Pope Meets with Order Suing Obama

While in Washington D.C., the Holy Father made a surprise visit to the Little Sisters of the Poor, now locked in a legal battle with Obama over the implementation of the “Obamacare” contraception mandate.

This was no ordinary visit by a pope to a group of religious sisters.

Father Federico Lombardi tells reporters that the Pope met with the religious sisters as “a sign of support” for them in their lawsuit against the Obama administration.

Securing conscience exemptions from the birth control requirement is a top priority for the USA bishops.

The Little Sisters of the Poor provide low-income housing, assisted living and skilled nursing facilities for the elderly across the United States.

The nuns argue both of those options force them to violate their religious beliefs by facilitating access to contraception.

Sister Constance Veit, communications director for the Little Sisters, said the pope talked individually with each sister, ranging in age from novices to 102-year-old Sister Marie Mathilde, who is Colombian and spoke to the pope in Spanish.

In one case that reached the U.S. Supreme Court, the court ruled in June 2014 that the religious owners of Hobby Lobby, a chain of craft stores, do not have to provide full contraceptive coverage for female workers as required under the Affordable Care Act. At the height of the scandal, many priests said they stopped wearing their collars so much in public or refrained from hugging or touching any child they didn’t know well for fear of evoking the misdeeds of others.

In response to President Obama’s comment about religious liberty, Pope Francis said, “And, as my brothers, the United States Bishops, have reminded us, all are called to be vigilant, to preserve and defend [religious] freedom”.

Philly L-O-V-E: In advance of Pope Francis’ weekend visit to Philadelphia, vendors lined streets near Benjamin Franklin Parkway to hawk flags, calendars, bracelets and lots and lots of T-shirts.

“Let’s not just think about the world’s problems, about the poor”, said Sister Catherine Marie Ross, 41, who’s lived at the Hell’s Kitchen convent for two years.

The quiet show of support comes as Francis walks a political tightrope in Washington this week, speaking out on moral issues of concern to conservatives (abortion and religious freedom) and liberals (immigration and the environment) alike.

When you get down to it, Pope Francis is still a Catholic.