Fortnight for Freedom - Catholics vs. Democrats?

The Obama administration's overreach has stretched all the way to our local Catholic parish. 

Literally. 

This past Sunday, our priest invoked a special prayer from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, asking for protection of our religious liberties.  You can see a copy of the prayer card attached to this article.  This is a reaction to last August's U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issuing a list of “preventive services for women” to be mandated in almost all private health plans under the new health care law.  And ultimately it has pitted the Catholic Church against the Democratic party. 

Despite their position on abortion, Catholics have been strong supporters of the Democratic party in the past.  Catholics in leadership of the party read like a Who's Who: Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, the Kennedy family.  And despite the differences on abortion, nothing really ever came to a head with regard to the Church and the party. 

All of that has changed with the HHS policy. 

In my life I have never seen the Church politically motivated as one body.  There was always political activity, but never so unified, and never so organized.  The result is what is being billed as A Fortnight for Freedom.  Here is what the Bishop's page says about the event:

The fourteen days from June 21—the vigil of the Feasts of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More—to July 4, Independence Day, are dedicated to this “fortnight for freedom”—a great hymn of prayer for our country. Our liturgical calendar celebrates a series of great martyrs who remained faithful in the face of persecution by political power—St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More, St. John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, and the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome.  Culminating on Independence Day, this special period of prayer, study, catechesis, and public action will emphasize both our Christian and American heritage of liberty. Dioceses and parishes around the country have scheduled special events that support a great national campaign of teaching and witness for religious liberty. 

The Church is ticked off.  It is invoking martyrs; that's how seriously it is taking this issue.  Obama and his administration have stepped too far, and they've pitted a loyal constituency against them.  We'll see how it translates into results in November.