June 22 – Walking with Moms in Need
Pray that local churches and communities will have the vision and the freedom to walk with moms in need.
Religious freedom allows the Church, and all religious communities, to live out their faith in public and to serve the good of all. Beginning June 22, the feast of Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher, the USCCB invites Catholics to pray, reflect, and act to promote religious freedom.
Pray that local churches and communities will have the vision and the freedom to walk with moms in need.
Pray that Christian witness in the face of attacks on our churches will convert hearts to faith in Jesus Christ.
Pray that people of faith will continue to have the freedom to serve in the life-affirming ministry of adoption and foster care.
Pray that civic leaders would promote life and dignity for all.
Pray for the freedom of the Church in China, and that the rights of all religious minorities would be respected.
Pray that women facing unplanned pregnancies will continue to have access to support from people who help them choose life.
Pray that governments will respect the consciences of all people who care for the sick and vulnerable.
Pray that Christians will have the courage to proclaim the gospel of life and dignity for all with kindness and clarity, even in the face of adversity.
“Solidarity means much more than engaging in sporadic acts of generosity. It means thinking and acting in terms of community” (Fratelli tutti, 116).
Religious freedom allows the Church, and all religious communities, to live out their faith in public and to serve the good of all. Beginning June 22, the feast of Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher, the USCCB invites Catholics to pray, reflect, and act to promote religious freedom.
Pray that children waiting to be placed in a loving home and the caregivers who serve those children will find strength and support from the Church.
Pray that God would continue to grant Catholic institutions the wisdom and courage to serve a world suffering the effects of the COVID pandemic.
Pray that the dignity of all people will be respected in our country.
Pray that Christian witness in the face of attacks on our churches will convert hearts to faith in Jesus Christ.
Pray for our Catholic sisters and brothers who are suffering in Nicaragua.
Pray that governments will respect the consciences of all people who care for the sick and vulnerable.
Pray for Christians in Iraq, and that people of all faiths in the land of Abraham may live in peace.
Pray that Christians will have the courage to speak the truth with kindness and clarity, even in the face of adversity.
“It is in accordance with their dignity that all men, because they are persons, that is, beings endowed with reason and free will and therefore personal responsibility, are both impelled by their nature and bound by a moral obligation to seek the truth, especially religious truth. They are also bound to adhere to the truth once they come to know it and direct their whole lives in accordance with the demands of truth. But men cannot satisfy this obligation in a way that is in keeping with their own nature unless they enjoy both psychological freedom and immunity from external coercion. Therefore the right to religious freedom has its foundation not in the subjective attitude of the individual but in his very nature.” (Dignitatis Humanae, Second Vatican II Declaration on Religious Liberty, 2).
The Knights of Columbus promotes a robust vision of religious liberty that embraces religion’s proper role in both its private and public dimensions. As both Catholics and Americans, we celebrate the essential relationship shared between religion and liberty, a relationship which has uniquely defined our country’s identity and has fostered our country’s development.
Every major achievement that has taken place within the American enterprise—the American Revolution; the abolition of slavery; the civil rights movement; reforms in education, labor and woman’s rights—has been at the urging of religious people seeking a more just and humane society.
In this light, the Knights of Columbus recognizes religious liberty as an indispensable condition for authentic human development.
Consistent with the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we believe that man, created in the image and likeness of God, possesses the natural right to be recognized as a free and responsible being, especially in moral and religious matters. Our Order remains steadfast in its conviction that religious liberty “is an inalienable requirement of the dignity of the human person.” (Catechism, 1738).
We are therefore called to defend religious liberty against cultural trends that are increasingly hostile to Christianity, and impede men and women from freely exercising their religion by living in accordance with it. As the Second Vatican Council noted, although we must respect the just autonomy of the secular sphere, we must take into consideration the truth that there is no realm of worldly affairs that can be separated from God.
St. John Paul II witnessed that when a society attempts to close the door to religion, it inevitably falls prey to a totalitarian reading of the human person that recognizes only the state as the ultimate arbiter of right and wrong. It is our duty as men of both Catholic faith and patriotism to resist militant secularism and to defend religious liberty at the international, national, state, and local levels. Without this necessary check on the power of the state, no principled limit can be recognized to prevent the expansion of government’s power at the expense of personal liberty.
In the pilgrimage of this life, hidden with Christ in God and free from enslavement to wealth, they aspire to those riches which remain forever and generously dedicate themselves wholly to the advancement of the kingdom of God and to the reform and improvement of the temporal order in a Christian spirit. Among the trials of this life they find strength in hope, convinced that “the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that will be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18).
–Apostolicam actuositatem, 4
Join us, June 22 – June 29, as we pray, reflect, and take action on religious liberty, both here in this country and abroad.
Tell the Senate to reject religious tests for judicial nominees!
Recent nominees to the federal judiciary have endured pointed questions about their faith during confirmation hearings and in written questionnaires. It is time for these discriminatory, anti-Catholic questions to stop. Contact your senators today!
Religious Freedom Week takes place from June 22, the Memorial of Sts. Thomas More & John Fisher, through June 29, the Solemnity of Sts. Peter & Paul. Join Catholics across the country to pray and act for the freedom to serve faithfully and with integrity. Learn more at www.usccb.org/ReligiousFreedomWeek!
A monthly religious liberty blog
This Solemnity reminds the faithful that Christ reigns as king of the entire world forever. Let us rededicate ourselves this year to recognizing the reign of Jesus Christ and his Sacred Heart in every aspect of our lives.