At this time in our nation’s history, we continually face new challenges as we witness to the Gospel in an ever increasing secularized society. Currently our civil leaders are discussing different proposals to provide greater access to health care in our country. Indeed, the Church has officially manifested her teaching, since Pius XI to Benedict XVI, in the recognition of the great importance of ensuring that all peoples have access to health care.

In principle, the Church ought to always promote wider and more complete access to health care; however, that does not mean that in practice the Church ought to support each and every plan which is proposed by civil leaders. At this time, I want to offer you some key principles that should always be used when evaluating the moral value and justice of a given plan to provide health care. The following is a brief summary of these principles, after which I will offer further explanation and application:

1. Any provisions for actions which deny the dignity of human life, especially abortion, euthanasia, whether passive or active, and embryonic stem-cell research must be excluded from all health care plans.

2. The freedom of consciences must be safeguarded. The moral voice of individual doctors, nurses, health professionals, as well as the general public, deserve reverence and respect.

3. Access to health care ought to be available to all people, including the poor, legal immigrants, the handicapped, and especially the elderly and unborn members of society.

4. The means of providing access to health care should be governed by the principle of subsidiarity, being reasonably and equitably distributed among members of society.

The Dignity of Human Life

Made in the image and likeness of God, each and every human person bears the mark of the Trinity’s own character and life. Because of this inherent dignity, each man and woman is to be reverenced with great care from the moment of conception through every stage of their life. From the right to life flow all other human duties and rights, including the duty to preserve and protect one’s own life and health with the right to the means of achieving this goal.

Any attempt to provide greater access to health care without safeguarding human life from the moment of conception is inherently inconsistent. Pope Benedict XVI shares this great wisdom of the Church in his latest encyclical letter, Caritas in Veritate, when he recalls the words of John Paul II, “A society lacks solid foundations when, on the one hand, it asserts values such as the dignity of the person, justice and peace, but then, on the other hand, radically acts to the contrary by allowing or tolerating a variety of ways in which human life is devalued and violated, especially where it is weak or marginalized” (Caritas in Veritate, 15; Evangelium Vitae, 101). True health care begins with the unborn child in the womb. When a given plan to provide care fails to protect that life, it is no longer animated by a source of truth and justice, thus it will not, and cannot, flourish. The killing of unborn children through abortion or as a means to do research has nothing to do with promoting health. Both encyclicals make clear the teaching of the Church that the destruction of human life by abortion and other evils can never be a neutral question or one that is promoted by any faithful Catholic.

Conscience Rights

One of the important developments that resulted from the Second Vatican Council is found in the document on religious freedom, Dignitatis Humanae. “Nobody may be forced to act against his convictions, nor is anyone to be restrained from acting in accordance with his conscience in religious matters in private or in public” (DH 2-1). In the arena of health care, this statement applies both to those who work directly in health care, as well as to the general public who participate in health care plans through insurance premiums and taxes.

The practice of medicine is a tremendous gift whereby the seemingly endless illnesses and maladies that afflict the human body can be studied, known and healed. This in-depth knowledge which serves the progress of human health can also be used to promote death and destruction. The doctors, nurses and health care professionals who possess such medical expertise are prime candidates for coercion from those who would destroy the most vulnerable human lives. The right to follow one’s conscience, as informed by God, must be guaranteed. It is imperative that health professionals and institutions have the freedom to refuse to perform unethical procedures and even to refuse to refer a patient to another professional or institution for treatments they believe, according to the natural law, are immoral.

The consciences of participants in health care plans must also be respected. In no way should taxpayers or policy holders be forced to participate in plans, whether private or public, which fund procedures that violate the moral precepts of the faith. In his August 11, 2009, letter to the House of Representatives, Cardinal Justin Rigali addresses this very issue as he writes, “By what right, then, and by what precedent, would Congress make abortion coverage into a nationwide norm, or force Americans to subsidize it as a condition for participating in a public health program?” The protection of the freedom of conscience is a concern not only for those directly involved in medicine, but for all members of society. No health care plan managed by our government or funded by taxpayer money may include provisions to provide for abortion or other evils without violating the rights and consciences of citizens. The right of individuals to contest the inclusion of such provisions in privately managed or funded plans must be also safeguarded.

Access to All

One of the basic messages of the Gospel is that the love of God has no bounds or conditions. Many of the parables and actions of Jesus Christ illustrate this foundational truth. We share in this unrestricted outpouring of divine life through the infused virtue of charity in our souls. In friendship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Christian receives the ability to love all people, especially those in the greatest need.
Therefore, as John Paul II wrote, the love of the Church must “embrace the immense multitudes of those…without medical care” (Solicitudo Rei Socialis, 42).

