Mitt Romney gave a pretty spirited (all around — he went off script after being booed for saying he’d repeal the president’s health-care law) speech to the NAACP convention it. He ended it with this tribute to his father and our Father: It wasn’t just that my Dad helped write the civil rights provision for the Michigan Constitution, though he did. It wasn’t just that he helped create Michigan’s first civil rights commission, or that as governor he marched for... Read more
From Archbishop John Carroll in 1791: We pray you, O God of might, wisdom, and justice, through whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with your Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to your people, over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and... Read more
Gloria Purvis is a young, dynamic mother and volunteer with Catholic Voices USA. She wraps us a Fortnight series of interviews about faith, freedom, and this moment we’re in. What does the Fortnight mean to you? The Fortnight is a wake-up call. I do not mean to sound alarmist but we have become complacent in terms of defending our religious liberty and we have lost sight of what it means to be faithful practicing Catholics. Now we need to spend... Read more
Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput says on this final day of the Fortnight for Freedom: God made us for more than the world. Our real home isn’t here. The point of today’s Gospel passage is not how we might calculate a fair division of goods between Caesar and God. In reality, it all belongs to God and nothing – at least nothing permanent and important – belongs to Caesar. Why? Because just as the coin bears the stamp of Caesar’s... Read more
In his homily opening the Fortnight for Freedom 14 days ago, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore talked about the enduring witness of Saint John Fisher, particularly at a time when we face unprecedented threats to religious liberty here in the United States. “St. John Fisher found himself at odds with King Henry VIII and with laws passed by the British Parliament which required him to take an oath repudiating papal authority and acknowledging the King as Head of the Church,”... Read more
Jose Mena just graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Molecular Biology. Like Domenick, Melissa, Addie, Matthew, Allison, Mark he is a volunteer with the first class of Catholic Voices USA. What does the Fortnight mean to you? The Fortnight is on its face an effort to protect religious freedom against several measures that both the federal government and certain state governments have taken that curtail the ability of religious people to freely exercise their religion in the manner... Read more
This morning’s reflection in Magnificat magazine, that great daily reliable resource for the soul, comes from Dignitatis Humanae, Vatican Council II’s declaration on religious freedom: The religious acts whereby men, in private and in public and out of a sense of personal conviction, direct their lives to God transcend by their very nature the order of terrestrial and temporal affairs. Government therefore ought indeed to take account of the religious life of the citizenry and show it favor, since the... Read more
Matthew Dugandzic, whose birthday is today, is a New York native and volunteer with Catholic Voices USA. He talks about how and why this Fortnight for Freedom that culminates in Independence Day is significant. What does the Fortnight mean to you? To me, the Fortnight is an exciting opportunity for us to stand up as Catholics and claim our constitutional right to religious freedom. In fact, even before the idea of the Fortnight was proposed, I thought that the HHS... Read more
Addie Darling just graduated from Princeton University and speaks a countercultural message of joy and authentic femininity as a Catholic Voice. Like Melissa, Domenick, Allison, and Mark, Addie speaks about the Fortnight for Freedom and why this is an important moment for the United States and for Catholics to raise their voices. What does the Fortnight mean to you? For me, the Fortnight is an opportunity to come together as the universal Church in America, and to educate ourselves and... Read more
An old friend of mine just pointed out that at least two of Tom Cruise’s wives have been Catholic at least at some point in their lives. This is true, too, of Cruise, if quick Google searches are to be believed. In fact, if Wikipedia is to be believed (big if), he even wanted to be a Franciscan priest at some point in his life. Not if L. Ron Hubbard had anything to do with it? Now I know just... Read more
Kathryn Lopez
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