"THE LIVES OF THE FAITHFUL" ARE THREATENED IN 2024, THE US CATHOLIC BISHOP SAID.

 By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, January 16, 2024 Built in 1952, the church serves as the head of the Orlando area Catholic Diocese. In 1977, the building was designated as the diocese's cathedral due to the destruction of the St. Charles Borromeo Cathedral by fire. St. James Catholic Cathedral is located in downtown Orlando. | Getty Images

The U.S. Bishops' Conference Committee on Religious Freedom warned that attacks on churches represent "the greatest threat to religious freedom in 2024" and could "threaten" the lives of the faithful.

On Tuesday, the USCCB Religious Freedom Committee released its annual report, "The State of Religious Freedom in the United States. The document is compiled annually and is a review emphasizing the development of religious freedom issues such as abortion, human sexuality, and immigration in all three branches of government as well as "national trends in politics, culture, and law."

The report concludes with a list that includes "the five biggest threats to religious freedom in 2024 and five ways to respond to them. The committee, which "works to strengthen and defend religious freedom by assisting U.S. bishops, both individually and collectively, to teach about religious freedom to the faithful and the public at large, as well as to promote and defend religious freedom in law and policy., "admitted

The report states that "if these threats were limited to property crimes that have been committed against Catholic churches over the past few years, perhaps they would not be of primary concern to the committee." However, heightened tensions in the Israeli-Hamas conflict have increased the likelihood of terrorist attacks on synagogues or mosques.

As the report points out, after Politico revealed the leaked draft decision in the Women's Health Organization case Dobbs v. Jackson in the US Supreme Court, which determined that the Constitution of the United States does not contain the right to abortion, the Catholic churches were subjected to violence. and vandalism.

After the draft was leaked in May 2022, several churches suffered damage. These include the Church of the Holy Rosary in Houston, Texas; St. Bartholomew in Katy, Texas; the Friar of St. Joseph in Fleet, Michigan; the Catholic Parish of St. John XXIII in Fort Collins, Colorado; and the Church of the Sacred Heart of Mary in Boulder, Colorado.

While most cases of vandalism involved spray-painting graffiti on church facilities, there was one case where a tabernacle was stolen.

Attacks against the Catholic Church continued to occur several months after the official DOB decision was announced in June 2022. Holy Family Catholic Church in Hillsborough, North Carolina, and the Church of St. John Neumann in Reston, Virginia, were two of the churches targeted.

In addition to the Catholic Church, violence and vandalism aimed at houses of worship had existed since before Dobbs' decision. A report last year from the Family Research Council, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., found more than 400 churches were attacked between 2018 and 2022. Additional research from the social conservative think tank found that 69 churches were attacked in the first three months of 2023.

The committee warned that "the extremely tense atmosphere surrounding the 2024 election may cause left-wing extremists to increase the severity of attacks on Catholic churches, and right-wing extremists may view Catholic churches and Catholic charity facilities as targets of anti-immigrant sentiment." or, even worse, a criminal offense.

It is expected that the 2024 elections will focus on the issue of abortion, which is considered a driver of targeting the Catholic Church.

Some states, such as Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota, have self-selecting electors enshrining abortion rights in state constitutions. Following Dobbs' decision, pro-abortion groups have attempted to hold this type of referendum, and ballot questions have been passed in California, Michigan, Vermont, and Ohio.

After Dobbs' decision, states that were able to vote earlier this year all enacted strong pro-life protections.

The report mentions that "the committee was formed in response to the increasing legal threats seen by U.S. bishops at the time" and states that "there is no greater threat to religious freedom than one's house of worship being a dangerous place, and the country sadly finds itself in a place where

The committee stated that the federal government's interpretation of the Affordable Care Act in 2024 represents the second biggest threat to religious freedom. They predicted that doctors in Catholic hospitals would be forced to perform elective transgender procedures on children.

The Religious Freedom Committee has included "five of the biggest threats of restrictions" on its list, including concerns about federal laws that might limit the ability of Catholic nonprofits to serve undocumented immigrants, possible federal laws that force people to" conform to the orthodoxy of gender ideology, "and the prospect of Pregnant Workers' Justice laws that force employers to grant paid leave to their employees for abortions.

As a Christian Post correspondent, Ryan Foley can be reached at ryan.foley@christianpost.com.

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