Little Sisters on the big stage

While President Obama opted for an empty chair as a grand gesture at this State of the Union address, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) decided to fill a bunch of chairs with the endearing forms of the Little Sisters of the Poor.  Their meek and gentle faces made a strong contrast to the powerful and influential ones otherwise filling the room.

It was a strong statement from the Speaker, signifying his own and his party’s continued support for religious freedom.  It was also a timely reminder to an American public who may have forgotten that these humble women are still being harassed by a powerful administration that has no sympathy for their irreproachable integrity.

The Little Sisters are an order of nuns that serve the elderly poor in 31 countries.  They run 30 homes in the United States, where men and women who find themselves tragically alone and indigent at the end of their lives are attended with great mercy and tenderness by the selfless nuns.  They are driven to this act of spectacular sacrifice by their Catholic faith, which teaches that all human life is dignified and deserving of our care, even the most unwanted and “worthless.”  It is this very same belief that prohibits them from providing contraceptive drugs and devices to their employees.  The HHS mandate would force them to do so, or else pay crushing fines that would effectively close them down.

{mosads}Their case will now be heard by the Supreme Court. 

In a beautiful display of multicultural tolerance and brotherhood across religious and political divides, a coalition of religious leaders representing Muslim, Hindu, Native American, Protestant and Catholic traditions have filed friend-of-the-court briefs on behalf of the Little Sisters.  Over 200 Members of Congress have joined them.  The case is Zubic v. Burwell, and the court will decide whether religious ministries have to offer drugs and devices that violate their deeply held beliefs when there are other, less onerous ways for the government to provide them.  

Showing the kind of respect for conscience rights and individual freedom that has characterized America from its founding, the wildly diverse group affirms, in the words of the Imam Dr. Ossama Bahloul, that “..the test of America’s commitment to religious diversity and freedom comes when we show we’ll defend minorities and those with whom we do not fully agree.” 

What a lovely contrast to the aggressive secularization that has been the guiding ideology for the current administration.  While several burdensome portions of the HHS mandate have been modified and whole groups have been exempted from some of its more damaging provisions, the administration has fought hard against the Little Sisters and other religious ministries.  The Democratic and Republican members of Congress who filed the briefs have a better understanding of the great American tradition of religious pluralism, in which the faithful of different religions are accommodated by a government which shows a tender respect for the consciences and religious scruples of all its citizens.

Obama showed us that he is honestly grieved by the many lives lost each year to violence across our country.  The empty chair was a potent reminder to all of us that every lost human life leaves a void that nothing else can fill.  The Little Sisters are a reminder as well: that the desolate elderly and the unborn are also dignified and irreplaceable, deserving of the tender care of these nuns and their loving tenacity.  

Pozo Christie specializes in radiology in the Miami area and serves on the advisory board for The Catholic Association.