Why Catholic Bishops are Targeting Obama on Religious Freedom
On Wednesday, U.S. Supreme Court Justices heard arguments in Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC, a case that will give the court its first opportunity to weigh in on an exception that has existed in civil rights law for four decades. The provision, known as the “ministerial exception,” is intended to protect the freedom of religious institutions to designate spiritual leaders and teachers as they choose, not according to anti-discrimination laws (e.g., the government can’t say Catholic churches must hire women as priests).
In the case before the court, a Lutheran school in Michigan hired an instructor to teach mostly secular courses and one class on religious education. She also led a chapel service twice a year. When she refused to resign because of a medical condition that required her to take an extended leave of absence, the school fired her. And when she took her case to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on the assumption that she was protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the school claimed that she was an employee covered by the “ministerial exception.” The main question before the court then is, who qualifies as a minister? There’s no handy definition that applies across religious traditions. After a morning of questioning made clear the difficulty of a secular court trying to develop religious categories, Justice Stephen Breyer spoke for everyone when he put his head in his hands and said simply, “I’m stuck.”
To the average outside observer, the issues in Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC seem genuinely thorny, pitting the desire to protect religious freedom against the desire to prevent discrimination. But to many religious conservatives, the case–in which the Justice Department has filed a brief arguing for a narrow definition of the “ministerial exception”–is further evidence of the Obama Administration’s war on religious liberty.
Come again, you say? While you may not have heard much about this charge against the President, you surely will over the next year. Heading into this election season, the U.S. Catholic bishops are making defense of religious liberty their signature issue. Last week, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops launched an Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty to act as a watchdog to combat what the bishops say is an “assault” on religious freedom by the Obama administration. Religious liberty is the only specific issue scheduled for discussion next month at the bishops’ annual meeting. In announcing the formation of this new committee, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York said, “Never before have we faced this kind of challenge to our ability to engage in the public square as people of faith and as a service provider. If we do not act now, the consequence will be grave.”