Acknowledging the divide in the pews regarding birth control, Bishop Daniel Conlon of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet has joined the chorus of Catholic leaders denouncing the Obama administration's requirement to include contraception in employees' health benefits.



"Now, it is no secret that many Catholics dissent from the Church's longstanding teaching on artificial contraception, elective sterilization and abortion. However, pursuing old arguments on these issues will sidetrack us from the real one at hand," Conlon wrote in a letter to be read before all Masses Saturday and Sunday.



"The Health and Human Services directive is a violent breach of the wall of separation between church and state. For the government to force a religious body to pursue a course of action that contradicts its beliefs, particularly where no public interest is at stake, is completely unacceptable," he said in the letter.



Conlon also asked that the letter be published in parish bulletins next week.



The new federal rule passed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services mandates that starting next year, religious health care, educational and charity institutions that employ and serve non-Catholics must pay for "all FDA-approved forms of contraception" for their employees, even if they have moral objections to doing so.



The requirement is based on a recommendation from the Institute of Medicine, the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, which considers access to birth control a measure that improves maternal and infant mortality rates.



Churches will be exempt from requiring coverage of birth-control pills and devices at no cost to patients.



Conlon urged parishioners to contact their congressmen and support any judicial or legislative remedies the church pursues to protect what it sees as a threat to religious liberty.



He also asked for their prayers to protect the religious freedom that has allowed the church to operate hospitals, nursing homes, universities and charities that serve the poor.



"Surely, if the gates of hell cannot prevail against the Church, God can manage a cabinet department," Conlon wrote.



mbrachear@tribune.com