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WORLD/NATION I 15 DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER I OCTOBER 2, 2013 Manhattan Declaration draws renewed commitment, prayers WASHTINGTON, D.C. (CNA/ EWTN News)— Advocates of life, marriage and religious liberty united in New York on Sept. 25 to pray together and reaffirm their dedication to advancing foundational Christian principles of justice and the common good. The Christian position on marriage, life and religious freedom is "as it must be, a truly consistent ethic of love for all humans," said Eric Teetsel, director of the Manhattan Declaration, a movement of Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Christians working for life, marriage, and religious liberty. He emphasized that supporters and signers of the Manhattan Declaration document "are part of a movement that has drawn a line in the sand," joining an "exemplary and inspiring" tradition of human rights advocates. The Manhattan Declaration is a "statement of Christian conscience" that offers a Christ-centered response to what it calls "the most pressing questions of our time" on the topics of abortion, embryo-destructive research, same-sex marriage, and freedom of religion. The document was authored by a coalition of Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Christians in 2009, and according to the speakers, some 540,000 Americans—including prominent theologians, pastors, intellectuals and more than 50 cardinals and bishops— have signed it. "Because we honor justice and the common good, we will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar's," the declaration promises. "But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God's. The document pledges to uphold the traditional Christian positions on "the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage as a union of husband and wife, and the freedom of religion," foundational elements of justice and the common good. On Sept. 25—three days before the fourth anniversary of the declaration's creation— Columbia University hosted "The Manhattan Declaration Returns Home," an event based on prayer and education about the threats to life, marriage and religious freedom faced by U.S. Christians today. Speaking at the event were pastors and religious leaders including Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, members of pro-life organizations, defenders of marriage, and representatives of religious freedom groups. Religious sisters lead first classaction suit against HHS mandate DENVER (CNA/EWTN News)—The Little Sisters of the Poor have filed the first class-action lawsuit against the federal contraception mandate, saying that it would require them to violate the teachings of their Catholic faith. "Like all of the Little Sisters, I have vowed to God and the Roman Catholic Church that I will treat all life as valuable, and I have dedicated my life to that work," Mother Loraine Marie Clare Maguire, superior of the congregation's Baltimore province, said Sept. 24. "We cannot violate our vows by participating in the government's program to provide access to abortion inducing drugs." The Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged in Denver and the Little Sisters of the Poor Baltimore, Inc., both nonprofit corporations, are plaintiffs in the suit, as well as "all others similarly situated." The sisters, who operate 30 homes for needy elderly persons in the United States, could face millions of dollars in Internal Revenue Service fines if they do not comply with government mandates requiring employee health coverage for sterilization and contraception, including some drugs that can cause early abortions. Employers that fail to provide the required coverage face fines of $100 per employee per day. The sisters' lawsuit is the latest of more than 70 legal challenges that have been filed against the mandate on behalf of more than 200 plaintiffs nationwide. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty filed the class-action suit in federal District Court in Denver on behalf of the sisters and their health benefits provider, Christian Brothers Services and Christian Brothers Employee Benefits Trust. The legal group said the IRS fines begin Jan. 1 unless the sisters hire an outside company to provide the objectionable coverage. While the mandate has an exemption for religious employers, the Little Sisters of the Poor do not meet the narrow criteria to qualify for it because although they are a Catholic institution, they are not affiliated with a specific house of worship. 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