If you’re in Juneau, Fairbanks or Anchorage tomorrow, you may hear the bells of the Catholic Church ringing at noon. Catholics in Alaska have been observing a two week period leading up to July 4, called the Fortnight for Freedom.
It’s part of an effort by the church to highlight what they see as a chipping away at the First Amendment and the right to religious freedom. Catholic leaders in the state sent a letter encouraging church members to speak out against infringements on religious expression.
Fairbanks Bishop Donald Kettler says it’s a good time for reflection on religious freedom, not just for the church but for all citizens.
“We don’t believe this is a Catholic issue, we believe this is a United States Constitutional issue that we have to protect religious liberty and that the concept that that’s not just so narrow that it focuses only on places of worship, but there’s other ways that our religious freedoms can be infringed upon and we’re concerned about that,” Kettler said.
Some of those concerns are the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that Catholic schools, hospitals and businesses would be required to provide contraceptives and other reproductive services to employees. The church is opposed to contraception.
The Obama administration in June, gave these religious organizations an exemption, but refused to extend it to other businesses that cited opposition based on religious beliefs.
Lori Townsend is the chief editor, senior vice president of journalism and senior host for Alaska Public Media. You can send her news tips and program ideas for Talk of Alaska and Alaska Insight at ltownsend@alaskapublic.org or call 907-550-8452. Read more about Lori here.
