On March 23 more than one thousand people gathered outside the Bayfront County Administration Building in downtown San Diego to stand up for religious freedom in opposition to the Obama Administration’s new mandate that would require health insurance policies to cover contraception and sterilization. Sponsored by an organization called Stand Up for Religious Freedom, the rallies were held in 140 locations, including the Department of Health and Human Services inWashington.

Emceed by Roger Hedgecock, the talk-radio host and the former mayor of San Diego, the afternoon included speeches from Coadjutor Bishop Cirilo Flores of the Diocese of San Diego as well as other representatives of other denominations. Bishop Flores spoke forcefully and called attention to the fact that this was an issue of religious liberty and not a singular issue of the Catholic Church. He went on to praise the faithful for standing up and encouraged them to never back down. Thomas McKenna, president of Catholic Action for Faith and Family,also addressed the crowd on behalf of Catholics. He called attention to the fact that there were Catholic bishops present at twenty two of the rallies taking place across the country and reminded people of the importance of standing up in the public square to profess their Faith. He highlightedthe fact that this is above all a spiritual battle and closed telling everyone about a saying of the great St. Ignatius of Loyola. That “we must always work as though everything depended on us, but pray as though everything depended on God.”

Emceed by Roger Hedgecock, the talk-radio host and the former mayor of San Diego, the afternoon included speeches from Coadjutor Bishop Cirilo Flores of the Diocese of San Diego as well as other representatives of other denominations. Bishop Flores spoke forcefully and called attention to the fact that this was an issue of religious liberty and not a singular issue of the Catholic Church. He went on to praise the faithful for standing up and encouraged them to never back down.Thomas McKenna, president of Catholic Action for Faith and Family,also addressed the crowd on behalf of Catholics. He called attention to the fact that there were Catholic bishops present at twenty two of the rallies taking place across the country and reminded people of the importance of standing up in the public square to profess their Faith.He highlighted the fact that this is above all a spiritual battle and closed telling everyone about a saying of the great St. Ignatius of Loyola. That "we must always work as though everything depended on us, but pray as though everything depended on "