Along with a religious exemption to the LGBT executive order for federal contractors, the petition asks for "relief" from the HHS contraception mandate for the Little Sisters of the Poor and for other employers that are suing the government over the mandate and its "accommodation."
An order should also include protections for religious schools to publicly affirm their beliefs on marriage and keep their accreditation, the continuance of the tax-exempt status for religious organizations that support traditional marriage, and conscience protections for doctors and hospitals refusing to perform abortions, they said.
"Any Executive Order should make it clear that religious freedom entails more than the freedom to worship but also includes the ability to act on one's beliefs. It should also protect individuals and families who run closely-held businesses in accordance with their faith to the greatest extent possible," the bishops' conference stated.
Regarding the freedom of Catholic charities to minister to undocumented immigrants without being threatened by federal authorities, Richards said "the language is not there explicitly" in the proposed order.
For grants to Catholic social services who serve refugees and immigrants, "it would shield Catholic entities doing that on religious grounds" and "would at least mean that Catholic ministries couldn't be threatened with the revocation of their non-profit status or government grants, simply because they're exercising their religious freedom."
There are various threats to religious freedom today, Dr. Richards said, from mandates that public school students must have access to locker rooms and bathrooms of their self-identified gender identity to private business owners who face lawsuits and fines for declining to serve same-sex weddings out of conscience.
President Obama's executive order "essentially federalized all these" threats to religious freedom, Richards said.
If nothing is done to protect religious freedom, any entity that receives federal funding could be cut off from it for failing to abide by certain government mandates. "I would expect these things to continue to happen," he added.
Matt Hadro was the political editor at Catholic News Agency through October 2021. He previously worked as CNA senior D.C. correspondent and as a press secretary for U.S. Congressman Chris Smith.