(Photo: Georgetown University/Sarah Gormley)

Pastor Rick Warren (R), interviewed by Timothy Shaw, Associate Director of the Religious Freedom Project at the Berkley Center For Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., Feb. 12, 2013.

(Photo: Georgetown University/Sarah Gormley)

Pastor Rick Warren speaking at an event hosted by the Religious Freedom Project at the Berkley Center For Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., Feb. 12, 2013.

(Photo: Georgetown University/Sarah Gormley)

Pastor Rick Warren (R), interviewed by Timothy Shaw, Associate Director of the Religious Freedom Project at the Berkley Center For Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., Feb. 12, 2013.

February 13, 2013|9:18 am

Religious freedom is not just the freedom to worship, Warren explained, it is also the freedom to practice one's faith. One-third of Jesus' ministry was health care (through healing), Warren noted. Plus, the Church has been involved in health care for 2,000 years and even invented the hospital.

The birth control mandate, though, requires all employers to cover contraception, sterilization and abortifacient drugs in their employees' health insurance plans. There is a religious exemption, but it is so narrow that most religious organizations, including Catholic hospitals, are not exempt. They will be required to pay for services in opposition to the teachings of their faith. Catholic leaders have complained that the Obama administration is requiring them to choose between violating their faith and carrying out the duties of their faith to care for the poor and sick.

Warren's concerns about religious freedom grew partly out of his work in developing countries. In most of the world, Warren said, social services, such as health care and job training programs, are commonly provided by churches. If the Catholic Church were taken out of Africa, 27 percent of the continent's health care would also be removed, he explained to the audience at Georgetown, a Catholic university.

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Rick Warren Tackles Religious Freedom, Birth Control Mandate at Georgetown Univ.