Monsignor John Enzler grew up in a Catholic home in Bethesda with 12 siblings. His family taught him that faith should shape your life. He was ordained as a priest in 1973, and now serves as president and CEO of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington, which serves more than 100,000 people in the region every year. Last week, the agency joined Catholic groups across America in a legal challenge to the Obama administration’s requirement that employers provide their employees with insurance coverage for contraception. Enzler spoke to The Washington Examiner about the lawsuit and why this issue matters so much to church leaders. Why is the requirement of the Obama administration to provide contraception coverage worth a battle in court?
The real question for us is the narrowly defined definition of what a religious institution is. The way that definition is defined in the Health and Human Services mandates is that Catholic Charities as it now exists is not religious. It would also not apply to Mother Teresa — she wouldn’t fit the mandate either. This mandate says that if your employees are not all the same faith, if the people you serve aren’t all the same faith, if you’re not about specifically inculcating the faith, you’re not a religious institute. This mandate would really infringe on our ability to serve the people of God because we don’t fit that definition.
Will Catholic Charities shut down if it is forced to provide contraception coverage?
We believe that we’re going to win this lawsuit. At this point, anything else is down the road and hypothetical.
Is this a distraction from your service to the poor? If not, how does this lawsuit help the poor?
It’s not a distraction, because it’s so important that what we do philosophically is going to be addressed in a way that ultimately serves the poor. When someone comes to our door, we don’t ask them if they’re Catholic. We ask them if they need food or shelter. This lawsuit is about preserving that approach to service.
For those unfamiliar with Catholic theology, why is the issue of contraception so important to the Church?
We believe that every act of marriage has two purposes: It’s called to be procreative and unitive. In other words, any act of marriage should be open to life and to love. And so when people use artificial means of contraception, they really say, “I’m open to one, but not the other.” When couples come for marriage instruction, we try to help them understand that everything they do in marriage — not just sexually — should be open to life and love.
Observers say many Catholics have no qualms about contraception. Is there a disconnect between clergy and laity on this issue?
On the mandate itself and the narrow definition of it, we received many, many, many emails these past couple days from our lay people, who say “Right on! This is the correct thing to do, and thank you for taking the action to do it.” So I’m convinced there is not a disconnect here and that many Catholics believe this is important and believe we should draw a line in the sand and say this cannot continue.
Liberals say Catholic bishops are waging a war on women. Conservatives say Obama is waging a war on religion. Is the rhetoric in this debate helpful or hurtful?
The politicization of these issues as women’s issues is, I think, distracting. Because really what we’ve decided is that we’ve not had success with the administration or Congress in finding a solution. We’ve taken it out of the politics and into the courts. We’ve put it in the proper place.
At your core, what is one of your defining beliefs?
I think one of my most important, defining beliefs is that I want as a priest, we want at Catholic Charities — and I hope that my brother priests in the church would agree — to always try to say “yes.” We want to say “no” only when we have to. People come to us for help, assistance, support, guidance and leadership. So our basic responsibility is “Let’s try to say yes.” In our listening, acting and caring, let’s be the very image of Jesus in what we try to do.
– Liz Essley