In our day, when many times utilitarian values overlook the most vulnerable, we must ensure that the poor, the elderly, the handicapped, legal immigrants and the unborn, together with all citizens of our nation, have access to health care. Called to be the living presence of Jesus in the world, finding ways to provide medical care to those who have none is a perennial priority for the Church. In fact, health care was a chief concern of the Church in North Dakota when in the 1940’s, Msgr. Anthony Peschel, who wrote extensively on the duties and rights of individuals with respect to health care, played a major role in the establishment of health insurance programs in North Dakota.

Subsidiarity

Subsidiarity is the principle that states “a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1883). As a society seeks to bring about any good such as health care, there are many organic and intermediate groups which cooperate together to reach the desired goal. There is a danger in being persuaded to think that the national government is the sole instrument of the common good. Rather, according to the classic principle of subsidiarity in Catholic social thought, many different communities within society share this responsibility. These various strands of community life within society build up a strong and cohesive social fabric that is the hallmark of a true communion of persons. States, towns, fraternal organizations, businesses, cooperatives, parishes and especially the family have not only legitimate freedom to provide the goods they are rightly capable of supplying, but often times do so with far greater efficiency, less bureaucracy and, most importantly, with personalized care and love.

This is especially the case in the tremendous work that the Church has done in successfully bringing health care, from early hospitals to modern research centers, to more and more people. We see this truth vividly in the Catholic health facilities in our rural areas. As our society seeks to achieve the goal of ensuring access to health care for all, the federal government surely has a role to play, but definitely not the only role, or even the primary role. Working together with individual states to foster an environment where greater insurance options are available to all, fostering the formation of new and creative associations and finding ways in solidarity to assist financially and coordinate, when necessary, local and private entities are all desirable starting points for a task of such great scope. Honoring the principle of subsidiarity will enable all men and women to be true participants in contributing to the goal of providing greater access to health care.

Conclusion

These four principles provide a foundation for a fruitful discussion about health care reform and must be considered carefully as changes in health care policy are drafted. I encourage all of our Catholic health care facilities, medical professionals, parishes and lay faithful to become engaged in promoting genuine health care reform. I am sure this debate will not subside soon, so I also encourage you to continue to periodically check the Web sites of the North Dakota Catholic Conference (www.ndcatholic.org/) and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (www.usccb.org/healthcare/) in order to stay up to date.

Finally, may we be joined by the Holy Spirit in fervent prayer to the Father with our savior, Jesus Christ, who has said “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). He is the Lord of history who continues to guide and direct our world with the power of his truth and love. May we trust in him who continually inspires us to arduously work for the health, well-being and flourishing of all human life from the moment of conception through natural death.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

†Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila
Bishop of Fargo

In the Responsorial Psalm, we prayed the words, "Here am I, Lord, I come to do your will." We acknowledged the presence of God in our lives and we acknowledged that we are called as a Catholic people to do the will of God. We cried out with the psalmist, "To do your will, O my God, is my delight, and your law is within my heart" (Ps 40:9). These words speak to us of who we are as a people of faith — we are called to live our faith in the world, our hearts and our minds are truly to be formed by God, we recognize the presence of God as revealed in Jesus Christ, his only Son. Thus all of our decisions, all of our works, all of our actions flow from these truths.

Recently I saw the film Blood Diamond. It is not a film for the weak hearted, for it is violent and disturbing. Yet, the film asks important questions. The story tells of the trafficking of diamonds in and out of Africa and the brutality which takes place among the peoples. During the film, the question is asked, "What has happened to Africa?" One character replies "It seems as if God has abandoned Africa." This is not the answer of faith, for it is not that God has abandoned Africa, but rather it is humanity who has abandoned God. Humanity does not wish to recognize God in their midst. Humanity wants to create God in its own image and likeness.

As a Church we are called to be a people who speak consistently to the dignity of the human person from the moment of his or her conception until natural death and to recognize that this reality is the lens through which we must look and the one that must guide all of our decisions — that human life has dignity bestowed on it, not by man or woman, but by God. Each and every one of us is created in the image and likeness of God, every human being from the moment of his or her conception. It is precisely that dignity, that truth, which we must recognize as Catholics who are involved in politics, as Catholics who speak to society and to the world.

Catholics, no matter what field of life we work in, cannot abandon God. We cannot leave God at the door when we walk into the Legislature, but rather we must allow the truth of God and the truth of the dignity of the human person to guide us in every decision we make. With each law or bill we consider, we must be, first, a people who recognize that there is the inherent dignity of human life that is bestowed by God and that can never be violated.

Once we begin to be the ones who determine what is good or what is evil, once we begin to be the ones who determine which human person has dignity and which one doesn't, we will see, as shown in the film Blood Diamond, what happens to a society. In that society the lust for power, the lust for money, the lust for control overtakes and guides the human heart with the result that violence and murder govern the society.

