NY Cardinal offers closing prayer for religious liberty

As the convention ended, the closing prayer was provided by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who is feuding with the Obama administration over the health law's mandate that most employers provide contraceptive coverage.

Politico Pro: Dolan Prays For Religious Liberty At RNC Close
The head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which says the Obama administration is attacking religious liberty, prayed at the Republican convention for a new respect for religious freedom. "We thank you as well for the singular gift of liberty," New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan said in the closing prayer of the convention late Thursday night. "Renew in all of our people a respect for religious freedom in full -; that first, most cherished freedom." ... The Catholic bishops have backed a series of lawsuits against the Obama administration's requirements that most employers provide insurance coverage of contraceptives under the health law. They argue that the provision requires Catholics to violate their religious beliefs, which prohibit the use of contraceptives (Haberkorn, 8/30).

Fox News: Archdiocese: Cardinal Dolan Prayers For RNC And DNC Pastoral, Not Political
Cardinal Timothy Dolan's appearance Thursday night at the Republican National Convention, according to the New York Archdiocese, is purely pastoral. No politics involved, even though the cardinal has been embroiled in a political fight with the Obama administration for months now over religious liberty -- specifically, the health care law's contraception mandate. ... It is the Catholic Church, with Dolan as its banner spokesman, that's led the battle against the health care law's mandate which the church says forces religious institutions to violate church teachings requiring them to offer benefits like contraception and abortion-producing drugs (Green, 8/30).