It is a well-known phenomenon that generals have a tendency to “Fight the Last War,” meaning that they tend to use the tactics that brought them victory in the last war they fought. The problem is that the enemy usually shows up with new weapons and new tactics. Either the generals adapt, or go down to defeat.
In the war over the HHS Mandate, it seems that the bishops have shown up with Cardinal O’Connor’s playbook from the 1980’s. It won’t work, and they had better grasp that reality today, and with all due urgency.
This past week, Francis Cardinal George of Chicago issued a letter to his faithful warning that the archdiocese will need to get out of the hospital and healthcare business, as well as education, social services, etc., if the Obama administration does not back down. Some excerpts:
Catholic hospitals, universities and social services have an institutional conscience, a conscience shaped by Catholic moral and social teaching. The HHS regulations now before our society will make it impossible for Catholic institutions to follow their conscience.
What will happen if the HHS regulations are not rescinded? A Catholic institution, so far as I can see right now, will have one of four choices: 1) secularize itself, breaking its connection to the church, her moral and social teachings and the oversight of its ministry by the local bishop. This is a form of theft. It means the church will not be permitted to have an institutional voice in public life. 2) Pay exorbitant annual fines to avoid paying for insurance policies that cover abortifacient drugs, artificial contraception and sterilization. This is not economically sustainable. 3) Sell the institution to a non-Catholic group or to a local government. 4) Close down.
The state is making itself into a church. The bishops didn’t begin this dismaying conflict nor choose its timing. We would love to have it ended as quickly as possible. It’s up to the government to stop the attack.
If you haven’t already purchased the Archdiocesan Directory for 2012, I would suggest you get one as a souvenir. On page L-3, there is a complete list of Catholic hospitals and health care institutions in Cook and Lake counties. Each entry represents much sacrifice on the part of medical personnel, administrators and religious sponsors. Each name signifies the love of Christ to people of all classes and races and religions. Two Lents from now, unless something changes, that page will be blank.
There’s much more in the letter. Read it here.
Cardinal George’s tactic here was that of Cardinal O’Connor in the 1980’s, when Mayor Ed Koch passed Executive Order 50 that would have forced the Catholic Church to hire homosexuals in all of our institutions. From Wiki:
O’Connor actively opposed Executive Order 50, a mayoral order issued in 1980 by Mayor Ed Koch, which required all City contractors, including religious entities, to provide services on a non-discriminatory basis with respect to race, creed, age, sex, handicap, as well as “sexual orientation or affectational preference”.[25] After the Salvation Army received a warning from the City that its contracts for child care services would be canceled for refusing to comply with the executive order’s provisions regarding sexual orientation,[26] the Archdiocese of New York and Agudath Israel, an Orthodox Jewish organization, threatened to cancel their contracts with the City if forced to comply.[26] O’Connor maintained that the executive order would cause the Church to appear to condone homosexual practices and lifestyle.[27][27] Writing in Catholic New York in January 1985, O’Connor characterized the order as “an exceedingly dangerous precedent [that would] invite unacceptable governmental intrusion into and excessive entanglement with the Church’s conducting of its own internal affairs.” Drawing the traditional Catholic distinction between homosexual “inclinations” and “behavior”, he stated that “we do not believe that homosexual behavior … should be elevated to a protected category.”[28]
The Church won its case in court, but O’Connor was willing to close our schools and child care agencies if we lost, forcing a city just inching back from bankruptcy to pick up the cost.
Different times.
Back then, I was in my early 20’s. The bulk of voters were the Greatest Generation, then in their 50’s, and the generations who preceded them. In other words, most voters actually had education in civics, and most men came from a generation when military service was regarded as a rite of passage into manhood. They valued the Constitution, and a thug such as Barak Obama never would have made it past being a city councilman from a radical district. Back then, voters understood the need for fiscal responsibility and Ed Koch would have had his goose cooked if he threatened the fragile economic recovery of the city, or if he incurred a threat made good by Cardinal O’Connor.
Different times.
Today the bishops are in contention with a Democrat Party headed by a president who wants them to abandon the field in every sector: education, social services, healthcare…
Today the bishops are in contention with a Democrat Party headed by a president who have added ten trillion dollars of debt to the nation in two years. That they don’t care at all about fiscal responsibility is an understatement.
Today the bishops are in contention with a Democrat Party headed by a president who understand that the bulk of the voters who stood behind Cardinal O’Connor almost thirty years ago are dead. In their place are the Baby Boomers, the children and grandchildren of the Boomers who are largely ignorant of American History, civics, or the Constitution.
