USCCB Chairmen Applaud Supreme Court’s Respect for Religious
Liberty in Masterpiece Cakeshop Decision
June 4, 2018
WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Supreme
Court decided the case of Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights
Commission. The case involves a Christian baker named Jack Phillips who
declined in 2012 to create a custom wedding cake for a same-sex ceremony. State
officials sought to compel Phillips to create such cakes under Colorado’s
public accommodations law. The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of Phillips
under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of
Louisville, Chairman of the Committee for Religious Liberty, Archbishop Charles
J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., of Philadelphia, Chairman of the Committee on Laity,
Marriage, Family Life and Youth, and Bishop James D. Conley of Lincoln,
Chairman of the Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage of
the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), issued the following
joint statement:
“Today’s decision confirms that
people of faith should not suffer discrimination on account of their deeply
held religious beliefs, but instead should be respected by government
officials. This extends to creative professionals, such as Jack Phillips, who
seek to serve the Lord in every aspect of their daily lives. In a pluralistic
society like ours, true tolerance allows people with different viewpoints to be
free to live out their beliefs, even if those beliefs are unpopular with the
government.”
The USCCB filed an amicus
curiae brief supporting Masterpiece Cakeshop, which can be found here: http://www.usccb.org/about/general-counsel/amicus-briefs/upload/16-111-tsac-USCCB.pdf.
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Keywords: U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, Archbishop Charles Chaput,
Bishop James Conley, Supreme Court, Masterpiece Cakeshop, Colorado Civil Rights
Commission, religious freedom, religious liberty, freedom of conscience,
marriage
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