WASHINGTON—A statement by Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, expressed “deep gratitude” and “solidarity and appreciation” for litigants challenging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate, which forces employers to pay for contraceptive services even over their religious and moral objections. The statement was issued April 8.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Eleven Republican members of Congress filed a brief supporting conscience provisions in one lawsuit fighting the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' contraceptive mandate.

WASHINGTON—Congress should incorporate two provisions that strengthen conscience protection in any proposed funding bills in the weeks ahead, said Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore in a February 15 letter to Congress. Both provisions were part of the House draft of the Labor/HHS appropriations bill.

ERIE, Pa. (CNS) -- Erie Bishop Lawrence T. Persico said he was disappointed a federal judge dismissed the diocese's case against the federal contraceptive mandate as premature but also said he found encouragement in the decision.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Jan. 25 dismissed a lawsuit filed against the federal contraceptive mandate by the Archdiocese of Washington and its co-plaintiffs, saying the case is premature in light of the government's "promises to amend the mandate."

Tom Monaghan, the founder and former owner of Domino's Pizza, is suing the federal government over a controversial mandate that requires him to violate his Catholic faith in his business decisions.

In the first federal appellate-level hearing on a lawsuit challenging the HHS contraceptive mandate Dec. 14, spirited sparring between judges and attorneys marked proceedings that went twice their scheduled length.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. (CNS) -- A U.S. District Court judge has ruled that a lawsuit challenging the federal contraceptive mandate filed by the Archdiocese of New York and two other Catholic entities can move forward.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- To the enthusiastic reception of an audience of John Carroll Society members Sept. 10, New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan traced the historic origins of U.S. religious freedom in light of a current battle with the government over those rights.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In a dozen courts around the country, attorneys representing more than 40 Catholic dioceses or institutions have filed briefs arguing against the federal government's call to dismiss lawsuits against its contraceptive mandate.

MIAMI (CNS) -- Hispanic business leaders from across the country were repeatedly called to "be different from the world around us" during the seventh annual meeting of CALL -- the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders -- held Aug. 24-26 in Miami.

PEORIA, Ill. (CNA) - The Catholic Diocese of Peoria, Ill. on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the HHS mandate, charging that it requires an “intrusive government investigation” to determine whether the diocese is exempt from the controversial federal rule.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the provision of President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act that offers free contraception to women on employer health care plans goes into effect, though many religious institutions have a one-year reprieve.

WASHINGTON D.C. (CNA/EWTN News) - Two U.S. representatives have introduced a bill to stop the federal government from taxing religious employers that decline to cover contraception and abortion-causing drugs in their health plans.

DENVER, (CNA/EWTN News) - Critics who accuse the U.S. bishops of “partisanship” have misunderstood their motives by viewing religious questions in secular terms, supporters of the Catholic hierarchy say.

ATLANTA—The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) reaffirmed by a unanimous voice vote on June 13 a recent statement of the USCCB Administrative Committee regarding the HHS mandate.

Part one of this article elaborated on how attacks to religious freedom take many forms, sometimes violent sometimes subtle. We also saw how our Founding Fathers sought to achieve a delicate balance by protecting certain freedoms, as foundational and how religious believers are part of American civil society. In part two, we will see examples of a gradual erosion of religious liberties in this country that have led religious people of many faiths to raise their voice against injustice and discrimination.

People sometimes ask why the U.S. Catholic bishops are making such a fuss about religious freedom these days. After all, some say, churches are not being bombed and people are not being jailed just because they profess a particular faith.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regulation that forces employers, including Catholic institutions, to pay, directly or indirectly, for insurance for sterilization and contraceptives, including abortion-inducing drugs, stands as a religious liberty crisis. Scholars see it as the continuation of struggles faced by people of faith throughout the nation’s history.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- All Americans, whatever their faith or political party, should stand united in defense of religious liberty, said speakers at the recent National Religious Freedom Conference in Washington.

DENVER (CNA/EWTN News) - Denver's newly-appointed archbishop says the federal contraception mandate is the result of a larger push to remove religion from the public sphere.

On Thursday, May 24, 12 leaders representing America's diverse faith community, including Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, will join together in Washington, D.C., at the 2012 National Religious Freedom Conference, as part of the American Religious Freedom Program.

A Catholic university in Ohio said Tuesday it is being forced to end a student health insurance program over the Obama administration's contraception mandate and costs associated with other provisions of the health care overhaul.

CHICAGO (CNA/EWTN News) - Legatus, a national organization of leading Catholic business CEOs and professional leaders, filed a federal lawsuit against the HHS mandate that requires insurance coverage for contraception and sterilization.

MIAMI (CNA) - Efforts to restrict religious liberty break with American traditions and seek to “delegitimize” the Catholic Church’s participation in public debate, said Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami.

WASHINGTON D.C. (CNA/EWTN News) - The leader of the Knights of Columbus called for strong Catholic witnesses to defend religious liberty before a gathering of roughly 1,000 members of the faith in Washington, D.C.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Meeting a group of major U.S. donors to Catholic charitable works, Pope Benedict XVI asked them to pray "for the freedom of Christians to proclaim the Gospel and bring its light to the urgent moral issues of our time."