Today the bishops are in contention with a Democrat Party headed by a president who are catering to the pervasive narcissism and hedoniosm of a society that stands in shameful contrast with the Greatest Generation that backed O’Connor. That’s why the HHS mandate has a good chance of prevailing.
Cardinal George is no fool, and he understands what he’s up against with the Democrats and Obama:
The provision of health care should not demand “giving up” religious liberty. Liberty of religion is more than freedom of worship. Freedom of worship was guaranteed in the Constitution of the former Soviet Union. You could go to church, if you could find one. The church, however, could do nothing except conduct religious rites in places of worship-no schools, religious publications, health care institutions, organized charity, ministry for justice and the works of mercy that flow naturally from a living faith. All of these were co-opted by the government. We fought a long cold war to defeat that vision of society.
He’s right. However, the tactics need to change. We do not have a half-century to fight this one as we did the Cold War. We have until November. If Obama is reelected, we’ll lose our tax-exempt status and be stripped of all our agencies by a president who hates who we are and what we stand for. This is no longer a fight over a facet of Obamacare.
It never was, and the bishops need to awaken to that reality. This is a new Marxism, as Cardinal George alluded to. If Obama backs down and the bishops claim victory they will live to regret being duped in so monumental a manner. A Marxist has declared war on the only Church with enough institutional infrastructure to pose a threat to his party’s agenda.
The Catholic vision of human anthropology, who we are, is lived out in our healthcare and social services, and is inculcated through our educational institutions.
Obama gets that.
Cardinal George left out the fifth, and only viable option. The Church has had war declared on her by the government. She must now rally her faithful to vote out this wicked administration in November. She must coordinate strategy with all people of faith from other religions and Christian denominations. If she doesn’t, we lose everything. If she does, a new administration will not permit her to lose the tax-exempt status for having been forced into political organizing to fight an existential threat from the government. (And there are hundreds of videos of Democrat politicians campaigning in Protestant church pulpits).
The plan as laid out by Cardinal George is yesterday’s strategy. It worked for Cardinal O’Connor in a different age, with a different electorate. It’s time for our normally quiet and pastoral bishops to gird their loins.
This one’s for all the marbles.
UPDATE: Bishop Paprocki of Springfield, Ill. responded to this post. His response and my rejoinder here.
Coming Home 
Brilliant analysis.
Thank you, Father.
Agreed. I think you’re spot on, in many respects.
After the Church closes its charitable institutions, the Administration and media will castigate it for being so hard-hearted. The Government will take away the Church’s tax exemption because the Church is no longer serving society, which is the rationale for offering the tax exemption in the first place.
Fr. Longenecker has also pointed out on his own blog that there are many “Catholic” institutions that will simply knuckle under and go along with the Government, as in old England when Henry VIII attacked the Church. In view of the change of names of some hospitals out West and also here in the Midwest (e.g., the Sisters of Mercy changing the name of their flagship hospital in St. Louis from “St. John’s Mercy Hospital” to simply “Mercy Hospital”), I think the signs are there. Certain Catholic institutions will betray the Church, stay in operation, and still claim to be Catholic. The “Catholic” Health Association and the Jesuits, among others, will give them cover. Just read their recent pronouncements on the Obama “compromise.”
Jim Cole
It is rather strange that they put a JCP ad on the same page with Ellen. How rude. Father, we must pray that all Bishops, Priests and Catholics stand together regardless of the outcome. Thank you Father.My prayers are with all of you.
Excellent, Dr. Nadal. The strategy very much needs to be voting out not only Obama but all so-called Catholic politicians who routinely support public funding of abortion.
I also have a question: Could it be that many bishops as well as priests and laity cannot conceive of fighting on politically because for decades they have been pandering to political correctness and left-wing politics in general? Perhaps this was out of mistaking permissiveness for love, but also perhaps because many are of the same socio-political persuasion of Obama and his cohorts.
I cannot help but wonder how many bishops and priests voted for Obama and plan to vote for him again. I would not at all be surprised. We already know that Obama could not have won without the Catholic vote from the laity.
While these issues are not comfortable to look at, I think they must be recognized and acknowledged. In some respects the Church has done this to Herself, sadly. We cannot correct the situation if we do not see the part we played in it.
God bless and thanks for your commentary.
Thanks, Patricia.
