign, obviously, of support for them”, said the Vatican Press Secretary, Rev. Federico Lombardi.
Pope Francis greets Sister Marie Mathilde, 102, of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Washington, D.C., September 23. But the Little Sisters said they would still be complicit in providing contraception and sued the administration.
In July, the USA 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the Little Sisters – based in Denver, Colo. – must comply with procedures for opting out of the birth control mandate in Obamacare because the process did not impose a “substantial burden” on them.
Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, the president of the USA bishops’ conference, said at the press conference that the US bishops consider religious freedom as something more than just being able to celebrate religious services.
During the pope’s appearance at the White House earlier Wednesday, President Obama said the United States “stands” with Francis “in defense of religious freedom”. “We were deeply moved by his encouraging words”.
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The federal government’s requirement that women receive contraceptive coverage without co-payment has sparked dozens of lawsuits, including in the case of Hobby Lobby, which won its case in front of the Supreme Court. Catholic Church teaching forbids the use of contraception, and many religious nonprofits want to be entirely exempted from the mandate, as churches are.
