This year, July Fourth, our national holiday, is the 244th celebration of our country’s independence from Britain. In 1776 the Declaration of Independence was signed and freedom for the 13 col-onies from an oppressive ruler, King George III, was declared. The classic statement which begins the Declaration is a hallmark of the American experiment and is ever true — “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” A few thoughts on liberty …
Liberty or freedom is a gift of God to His creatures. The CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH teaches that “the right to the exercise of freedom is an inalienable requirement of the dignity of man” (1747). How terribly sad that not all peoples enjoy it. Around the world there are too many examples of governments that restrict the freedom of their people, such as China and the Central African Republic.
Annually, before the Fourth of July the Catholic Bishops of the United States observe Religious Freedom Week. Attacks on religious freedom continue in our country. For example, the 2010 Affordable Care Act mandated that health insurance plans provide no cost access to birth control with limited exemptions to those who object on religious grounds. Forcing the Church to pay for anti-human life abortifacients is a violation of our God given freedom. “Religious freedom is both an American value and an important part of Catholic teaching on human dignity” (USCCB Committee for Religious Liberty).
Recently, the heartbreaking video of George Floyd pleading for his life, suffering a violation of his human dignity, has outraged many people both in our country and around the world. Unfortunately, some resorted to rioting and violence to protest his murder. This is no way to honor the memory of George Floyd. What happened to him makes us take a hard look at the underlying cause of the anger of the protestors which I suggest is racism, a sin for Catholics and a violation of human dignity. It must be eradicated from ourselves and from society. The Oxford Dictionary defines racism “prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.” Racism violates the freedom of its victims to be whom God created them to be.
In November 2018 the Catholic Bishops of the United States issued a pastoral letter, OPEN WIDE YOUR HEARTS that addressed the sin of racism in our country. It’s worth a read (cf. USCCB.org). The letter is an invitation to conversion and action. Racism exists and, like the COVID-19, it sickens those infected with it and its victims suffer.
As a parish priest ministering in minority communities in New York City for more than 30 years, I was exposed to this evil. My Chinese parishioners in lower Manhattan would tell me stories about racist words that were hurled at them due to their physical looks, their food and their accents. I was very pained by the suffering this caused, especially, to my young American born Chinese parishioners who are as American as I am. Racism must be purged from our country and gotten rid of from ourselves.
In my first assignment as a priest in Washington Heights, Manhattan, the neighborhood became a mecca for immigrants from the Dominican Republic, the majority of whom are Catholics. I recall hearing some parishioners engage in racist slurs because they had to wait outside until the very crowded Spanish Mass emptied out of church on a Sunday morning.
In my assignment to the northeast Bronx English-speaking West Indians were moving into the parish. Many of them professionals who were employed in health care; others, by New York City as bus drivers and train motormen. They were homeowners with very middle-class values. Again, the racist slurs and innuendoes against these hard-working good people were disgusting.
We Christians should lead not with acts of violence but with the conviction that every person is a child of God who has “unalienable rights to Life, Liberty, the pursuit of Happiness.” Ours is a common humanity which God has blessed with varieties of skin color, cultures and languages.
This year, due to the pandemic, our Fourth of July celebration may not have the usual fanfare. However, its message about Freedom is perhaps more important than ever. We reaffirm with the framers of the Declaration of Independence that all are created equal. We pray that in our country freedom, a God given gift for all women and men, will ring out from shore to shore and that racism will be eradicated.
God bless America. Happy FOURTH of JULY.
Most Reverend Dennis J. Sullivan, D.D.
Bishop of Camden