CatholicVote.org to Obama: Catholic Schools Unite, Not 'Divide'

CHICAGO, June 20, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Brian Burch, President of CatholicVote.org, issued the following statement in response to President Obama's remarks on Catholic education while in Northern Ireland:

"Catholic education is not the source of 'division' in Northern Ireland, nor are they a source of division anywhere in the world.  Catholic schools educate children without regard for race, class, sex, origin, or even religious faith.  The work of Catholic education is a response to the Gospel call to serve, not divide.

"In a free society, Catholics have every right to operate schools, hire the teachers they wish, and educate our children according to our Church's teachings without burdensome interference or threats from the state and our political leaders.

"If every Catholic school closed tomorrow, local and state governments would be forced to spend millions of dollars to handle the hundreds of thousands of children who would enter the public school system.

"This smear in Northern Ireland constitutes a growing pattern of hostility on the part of this Administration toward Catholics. The Obama administration has ruled that some Catholic colleges are no longer sufficiently Catholic enough to warrant a religious exemption from the HHS Mandate. Two years ago, the Obama Justice Department argued before the Supreme Court that religious institutions have no right to decide what type of persons will be allowed to minister to their parishes and schools.

"Beginning August 1, the Obamacare HHS Mandate will impose unprecedented threats to conscience and potentially millions of dollars in fines on Catholic schools who refuse to pay for abortion drugs, sterilizations, and other medical procedures inconsistent with Church teaching.

"We call on President Obama to apologize for his smear against Catholic education and to recognize and affirm the contributions to our country and to the world made by Catholic schools.  Furthermore, we urge the Administration to halt their ongoing attack on religious liberty which allows religious schools of all faiths to flourish."

SOURCE CatholicVote.org