Religious-Liberty-Annual-Report

VIII – The Five Largest Threats to Religious Liberty in 2024, and Five Ways to Respond

#1 Attacks on Houses of Worship The Committee on Religious Liberty regards attacks on houses of worship as the largest threat to religious liberty in 2024. Were this threat limited to a continuation of the property crimes that have been perpetrated on Cath olic churches over recent years, perhaps it would not be the committee’s chief concern. However, boiling tensions over the Israel–Hamas conflict have elevat ed the chances of a terrorist attack on a synagogue or mosque. Meanwhile, the highly charged atmosphere around the 2024 election might lead far-left extrem ists to escalate the severity of attacks on Catholic churches, and far-right extremists may view Catho lic churches and Catholic Charities facilities as tar gets for anti-immigrant sentiment or, worse, violent action. The committee was founded in response to in creasing legal threats to the free exercise of religion that the U.S. bishops discerned at the time, so it is unusual for the committee to be compelled to decry foreseeable threats to the very lives of people of faith here in the United States. But there is no greater threat to religious liberty than for one’s house of worship to become a place of danger, and the country sadly finds itself in a place where that danger is real. How Individuals and Communities Can Respond: We can each do our part to foster a society free of hatred. Speak up for the equal and inherent dignity of all people. Bear public witness to Christ’s call to show care and compassion for the vulnerable. Pray for There is no greater threat to religious liberty than for one’s house of worship to become a place of danger, and the country sadly finds itself in a place where that danger is real.

peace. Meanwhile, help keep your neighbors and your own house of worship safe. Recognize and report signs of potential attacks, and encourage your pastor to utilize the “Protecting Houses of Worship” resourc es published by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 71 #2 The Section 1557 Regulation No foreseeable legal development in 2024 poses a greater threat to religious liberty than HHS’s Section 1557 regulation. Despite lip service paid to concerns of religious liberty, it appears to be specifically intend ed to force Catholic hospitals and religious health care workers to perform harmful gender transition proce dures, including on children. Among the various feder al regulations advancing gender ideology, its harms are the most severe. The final regulation may also include a mandate to perform abortions. It is a near certainty that the Section 1557 regula tion will be challenged in court within days of being published. When HHS first attempted to impose a gen der transition mandate in its 2016 version of the 1557 regulation, religious freedom challenges to it prevailed. While there is reason for optimism that such lawsuits would be ultimately successful once again, the regu lation as proposed would undoubtedly exert a major chilling effect on the exercise of faith and conscience in health care, and would mark a regrettable entrench ment against the clear protections of the Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. How Individuals and Communities Can Respond: While litigation against the Section 1557 regulation is inevitable, it is not the only available means of oppo sition. Federal law provides a mechanism, known as a disapproval resolution, for Congress to invalidate a federal regulation. Congressional Republicans will al most certainly introduce such a resolution in response to the Section 1557 regulation. To receive notifications

40