The Liberty Bell inscription
from Leviticus 25:10
“PROCLAIM LIBERTY THROUGHOUT ALL
THE LAND UNTO ALL
THE INHABITANTS THEREOF”
from Leviticus 25:10
“PROCLAIM LIBERTY THROUGHOUT ALL
THE LAND UNTO ALL
THE INHABITANTS THEREOF”
A few weeks ago, Florida’s American Legion Auxiliary Girls State refused to allow its Catholic participants to attend Sunday Mass. The convention describes itself as “a nonpartisan program that teaches young women responsible citizenship and love for God and Country,” and I’m sure it is a fine program. Margeaux Graham, one of 300 girls in the state convention, asked to leave the program for an hour on Sunday to attend Mass. She was refused. The regional leader asked if he could bring a priest to the convention to offer Mass for the Catholic girls. He was refused. At that point, Margeaux dropped out of the program rather than drop out of Sunday Mass. “This country was founded on the principles of religious and personal freedom,” Margeaux wrote to the convention leadership, “the fundamental rights that either you or your loved ones fought to protect.”
This case manifests a growing intolerance for religious liberties in our country. Nothing good can come from denying our citizens the right to worship. Denying the good that religion brings to society will only weaken that society. We cannot stand by as some in our society deconstruct our civil freedoms and weaken our social order. The Bishops of our country have set aside 14 days, from June 21 to July 4, as a “fortnight for freedom a great hymn of prayer for our country. Culminating on Independence Day, this special period of prayer, study, catechesis and public action will emphasize both our Christian and American heritage of liberty. At St. Joseph’s, your priests will lead an hour of prayer on Friday, June 22, from 6:30-7:30pm, to pray that religious intolerance be averted. We will pray that people of all faith or no faith at all join hands as brothers and sisters. You will see articles in this bulletin, and hear homilies encouraging us all to know and defend the first of our Bill of Rights, the freedom to practice our religion in a peaceful and socially beneficial manner. Let freedom continue to ring across this Land!
This case manifests a growing intolerance for religious liberties in our country. Nothing good can come from denying our citizens the right to worship. Denying the good that religion brings to society will only weaken that society. We cannot stand by as some in our society deconstruct our civil freedoms and weaken our social order. The Bishops of our country have set aside 14 days, from June 21 to July 4, as a “fortnight for freedom a great hymn of prayer for our country. Culminating on Independence Day, this special period of prayer, study, catechesis and public action will emphasize both our Christian and American heritage of liberty. At St. Joseph’s, your priests will lead an hour of prayer on Friday, June 22, from 6:30-7:30pm, to pray that religious intolerance be averted. We will pray that people of all faith or no faith at all join hands as brothers and sisters. You will see articles in this bulletin, and hear homilies encouraging us all to know and defend the first of our Bill of Rights, the freedom to practice our religion in a peaceful and socially beneficial manner. Let freedom continue to ring across this Land!
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