Dialog Editor
Bishop Malooly sees a “glimmer of hope” for the protection of religious liberty at the close of the Fortnight for Freedom.
In his prepared homily for his July 4 Mass at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Wilmington, the bishop called the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 30 decision allowing for-profit businesses to be exempt from the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act for religious reasons, “a great day for the religious freedom of family businesses.”
The court’s decision found that closely held for-profit corporations, such as family businesses, can hold religious beliefs that exempt them from government requirements such as the contraceptive mandate for employee health insurance coverage.
Bishop Malooly cited the remarks of Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, who praised the court’s decision regarding the HHS contraceptive mandate that allows the owners of Hobby Lobby Stores and Conestoga Wood Specialties corporations “to continue to abide by their faith in how they seek their livelihood, without facing devastating fines.”
Bishop Malooly said that on the Independence Day close of the Fortnight for Freedom, the two weeks designated each year by the U.S. bishops for prayer, education and advocacy for religious liberty, “let us be reminded that it is our dependence on God that enables true freedom, true independence.
“Let us bring our anxieties to the Lord in prayer and let us experience the peace of God that surpasses all understanding as we celebrate with thanksgiving all our blessings. Hopefully, as the Declaration of Independence stated, we can continue to celebrate life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
