Recently, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver gave an insightful talk at Houston Baptist University on the topic of Christians in public life. He argued that the separation of Church and State was not what the Founding Fathers envisioned and that this idea has done much harm to our country and all Christians. The Archbishop traced a significant turning point for this separation back 50 years to a speech President John F. Kennedy gave at the same Baptist University to assure a group of protestant ministers that his Catholic faith would not be an issue for him as President. Here is an excerpt from that talk:
“Fifty years ago this fall, in September 1960, Sen. John F. Kennedy, the Democratic candidate for president, spoke to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association. He had one purpose. He needed to convince 300 uneasy Protestant ministers, and the country at large, that a Catholic like himself could serve loyally as our nation’s chief executive. Kennedy convinced the country, if not the ministers, and went on to be elected. And his speech left a lasting mark on American politics. It was sincere, compelling, articulate – and wrong. Not wrong about the patriotism of Catholics, but wrong about American history and very wrong about the role of religious faith in our nation’s life. And he wasn’t merely “wrong.” His Houston remarks profoundly undermined the place not just of Catholics, but of all religious believers, in America’s public life and political conversation. Today, half a century later, we’re paying for the damage.”
To read the entire talk by Archbishop Chaput and watch the presentation on YouTube, click on: The Vocation of Chrisitians in American Public Life
