A candidate for the presidency, in a recent interview, remarked that he wasn’t “concerned about the very poor” because there is a sufficient “safety net” that will help them in their need.

One can debate long into the night the question of the best public policies to address the problem of poverty in the United States. There are people of good will who stress-free market solutions, such as policies that emphasize education and economic opportunity. There are others of good will who emphasize the need for private charity to address the needs of poor people. And there are others who believe that the problem requires increased spending by local, state or federal government programs. All of these competing policy proposals are open for legitimate discussion and argument, and to a great extent they define the differences between conservatives and liberals, Republicans and Democrats. Good, open political debate about these matters is a good thing.

But one thing that cannot be part of the discussion is a lack of concern about poor people, no matter how good the “safety net” may be. Note that I do not say “the poor”, as if a person’s income level was their defining characteristic or the entirety of their identity. We are not talking about an abstract concept. We are talking about human persons who are in economic need. We can never lose sight of that reality.

The proper approach here is not just to debate policies, but to develop a particular virtue — solidarity. This is a recognition that we are all linked to each other in a fundamental relationship based on being made in the image and likeness of God. It is a state of mind that impels us to be concerned deeply about the well-being not just of groups of people or nations, but with every single individual.

Here’s what Pope John Paul II said in Solicitudo Rei Socialis...Continue reading HERE.

Vad Vashem

One of those amazing places was Yad Vashem, which we visited this morning. The Holocaust History Museum, which we toured, is just one part of a campus that includes memorials, a research center and a school. The museum is a long, triangular structure that leads visitors on a cross-crossing path through the horrors of the Holocaust using displays, personal artifacts and video testimonies of survivors. It was only after touring the museum that I realized the path slopes down toward the center of the museum, and gently rises again toward the end, symbolizing the hope of the Jewish people after the atrocities.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

It was disappointing to see the small, but controversial display critical of Pope Pius XII's role during World War II. Knowing the efforts of people such as Sister Margherita Marchione and Ron Rychlak, author of "Hitler, the War and the Pope," to bring to light the pontiff's efforts to save Jews, I hope one day the display will tell a different story. Still, that was just one part of a very powerful visit to the museum.

The present Administration, through the Health and Human Services Department, is mandating that all employer healthcare insurance plans provide coverage for procedures which violate the beliefs of the Catholic Church, and Catholic institutions.

Basically, the new rules require the Catholic Church, and the institutions operating faithfully under the aegis of the Church, to provide coverage for contraceptive drugs and procedures. This requirement violates the beliefs of the Church.

Never before has the United States Government deigned to represent "transcendental truth" on matters of conscience for any religion within these United States. That in itself is unprecedented, which is also why it is unconstitutional.

Sign to let the present Administration know that this mandate cannot stand.

Sign HERE.

First stop was Jaffa, an ancient harbor city just south of Tel Aviv. Dating back to at least the fourth century B.C., the city has been under Egyptian rule (see photo at left  of the Ramses Gateway), Roman rule, Byzantine rule and Turkish rule. Statues of Napoleon Bonaparte remind visitors that he sieged the city in 1799.

Next up was Caesarea, home to a Roman theater (photo at left), hippodrome, aqueduct and more. Built at the command of Herod the Great, it was the center of Roman culture during the life of Christ.

One of our most fascinating encounters of the day was with Ronnie Farj Eid, a Ministry of Tourism official in Nazareth who is an Arab Christian (Nazareth has the largest Arab population in Israel). Eid, who lives in a small village near the Sea of Galilee, spoke of what it is like to be a Christian in the Middle East and expressed his fears that in the next 100 to 200 years, there would be no Christians to fill the churches in the region. Many of us have heard about the dwindling numbers of Christians in the Holy Land, but it can seem like such an academic topic. Hearing a fellow Catholic's story made the problem very real to me.

By Sarah Hayes

In November 2010, Pope Benedict XVI had these words to say while visiting Santiago de Compostela: “To go on pilgrimage really means to step out of ourselves in order to encounter God where he has revealed himself, where his grace has shone with particular splendour and produced rich fruits of conversion and holiness among those who believe. Above all, Christians go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, to the places associated with the Lord’s passion, death and resurrection.”

Going on a pilgrimage has long been appealing to me. But a Holy Land journey seemed out of reach. Then came an opportunity that I just couldn’t pass up — the CPA Holy Land Tour, sponsored by the Israel Ministry of Tourism for Catholic Press Association journalists.

Beginning Thursday through Feb. 2, I will be among a dozen Catholic journalists visiting biblical sites in Israel. Among the planned visits will be Mount Carmel, Mount of the Beatitudes, the Sea of Galilee, Mount Tabor and its Church of the Transfiguration, Cana, the Dead Sea and Jerusalem’s Old City, including the Via Dolorosa and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

To be able to "encounter God" by following in the very footsteps of Our Lord and Savior is almost beyond comprehension to me. Such an opportunity is exciting — and very humbling. I ask you for your prayers on this incredible journey, and I invite you to come along with me. Each day, I will be blogging at OSV Daily Take about my experiences, and I will be tweeting pictures and thoughts as well at @shayesOSV. Shalom.

Sarah Hayes is OSV presentation editor.

