The last we’d heard from the Little Sisters of the Poor was in mid-July, when the Tenth Circuit United States Court of Appeals ruled against them, forcing the nuns to comply with the HHS abortion mandate, which compels religious groups to pay for birth control and drugs that may cause abortions.
Sister Loraine Marie Maguire, Mother Provincial of the Little Sisters of the Poor, issued a statement in response to the court ruling:
… we simply cannot choose between our care for the elderly poor and our faith. And we should not have to make that choice, because it violates our nation’s commitment to ensuring that people from diverse faiths can freely follow God’s calling in their lives. For over 175 years, we have served the neediest in society with love and dignity. All we ask is to be able to continue our religious vocation free from government intrusion.
This seems like a good place to leave this quote from President Obama this morning:
Pres. Obama tells Pope Francis: "We stand with you in defense of religious freedom." #PopeInDC pic.twitter.com/OQzTDAZidn
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) September 23, 2015
.@ABCPolitics Uh huh… pic.twitter.com/qsl9iwDjqh
— Doug Powers (@ThePowersThatBe) September 23, 2015
On what we believe is the plus side, Pope Francis met with the Little Sisters today.
Pope Francis Makes Unscheduled Visit to Little Sisters of the Poor http://t.co/GI0bge2GYw
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 24, 2015
Best unscripted moment was Pope Francis stopping by the Little Sisters of the Poor to show his support for their religious liberty fight.
— Father Brian O'Brien (@frobrien) September 24, 2015
https://twitter.com/CLuddite/status/646859581172289536
https://twitter.com/Racoon2013/status/646857378386870273
https://twitter.com/jmgold50/status/646849603988422657
@stevenportnoy @amandacarpenter Must have asked them to reduce their carbon footprint…….
— GOLFING & TWEETING SECRET SQUIRREL (@SecritSqrl) September 24, 2015
Lombardi: Breaking- today Pope made short visit to Little Sisters of the Poor, in support of their struggle against HHS mandate #PopeInDC
— Adelaide Mena (@AddieMMena) September 24, 2015
Catholic website Crux reports the Rev. Federico Lombardi as saying “the visit was ‘connected’ to the pope’s remarks delivered earlier that day, in which the pope praised US bishops for their efforts in defending religious liberty ‘from everything that would threaten or compromise it.'”
* * *
Related:
‘Obama beats nuns’: Little Sisters of the Poor lose battle against contraception mandate
‘What a load of crap’: After HHS crackdown on nuns, POTUS stresses importance of religious freedom
Charlie Daniels: The only people with the guts to face down Obama are nuns
‘Pathetic even for them’: NOW ripped for including Little Sisters of the Poor on ‘Dirty 100’ list
Join the conversation as a VIP Member