Declaring themselves "strongly unified and intensely focused," the top Catholic bishops in the U.S. vowed to continue their multipronged defence of religious liberty in the courts, Congress and the White House.

The five-page statement titled United for Religious Freedom was approved March 14 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' administrative committee.

In their statement, the bishops said, "This is not about the Church wanting to force anybody to do anything; it is instead about the federal government forcing the Church – consisting of its faithful and all but a few of its institutions – to act against Church teachings."