April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
REFLECTION
Independence Day and religious liberty
Are we at risk, 238 years later, of some of these liberties being snuffed out? The U.S. bishops think that may be the case.
In response to threats to religious liberty and freedom of conscience in this country and abroad, the bishops called for a third "Fortnight for Freedom" - a two-week period of prayer, study and action to address a range of challenges to religious liberty, including:
• the federal Department of Health and Human Services mandate that forces religious institutions to fund abortions, sterilizations and contraception in employees' health plans;
• the revocation of licenses and/or termination of government contracts for Catholic foster care and adoption services that will not place children with same-sex couples or unmarried opposite-sex couples who cohabit;
• state immigration laws that interfere with the Church providing pastoral care to immigrants; and
• requiring Church agencies to provide or refer for contraceptive and abortion services in violation of Catholic teaching.
This year's Fortnight for Freedom began June 21: the vigil of the memorial of St. Thomas More, often portrayed as a martyr of conscience. Having made a judgment about King Henry VIII's marriage, St. Thomas remained true to himself in the face of bribes, threats and even death.
While this is partly true, it obscures the lessons that his life can teach Christians today about remaining true to the faith despite political pressure, the threat of sanctions and the stigma of social ostracism.
The central truth that St. Thomas More defended - for which he died a martyr's death - was not a right to autonomous self-determination. It was the truth that the spiritual authority and rightful liberty of the Church were given by God, to be exercised by the bishops in union with the pope.
No secular power - no king, no parliament, no civil law - had jurisdiction over a man's soul or the Church's faith. The king had no right to dictate Church teaching or command the bishops how to govern the Church.
It would have been far easier to give in to the king. But St. Thomas had informed his conscience by a careful study of the Church's teachings. He would die "the king's good servant, but God's first."
Because he accepted death rather than compromising his faith and conscience, St. Thomas was canonized in 1935 and named patron saint of statesmen and politicians in 2000. His fictional writings in "Utopia" (1516) inspired political thinkers such as John Locke, whose writings in turn influenced Thomas Jefferson. St. Thomas may have helped shape the ideals of a new republic in the New World, which was founded as "one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Once again, our Church and its members are confronted with threats to religious liberty - threats to the integrity and continued existence of many Catholic institutions. The bishops have asked, "Can we do the good works our faith calls us to do without having to compromise that faith?" They have issued a call to action: "We see the need for an engaged, articulate and well-informed Catholic laity endowed with a strong critical sense...and with the courage to counter a reductive secularism which would de-legitimize the Church's participation in public debate about the issues which are determining the future of American society."
The threat is larger than any single case or issue; it has its roots in the secularism which permeates our culture. This Independence Day, we should thank God for the freedoms with which He has endowed us and commend to the Lord those who have died in defending our liberty.
Freedoms erode when citizens take them for granted. Religious freedom erodes when, in the face of an increasingly secular culture, believers stop going to church and cease to bring convictions born of faith into all aspects of their lives. Conversely, when we consciously thank God for our freedoms, we will be more apt to protect them.
(Mr. Mawn is associate director for catechist formation and respect life issues for the diocesan Office of Evangelization, Catechesis and Family Life. Read more at www.fortnightforfreedom.org.)[[In-content Ad]]
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