c. 2013 Religion News Service
(RNS) After a closed-door session at their annual meeting in Baltimore this month, the U.S. Catholic bishops issued an unusual “special message” reaffirming their long-standing opposition to the Obama administration’s birth control insurance mandate.
On one level, the declaration and the united front were no surprise: The American church hierarchy has made opposition to the mandate a hallmark of its public lobbying efforts, framing the issue as an unprecedented infringement of religious freedom.
