George Weigel has long been a clear voice of reason in the Catholic Church. His books, articles and speeches over the
years have served as a reminder of the Truth and Beauty of the Church, but he has also been unafraid to address the tough issues Catholics and the Church are facing. I read the article below over coffee this morning and was both inspired and alarmed at Weigel’s wake-up call for the need to understand the depth of the attacks on our relgious freedom in this country. We can’t sit passively by and watch…we must all do our part.
What can we do to defend our religious freedom? Do you see this as important? Please share your thoughts in the comments section after you read the article.
Defending Religious Freedom in Full
By George Weigel
We have arrived at a unique moment, and just perhaps a critical moment, in the history of the Catholic Church in the United States.
At the time of the American Revolution, Catholics accounted for less than 1 percent of the population of the 13 colonies – a tiny population clustered primarily in my native Maryland and a few counties of Pennsylvania. Yet within a few decades of the founding, the great tides of European immigration that began to wash onto the shores of the new nation – those “huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” as they are memorialized on the Statue of Liberty – brought millions of Catholics to the New World: at first, Irish and Germans; later, Italians, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Ruthenians, and many others who wove their lives and aspirations into the rich ethnic tapestry of American democracy.
To read the full article, click here.
