LAWSUIT FILED: Notre Dame v. Sebelius

May 21, 2012

A Message from Father John Jenkins, C.S.C.,

President, University of Notre Dame

Today the University of Notre Dame filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana regarding a recent mandate from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  That mandate requires Notre Dame and similar religious organizations to provide in their insurance plans abortion-inducing drugs, contraceptives and sterilization procedures, which are contrary to Catholic teaching.  The decision to file this lawsuit came after much deliberation, discussion and efforts to find a solution acceptable to the various parties.

Let me say very clearly what this lawsuit is not about:  it is not about preventing women from having access to contraception, nor even about preventing the Government from providing such services.  Many of our faculty, staff and students -- both Catholic and non-Catholic -- have made conscientious decisions to use contraceptives.  As we assert the right to follow our conscience, we respect their right to follow theirs.  And we believe that, if the Government wishes to provide such services, means are available that do not compel religious organizations to serve as its agents.  We do not seek to impose our religious beliefs on others; we simply ask that the Government not impose its values on the University when those values conflict with our religious teachings. We have engaged in conversations to find a resolution that respects the consciences of all and we will continue to do so.

This filing is about the freedom of a religious organization to live its mission, and its significance goes well beyond any debate about contraceptives.  For if we concede that the Government can decide which religious organizations are sufficiently religious to be awarded the freedom to follow the principles that define their mission, then we have begun to walk down a path that ultimately leads to the undermining of those institutions.  For if one Presidential Administration can override our religious purpose and use religious organizations to advance policies that undercut our values, then surely another Administration will do the same for another very different set of policies, each time invoking some concept of popular will or the public good, with the result these religious organizations become mere tools for the exercise of government power, morally subservient to the state, and not free from its infringements.  If that happens, it will be the end of genuinely religious organizations in all but name. 

The details of the process that led to the mandate are publicly known.  In an Interim Final Ruling issued August 3, 2011, the federal government required employers to provide the objectionable services. A narrow exemption was given to religious institutions that serve and employ primarily members of their own faith, but, departing from a long tradition in federal law, organizations like Notre Dame—schools, universities, hospitals and charitable organizations that serve and employ people of all faiths and none—were granted no exemption, but instead were made subject to the law to the same extent as any secular organization.  On September 28, I submitted a formal comment encouraging the Administration to follow precedent and adopt a broader exemption.

Despite some positive indications, the Administration announced on January 20, 2012, that its interim rule would be adopted as final without change.  After an outcry from across the political spectrum, President Obama announced on February 10 that his Administration would attempt to accommodate the concerns of religious organizations.  We were encouraged by this announcement and have engaged in conversations with Administration officials to find an acceptable resolution.  Although I do not question the good intentions and sincerity of all involved in these discussions, progress has not been encouraging and an announcement seeking comments on how to structure any accommodation (HHS Advanced Notification of Proposed Rule Making on preventative services policy, March 16, 2012) provides little in the way of a specific, substantive proposal or a definite timeline for resolution.   Moreover, the process laid out in this announcement will last months, making it impossible for us to plan for and implement any changes to our health plans by the government-mandated deadlines. We will continue in earnest our discussions with Administration officials in an effort to find a resolution, but, after much deliberation, we have concluded that we have no option but to appeal to the courts regarding the fundamental issue of religious freedom.

It is for these reasons that we have filed this lawsuit neither lightly nor gladly, but with sober determination. 

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The lawsuit is available online at http://opac.nd.edu/public-information/hhs-complaint

Center Fellow speaks at Oxford Decalogue conference

The Influence of the Decalogue: Historical, Theological and Cultural Perspectives –

an Interdisciplinary and International Conference

The Decalogue or the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5) have constantly been received, taught, and transformed over two and a half millennia, not only in religious catechesis and exegetical interpretation, but also in art, music, film, philosophy, and in the history of law. The two tablets of the law have become a fundamental religious icon in both Judaism and Christianity. The Decalogue certainly is one of the most intensely used texts in world history. The first attempt to systematically investigate its fascinating history of reception was made in an interdisciplinary conference organised by Dominik Markl SJ in cooperation with Christine Joynes, Director of the Centre for Reception History of the Bible, at Trinity College Oxford, 16–17 April 2012. The conference was sponsored by Heythrop College, University of London and the Faculty of Theology of the University of Oxford. The papers of the conference are planned to be published next year.

Seventeen speakers from ten countries included Luciane Beduschi (Paris, music), David Clines (Sheffield, Hebrew Bible), Gerhard Lauer (Göttingen, German literature), Christopher Rowland (Oxford, New Testament), Randall Smith (Myser Fellow, Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture, theology) and Steven Wilf (Connecticut, law); international speakers enjoyed the hospitality of Campion Hall. They were joined by thirty delegates including Michael Kirwan SJ (Heythrop, theology), John Langan (Georgetown, philosophy) and Anthony Swindell (Jersey, Bible and literature).

The conference was concluded by a musical presentation of the Heythrop College Consort at Jesus College Chapel (conducted by Joey Draycott and accompanied on the organ by Daniel Chambers), performing settings to music of the Ten Commandments by Tallis, Bach, Haydn, and von Neukomm.

Georgetown Invites Sebelius to Give Address at Commencement

Georgetown University has invited Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to give an address during its commencement exercises this May. Sebelius, a prominent and forceful proponent of abortion, is responsible in large part for the Obama Administration’s birth control and abortifacient mandate, which will force religious institutions, including the Catholic Church, to provide their employees with birth control and abortifacients, even if those institutions find the use of them to be gravely immoral.

Georgetown, a Jesuit institution which will be affected by the mandate, is coming under fire for issuing the invitation.

Read more.

Bishop Jenky Homily

A campus controversy has developed at Notre Dame over Bishop Daniel Jenky's recent homily in which he said, "Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open, but would not tolerate any competition with the state in education, social services, and health care.

In clear violation of our First Amendment rights, Barack Obama – with his radical, pro abortion and extreme secularist agenda, now seems intent on following a similar path." Bishop Jenky, C.S.C. is the local ordinary of the Diocese of Peoria, IL and sits on Notre Dame's Board of Fellows; you can read the full text of his homily here. In response, scores of Notre Dame faculty denounced Bishop Jenky and demanded that he either retract his statement or resign from Notre Dame's Board. You can read the faculty letter to the Observer, addressed to Rev. John Jenkins and Richard Notebaert, Board Chairman, here. A number of Catholic scholars have responded to the Notre Dame faculty, including Michael Pakaluk, Chairman of the Philosophy Department at Ave Maria University, in his piece, "Incendiary Educators." For background on the controversy surrounded President Obama's visit to Notre Dame in 2009 when he was awarded an honorary degree as commencement speaker, read the National Catholic Register's interview with Rev. Bill Miscamble, C.S.C.