The Obama administration turned down repeated requests from Catholic bishops, hospitals, schools and charitable organizations to revise the exemption.

“With its edict on contraception and sterilization coverage in all health insurance plans, the Department of Health and Human Services is forcing insurers and purchasers to choose whether or not to violate their moral and religious beliefs,” Archbishop Vigneron said in a statement dated Jan. 21, “The inalienable rights guaranteed in our country’s founding documents are being trampled.”

During the week, Archbishop Vigneron took the message to secular media, appearing on several local major news outlets to put forth the his and the bishops’ objections to the decision.

Though their decision failed to satisfy objectors, the Department of Health and Human Services did acknowledge that religious liberty was a concern.

Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the department, announced Jan. 20 that nonprofit groups that do not provide contraceptive coverage because of their religious beliefs will get an additional year “to adapt to this new rule.”

“This decision was made after very careful consideration, including the important concerns some have raised about religious liberty,” Sebelius said. “I believe this proposal strikes the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services.”

Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the Obama administration had “drawn an unprecedented line in the sand” with the decision.

“The Catholic bishops are committed to working with our fellow Americans to reform the law and change this unjust regulation,” he added. “We will continue to study all the implications of this troubling decision.”

Sebelius announced the mandate and a narrow religious exemption to it Aug. 1, 2011. Under the plan, after Aug. 1 of this year, new or significantly altered health plans will be required to provide all FDA-approved contraceptives, including some that can cause abortions, without co-pays or deductibles as part of preventive health care for women.

The only religious organizations exempt from the requirement would be those meeting four specific criteria — “(1) has the inculcation of religious values as its purpose; (2) primarily employs persons who share its religious tenets; (3) primarily serves persons who share its religious tenets; and (4) is a nonprofit organization” under specific sections of the Internal Revenue Code.

Those sections “refer to churches, their integrated auxiliaries, and conventions or associations of churches, as well as to the exclusively religious activities of any religious orders,” according to a footnote to the rule.

Catholic groups, including the USCCB, the Catholic Health Association and Catholic Charities USA, called that exemption too narrow, saying it would require Catholic groups to stop all services to those who were not Catholic and would inappropriately involve the government in decisions about whether an organization is “religious enough” to be exempted.

Sebelius’ announcement brought an outcry from Catholic leaders and a sigh of relief from groups such as Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America, which had opposed any moves to weaken the contraceptive mandate or strengthen the religious exemption.

In a video posted on the USCCB website, Cardinal-designate Dolan said the decision put the Obama administration “on the wrong side of the Constitution” and should be rescinded.

“In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences,” he said in a separate statement. “To force American citizens to choose between violating their consciences and forgoing their health care is literally unconscionable. It is as much an attack on access to health care as on religious freedom.”

Franciscan Sr. Jane Marie Klein, who chairs the board at Franciscan Alliance, a system of 13 Catholic hospitals, characterized the decision as “nothing else than a direct attack on religion and First Amendment rights.”

A student hands the gifts to Archbishop Allen Vigneron during a Mass on Jan. 24 meant to mark Catholic Schools Week, which is celebrated this week.

DETROIT — Drawing on the day’s Gospel message, Archbishop Allen Vigneron on Jan. 24 told a capacity congregation made up mostly of students from Catholic schools they should try to live so that Jesus will acknowledge them as His brothers and sisters.

Referring to the reading of St. Mark 3:31-35, in which Christ concludes by saying, “For whosever does the will of God is my mother and brother and sister,” the archbishop said that they should try to understand that God has a plan for their lives.

And he told them they should go beyond mere good intentions, and actually take steps to follow that plan.

He told the congregation at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral which also included many school administrators and teachers, “All of us here want to be in that family circle of Jesus Christ, as His brother or sister; but we are only going to do that if we do what He tells us – to follow the will of the Father.”

“For a diocese our size, we should have about double the number of seminarians we have,” said Fr. Timothy Birney, director of the Office of Priestly Vocations.

Given the extent of archdiocesan programs to welcome and counsel all who enquire about a vocation to the priesthood, Fr. Birney said he suspects the explanation for  the shortfall could be that the more successful dioceses have more people encouraging vocation awareness.

Currently, there are 44 seminarians studying for the Archdiocese of Detroit, from First-year College through Fourth-year Theology, which is not enough to produce annual ordination classes sufficient to replace priests who retire or die (not to mention that some seminarians drop out along the way).

The publication, “Do What He Tells You — A Pastoral Plan for Vocation Awareness in the Archdiocese of Detroit,” will be released Wednesday, Feb. 1, at first only on the Office of Priestly Vocations’ website.

Printed copies should arrive at each parish and school in the archdiocese by about a week later, along with a compact disc containing a digital file of the manual so that more copies may be run off as needed.

The manual contains original content written by Fr. Birney and Jan DeFour, archdiocesan vocations coordinator, as well as a compilation of resources that are available over the Internet or in printed form.

“We basically shared all the content that is available to our office,” Fr. Birney said.

Readers will find suggestions on how they can increase vocations awareness whether they be pastors, principals, teachers, members of parish staffs, or just Catholic lay people in their roles as parents, relatives, friends or fellow parishioners.

The manual takes the approach that all persons, as children of God, have a purpose, and that they should seek to fulfill that purpose — whether their individual vocation is to the priesthood, vowed religious life, permanent diaconate or to be faithful married or single lay persons.

