Denver Catholic

2 JULY 14-27, 2018 | DENVER CATHOLIC Punishing the poor and needy E very afternoon in down- town Denver, homeless men, women and children are given shelter, food and a place to wash themselves. Not far away, hundreds of people are receiving high quality medical care at one of our Catholic hospitals or Marisol Clinics. Some local parishes also distribute food and clothing, or help with rent. Whether you are on the Eastern Plains, the Western Slope or along the Front Range, people of faith are contribut- ing their skills and resources to your community and making it a better place to live, and especially for the less fortunate. Since we celebrated our nation's independence about a week ago, the ability of people of faith to make a positive contribution to our society has been on my mind. People of faith make our society a better place as they seek the good and the t rue, and the right to live our faith in the public square is guaranteed by the Constitu- tion. Unfortunately, there are forces at work trying to change that, and if they succeed it will be the vulnerable who are hurt the most. Many people are familiar with Jack Phillips' case because he recently received a favorable verdict from the U.S. Supreme Court. In brief, Jack was sued by a gay couple for refus- ing to make them a wedding cake, since doing so would contradict his belief that God created marriage to be between a man and a woman. His case — and others around the country — clearly show that there are people who want to silence Christian people and use the force of law to make them act against their faith or be punished. Tim Gill, the multimillionaire who is funding and directing many of these e‡ orts, plainly stated his intentions in a June 2017 Rolling Stone interview. "We're going into the hardest states in the country," he said. "We're going to punish the wicked." According to Gill, people of faith are "wicked" when their views do not agree with his. In this worldview, there is no room for di‡ erences on matters of prudence or conscience. What you won't hear from activists like Tim Gill is that the people who will su‡ er the most from his cam- paign against faith and the freedom of conscience are the homeless, children waiting to be adopted, or those need- ing hospital care. In short, the people who will be hurt are those who rely on the charitable activity of people of faith. Take, for example, the Catholic Charities adoption programs in Boston, Illinois, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. that have been forced to shut down because they believe it's not in children's best interest to be placed with a same-sex couple. In Illinois, Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Springfi eld esti- mates that about 3,000 children were impacted by their closure. As was pre- dicted, the state is now experiencing a shortage of quality foster families. Surely, this does not benefi t society. It is unexpected, but homeless men and women are also being impacted by changes to regulations. In Sept. 2016, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development fi nalized rules that require homeless shelters to accommodate transgender people by placing them according to whatever gender they present them- selves as, rather than their biological sex. Most often, it is men identifying themselves as women who approach the shelters, and this frightens the women, especially since many of them have been victimized by men on the streets. Religious freedom can seem like an abstract concept, but when you look at the fruits of this basic liberty, its importance becomes clear. Moved by their faith, Catholics and others in the Archdiocese of Denver spent 2017 providing over 212,000 nights of shel- ter, emergency assistance to 28,000 households, 714 job placements, and almost 73,000 volunteer hours through Catholic Charities. Further, hundreds of immigrants are assisted with English as a Second Language classes, business training, and faith formation through Centro San Juan Diego. In the name of Jesus, tens of thousands of sick people receive medical care at Catholic hos- pitals, clinics and nursing homes. This list doesn't include other Chris- tian, Jewish, or Muslim charitable endeavors, nor does it include indi- viduals whose faith guides the way they run their small business or their work for their employer. It is a convenient and worn-out argument to accuse people of dis- crimination to pressure them into giving up their beliefs, but this tactic ignores the people who su‡ er the most from the intolerance of those insisting people of faith give up their beliefs. Our country has long recog- nized and benefi ted from the gifts of faithful people, and restricting this spirit of generosity will make our society poorer. I am grateful that the Supreme Court recognized that Jack Philipps' right to religious freedom was infringed, but his case will certainly not be the last. As Christians, we must respond to this pressure with the joy that is born from faith, with loving, persistent resistance and forgive- ness. Let us respond to Pope Francis' appeal that he made as he spoke in front of Independence Hall in Phil- adelphia. "Let us preserve freedom. Let us cherish freedom. Freedom of conscience, religious freedom, the freedom of each person, each family, each people, which is what gives rise to rights." Archbishop's Page Archbishop's Column Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila @ArchbishopDen Jul. 4 #July4 - Our forefathers recognized our rights come from God. Pray that our country may return to God, true freedom, & civility. "Let us preserve freedom...freedom of conscience, religious freedom, the freedom of each person, each family, each people." #PopeFrancis. +sja Published by the Archdiocese of Denver, 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 Denver Catholic (USPS 557-020) is published bi-weekly, except monthly in January. Denver Catholic is printed by Prairie Mountain Publishing, LLC in Boulder. Periodical postage paid in Denver, CO. SUBSCRIPTIONS: $50 a year in Colorado; $57 per year out of state. Foreign countries: $57 surface, all countries, 6-8 weeks for delivery; $135 air, all other countries (average). Mexico, $63 air; Canada, $70 air. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Denver Catholic, Circulation Dept., 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 or email circulation@archden.org. CIRCULATION: denvercatholic.org/circulation Editor AARON LAMBERT Business Manager MICHAEL O'NEILL Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila travelled to Lebanon with a contingent of bishops from around the U.S. as part of an invitation received by Cardi- nal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, the 77th Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Maronite Catholic Church. Here, Archbishop Aquila and the bishops he traveled with pose with the Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignace Youssif III Younan on June 19. PHOTO PROVIDED PHOTO OF THE WEEK

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