ATLANTA (GA)
The New York Times
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: June 13, 2012
ATLANTA — Ten years after a raging scandal forced the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops to adopt a package of policies for combating sexual abuse, the prelates on Wednesday heard a generally positive assessment of their progress at their annual meeting, and turned their attention to their newest overriding concern: their campaign to protect religious liberty.
The bishops acknowledged that the effort had become a lightning rod for criticism that they had exaggerated the threat to freedom and aligned the church with the Republican Party in an election year. And they sought to debunk the notion that their campaign was fixated on their opposition to artificial birth control, saying that the Obama administration forced the issue by mandating that even Catholic institutions like hospitals and universities must provide insurance coverage for birth control and sterilization for their employees.
“It is not about parties, candidates or elections, as some others have suggested,” said Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, the chairman of the bishops’ religious freedom committee, who noted that the bishops have faced hostility “even from some Catholic commentators.”
“In the face of this resistance, it may be tempting to get discouraged, to second-guess the effort, to soft-pedal our message,” Archbishop Lori said. “But instead, these things should prompt us to do exactly the opposite, for they show us how very great is the need for our teaching, both in our culture and even in our own church.”
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