if the government would modify the contraception mandate and further accommodate the concerns of religious employers, which federal officials have promised they would do. “The court holds that the challenged rule is not ‘sufficiently final,’” Boasberg said in his opinion. “The government has done nothing to suggest that it might abandon its efforts to modify the rule—indeed, it has steadily pursued that course—and it is entitled to a presumption that it acts in good faith.” The court did not consider the merits of Belmont Abbey’s case, and Belmont Abbey may re-file its lawsuit if and when it can demonstrate harm caused by the mandate. “At the end of the day, the court offers no opinion on the merits of the current contraception-coverage regulations or any proposed future ones. If plaintiff is displeased by the ultimate regulations, it may certainly renew its suit at that time. All the court holds here is that Belmont has no basis to proceed now,” Boasberg said in his 24-page opinion. Belmont Abbey College’s case was the first to be filed challenging the HHS mandate last November. Benedictine monks of Belmont Abbey have run the liberal arts college since 1876. The Becket Fund is representing clients—including other religious colleges, EWTN and Priests for Life—in some of the 22 other similar lawsuits filed in federal district courts around the U.S. Hannah Smith, senior counsel for the Becket Fund, said in a statement that the decision in Belmont Abbey College’s case “was on technical grounds: The judge thinks that the case should be delayed for a matter of months to give HHS time to fix the mandate.” “The decision says nothing about the merits of Belmont Abbey’s religious freedom claims, and has no effect on any of the 22 other cases currently pending in federal court,” she said. “It simply delays Belmont Abbey College’s ability to challenge the mandate for a few months, and the court made clear we have the right to re-file the case if HHS does not fix the problem.” Smith said the law firm was “reviewing the decision and considering our options, but one thing is clear: Belmont Abbey College and the Becket Fund will continue the fight for religious liberty, even if this case is delayed for a few months.” (Guilfoyle is editor of The Catholic News & Herald, newspaper of the Diocese of Charlotte.)
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SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC | AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012
Syrian Catho united effor By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As violence continued to shake Syria, the Vatican nuncio in Damascus called on the international community to unite in efforts to restore peace. “In Damascus, the last three days have been very difficult” as the fighting moved to the city, Archbishop Mario Zenari, the nuncio, said in a telephone interview from the capital July 17. “The situation compared to a month ago clearly is more tense,” he said. “The situation of the Christian community is the same as the situation for all Syrians. The Christians are not targeted, but they are under the same bombing and shelling the others face,” the archbishop said. An uprising against President Bashar Assad’s government began in March 2011. Thousands of civilians have died in the fighting since then, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced. The U.N. refugee agency said July 17 that the number of Syrians seeking refuge outside the country has risen sharply in the past three months, with some 112,000 Syrian refugees now registered in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Archbishop Zenari said, “The international A protester, flank community must speak with one voice; otherBenedict XVI join wise the parties involved in the conflict won’t 108 people dead listen.” The nuncio said he was not lobbying for any specific international intervention, but “too much time has already passed. There are many ways to reach a consensus.” Some Christian leaders in Syria have questioned the prodemocracy efforts to oust Assad, pointing out how religious liberty and the Christian communities have been protected under his leadership. “The future is difficult to foresee,” the archbishop said. “Until now, there has been a good level of freedom of religion in Syria and good relations between Christians and Muslims. www.SouthTexasCatholic.com