Catholic bishops in Indiana have acknowledged that the US state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which became law this week, had "divided the people of our state like few other issues in recent memory."
Yesterday they urged people to show mutual respect for one another and allow "the necessary dialogue" to take place to make sure no one in the state will face discrimination, "whether it is for their sexual orientation or for living their religious beliefs."
Their statement came amid protests by gay rights groups and others who say that the new religious freedom law could be a vehicle of legal discrimination if businesses use it as grounds to deny services to people.
Republican Gov Mike Pence said he stood behind the religious freedom bill passed by the Indiana General Assembly when he signed it into law, but has since asked state lawmakers to send him some clarifications to make "it clear that this law does not give businesses the right to deny services to anyone."
"We want to make it clear that Indiana is open for business, we want to make it clear that Hoosier hospitality is not a slogan, it's our way of life," he said at a morning news conference.
Pence attributed the firestorm over the measure to a combination of what he called "mischaracterisation," "misunderstanding" and "sloppy reporting." As a result "Indiana has come under the harsh glare of criticism from around the country," he said.
In their statement, the Catholic bishops reiterated the Catholic Church's teaching that "every human being is created in the image of God," that "every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect" and that everyone has a right to life's basic necessities.
"We believe that it is crucial that religious freedom be protected," they said.
"We support efforts to uphold the God-given dignity of all the people of this state while safeguarding the rights of people of all faiths to practice their religion without undue burden from the government," they said in conclusion.
At the signing ceremony, Pence said if he thought the religious freedom bill "legalised discrimination in any way in Indiana, I would have vetoed it. For more than 20 years, the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act has never undermined our nation's anti-discrimination laws, and it will not in Indiana."
"Indiana's law contains no reference to sexual orientation," he said, adding that it "simply mirrors" the federal law, known as RFRA.
The 1993 law says that the government "shall not substantially burden a person's exercise of religion" unless that burden is the least restrictive means to further a compelling governmental interest." It does not apply to the states, so with Indiana, there are now 20 that have passed such legislation.
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