This article titled “Obama’s contraception rules under fire from Congress and religious groups” was written by Chris McGreal in Washington, for The Guardian on Thursday 9th February 2012 00.24 UTC

Barack Obama has come under a barrage of criticism from Congress and religious organisations over a new requirement that Catholic-run schools and hospitals provide free contraception to workers.

The issue has ballooned into a political confrontation that appears to mark out one of the battle lines for the presidential election campaign. The Republicans said the new regulation is further evidence that the president is “hostile to people of faith”. Democrats claimed that opposition to it is another front in the Republicans’ “war on women’s health”.

The newly announced regulation, which takes effect in 18 months, says that all health insurance plans provided by employers must offer birth control to women free of charge. It applies equally to Catholic-owned universities, medical establishments and charities.

As the Catholic church loudly denounced the rule, Republican opposition focused on whether a religious organisation opposed to contraception could be forced by the government to go against its principles.

Newt Gingrich, the Republican presidential candidate who is a convert to Catholicism, called the regulation an “attack on the Catholic church”. Two of the other candidates, Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney, were also strongly critical.

John Boehner, the Republican and Catholic speaker of the House of Representatives, called the White House move a breach of constitutional protections against government interference with religion.

“In recent days, Americans of every faith and political persuasion have mobilised in objection to a rule put forth by the Obama administration that constitutes an unambiguous attack on religious freedom in our country,” he said. “This attack by the federal government on religious freedom in our country cannot stand, and will not stand.”

Republican leaders said they would push legislation to block the requirement.

The Catholic archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, said that the government’s attempts to force the new regulation on his church had prompted outrage from people of all faiths.

“The more people learn what is at stake here, the more people are speaking up. It’s not just a Catholic issue. It’s an issue that touches all faith based communities, all religions, all organisations that draw their inspiration from their faith. I think what’s happening across the country is that the more people learn about this mandate, the more they’re saying this is wrong,” he said.

Obama also came under criticism from some Democrats, including the former Virginia governor, Timothy Kaine, who is running for the Senate and is a close ally of the president. He said that it was a political misstep.

“The White House made a good decision in including a mandate for contraception coverage in the Affordable Care Act insurance policy, but I think they made a bad decision in not allowing a broad enough religious employer exemption,” he said. “I have definitely expressed my grave concerns to the White House about that.”

The White House signalled on Wednesday that it may be prepared to reach a compromise, but there were also signs that the administration is not unhappy to fight a political battle in an election year over a social issue likely to see many independent voters, particularly women, side with the president.

Some critics said that Obama may have misstepped in alienating large numbers of Catholic voters who, while many do not follow their church’s teachings on contraception, object to the government forcing it to go against its beliefs. They also said that it would have a negative impact on voters from other religions and again fire up Christian evangelicals who are ambivalent about the prospect of Romney as the Republican presidential candidate.

Peggy Noonan, a former special assistant to President Ronald Reagan, wrote in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week that Obama has committed an inept faux pas that showed how removed he is from the “essential realities of America”, and that it could cost him the presidential election.

But Obama also has an interest in keeping issues such as access to contraception on the political agenda, especially if he faces Romney as the Republican presidential candidate.

When Romney was governor of Massachusetts in 2005, a new state law required all hospitals, including Catholic-run ones, to provide morning after pills to rape victims, which the Catholic church regards as a form of abortion. Romney said he opposed the law but he was also quoted at the time as saying: “My personal view, in my heart of hearts, is that people who are subject to rape should have the option of having emergency contraception or emergency contraception information.”

The White House flagged up that the issue will be a political battleground when Obama’s spokesman, Jay Carney, said that it is “ironic that Mitt Romney is criticising the president” for a regulation that is similar to the one in Massachusetts.

“The former governor of Massachusetts is an odd messenger on this given that the services that would be provided to women under this rule are the same services that are provided in Massachusetts and were covered when he was governor,” he said.

The issue is also likely to play in to concerns about Republican attitudes toward women after the furore around the politically-driven attempt by the Susan G Komen for the Cure foundation to halt grants to Planned Parenthood because it provides abortions.

The controversy may not do the damage to Catholic support for Obama that the Republicans hope.

A poll released this week by the Public Religion Research Institute showed that more than half of Catholic voters agree that employers should be required to provide their workers with healthcare insurance that covers contraception. However, only 45% supported the requirement for religiously affiliated colleges and hospitals to do so while 52% oppose it.

