WASHINGTON — Timothy Cardinal Dolan said Sunday that President Obama blew his chance to have the Catholic Church work as “cheerleaders” for ObamaCare.
Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, said that the church has long promoted “universal, comprehensive, life-affirming health care.”
But the president sapped the enthusiasm of Catholic bishops with ObamaCare’s mandated coverage of contraceptives, Dolan told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“We’re not Johnny-come-latelies,” Dolan said, noting that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops first endorsed universal health care in 1919.
“We started bristling and saying, ‘Uh-oh, first of all this isn’t comprehensive, because it’s excluding the undocumented immigrant and it’s excluding the unborn baby,’ ” he said.
“We began to worry and draw back and say, ‘Mr. President, please, you’re really kind of pushing aside some of your greatest supporters here. We want to be with you, we want to be strong. And if you keep doing this, we’re not going to be able to be one of your cheerleaders,’ ” said Dolan. “And that sadly is what happened.”
The Obama administration attempted to placate the Catholic bishops by exempting churches and religious-affiliated employers from the contraceptive mandate. The bishops rejected it.
The issue is headed to the Supreme Court, with a group of private companies challenging what they say is forced violation of religious beliefs.