By Christopher Wells and Kielce Gussie
Religious Freedom Week in the United States commenced on Sunday with a focus on political polarization, which can lead to “abandoning the search for truth and fidelity to the Church in order to support one or another political party or ideology.”
Polarization is an issue of special concern for the US Bishops, and for the Church, said Bishop Kevin Rhoades, especially when “people are more influenced by their political ideology than their faith.”
Challenges from across the ideological spectrum
Speaking with Vatican News ahead of Religious Freedom Week, Bishop Rhoades, the chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Religious Liberty, noted that threats to religious freedom can come from various points of the political spectrum, with political parties on both the right and the left attempting to limit the religious freedom of their ideological opponents.
Each day of the week is dedicated to a different issue related to religious liberty, Bishop Rhoades said, noting that although the focus is largely on issues facing the United States, the week also has an international dimension—this year focusing on challenges to religious freedom in Nigeria and Nicaragua.
‘We don’t look at immigration status’
Among the domestic issues raised by the US Bishops is the Catholic Church’s services to migrants and refugees. “This doesn’t mean that we’re getting involved in the immigration debate itself,” said Bishop Rhoades. Instead, “it has to do with our ability, our freedom, to provide food or to provide housing, to provide assistance to those who are in our county. We don’t look to see what their immigration status is.”
Attacks on the Church’s ability to provide aid to those in need, the Bishop said, are a “serious violation” of religious liberty.
Parents’ rights in educating their children
Bishop Rhoades explained that the choice of issues to emphasize during Religious Freedom Week is largely based on the USCCB’s annual report on the state of religious liberty in the United States. Among the other challenges addressed this year are government funding for in vitro fertilization and other procedures that fail to uphold the dignity of human life and parental choice in the education of their children.
The latter “is another area that we have worked very hard on,” Bishop Rhoades said, “because of the Church’s teaching and our belief that education is primarily the responsibility of the parents.”
Parents, he said, “should have the freedom to educate their children in schools that they choose, including religious schools, but sometimes we’re discriminated against because of that.” He described discrimination against religious schools as “unjust.”
Inspired by the Saints
In concluding remarks, Bishop Rhoades noted that Religious Freedom Week begins each year on the feast of Sts Thomas More and John Fisher, who both suffered for their liberty and were martyred for their refusal to recognize the king of England as the supreme head of the Church in England. Although they truly loved their country, he said, “their ultimate loyalty was to Christ and His Kingdom.”
Similarly, Sts Peter and Paul, whose feast marks the end of Religious Freedom Week, were “persecuted, imprisoned, and martyred in Rome” when they refused to deny their faith. So, Bishop Rhoades said, “I think the bookends for Religious Freedom Week, these two feasts, are also very significant for us” and an inspiration for those working to defend religious liberty. – Vatican News