Yes, I believe that many Catholics are fellow travelers with Obama, Sebelius, Pelosi, Biden, et al. They will welcome the government dictating the form of Catholicism they have practiced their entire adult lives. They’ll welcome the “reform” of the Church at the hands of the government. Just look at the celebration of gay marriage.
Any chance here that what we may be facing in the US in an equivalent of the Catholic Church in China. The National Catholic Church in China where the government is in control with the faithful Catholics going underground.
The analogy to King Henry VIII makes perfect sense. It appears we have a new king – King Henry (Obama) IX – head of the Church of the United States of America. The money in the church collection baskets will be the property of the Treasury Department, and priests, employees of the State, no more Catholic curriculum in schools – if we are not careful. The American press should be addressing him by his new title.
Perfect. Raymond Arroyo had a reporter from the NY Times and they were talking about how the bishops had so much leverage because they could shut down the hospitals. That’s exactly what Obama wants and the motivation behind this mandate! The bishops have to clearly believe and understand this if we are to have any chance of winning this battle.
Thank you, thank you.
I have been saying the same thing, although not so eloquently.
I said in the eighties that the Church should fight the tax exempt status then, rather than later.
I currently believe that we must launch from every perspective and keep the
DOJ really busy fighting it, a First Amendment, Free Exercise challenge. Now is our only chance.
To win it is to save the country, which with roots deep in the Natural Law, has allowed the Church to flourish in magnificent ways.
And by the way, I am the mother of baby boomers and an attorney. I really understand your points.
The only relevant branch of government is the Judiciary not the Congress. In the end, the issue will be decided by nine men and women in robes. If I were a betting man, I would bet that the Church wins.
The current opposition playbook has already been executed, many times before.
I agree – a scorched earth strategy only plays into this administration’s (perverse generation?) long term plans. I believe Sebelius and Planned Parenthood plan to establish an alternative hospital system – however , it wouldn’t be through a long building process, but through the seizure of the existing health system assets from the Catholic Church. It would be very methodical and publicly justified, relying upon the passivity of the flock, the direct opposition of the bishops, and the willingness of employees to put pay over principle. The media would be complicit by silencing or shouting (as they did with the Sandra Fluke shill) over any righteous outcry.
Only through reliance upon the Almighty through complete unity in the Body can we prevail. “Separation of church and state” is only a slogan Satan employs. Remember Pilate may have executed Christ, but he couldn’t keep the real King in the grave.
In the broader context, I believe God has had enough in terms of “choice”. The biblical duration of a trial is usually 40 – be it days or years.
It’s time to choose who we truly follow.
Ditto Fr. Longenecker: BRILLIANT ANALYSIS!
Thank you, Gerry.
Why haven’t I seen proposed that the bishops REFUSE to comply with the mandate, REFUSE to close and REFUSE to pay any fines. If every single Catholic hospital, university and schools, agencies etc. just plain REFUSE what the heck can Obama do? It’s called civil disobedience.
Dr. nadal is accurate in saying that the President and his supporters would love for the government to take over Catholic health care, social services and education, however, he misunderstands Cardinal George and the Bishops if he thinks we are threatening to abandon these Catholic hospitals if the government does not back down from the HHS mandate. Last year I fought to keep our Catholic Charities foster care and adoption services in Illinois, but we lost that battle in all three branches of state government: executive, legislative and judicial. I warned that this would happen. It was not a threat, but a statement of fact. In fact, the state pushed us out of foster care and adoption services. We did not go willingly or quietly. All that the Cardinal is saying is that the same thing will happen to other Catholic apostolates at the federal level unless the administration’s mandate is withdrawn by the executive branch or overridden by legislative or judicial branches of the federal government. That is where we are currently fighting this cultural war (which they started, by the way.) If Dr. Nadal has some other strategies that he thinks will work, I am open to suggestions.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Thomas John Paprocki
Bishop of Springfield in Illinois
[…] Comments « The HHS Mandate: Cardinal George and the Bishops Are Fighting the Last War […]
What happened to your post where you replied to Bishop Paprocki?
In an abundance of caution, I’ve written to Bishop Paprocki to authenticate the comment as his. I should have done that first.
I honestly don’t see that Cardinal O’Connor’s approach and Cardinal George’s approach are the same. Cardinal O’Connor made his appeal on the basis of subsidiarity as far as what you quote; Cardinal George is making his on the basis of religious freedom as far as what you quote. They are different…
I also am at a loss as to why it is being stressed so that the enactment of the HHS mandates against public sector Catholic Institutions is so evil with little or no mention of how the mandates will effect private sector employers who profess to be Catholic. If it is evil in the public sector, then it is also in the private sector.
