Conscience Has Rights Because It Has Duties

As the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops kick off their Fortnight for Freedom today, let us reflect on this passage from Blessed John Paul II’s Vertatis Splendor, in which he shares his thoughts on the importance of freedom of conscience:

The human issues most frequently debated and differently resolved in contemporary moral reflection are all closely related, albeit in various ways, to a crucial issue: human freedom. 

Certainly people today have a particularly strong sense of freedom. As the Council's Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis Humanae had already observed, "the dignity of the human person is a concern of which people of our time are becoming increasingly more aware." Hence the insistent demand that people be permitted to "enjoy the use of their own responsible judgment and freedom, and decide on their actions on grounds of duty and conscience, without external pressure or coercion." In particular, the right to religious freedom and to respect for conscience on its journey towards the truth is increasingly perceived as the foundation of the cumulative rights of the person. 

This heightened sense of the dignity of the human person and of his or her uniqueness, and of the respect due to the journey of conscience, certainly represents one of the positive achievements of modern culture. This perception, authentic as it is, has been expressed in a number of more or less adequate ways, some of which however diverge from the truth about man as a creature and the image of God, and thus need to be corrected and purified in the light of faith. 

Some New Year’s Resolutions From the USCCB

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is calling all Catholic faithful to prayer, penance, and sacrifice in 2013. This is part of a movement for life, marriage, and religious liberty in America, in response to social and political movements in the past year. This movement begins tomorrow, on the feast of the Holy Family, and lasts until the feast of Christ the King on November 24, 2013.

Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordlleone of San Francisco, chairman of the bishops' Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, said, “The pastoral strategy is essentially a call and encouragement to prayer and sacrifice - it's meant to be simple. ... Life, Marriage, and Religious Liberty are not only foundational to Catholic social teaching but also fundamental to the good of society.”

These simple resolutions include:

1.  Monthly Holy Hour
2. Daily Rosary
3. Intentions for life, marriage, and religious liberty in Prayers of the Faithful
4. Fasting and Abstinence on Fridays
5. Participating in the 2^nd Fortnight for Freedom in Summer 2013

For more information on these resolutions and about the strategy itself, see the USCCB site. 

Let Freedom Ring!

Today we celebrate Independence Day! On this day in 1776, the United States declared independence from a tyrannical England—solidifying the young country’s commitment to liberty and justice for all.

Today also marks the end of the Fortnight for Freedom, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ campaign to help the faithful understand how important religious liberty is to America and to point out the current threats to our most precious freedom.

In an interview with Vatican Radio, Archbishop of Washington D.C., His Eminence Cardinal Donald Wuerl said, “We have always had these rights – they are guaranteed in our Constitution…We need to lift up for people to see, that some of [these rights] are being eroded.”

Dioceses throughout the country held Bible Studies, rallies, and other educational events in order to “lift up” the challenges our Church faces today. And at noon Eastern (9am Pacific) today, all houses of worship are asked to ring their bells—to “let freedom ring.” The faithful will be united, and they will make their presence known.

Most appropriately, the Fortnight will close with the sacrifice of the Mass—our highest form of prayer. This closing Mass will be celebrated at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception here in Washington, D.C. The celebrants and the congregation will offer up their efforts and ask God for His favor in securing the right to religious freedom in America.

Let us pray with them today, that our right to live like Christ in the public square is upheld and protected.

SS. John Fisher and Thomas More, Pray for Us!

In 1982, Blessed John Paul II went on an apostolic journey to Great Britain. This was the first time in history that a Bishop of Rome had ever set foot on English soil. In a homily given during his visit, John Paul II said that he was deeply moved by this thought and that he was happy to finally celebrate Mass in this country with “a tradition embedded in the history of Christian civilization.”

This history was built by outstanding members of the Church, two of whom John Paul II recognized specifically:

John Fisher, the Cambridge scholar of Renaissance learning, became Bishop of Rochester. He is an example to all Bishops in his loyalty to the faith and in his devoted attention to the people of his diocese, especially the poor and the sick. Thomas More was a model layman living the Gospel to the full. He was a fine scholar and an ornament to his profession, a loving husband and father, humble in prosperity, courageous in adversity, humorous and godly. Together they served God and their country - Bishop and layman. Together they died, victims of an unhappy age. Today we have the grace, all of us, to proclaim their greatness and to thank God for giving such men to England.

Both St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More were “victims of an unhappy age,” indeed. In 1535, both were beheaded because they resisted in the matter of King Henry’s VIII’s divorce. We should be inspired by their courage, especially during a time when Americans can no longer take their right to religious liberty for granted.

Our First and Most Precious Freedom

Shouldn’t a widow be allowed to hold a Christian burial for her veteran husband? Shouldn’t a man be able to choose a health care plan that doesn’t violate his religious beliefs? And shouldn’t timeless religious memorials be allowed to stand?

One would think. But in a country founded on religious liberty, the government now says “no” in every single one of those situations.

This is why our U.S. Bishops have called upon American Catholics to use our voices, our votes, and our prayers to fight for our first and most cherished freedom.

Two weeks ago, 43 Catholic institutions filed 12 separate lawsuits challenging the federal government’s healthcare rule. The Archdiocese of Washington is one of those institutions, and the Archbishop of Washington, His Eminence, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, gave a clear and powerful explanation of why they are suing:

[The] mandate, issued in February by the Department of Health and Human Services… requires religious organizations to provide health-care coverage for abortion-inducing drugs, contraceptives and sterilization procedures, even if their faith teaches that those drugs and procedures are wrong. That is what has prompted the Archdiocese of Washington to go to court to protect our First Amendment right to practice our religion without government interference.

The U.S. Bishops on Religious Freedom

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops recently came out with a strong statement on the Church in America and her commitment to religious liberty. Recent threats to religious liberty, such as the HHS mandate for contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs, call for serious concern and action from all American Catholics. Even Pope Benedict XVI commented on the American government’s violations of religious freedom, the “most cherished of American freedoms.”
 
The USCCB statement begins:

We are Catholics. We are Americans. We are proud to be both, grateful for the gift of faith which is ours as Christian disciples, and grateful for the gift of liberty which is ours as American citizens. To be Catholic and American should mean not having to choose one over the other. Our allegiances are distinct, but they need not be contradictory, and should instead be complementary. That is the teaching of our Catholic faith, which obliges us to work together with fellow citizens for the common good of all who live in this land. That is the vision of our founding and our Constitution, which guarantees citizens of all religious faiths the right to contribute to our common life together.

In the end, the bishops ask that all religious and lay faithful stand up for religious freedom and be bold in the face of unjust laws. They also call for “A Fortnight for Freedom,” a special period of prayer, study, catechesis, and public action from June 21 to July 4 “emphasizing both our Christian and American heritage of liberty.”


Please join the bishops in this urgent prayer for religious liberty:

Almighty God, Father of all nations,
For freedom you have set us free in Christ Jesus (Gal 5:1).
We praise and bless you for the gift of religious liberty,
the foundation of human rights, justice, and the common good.
Grant to our leaders the wisdom to protect and promote our liberties;
By your grace may we have the courage to defend them, for ourselves and for all those who live in this blessed land.
We ask this through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, our patroness,
and in the name of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, with whom you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.