"Politicians, their staffs and volunteers should reflect our best aspirations as citizens. Too much of our current political discourse has demeaned women and marginalized people of faith," he said. "This must change. True to the best hopes of our founding fathers, we are confident that we can and will do better as a nation."
He encouraged Catholics and all people of good will to be "good stewards" of the rights of Americans.
"The Gospel is offered for all people for all times. It invites us to love our neighbor and live in peace with one another," the archbishop continued. "For this reason, the truth of Christ is never outdated or inaccessible. The Gospel serves the common good, not political agendas."
The political players involved in the email exchange have had great influence. Newman, the originator of the "Catholic Spring" suggestion, once hired a young Barack Obama to run a voter registration project in Illinois in 1993.
Podesta is past president of the Center for American Progress think tank and served as chief of staff for President Bill Clinton.
In recent years, the Center for American Progress has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants from the Arcus Foundation to "reclaim" religious freedom as a progressive value that "includes LGBT equality and women's reproductive health and rights." The Center for American Progress also hosts Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson as a senior fellow. The first openly gay bishop's 2003 election as Bishop of New Hampshire caused massive rifts within the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.
Christopher Hale, the current executive director of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, told CNA Oct. 12 that the emails "do not reflect the mission of the organization."
"I've think we've proven during my time here that we are a strong messenger for the full social magisterium of the Catholic Church," he said. "We fought against the HHS mandate, we fought against Planned Parenthood when the tapes were released in 2015. We fought time and again for the dignity of the unborn child."
"If our job is to be a front group for the Democratic Party, then we're doing a pretty terrible job at it," Hale said.
Hale acknowledged that in the past, the organization has received funding from philanthropist and liberal activist George Soros. He claimed that the organization has not received a grant from Soros in 10 years.
Catholics in Alliance's associated group Catholics United, however, has taken funds from wealthy LGBT activists such as the Gill Foundation, founded by the wealthy businessman Tim Gill, and billionaire heir Jon Stryker's Arcus Foundation. Grant listings and annual reports from the foundations show grants from 2012 through 2015.
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The Newman-Podesta emails concerned the Obama administration's Department of Health and Human Services rule, first announced in late 2011, that health care plans must include coverage for sterilization and contraceptives, including some drugs that can cause abortions. The move caused widespread outcry among Catholics across the political spectrum. The Obama administration has gradually made various purported accommodations that have appeased some objectors.
Hobby Lobby, which is owned by a Christian family with objections to abortifacient contraceptives, successfully challenged the rule. It won a 5-4 Supreme Court decision in 2014 that said religious freedom protections apply to closely-held private businesses.
However, some Catholic organizations, dioceses, and other non-profits are still challenging the HHS mandate on religious freedom grounds, including the Little Sisters of the Poor and CNA's parent organization, the EWTN Global Catholic Network.
In a May 2016 unanimous decision, the Supreme Court sent the Little Sisters' case back to lower courts and their case is still pending, though opponents of the HHS mandate took encouragement from the decision.