In the middle of his trip to Washington, D.C., Pope Francis made an “unschedued” stop to meet with members of an group of nuns suing the federal government over the Obama administration’s contraception and abortifacient mandate in the health-care law. The Little Sisters of the Poor is an order of nuns within the Catholic Church that provides assistance for the elderly, and the group has sued on religious liberty grounds against the Obama administration mandate that employers provide contraception health-insurance coverage.
The Washington Post religion reporter Michelle Boorstein reports on Twitter that the pope met with the group on Wednesday:
Pope Francis made unscheduled stop to visit Little Sisters, an order that is suing the White House over the contraception mandate
— Michelle Boorstein (@mboorstein) September 24, 2015
Boorstein also adds that the Holy Father made his visit with the nuns as a “sign of support” for their religious liberty fight.
During the pope’s appearance at the White House earlier Wednesday, President Obama said the United States “stands” with Francis “in defense of religious freedom.”