Carney hinted that the White House may give ground, but not much.

“We want to work with all these organisations to implement this policy in a way that is as sensitive to their concerns as possible,” he said. “But let’s be clear: We are committed, the president is committed, to ensuring that women have access to contraception without paying any extra costs, no matter where they work.”

One compromise under discussion is permitting church employers to effectively subcontract the part of health insurance covering contraception to an alternative insurer.

The administration has previously rejected another proposal that would broaden the definition of a religious employer beyond the churches themselves to include schools and hospitals.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010

This article titled “Priest known for extreme views invited to European parliament by MEPs” was written by Rajeev Syal, for The Guardian on Tuesday 21st June 2011 22.19 UTC

A controversial Polish priest known for running a radio station which regularly broadcasts anti-semitic and homophobic views attended the European parliament on Tuesday at the invitation of politicians from a conservative group in Europe, the Guardian has learned.

Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, whose Radio Maryja station has been criticised by the Vatician, former Solidarity leader Lech Walesa and Jewish organisations for its extreme views, was invited to attend by Polish MEPs from the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR).

His attendance provoked a surprising outburst from British MEP TImothy Kirkhope, the deputy chairman of the ECR group, who said that he was disappointed not to have been told in advance that such a controversial figure had been invited to attend by fellow MEPs.

“I have never met this gentleman, but he is a controversial figure who has reportedly promoted homophobia and anti-semitism.

“I will be raising this invitation with the group at the earliest opportunity. In future, an invitation should be authorised before being issued using the ECR’s name,” he said.

Kirkhope, who is a leading member of the Conservative Friends of Israel, said he did not know if the ECR’s funds had been used to bring Rydzyk to the European parliament. “Who knows [whether the group's funds were used], this raises a number of issues which need to be discussed at length,” he added.

Rydzyk appeared at a four-hour conference to discuss climate change and renewable energy. The event was organised at the European parliament by Marek Grobarczyk and Tomasz Poreba, two Polish MEPs who are members of the ECR. A British MEP, Julie Girling, was supposed to speak at the meeting, but pulled out at short notice, insiders said.

Rydzyk, the owner of Radio Maryja, was named the sixth most influential man in Poland last year by one newspaper, because of the radio station’s popularity with rural, ultra-conservative communities.

Radio Maryja has been at the centre of criticism and controversy since it was established 11 years ago, with critics arguing that it is vehemently anti-semitic, homophobic and xenophobic.

In January 2000, a guest “historian” from a Catholic university claimed that Auschwitz was not an extermination camp but a large labour camp for Jews.

In 2007, on tapes released by the weekly magazine Wprost, a voice alleged to be Rydzyk’s was heard accusing the then president, Lech Kaczynski, of being in the pocket of Poland’s Jewish community.

“You know what this is about: Poland giving [the Jews] bn (£40bn).

“They [the Jews] will come to you and say: ‘Give me your coat! Take off your trousers! Give me your shoes!’” Rydzyk is alleged to have said, according to the magazine. Rydzyk has refused to deny making the comments, according to the BBC.

Rydzyk has been described as a “kingmaker” in Poland. Last year, he reportedly struck a deal with the Law and Justice Party in which his supporters will make up 50% of the party’s candidates in Poland’s general election, due this year, in return for his backing.

Polish members of the ECR last night stood by the invitation. One told the Guardian: “He [Rydzyk] is misunderstood. He is a very good priest and his views are held by many in Poland.”

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010

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Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has left the Church of England and converted to Catholicism, the faith of his wife and children.

Blair converted during a Mass Friday night at the private London chapel of Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, the church said.

“I’m very glad to welcome Tony Blair into the Catholic Church,” Murphy-O’Connor said.

The church said Blair had been a regular worshipper at Mass with his family and in recent months had been following a program leading to his reception into the church.

Although he was an Anglican, Blair attended Catholic Masses at Westminster Cathedral, while on holiday in Italy, and with his wife Cherie at 10 Downing St.

The couple’s children have attended Catholic schools.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who is the spiritual leader of the world’s Anglicans, wished Blair the best in his spiritual journey.

“Tony Blair has my prayers and good wishes as he takes this step in his Christian pilgrimage. A great Catholic writer of the last century said that the only reason for moving from one Christian family to another was to deepen one’s relationship with God. I pray that this will be the result of Tony Blair’s decision in his personal life.”

Blair, who is now a Middle East peace envoy, met Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican in June, the month he stepped down as Britain’s prime minister.