Many moderate bishops oppose anti-Obama line of Cardinal Dolan- VIDEO

"Hollabackgurl" - For the same reason that a nuclear expert's opinion, or a medical consultant's opinion, trumps the opinions of people who are not experts in those fields. QED. Éamonn, Dublin, Ireland.

Testing,testing 123

Why should the bishops religious opinions trump everyone elses religious opinions?

I was baptized a Catholic, not a Republican. I fear that attempts by bishops to influence political elections could jeopardize the tax exempt status of religious institutions.

Dolan is a blowhard and should not be taken seriously just because of his Irish heritage. Dolan and the Republican bishops are whining about their consciences being violated by the Obama administration over the birth control issue. But many people are asking where the bishops parked their consciences when all the little boys wdere being raped and these crimes were being covered up. Consciences, my ar__! Don't forget, every dime you put into the collection plates is an act of complicity, supporting these clowns. they need to be stopped not only for the good of the church, but for American democracy.

If the President, as he pretended in his "compromise", can mandate the Insurance Companies have to supply this coverage for the Church Institutions at no cost to them, why doesn't he just mandate they provide it for everyone? Then he doesn't have to prove there is no hidden "premiums" making the institutions pay for the coverage in the background. Then the institutions wouldn't have a leg to stand on, since it is completely removed from their premiums. You won't see it happen, I don't think, because this is really about setting precedent to override the First Amendment. That First Amendment also allows these posts and wouldn't that be a shame to lose if this precedent gets the ball rolling?

The only group of whackadoodles more liberal than the editors of "IrishCentral" (really "Irish Left") is the state of California. The lawsuits from Catholic institutions now number 44, not 13, and they all defend the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (Freedom of Religion),something with which Irish Central is not familiar or well-versed. If there is a chance to speak out for dissension against the Catholic Church, IC will certainly be in the lefty fore-front. Why don't you clean up your own Irish issues, such as the child abuse rampant with Irish doctors? "MR"(not President)Obama is the largest Communist, Muslim sore ever to appear in America...and he isn't even an American! All good Catholics will pray that he is gone in Nov 2012. God bless America.

It is a constitution matter, not a matter of morality or opinion. First they throw out not infringing on the free practice of religion, then they throw out the right to free speech and congregating.

This is not about contraceptives, but the definition of Religion. H&HS people are telling the Church they can only control their health care to employees if they only deal with people of the Catholic Religion. In other words , they can't hire or give health services or any other aid to anyone not Catholic. Then they compromise by saying the Church dose not have to pay, the insurance companies must. Who do they think pays the insurance companies?

89% of U.S. adults say birth control is moral - including 82% of Catholics. Gallup's Values and Beliefs survey of 1,024 U.S. adults, conducted May 3-6 found 90 percent of non-Catholics agree birth control is morally acceptable. "Catholic leaders are no doubt aware that many of their parishioners use birth control, but these data underscore the divide between official church teaching and Catholics' day-by-day behaviors," Gallup officials said.

California the location of the outspoken Bishops, and the papers that wrote the stories will always come out in support of the liberal left so nothing new there. Just remember many are called but few are chosen. I do not expect all the bishops to follow the teachings of our catholic religion. It is time for the people in this country to take a good look at where we are heading, do you want a government holding your hand from the womb to the tomb or would you rather have a country where people stand on their own two feet and fend for themselves. We can still take care of the weak and helpless, but let’s make more people helpless by forcing them to pay for lazy people who will not try to help themselves.

"EIRIAMACH", if someone's connection to a health insurance company is solely through their employment, then it is sheer sophistry to claim that their contraception is being paid for by the insurance company alone. Setting aside for the moment the way the Obama "Executive Order" that "the insurance companies pay" violates the "taking" clause of the Constitution (maybe next time Obama will Executive-Order YOU to pay for seanomelbourne's psychotherapy meds...), the Health Insurance company ONLY has money because they get this money from the businesses and individuals that contract with the insurance company for service. Any money, therefore, that the insurance company spends on contraception services for an employee of a Catholic employer necessarily DERIVES FROM THAT EMPLOYER AND OTHER SUBSCRIBING EMPLOYERS. To pretend that RELABLED money is somehow DIFFERENT money is akin to me relabling 'your car' as 'my car', and then driving it away - would you fall for that? Of course not - only an IDIOT would accept that line of reasoning - but that is the reasoning Obama is offering here.

Come November, I hope that all people of faith, be it Catholic or another religion, vote to make Mr. O a one term president. The separation of church and state means that citizens cannot be forced to join a particular religion or church. It also means that the government cannot dictate policies contrary to the beliefs of a particular religion and force that religion or church to comply, (unless of course it was a church who was breaking the law). Forcing any Catholic operated facility ie hospital, shelter, school, to pay for birth control and/or abortion meds is just plain wrong and I pray that every Catholic who voted for Mr. O last time has come to realize how he has waged a war on Catholics since he took office. As for Mr. Dionne, it is no surprise that he sides with Mr. Obama, you can tell by watching him (Mr. D) on TV that he "adores" him, especially now that Mr. O has come out in favor of gay marriage.

seanomelbourne: Thank you, Sean. You are a rare sane voice here, and I'm in agreement with you entirely. If Cardinal Dolan wants to weigh in so heavily in politics, he can do so without all the tax-exempt benefits the Church has been so generously granted. That should cool him off a bit. I should also add that it now seems to me that Cardinal Dolan is intently running for Pope. The fatuous Dolan as Pope: God help us all!

The Catholic hierarchy is now a branch of the GOP,stifling debate and vilifying those priests and nuns who disagree with their right wing agenda. All churches should pay their due taxes after all the billions they save on their tax free status could go to the poor and the dispossessed and give health care to the middle classes. Now would that not be the Christian thing to do!!