Social Justice Religious Freedom: Free To Worship Without Fear

FREEDOM OF RELIGION

CATECHISM “Nobody may be forced to act against his convictions, nor is anyone be restrained from acting in accordance with his conscience in religious matters in private, alone, or in association with others, within due limits.” (2106)

CATECHISM “The right to religious liberty is neither a moral license to adhere to error, nor a supposed right to error, but rather a natural right of the human person to civil liberty, i.e., immunity, within just limits, from external constraint in religious matters by political authorities. This natural right ought to be acknowledged in the judicial order of society in such a way that it constitutes a civil right.” (2108)

Vatican II: Declaration on Religious Freedom (Dignitatis Humanae – 1965) Religious liberty includes: - self governance, public worship, and promotion of religious institutions - ability to select, train, appoint ministers; acquire funds, purchase properties, and buildings for religious purposes - right not to be hindered in their public teaching and witness to their faith provided they refrain from coercive actions -the right to hold meetings and establish charitable and social organizations -- right to freely live its own domestic religious life under guidance of parents who have the right to determine the kind of religious education that their children are to receive

United States Constitution Bill of Rights/First Amendment “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” The phrase “separation of church and state” do not appear in the Constitution

Pope Benedict XVI Address to American Bishops “Of particular concern are the attempts being made to limit the most cherished of American freedoms, freedom of religion. Many of you have pointed out that it concerted efforts have been made to deny the right of conscientious objection on the part of Catholic individuals and institutions with regard to cooperation in intrinsically evil practices. Others have spoken to me of a worrying tendency to reduce religious freedom to mere freedom to worship, without guarantees of respect for freedom of conscience.”

Religious Liberty Under Attack in the United States Today HHS mandate for contraception, sterilization, and abortion inducing drugs Alabama immigration law UC Berkley law school (Hastings College of law) Catholic adoption and foster care services Catholic humanitarian services

The Stakes This is not just a Catholic issue; this is not just a Jewish issue; this is not just a Mormon issue; this is not just a Protestant or Muslim issue; it affects secular and religious rights: THIS IS AN AMERICAN ISSUE, with WORLD-WIDE consequences.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963 “I would agree with St. Augustine that ‘An unjust law is no law at all.’ Now what is the difference between the two? How does one determine when a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law, or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in terms of St. Thomas Aquinas, an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.”

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops - Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty “An unjust law cannot be obeyed. In the face of an unjust law, and accommodation is not to be sought, especially by resorting to equivocal words and deceptive practices. If we face today the prospect of unjust laws, then Catholics in America, in solidarity with our fellow citizens, must have the courage not to obey them. No American desires this. No Catholic welcomes it. But if it should fall upon us, we must discharge it as a duty of citizenship, and an obligation of faith.”

Prayer 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, forever and ever, Amen.