One of the ways the archdiocese helps that process for men exploring a priestly vocation is through events such as the Day of Discernment with Archbishop Vigneron, a half-day retreat at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, coming up on Feb. 25.

More information about the event is available by calling (313) 237-5875.

Steve Robb, who served as an assistant football coach at Divine Child in the 1980s before becoming a successful head coach, speaks with an athlete. Robb will return to lead the Falcons in 2012.

Robb has a career record of 168-78 as a Head Coach. He was named the State Class B Head Coach of the Year in 1997 and 1998 and was inducted into the Michigan High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame in 2006.

He also coached baseball at Divine Child andMilan. He was the Head Coach at both schools — Divine Child from 1981 until 1986 and Milan 1987 until 1996.

He was the Catholic League Baseball Coach of the Year in 1983 and 1984.

In the classroom, Robb has taught social studies and physical education at Milan since 1986 and will assume full-time teaching duties at Divine Child beginning in August of 2012.

Robb is the tenth head football Coach in Divine Child history. The school’s program is indeed a rich one. Divine Child is the largest parish-sponsored high school in the Archdiocese ofDetroit. Over the years, its football teams have won five state championships and 10 Catholic High School League championships.

 Detroit area Catholic community pays tribute to the prominent civil rights figure with prayers, marches and service

 Detroit— “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty we are free at last!”

Students from Gesu School in Detroit march through the street Jan. 13 to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. Catholic institutions throughout the archdiocese honored the civil rights icon on and around his national holiday Jan. 16.

The words rang out through rows of houses behind Gesu Elementary School, where the student body marched down the sidewalks holding images of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., three days before the national holiday that bears his name.

King was not Catholic, but the freedom march at Gesu was one of several efforts to pay tribute to, and to thank God for, King’s contribution to society.

In the Archdiocese of Detroit, Gesu and other Catholic schools – both in the city and the suburbs – held lesson plans, prayer services and service projects to recall and renew King’s message that all people are created equal.

On the weekend before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, about 150 young men and women along with their adult sponsors participated in a “service blitz” in Detroit – helping out at service centers such as St. Leo’s Soup Kitchen (youth from St. Leo Parish), On the Rise Bakery (youth from St. Raymond/Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Detroit), Children’s Hospital and nursing homes.

The archdiocese’s Office for Black Catholic Ministries hosted a Mass in honor of King’s memory at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament. And in Birmingham, Ala., Detroit priest Fr. Clarence Williams, CSSP, spoke before 2,300 people at a convention center at a 26th annual breakfast marking the city’s role in the civil rights movement.

Youths from Sacred Heart Parish in Detroit prepare meals for the needy during the Jan. 14 Martin Luther King Jr. Day “service blitz.”

Teens from Sacred Heart and St. Elizabeth parishes, Detroit, and from Holy Family Parish, Inkster, cooked, packed and delivered food to homeless people in the Cass Corridor.

The Urban Parishes Youth Choir led a prayer service at the Wayne County Youth Detention Home, and teens from Corpus Christ Parish in northwest Detroit cleaned and manned the Core City Neighborhoods Community Store.

Youths from St. Cecilia Parish, Detroit, and from St. Gabriel Parish, Detroit, visited with seniors at local nursing and senior living centers. Madonna Parish teens collected scarves, hats and gloves for the homeless.

A number of other parishes in the metro area havde committed to doing youth service projects between now and the end of April.

“What we hoped for is that we could continue to connect the younger generation with Dr. King’s dream,” said John J.F. Thorne, director of Black Catholic Ministries for the archdiocese.

“We urge young people to ‘Live, Love and Lead Like Christ,’ because it’s when we do this that we become what we are called to be – a light to the world. The light of Christ shows through all our actions,” Thorne added.

In his talk in Alabama, Fr. Williams – who founded the Institute for the Recovery from Racism – referred to Birminghamas the “Bethlehem of Freedom, according to an account in The Birmingham News.

“You are in the right place at the right time to make a difference,” Fr. Williams was quoted as saying.

Throughout all the King-centered events in Detroit, the spirit conveyed was one of solidarity with King’s dream.

“Regardless of his religious background, his message still rings true – and it’s just about all people being equal,” said Keith Farrugia, youth minister at Gesu parish and a religion teacher at the school, after a half-hour of leading the student body in chants and songs. “That’s the message that we wanted to share today.”

Gesu’s youngsters especially took a liking to the public display, during which they marched several blocks.

“It felt good,” said eighth grader Mone’t Brown. “It’s like letting people know that we do something to celebrate him and we’d never forget him.”

Her classmate Jeremy Miller agreed that being part of the march felt nice, as they were spreading a positive message.

“What it means to me is the freedom of every color person coming together, being happy – not like any fighting or war,” Jeremy said.

The foremost goal for many of the adults when it came to King seemed to be passing on his legacy to the next generation.

“Teaching (students) about how to get along in the world — and to be able to problem solve and have tolerance with people —is sometimes more important than the academics,” said Lisa Powaser, the preschool director at Gesu who organized the school-wide Martin Luther King Jr. march. “It’s extremely important that we don’t forget that message, no matter where we are.”

Michigan Catholic reporter Robert Delaney and Managing Editor Joe Kohn contributed to this report