Archbishop Lori: Be Loyal Americans by Being Bold and Courageous Catholics

5/19/2012

(Page 2 of 2)

services in the State of Maryland."

"We do this because Archbishop John Carroll's generation of believers and patriots bequeathed to us a precious legacy that has enabled the Church to worship in freedom, to bear witness to Christ publicly, and to do massive and amazing works of pastoral love, education, and charity in ways that are true to the faith that inspired them in the first place."

"We defend religious liberty in fidelity to the wisdom of James Cardinal Gibbons who withstood in the breach those who said it wasn't possible to be a practicing Catholic and a loyal American. "...I belong to a country," he said, "where the civil government holds over us the aegis of its protection, without interfering with us in the legitimate exercise of our sublime mission as ministers of the Gospel of Christ. Our country has liberty without license, and authority without despotism." Now we must be loyal Americans by being bold and courageous Catholics!"

"So, dear friends, let us be of good cheer. Let us never imagine that the faith we profess with such personal conviction is merely a private matter. By its nature, the profession of faith is a public matter -for the faith is meant to be spread far and wide and acted upon in and through Church institutions and in the witness of individual believers. "

"Let us not shrink from entering the public square to proclaim the Person of Christ, to teach the values that flow from reason and faith, to uphold our right to go about our daily work in accord with our teachings & values, to defend the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception until natural death, to defend the institution of marriage as between a man and a woman, and to serve effectively those in great need with convictions borne of the moral law."

The Bishop's clarion call to defend religious liberty deserves a clear response from all of us. Let us take up the task which this homily calls us to with every ounce of energy we have. We are loyal Americans when we are bold and Courageous Catholics in the Public Square.

- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Archbishop Lori, Religious Freedom, First Freedom, Fee Exercise, Baltimore, Catholic Action, Constituion, Deacon Keith Fournier

NEWSLETTERS »

Previous Page 1 | 2

Rate This Article

Was this helpful to you? Very Helpful Somewhat Helpful Not Helpful at All

Would you be interested in more articles like this? Yes, I am Interested No, I am not Interested

Rate Article

1 - 4 of 4 Comments

Manfred
1 year ago
If the readers would like a "shot in the arm", they should go to youtube.com and SEARCH: Kathleen Sebelius v.Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.).They will see a gentleman lawyer give Ms. Sebelius, present head of HHS and the former governor of Kansas, a very dramatic lesson in Civics. He only requires 5:19 minutes to accomplish this.
michael
1 year ago
Although the comment from our Alaskan friend is obviously flawed, he does make one good point, namely, define religious liberty. The Second Vatican Council was very clear in the first paragraph of Dignitatis Humanae. This decree on religious liberty stated that the Church's venerable teaching in regards to this issue has not changed! How many times do we have to go through this? Religious liberty cannot be taken in a French or American Revolutionary way where people have the supposed right to worship in whatever way they want and to think and say whatever they want. Only the Apostles...only the first Catholic bishops and their successors...only Catholics have a Divine Right to worship the One True God in the way that He has established. Only Catholics have a Divine and natural right to positively spread the Gospel...hello! dear people there is only one true religion and one true Church all others are false churches and very much in error and ruinous to souls. For the umpteenth time, the only right the Church allows is the negative right of not be coerced or forced into a religion against your conscience. The reason this HHS mandate is horrible is not just that it attacks the one Church of Christ and its holy Law, but that contraception and sterilization and abortifacients are against the laws of nature which apply to all men. People are going to hell each day for such sins against the natural law and the bishops aren't warning them of this danger. Contraception and sterilization are not direct objects of belief. Granted that the good Lord has enlightened our reason to see the evil of these things, still the natural light of human reason should arrive at the evil of the culture of death.
abey
1 year ago
If St. Paul were to preach the gospels which is to Christ as an alternate philosophy which is to the Faith meaning a choice of faith & where faith is to do with God, it means alternate gods which are nothing but demons as described by the early Church Fathers & is well known today. It is to this that Paul did not preach Christ as an alternative but as the only Faith & against what spiritually is called the 'Beast of Ephesus" which is nothing but represents other gods, read demons. Bishop Lori needs the full backing to his stands but must also stand Spiritually in totality against the "Alternative gods & their lifestyles' which is to gay relations & its promotions, pushed in hurriedly to the very basis of judgement to come, lest Jesus remove the candlestick, due complacency of sentimentalism as an excuse, but to the falling.
Juneau Alaska
1 year ago
This bishop didn't convince me of his position. First, I want religious liberty defined. For some, that juxtaposition is an oxymoron, so the Church should be clear about what it means by that slogan. That this bishop cited some wide ranging opinions printed in the Washington Post, ostensibly in favor of his ideas, is not evidence. Saying he works for the common good is also not evidence that his rights are being violated. This is really paltry stuff. What exactly is the evidence that the 1st Amendment is being violated? I think this is sour grapes. The Church has had unchecked privilege forever and those days are ending. One law for all in this country, no special rights for religion! -Cheers! ~Mike

Comments submitted must be civil, remain on-topic and not violate any laws including copyright. We reserve the right to delete any comments which are abusive, inappropriate or not constructive to the discussion.

Though we invite robust discussion, we reserve the right to not publish any comment which denigrates the human person, undermines marriage and the family, or advocates for positions which openly oppose the teaching of the Catholic Church.

This is a supervised forum and the Editors of Catholic Online retain the right to direct it.

We also reserve the right to block any commenter for repeated violations. Your email address is required to post, but it will not be published on the site.

We ask that you NOT post your comment more than once. Catholic Online is growing and our ability to review all comments sometimes results in a delay in their publication.

Name *

Email *

Comment *

Send me important information from Catholic Online and it's partners. See Sample

Post Comment