The future of America depends on Catholics — but don’t take my word for it.
St. John Paul II said, “The continuing success of American democracy depends on the degree to which each new generation, native-born and immigrant, make its own the moral truths on which the Founding Fathers staked the future of your Republic.”
On his U.S visit, Pope Francis spelled out what those “moral truths” are.
“One of the highlights of my visit is to stand here, before Independence Hall,” he said. “It was here that the freedoms which define this country were first proclaimed. The Declaration of Independence stated that all men and women are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, and that governments exist to protect and defend those rights.”
For the 250th birthday of America the U.S. Bishops launched a site supporting the founding principles — and Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, where I work, is celebrating July 4 with the Grand Opening of our new Independence Hall library, with a replica Assembly Room and Liberty Bell, and a display of original founding documents.
Catholics are uniquely poised to deepen the nation’s commitment to its founding principles for four reasons.
First, America’s future depends on religious people, because its principles are religious principles.
Frederick Douglass, who was a Christian evangelist, knew firsthand the horrors of slavery — but he said the Declaration of Independence was its answer.
“The 4th of July is the first great fact in your nation’s history,” he said. “The principles contained in that instrument are saving principles. Stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, and at whatever cost.”
He believed “the right to liberty” would prevail against slavery — and he was right. Today, we believe “the right to life” will prevail against legalized abortion. We are right, too, because human beings really are “endowed by Our Creator” with rights.
Now, our job is to evangelize — because “self-government” only works with a religious people who obey God’s will. When people have no self-control, the government has to control them instead.
Second, Catholics in particular have a deep understanding of the nation’s founding principles.
As the bishops point out at their site, Catholic thinkers influenced the Declaration of Independence directly. The words of Doctor of the Church Robert Bellarmine match key phrases in the document.
But in addition, St. Thomas Aquinas’ interpretation of Aristotle led Catholic theology to uniquely embrace a document based on, in its words, the “laws of nature and of nature’s God.” St. John Paul II spelled out the connection between our faith and our founding.
“In a world without truth, freedom loses its foundation, and a democracy without values can lose its very soul,” he said, but America “possesses a safeguard, a great bulwark, against this happening. I speak of your founding documents: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights. These documents are grounded in and embody unchanging principles of the natural law whose permanent truth and validity can be known by reason, for it is the law written by God in human hearts.”
The future of America depends on our commitment to these “unchanging principles” and “permanent truths.”
Third, the future of America depends on Catholics because of sheer numbers.
Catholics outnumber each of the Protestant dominations in America, and below-replacement level birthrates nationwide will only continue this dominance. Gallup found that Catholics who go to Mass weekly are among the only demographics of current Americans that is growing.
In addition, U.S. immigration is from predominantly Catholic countries. Pope Leo XIV, the most prominent American worldwide, is a great example of the faith in America, coming as he does from French, Italian, Spanish and Louisiana Creole immigrants who were welcomed by the Church in America.
The only question is whether the Church will rise to the challenge again.
Fourth, religious people are critical to America, because the United States is the “new Rome.”
Commentators on the left and right love comparing America to Rome: Our nation was founded on Roman models, including Roman architecture, and now, for better and worse, America sets values worldwide — just like Rome.
Pope Francis said that when we spread the principles of the Declaration, it’s for the better. “Those ringing words continue to inspire us today, even as they have inspired peoples throughout the world to fight for the freedom to live in accordance with their dignity,” he said.
But our ultimate challenge is to be the “soul” of the Republic, just as ancient Christians were. St. John Paul II said American Catholics should turn to Our Lady of Guadalupe to lead us in that. “Through her powerful intercession,” he said, “the Gospel will penetrate the hearts of the men and women of America and permeate their cultures, transforming them from within.’”
