Adorers of the Blood of Christ, U.S. Region, Allege Violation of Religious Freedom Restoration Act
The Adorers of the Blood of Christ, U.S. Region, an order of Catholic sisters with regional offices in St. Louis, filed a complaint today, July 14, 2017, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, seeking an injunction to stop a pipeline from running through their property in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
The Adorers, whose religious practice includes protecting and preserving creation, which they believe is a revelation of God, allege that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and its Commissioner, Cheryl La Fleur, have violated a federal law, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, by forcing the Adorers to use their land to accommodate a fossil fuel pipeline. Such use is antithetical to the Adorers’ deeply held religious beliefs.
The Adorers allege that FERC’s action places a substantial burden on their exercise of religion by taking their land, which they want to protect and preserve as part of their faith, and forces the Adorers to use their land in a manner and for a purpose they believe is harmful to the earth.
Today’s filing asks the court to issue an injunction stopping the pipeline from running through the Adorers’ property.
The Adorers practice their deeply held religious convictions in their day-to-day actions in a number of ways, including compassionate acts of service to others, educating and addressing issues of social and environmental justice, and honoring Earth as a gift of beauty and sustenance for future generations. The issues of social and environmental justice include current and future impacts on Earth, such as climate change, caused by use of fossil fuels.
Their religious beliefs about the environment are embedded in a Land Ethic they adopted in 2005, which proclaims the sacredness of all creation.
The Sisters remain opposed to construction of a natural gas pipeline underneath a strip of land they own in West Hempfield Township, Lancaster County, Penn.
Acting for justice requires risk. May this pro-active stance bear good fruit.
I don’t see any evidence on your website on the dangers of the pipeline vs. no pipeline and having to truck the gas. Are you like the Amish and not use the benefits of fossil fuels? Use electricity? Use products made from fossil fuels? Use pharmaceuticals? Ever consider the rise in cost of energy if fossil fuels were not used? I could afford higher energy costs but poorer people would be most effected. Are you experts in the matters in play here? Your website should not be afraid to document the pros and cons of the pipeline. People are more important than “Mother Earth”. Are you sure it is not in humanities best interest to have the pipeline to reap all the benefits of fossil fuels vs. the possible environmental dangers that could happen? People are killed by fire but we do not try and stop its use. Are you infallible on the belief of the dangers of the pipeline? There are so many proven ways to help humanity where the cause and effect and solution is well known that would be 100% effective vs. this cause where you could be doing more harm than good.. Let us all pray to do God’s will.
Another Adorer of the Blood of Christ,
Marc
Teach me to do Thy will, because Thou art my God
Stewardship of the earth and her resources mean not supporting the very thing that is harmful to it.
[…] Adorers of the Blood of Christ, an international order of Catholic nuns, filed a lawsuit to block a pipeline from running through their property in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. They allege that forcing […]
You are guilty of blasphemy, of course. Parading Christ and “deeply held religious beliefs” for your own political viewpoints is an extremely grave sin, most likely mortal even. You need our prayers as you have lost your way; pity that your cult is so very self serving. The Faithful are stressed by your antics but they are an excellent reminder of the power of the prince of lies!!
I don’t see how how following Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato si in prayer and deed is a sin. I don’t believe the faithful are stressed. God Bless.
[…] Friday, seeking a federal injunction, the Adorers filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, claiming the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which regulates interstate natural gas pipelines, and its commissioner have violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, “by forcing the Adorers to use their land to accommodate a fossil fuel pipeline,” the order said in a statement. […]
Please consider all the good that natural gas brings to the things we take for granted…electricity, heat and cooking fuel, even your pill bottles and the fertilizer for the beautiful corn crops surrounding your chapel. Please take a field trip to other farm sites with pipelines underground and learn of all that companies do to protect people and land, including reclamation. If you truly do not want any part of natural gas, are you completely separated from all that is made with the fuel of natural gas? Your morning cereal was baked with its fuel. In order to be truly effective with your message, it must be modeled with consistent living. The hats, the chairs, the wrist bands and many clothing items in the photo include components from natural gas products.
[…] Friday, seeking a federal injunction, the Adorers filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, claiming the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which regulates interstate natural gas pipelines, and its commissioner have violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, “by forcing the Adorers to use their land to accommodate a fossil fuel pipeline,” the order said in a statement. […]
Thanks to the ASC Sisters for your decision to challenge one of the many new pipelines being forced on people. Here in the Mid-Atlantic there are two pipelines being pushed–the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Mountain Valley Pipeline.. Both are being built to bring natural gas that has been “fracked” and will be exported overseas. Why object? Because: (1) It is not a question of harmless local use, but of short-term export profits for a few fossil fuel companies; (2) long-term poisoning of precious groundwater and possible promotion of subsurface rock instability, as well as damage to surface features; and (3) the overall worldwide promotion of greater dependence on fossil fuels which are causing global warming–with huge impacts on all of us, but especially the poor. You Sisters are standing with Pope Francis’s concerns about the religious value of God’s creation. You are challenging people to look at the real costs of these pipelines. Much bigger than your cornfield! Thank you!
Thanks for the sharing information.
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