Pope Visits With Nuns Suing Obama

That he did so in the company of President Obama, at the White House, was critically important.

A spokeswoman for the Little Sisters of the Poor said the nuns were “moved” by Francis’ visit.

The Little Sisters of the Poor, an order of Catholic nuns who care for the elderly poor, has filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration to fight its mandate that employers provide coverage for birth control and abortifacient drugs in their health insurance plans.

On Friday, the pope will speak at the United Nations before heading to Philadelphia, where he will celebrate a weekend Mass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

“This is a sign, obviously, of support for them”, Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican’s press secretary, said in a press conference on Wednesday night, according to Forbes.

Those lawsuits are sitting on the desk of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The nuns and other religious nonprofits say some of the covered methods of birth control violate their religious beliefs. That case included Dordt College in Iowa and Cornerstone University in Michigan, also ADF clients.

“His consistent life ethic, or what Pope John Paul II called the ‘culture of life, ‘ teaches us that overcoming abortion, the death penalty, racial injustice, environmental abuse, attacks on traditional families, and oppressive political economies is indeed the work of the Church and makes the Gospel visible for the common good”.

But the Little Sisters argued that the mandate does just that.

“As you know the last thing the Little Sisters of the Poor want to do is sue somebody”. The sisters received a wave of popular support, including parish vigils, protests outside the Vatican embassy in Washington and a congressional resolution commending the sisters for their service to the country. Similarly, matters about which even Catholics can disagree, such as the Pope’s recommendations for best practices on capital punishment, are not really the best topics for prophetic witness. “This brings attention to the case that represents not only the Little Sisters but so many of us whose rights are denied”, said Reilly. He doubled down on that endorsement by his ad hoc visit to the Little Sisters.

Pope Francis holds the head of a small child as he leans from the popemobile during a parade, Wednesday, September 23, 2015, in Washington. The pope did visit a religious group that is being coerced under Obamacare and has gone to court against the administration to protect religious freedom-optics that the president and the rest of the Left would prefer to ignore.