The Catholic bishops of the United States called “literally unconscionable” a decision by the Obama Administration to continue to demand that sterilization, abortifacients and contraception be included in virtually all health plans. Today's announcement means that this mandate and its very narrow exemption will not change at all; instead there will only be a delay in enforcement against some employers.

“In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences,” said Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan, archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The cardinal-designate continued, “To force American citizens to choose between violating their consciences and forgoing their healthcare is literally unconscionable. It is as much an attack on access to health care as on religious freedom. Historically this represents a challenge and a compromise of our religious liberty."

The HHS rule requires that sterilization and contraception – including controversial abortifacients – be included among “preventive services” coverage in almost every healthcare plan available to Americans. “The government should not force Americans to act as if pregnancy is a disease to be prevented at all costs,” added Cardinal-designate Dolan.

At issue, the U.S. bishops and other religious leaders insist, is the survival of a cornerstone constitutionally protected freedom that ensures respect for the conscience of Catholics and all other Americans.

“This is nothing less than a direct attack on religion and First Amendment rights,” said Franciscan Sister Jane Marie Klein, chairperson of the board at Franciscan Alliance, Inc., a system of 13 Catholic hospitals. “I have hundreds of employees who will be upset and confused by this edict. I cannot understand it at all.”

Daughter of Charity Sister Carol Keehan, president and chief executive officer of the Catholic Health Association of the United States, voiced disappointment with the decision. Catholic hospitals serve one out of six people who seek hospital care annually.

“This was a missed opportunity to be clear on appropriate conscience protection,” Sister Keehan said.

Cardinal-designate Dolan urged that the HHS mandate be overturned.

“The Obama administration has now drawn an unprecedented line in the sand,” he said. “The Catholic bishops are committed to working with our fellow Americans to reform the law and change this unjust regulation. We will continue to study all the implications of this troubling decision.”

Friday’s announcement by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius does not apply to houses of worship. Churches, synagogues, mosques and other places of worship were already exempt from the birth control coverage rule.

Read the full Post story HERE.

New York's cardinal-to-be delivered a no-holds-barred sermon on morality Sunday, telling his flock to stand firm against popular culture’s message that sex outside marriage is okay.

“The one who, with God’s grace and mercy, tries his or her best to be pure and chaste is often thought of not as a hero, not a saint, but as a freak in our culture today,” Archbishop Timothy Dolan said at St. Patrick’s.

“The biblical teaching on sexual responsibility is countercultural,” he continued, hailing those who stay true to their moral compass.

“Anyone who tries his or her best to live it can expect a lot of temptation and even ridicule and criticism.”

Dolan linked “sexual immorality” with society’s ills — violence, sex crimes, disease and broken families — and called on priests to do a better job of encouraging the sexually virtuous.

...“The church has at times in the past, sadly, come across as some naysaying, puritanical nag, always giving a big ‘No, no, no’ to one of life’s greatest joys,” he said.

But modern society often reduces sex to “animal rutting” or its “most popular contact sport,” he said.

He didn’t mention any one show or star by name, but Dolan clearly seemed to be targeting the bedhopping that’s become regular fare on TV and reality shows like “Jersey Shore.”

“Truth be told, it is chastity and purity that liberates us, while immorality enslaves us,” he said.

Read the full story HERE.

When the "Undercover Boss" production team met with Dwyer-Owens before arranging her visits, they asked her what she did in a typical day. One part of her answer was making pancakes for breakfast. Another part was going to Mass.

"My goal is to go to Mass three to four times a week. During the seasons of Advent and Lent, I try to go five days a week," Dwyer-Owens told CNS. "It just keeps me grounded in doing the right things instead of all the other stuff that creeps into your life."

"I found I was getting very caught up in the activities on the to-do list," she said. "I was finding that I was letting negativity seep into my day. I was getting bogged down by the to-do's instead of the to-be's. I found that going to Mass was the best way to keep me grounded and focused on what I needed to do in life."

In what may be its most significant religious liberty decision in two decades, the Supreme Court on Wednesday for the first time recognized a “ministerial exception” to employment discrimination laws, saying that churches and other religious groups must be free to choose and dismiss their leaders without government interference.

“The interest of society in the enforcement of employment discrimination statutes is undoubtedly important,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote in a decision that was surprising in both its sweep and its unanimity. “But so, too, is the interest of religious groups in choosing who will preach their beliefs, teach their faith and carry out their mission.”

“It’s a great day for the First Amendment,” said Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Connecticut, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty.

Bishop Lori spoke January 11, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court voted unanimously to uphold a church’s right to determine who its ministers are and banned government interference in the process. His statement follows.

The Supreme Court decision marks a victory for religious liberty and the U.S. Constitution. Freedom of Religion is America’s First Freedom and the Court has spoken unanimously in favor of it. The Founding Fathers would be proud. Respect for the long-standing “ministerial exception,” which is grounded in the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment and prevents the government from interfering in the employment relationship between a Church and its ministers. This decision makes resoundingly clear the historical and constitutional importance of keeping internal church affairs off limits to the government—because whoever chooses the minister chooses the message.It’s a great day for the First Amendment.

Bishop William E. Lori
Chairman
U.S. Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty