Denver Catholic

continued. "We encourage all people of good will to continue to pray for the protection of reli- gious freedom in every sector of our society as guaranteed by the First Amendment." The 5-4 ruling was issued June 30, the last day of the court's session for the year. The feder- al mandate had required that businesses with more than 50 employees provide birth control coverage in all their health insur- ance policies. The government mandated that the plans must include the morning-after pill and Plan B, which can terminate pregnancies, along with IUDs and diaphragms that prevent pregnancies. The craft store Hobby Lobby, a nationwide chain owned by a Christian family, and the Men- nonite-owned Conestoga Wood Specialties business argued that the mandate violated their reli- gious liberties. The court agreed, but the rul- ing is limited to for-profit com- panies that are "closely held," meaning that there is essentially no difference between the own- ers and the business' leadership. Before the ruling, the exemp- tion only applied to religious and non-profit institutions with reli- gious affiliations. The for-profit religious businesses had faced hefty fines of $365 per day, per employee for not providing the birth control coverage. The Catholic Church support- ed the for-profit lawsuits and is among the plaintiffs in another group of 50 non-profit lawsuits challenging the law, including one filed by the Denver-based Little Sisters of the Poor. "We are hopeful that today's decision will cast a favorable light on the ongoing non-profit cases still making their way through the legal process," the Colorado bishops said. Fortnight for Freedom At a special Mass June 27 to mark the national campaign Fortnight for Freedom, Archbish- op Aquila said Catholics need to pray for President Obama and other elected officials who sup- port any laws that threaten reli- gious liberty. "It is ironic that religious free- dom is now challenged by our own government," the archbish- op said, adding that he hoped prayer would "change the hearts of those who have become so hardened." Catholics—including those who are elected officials— should not take religious freedom for granted, the archbishop continued. "Catholic politicians, on both sides," are more often "dedicated to the political parties than they are to Jesus Christ," Archbishop Aquila said. "Christ should al- ways come first." About 200 people attended the evening Mass at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Denver, which took place in the middle of the 14-day campaign for religious freedom initiated in 2012 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. From June 21 to July 4 the bishops ask Catholics to pray, learn about and take action in favor of promoting religious free- dom worldwide. Archbishop Aquila warned that certain laws are imposing beliefs that conflict with the Church's teachings and are "requiring that we violate our conscience." He urged all Catholics to respond by being vocal and voting. "This is not unique to our time," Archbishop Aquila said, referring to a series of martyrs that the Church celebrates at this time of year, including St. Thomas More, St. John Fisher, St. John the Baptist, Sts. Peter and Paul and the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome. He said they "all remained faithful in the face of persecution." Archbishop Aquila noted, however, that one of the most important forms of religious freedom is helping the poor and less fortunate in our communi- ty, a sentiment that reflected the theme of this year's Fortnight: "Freedom to Serve." During the Mass, the arch- bishop gave a special blessing to four members of the Little Sisters of the Poor and 26 members of the Christ in the City missionary program. "Bless and strengthen these humble servants who are close to the Most Sacred Heart of Je- sus," he prayed. For love of Christ Among those receiving the blessing was Teri Tolpa who has ministered to the homeless and poor in Denver since last August. Tolpa, 29, is from Virginia and plans to enter the Sisters of Life program in New York City this fall. (Read a story about her on Page 9.) She dedicated a year to the Christ in the City missionary program, which includes visit- ing the homeless and helping unwed mothers. "We just talk with the home- less and other people who have fallen through the cracks and help them find the resources they need," Tolpa said after the Mass. "It is powerful to realize the dignity of the poor and that they are people just like you and me, but perhaps they do not have supportive families and friends." The missionaries do not pros- elytize, but often the homeless— sometimes shocked at the kind- ness of strangers—ask the young adults why they care, Tolpa said. Religious freedom allows the missionaries to do their work without fear, she said. "Mother Teresa has taught us to love until it hurts. As Arch- bishop Aquila said, 'it all starts with the Eucharist and that is the source that allows us to go to the people,'" she said. "People ask why we do it and we tell them, 'for the love of Christ.'" BY ELISE HARRIS VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News)—In a message for an in- ternational conference on en- forcing drug laws, Pope Francis denounced the trend of offering addicts narcotics as a substitute for hard drugs, stating that it only worsens the problem. "Let me state this in the clear- est terms possible: the prob- lem of drug use is not solved with drugs! Drug addiction is an evil, and with evil there can be no yielding or compromise" the pope declared in his June 20 message to the conference participants. "To think that harm can be reduced by permitting drug ad- dicts to use narcotics in no way resolves the problem," he said, adding that "Attempts, howev- er limited, to legalize so-called 'recreational drugs,' are not only highly questionable from a leg- islative standpoint, but they fail to produce the desired effects." Pope Francis made his declaration during the 31st In- ternational Drug Enforcement Conference, which took place in the convention center of Rome's Cavalieri Hotel June 17-19, and gathered together the heads of anti-drug agencies worldwide. Opening his address, the pon- tiff thanked participants for their presence and work "in combat- ing this most serious and com- plex problem of our time." He expressed his hope that those gathered would accom- plish their goals of discover- ing more effective policies on anti-narcotic drugs as well as finding better methods to share information and developing a working strategy to fight the on- going drug trade. Referring to the trade as a "scourge" on society, the bishop of Rome explained that it "con- tinues to spread inexorably," and is "fed by a deplorable com- merce which transcends na- tional and continental borders. "As a result, the lives of more and more young people and adolescents are in danger" he said. "Faced with this reality, I can only manifest my grief and concern." Going on, the Roman pontiff condemned the efforts of some who seek to legalize milder drugs in order to lure addicts away from the hard stuff, saying that the legalization of "recre- ational drugs" is both question- able from a legal point of view, and fails to solve the problem. "Substitute drugs are not an adequate therapy but rather a veiled means of surrendering to the phenomenon" he went on. "Here I would reaffirm what I have stated on another occa - sion: No to every type of drug use. It is as simple as that. No to any kind of drug use." But in order to say this no, "one has to say 'yes' to life, 'yes' to love, 'yes' to others, 'yes' to education, 'yes' to greater job opportunities" the pope explained, adding that "If we say 'yes' to all these things, there will be no room for illicit drugs, for alcohol abuse, for oth- er forms of addiction." Observing how the Church follows Jesus' command to go out and meet those who are suffering, hungry, thirsty and imprisoned, Pope Francis em- phasized that it "does not aban- don those who have fallen into the trap of drug addiction," but rather "goes out to meet them with creative love. "She takes them by the hand, thanks to the efforts of count- less workers and volunteers, and helps them to rediscover their dignity and to revive those inner strengths, those person- al talents, which drug use had buried but can never obliterate, since every man and woman is created in the image and like- ness of God." Pope: problem of drug use is not solved by other drugs 12 I NEWS JULY 2, 2014 I DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER PHOTO BY STEPHEN DRISCOLL/CNA POPE FRANCIS in St. Peter's Square for a Wednesday general audience last summer. PHOTO BY TODD WOLLAM/DCR LITTLE SISTERS of the Poor, at left front, and Christ in the City missionaries, most wearing brown shirts, pose with Archbishop Samuel Aquila after the Fortnight for Freedom Mass at St. Vin- cent de Paul Church the evening of June 27. Freedom From Page 1 COURT WATCH Buffer zones On June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a Massachusetts law that allowed 35-foot buffer zones around abortion clinics to keep dem - onstrators away violates First Amendment rights. It remains unclear if that ruling would impact a similar buffer law in Colorado that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000. The Colorado law, passed in the 1990s, imposes an 8-foot buffer around patients and medical workers who step within 100 feet of entries to abortion clinics. Marriage Amendment A lawsuit also is pending in Colorado challenging the state's constitutional amendment that defines marriage as the union between one man and one woman. Courts in other states have ruled similar measures unconstitutional. VATICAN NEWS

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