Cardinal Timothy Dolan blasted Barack Obama’s contraception plan today as a “freedom of religion battle.” The outspoken Catholic leader warned church leaders that the battle over the US Health and Human Services regulation is bigger than contraception.
MyFOXNY reported:
Cardinal Dolan Blasts Obama Contraception Rule: MyFoxNY.com
The New York Post reported:
Cardinal Timothy Dolan ramped up the battle with the White House today, blasting the government for a controversial new regulation that would require providing free contraceptive services to workers of religious institutions.
“Don’t impose your teaching upon us and make us do as a church what we find unconscionable to do!” the freshly minted prince of the church told a roaring crowd of 1,000 at Holy Trinity Diocesan HS in Hicksville.
In a blistering attack interlaced with humor, Dolan never mentioned President Obama by name — only his policies.
But he did bring up President Lyndon B. Johnson.“President Johnson said, ‘As an American I look to the church — I look to religion as a beehive. If you leave them alone they’re going to give you tons of their honey. But if you stick your head in there, you’re going to get stung bad.’”
Washington softened its stance on the prickly issue last month, saying that insurers would foot the bill, not the Church’s schools, hospitals or clinics.
But on his blog, Dolan, who was elevated to cardinal on Feb. 18, said that he and the bishops, “are still as worried as ever.”
He told the crowd of church leaders that the battle over the US Health and Human Services regulation is bigger than contraception.
“It is a freedom of religion battle,” Dolan said. “We are talking about an unwarranted, unprecedented radical intrusion into the interior life of integrity of a church’s ability to teach, serve and sanctify in its own.”