You’re being a good journalist. For a moment, I thought I imagined the post. Everyone, take note at this good example of checking one’s facts. I wish your blog had a button, I could put on my blog.
“the bishops need to awaken to that reality”… It has been said that there is a sleeping giant in America. I think that giant is the USCCB.
Abortion-rights pioneer Dr. Bernard Nathanson said of his successful efforts to start the baby-killing industry, “We would never have gotten away with what we did If you (the clergy) had been united, purposeful, and strong.”
Nicole,
In my open letter to Cardinal Dolan, I addressed the point of his needing to stand up for the conscience rights of private sector employers.
Gerard,
I don’t think Cardinal George is midguided.
I also don’t think his letter represents (merely) a strategy for opposing the HHS mandate, any more than Cardinal O’Connor’s threat to close institutions did back in ’85. I think the Cardinal is simply telling the truth: if the HHS mandate stands, this is what will happen. Whether Obama perceives that as a threat, and a viable one, and backs off, isn’t the primary concern of Cardinal George’s letter. His primary concern is to inform and prepare the Church in Chicago of the impending catastrophe that awaits should the unthinkable happen.
To say that a fifth option is to organize the faithful to ensure that President Obama is not re-elected is rather to state the obvious. But, Cardinal George is a priest, and political organization is not the realm of the priesthood, but of the laity. So, it’s not really Cardinal George’s job to organize to defeat Obama. It’s ours. Politcal action, however, is the realm of all U. S. citizens, and the bishops have already said that they intend to fight the mandate via the other two branches of government.
Should the mandate stand, however, I do agree that Cardinal George has neglected another option: that of civil resistance. The Gospels do not mention anywhere the expectation that Christians will obtain permission of the government to carry out their duties as Christians. Christians of all stripes have the option of going underground and living the corporal and spiritual works of mercy the old fashioned way: out of our homes and parishes. Should the government make such activity illegal, well it wouldn’t be the first time Christians have gone to jail for being Christians; and we would have lots of company among our confreres around theworld.
I seriously doubt, however, that the HHS mandate will stand. Obama is the president, but he isn’t the government. The Hosanna-Tabor decision of the SCOTUS in January, and the decision of the federal judge in Washington state just this week, sound a pretty loud eventual death knell for the HHS mandate, methinks.
BobRN, I hope that you are right, in your final paragraph. I do remember a time of history not all that long ago (just ten or so years before I was born) when a gov’t mandated that NO non-Jewish person could buy or sell anything to a Jewish person, and NO Jewish person could sell to any Aryan. Since Sebelius and others began saying that the solution to NOT having this mandated insurance was to hire only Catholics, treat only Catholics, etc…. shades of Germany…. and it did not end there.
[…] Coming Home believes the only solution to the war against the Church over the HHS mandate is to vote the Obama Administration out of office. […]
[…] Coming Home believes the only solution to the war against the Church over the HHS mandate is to vote the Obama Administration out of office. […]
In total agreement with you, Ron and worth repeating: per Bernard Nathanson:
“We would never have gotten away with what we did If you (the clergy) had been united, purposeful, and strong.”
If we do not understand the part we have played in undermining ourselves, we will never find an effective solution.
The Church, especially in the USA, must come to understand the virtue of courage and to begin practicing it. That beginning cannot come too soon. May God bless all who are willing.
And if we lose in the election, there is a sixth option:
Just say, “No!”
The bishops and the responsible lay leaders say, “We will not provide these items, we will not divest ourselves, and we will not pay the fine. Take us to court and, if we lose, put us in prison.”
I realize that this option may be fanciful because I do not understand quite what the power of the bishops is, but if chaos is what we need at that sad juncture, so be it.
Are we the Church Militant?
Would it be so bad if we lost our tax-exempt status? Then the Priest could stand at the Pulpit and tell the truth and not have to dance around issues. They could say “Vote for this guy”–or this issue and not worry about the IRS. They would be more free to speak the truth.
“Why haven’t I seen proposed that the bishops REFUSE to comply with the mandate, REFUSE to close and REFUSE to pay any fines. If every single Catholic hospital, university and schools, agencies etc. just plain REFUSE what the heck can Obama do? It’s called civil disobedience.”
Maria, what he can do is confiscate the hospitals and schools in lieu of the fines. Which I think is exactly what he’s planned on all along. We have an enormous network of facilities that the government could acquire for free this way.