Even Nancy Pelosi voted for it.
Over the weekend, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 400-1 to provide our troops continued access to religious services -- including Catholic priests -- during the shutdown.
But the Senate has so far refused to act.
The vote happened after the General Counsel for the Archdiocese of the Military Services warned Friday that “if the government shutdown continues...there will be no Catholic priest[s] to celebrate Mass” at some military installations.
Because of a priest shortage among the active-duty military, the government has contracted with some priests to minister to Catholics in the military.
But under orders from President Obama, these contracted priests would be PROHIBITED from saying Mass, even if they volunteered, because of the shutdown.
To be clear, contracted Catholic priests are being treated the same as all “non-essential” government workers. Because they are contractors, they are not permitted to “go to work” until new funding is approved.
Yet, we already know the government shutdown is being selectively enforced for maximum political advantage.
President Obama has fenced off open-air museums, blocked roads near Mt. Rushmore, and has locked veterans out of military cemeteries while military golf courses are left open. Last week he shut down the Amber Alert website, but allowed Michelle Obama’s fitness website to continue operating. [Under pressure, the Obama administration turned the Amber Alert website back on this morning.]
Over the weekend, CV sounded the alarm on the threat to Catholic members of our military. A blog post on our website was read by 100,000 people within 8 hours. As of today it has logged over a quarter million viewers.
Within 24 hours, the House of Representatives announced they would hold a vote. And on Saturday, 184 Democrats joined 214 Republicans to approve legislation allowing the contract priests to say Mass on military bases.
The Senate was also in session on Saturday but adjourned without holding a vote. That means that any contract priests who showed up to say Mass yesterday were likely prevented from entering the base.
Today the Senate will open up at 2 pm ET.
Can you take five minutes and call your two Senators? Tell them the government shutdown should NOT be used to stop priests from saying Mass on military bases!
This link has the phone numbers of all 100 Senators. Find the two from your state:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?
Religious services and the Mass should not be used as pawns in a political game.
Restore the Mass on our all military bases. Now!
Brian
P.S. Senator Reid and other supporters of President Obama will likely counter that “if Republicans will simply surrender, everything will be fine.” But Democrats in the Senate refuse to budge, while the shutdown is not being applied evenly. Many parts of our government continue to operate.
Surely Catholic priests who volunteer to say Mass should be allowed to do so. Our brave men and women who serve our nation deserve nothing less.
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