The Future of America is Catholic
Thirteen miles east of the Blue Army Shrine in New Jersey, at the town center of Easton, Pennsylvania, the Declaration of Independence was first read publicly in 1776. Each year the town commemorates this event on or around July 4th. This year as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of our nation we should remember the emancipation of Catholicism in the United States. In the British Colonies our Faith was still illegal in 1776, as it had been since the mid-16th Century in England, and it was not until 1829 that the ban was lifted fully over there. We have always heard that our country was founded as a Christian nation, yet what is the foundation of all Christianity? There is no Protestantism without the Catholic Church from which they separated.
Direction of a Just Nation
Liberty and freedom in a disordered world are often misunderstood. The American experiment has been one of great accomplishments and great dichotomies. The underlying foundation of our national identity has been self-determination. Detractors will argue that the words in the Declaration of Independence “that all men are created equal” falls short when we acknowledge that slavery was allowed in several states. The practice, in fact, pre-dated the 1776 Revolution and much blood was shed correcting this injustice. A truly just nation corrects itself.
