The Most Rev. J. Peter Sartain, archbishop of Seattle, issued on Feb. 7 a bold and challenging pastoral letter to all 745,000 Washington Roman Catholics, showcased at Sunday Mass. This pastoral letter was part of a national U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops alert to the nation’s Roman Catholic churches and the 69 million members.

Archbishop Sartain’s letter detailed “serious matters” about “new and proposed laws at both the state and national level [that] pose an unprecedented threat to the fundamental right to religious liberty for all faith traditions.” The First Amendment assaults were in three areas:

1. Federal government mandates that Catholic employers provide health coverage in objectionable areas such as sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs.2. Washington Legislature consideration of bills mandating abortion coverage.3. In the same-sex “marriage” bill, inadequate conscience-provision protection to churches and religious organizations.  Archbishop Sartain states, “We cannot stand idly by while these assault on our religious liberty are being perpetrated.”

To Archbishop Sartain goes a Bravo Zulu for standing up for liberty and for the innocent. I am proud to be a Roman Catholic. www.seattlearchdiocese.org

James M. Olsen
Bainbridge Island