ATLANTA (AP) — The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops on Wednesday promised steadfast opposition to President Barack Obama’s mandate that birth control be covered by health insurance, saying it is one of many threats to religious freedom in government.

Bishops insisted repeatedly that they had no partisan agenda. They said they were forced into action by state and federal policies that they say would require them to violate their beliefs in order to maintain the vast public-service network the church has built over a century or longer.