Recently, there were raids on the Swift meat processing plants throughout our country. Archbishop Charles Chaput rightly spoke out against those raids as he addressed the whole question of immigration. He received an email in response from one of the faithful. The email read, "Sorry Bishop: No sympathy (from me) for the illegal alien criminals arrested by ICE. In fact, I hope their offspring starve to death. I do not pray for illegal aliens, I pray for their victims. I have no problem with God, and He has no problem with me. I hope their families starve to death, and it's crap like this that drives Catholics away from the Church."

One is truly stunned, not only by the hardness of heart revealed in the crassness of his language, but even more so that someone would have the presumption and the arrogance to say, "I have no problem with God and He has no problem with me." To say that "I hope that their offspring starve to death" shows that the one who wrote this email has no concept of God or the dignity of the human person as revealed by Jesus Christ in the Gospels. The two great commandments do not guide his heart or conscience, and his conscience is either erroneous or dead.

We must ask ourselves what hardens the human heart so much that it refuses to recognize the dignity of the human person, whether it is the dignity of those in Africa, the dignity of illegal aliens, the dignity of the person on death row or the dignity of the unborn child. As Catholics and as Americans, we must discover once again what our forefathers knew in their hearts: The dignity of the human person is bestowed by God, and regardless of which side of the aisle we sit on in the Legislature, we must stand for that dignity and that truth! We must be a people who witness to it no matter what the cost. To deny or remove God from political discourse only opens the door to the destruction of the human person and to violence such as war, genocide, murder, abortion, and euthanasia as so evidenced throughout the last century and at the beginning of this new century.

We must ask ourselves, "What allows a person who believes in God to write about illegal immigrants in this manner and blithely go along thinking it is okay? Or to support the so-called right to abortion, even while possibly personally opposed, and blithely go along thinking it is okay? Or to cheer when a capital punishment sentence is given and blithely go along thinking it is okay?" Only a person who has rejected the basic premise of the dignity of the human person can take such stances. Only a person, whether consciously or unconsciously, who takes the position that "I will determine the dignity of human life" can speak about illegal immigrants in such a manner as we have seen above, support so-called abortion rights or cheer when capital punishment occurs. As faithful Catholics we acknowledge that the gravest attacks against the dignity of human life are those that destroy innocent human life as in abortion, euthanasia and genocide.

As a Catholic people we must be those who mean the words that we speak and pray, "Here am I, Lord, I come to do your will." Those words must form not only our hearts, but our words and our actions. We must embrace the meaning and act upon the words we pray in the Our Father, "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Every act of violence that attacks an innocent human person from the moment of conception to natural death is against the will of God and rejects the inherent dignity of the human person. Every Catholic politician must recognize and act upon this truth to be a faithful Catholic. Our forefathers and foremothers, mostly Christians, recognized this truth in the founding documents of our country, and we have sorely lost this truth today because of our denial of God.

I encourage you, my brothers and sisters, as we continue with the celebration of the Eucharist this evening and throughout this session of the Legislature of North Dakota, to stand in faith before God. First of all, recognize the dignity of the human person. Then, in all of the questions that come before you, search your hearts and ask yourselves, "Do I truly mean the words of the psalmists which I prayed this evening, ‘To do your will, O my God, is my delight, and your law is within my heart'?"

Second, know that we can be assured by the words given to us by the author of Hebrews in the first reading. My dearest sisters and brothers, when you open your hearts to the Lord, he will pray for you. Let the words of Hebrews speak to you. Jesus is always able to save those who approach God. He lives forever to make intercession for us. Jesus is praying for each and every one of us that we may do the will of the Father. When we pray the Our Father during this Eucharist and pray the words, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" let us mean those words and believe that Jesus intercedes for us.

Finally, let us be a people who stand with our God no matter what the cost. We too may, at times, share in the cross of Jesus Christ because of our Catholic faith. It was precisely Jesus' faithfulness to the Father and his love for the Father that brought him to the cross. It was the hardness of hearts of men and women who rejected that message that led to his crucifixion. May we too have hearts like Jesus that are willing to say, "Here am I, Lord, I come to do your will."

During the upcoming season of Lent, I encourage all Catholics, and especially Catholic politicians and those in public service, to search their hearts on their obedience to the will of the Father. Let us pray that we may have the fortitude, not to follow the positions of some political party or some thought that wishes to deny God or remove God from all civil discourse in order to determine the dignity of the human person, but rather to be people who truly seek the common good in the light of the truths that our forefathers and foremothers held to be so evident and are reflected in both reason and faith. Let us pray that every person in our country and throughout the world who does not believe or act upon these truths may have a change of heart and mind. May every person come to recognize that the inherent dignity of human life is bestowed, not by man or woman, but by God alone. May we experience more fully the truth of God's love for us, receive his love and extend it to others.