'Bloodless persecution' taking place in America, says archbishop
An archbishop warned that the morality of the U.S. is being attacked and urged Catholics to stand strong in the midst of attacks on religious freedom.
Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore said that religious freedom is continually being assaulted as the institutions that are supposed to protect it are being targeted.
Speaking at the Divine Mercy University in Virginia, Lori said persecution is happening in the U.S. but not in the way most people view persecution. There is no torture or death; instead, what is happening in the U.S. is a "bloodless" kind of persecution. Lori said religious liberty is being threatened in a nation that is supposed to promote freedom.
He said it happens through "polite" policies that control the practice of religion.
"The institutions that are under challenge are places of mercy that seek to bring the healing balm of truth, love, and human skill to the spiritual, emotional, and physical wounds of human existence, to be indeed the 'field hospital' amid a culture where many are wounded daily," the archbishop said, according to LifeSiteNews.
The archbishop cited the legalization of same-sex marriage and the president's contraceptive mandate through Obamacare as examples of threats to religious freedom.
"We have only to think about the arbitrary redefinition of marriage and family or anti-family welfare and relief policies," he said.
He said with the government controlling such things as family and marriage, the American society "becomes less merciful and more impersonal," which is not a good foundation for humans to flourish.
The archbishop said that the year being the Holy Year of Mercy, Christians must be reminded to continually promote moral values.
Same-sex marriage and the contraceptive mandate are not the only threats to religious freedom. The transgender bathroom directive issued by Pres. Barack Obama, which requires all public schools to allow males who identify as females to use facilities that were previously restricted to females, has stirred a lot of controversy in recent months.
The issue has sparked an outcry from several states, which have issued a lawsuit against the administration regarding the directive. The lawsuit is more likely to end up at the Supreme Court, which could ultimately bring about a resolution on the transgender rights in the U.S.
