An article by Hillary Clinton in a local Utah newspaper in which she promotes herself as a defender of religious freedom has provoked criticism from Catholics and senior academics in the US.
The Catholic News Agency (CNS) said that the Democratic presidential candidate's article, published last week in the Deseret News, was aimed at the large Mormon population in Utah and skirted over the clash between her party and Catholics on healthcare in Catholic institutions.
"I'm running for president to make sure our country continues to live up to our founding principles. Those timeless ideas teach us that we're stronger together when we work in unison to solve our problems, no matter what we look like, where we come from or how we pray. That last one is important," Clinton wrote. "As Americans, we hold fast to the belief that everyone has the right to worship however he or she sees fit. I've been fighting to defend religious freedom for years. As secretary of state, I made it a cornerstone of our foreign policy to protect the rights of religious minorities around the world — from Coptic Christians in Egypt to Buddhists in Tibet. And along with Jon Huntsman, our then-ambassador in Beijing, I stood in solidarity with Chinese Christians facing persecution from their government."
Thomas Farr, director of the Religious Freedom Project at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs told CNS: "Anyone who believes that a President Hillary Clinton will support the religious freedom of Catholic elementary and high schools, colleges, refugee services, adoption agencies, homes for the aged poor, or any other private organization, is making a mistake...Her own words suggest that even churches will not evade her understanding of the kind of 'compelling government interest' that she considers abortion and same-sex marriage to be."
Meanwhile, Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote.org, claimed that Clinton "favours extremist policies that would punish charities like the Little Sisters of the Poor along with thousands of similar Catholic-inspired charities."
The dispute comes amid a lengthy row between the Church and the Barack Obama administration, which wants Catholic organisations to be included in those that provide coverage of contraception and sterilisation, and some drugs that can cause abortions, alongside ongoing disagreement over the freedom of Catholic adoption agencies to, say, avoid gay adoption.
The row centres on a provision of Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which stated that all insurers will be required to provide "preventive health services", along with the place of religious educational institutions and whether they can gain exemptions from equality legislation.
Burch claimed that Clinton was "hiding" behind the term "freedom of worship" which is non-controversial. "She publicly opposes the long understood definition of religious freedom by hiding behind the euphemism of 'freedom of worship'," he said. "What this means is she supports the freedom of Catholics to pray inside of our churches, at least for now. But once outside we must embrace the orthodoxy of secular anti-Catholic progressives."
Farr, who is also Associate Professor of the Practice of Religion and World Affairs at Georgetown's Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service, agreed about the use of the term. "Her use [of it], and its deeper meaning, are quite consistent with her attacks on churches and religious organisations that oppose the progressive agenda of abortion on demand and same-sex marriage," he said. "Last year she told an international conference that religious groups who oppose abortion are going to have to change. Some commitment to religious freedom."
He added of Clinton and Obama: "Their approach was highly rhetorical and programme-poor. Under her watch, the National Security Strategy's discussion of fundamental American values virtually ignored religious freedom". He said that the Clinton State Department "accomplished virtually nothing (other than a few fine speeches and reports) in the arena of religious freedom."
Farr went on: "While there are other reasons for State's ineffectiveness under Secretary Clinton, one is quite clear: it is difficult to sell to others a product which you no longer understand, and in which you do not believe".
CNS said that Utah, where Clinton pitched her argument, is a traditional Republican bastion where most residents are adherents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, colloquially known as Mormons.
However, Clinton could take advantage of Mormons' lack of support for the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Clinton has spoken at length during this presidential campaign about her Christian faith. She has come under fire for softening her party's stance on abortion.
