The dioceses of Springfield and Joliet and their associated Catholic Charities today joined 39 other Catholic agencies in filing 12 separate lawsuits against the controversial federal Health and Human Services mandate, charging the requirement violates their freedom of religion as guaranteed by the First Amendment.

Bishop Thomas John Paprocki of Springfield issued a statement in which he notes the lawsuit rises above the surface requirement of the HHS mandate calling for all employers to offer insurance coverage of morally objectionable abortion-inducing drugs, contraceptives and sterilization.

“This lawsuit is about an unprecedented attack by the federal government on one of America’s most cherished freedoms: the freedom to practice one’s religion without government interference,” Paprocki wrote. “It is not about whether people have access to certain services; it is about whether the government may force religious institutions and individuals to facilitate and fund services which violate their religious beliefs.”

The lawsuit names as defendants HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, as well as the agencies they represent.

The total 43 plaintiffs include other dioceses, Catholic schools and universities, Catholic health systems and Catholic charitable organizations — most notably the University of Notre Dame and Our Sunday Visitor. The lawsuits were filed simultaneously today in 12 separate jurisdictions across the nation. The lawsuit filed by the Springfield and Joliet dioceses and their accompanying Catholic Charities was filed in the U.S. district court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, located in Chicago.

Catholic Vote on Why We Fight

This is not about politics. It’s simply not. We didn’t pick this fight or the timing of it. The federal government brought it to us this past January when they decided it was a good idea to tell us who was and was not Catholic “enough” to be considered exempt from a mandate that would require employers to provide abortifacient drugs, surgical sterilizations, and contraceptives to all employees free of charge. The government is the one who wants to force us to violate our consciences, and they’re the ones who decided to bring it up in an election year. Plain and simple.

image King St. Louis IX departs for the 7th Crusade

The only unknown is the result of the widely publicized police break-in and arrest of three young men allegedly assembling Molotov cocktails and planning attacks on police stations, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s home and other sites. The “official” story suggests a genuine danger was nipped in the bud—but as history has shown us more often than not, it could all be a phony, rigged distraction. We must wait and see.

For me, the most important demonstration was staged on the opening Friday by the National Nurses Union, focusing clearly and directly on the need for an international financial transactions tax they call a “Robin Hood” tax (which to my mind is not necessarily the best term to sell this important idea).

As I wrote more than a year ago, this is the tax whose time has come: a very low sales tax on certain specialized financial “products” sold on various exchanges. It could lift many economies and pay for vital human services. It won’t affect ordinary stock, bond, option or mutual fund purchases—or retirement programs. The tax would apply only to exotica such as index futures, options on index futures, currency futures and related speculative investments—the kind of fancy money manipulations that helped put us in the hole in the first place. It could also curb speculation.

The idea has significant support in Europe and might come to pass. It is especially helpful being advocated by nurses—the most respected and loved profession in America. The NNU is also airing followup TV ads.

The most impressive thing about the NATO summit itself was the presence of Pakistan with Afghanistan—seen by many to be a sign Pakistan may end its double game of supporting both the US and the Taliban. Again, we must wait and see. Pakistan has a long history of lies.

The most important news, however, came out of the G8 with seven of its members calling for a reversal of Europe’s failing austerity program in favor of a policy of growth and investment—which, put into effect, could halt the slide to recession that might take us down with it.

Even the holdout, Angela Merkel, opened a window to the idea—mainly because her party lost an election in Germany’s largest state, clearly on the issue of growth vs. austerity. The greater impetus was the French election, which brought in Socialist Francois Hollande, a powerful growth advocate, replacing austerity advocate Nicolas Sarkozy. Elections matter.

Progressive economists—and many conservatives—have long called for both an FTT and for a switch to growth and investment. Has the time come?

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Don Rose is a regular columnist for the Chicago Daily Observer
image Ss. Peter and Paul, two Saints from whom one is robbed to pay the other