Moreover, we rejoice in our American diversities while we are at the same time finding unity to be something that's more and more elusive. Don't misunderstand me, I have nothing against diversity. Our Church is called Catholic precisely because it encompasses so many diversities. But when either unity or diversity outweighs the other, we experience an imbalance which can be quite destructive. We recall that at one point in our history it led to a bloody Civil War.
Individuality is something dear to the American heart.
We celebrate rights of privacy. Personal empowerment, individual rights, along with the promotion of personal lifestyles are very much in vogue these days. Some would suggest, however, that our living together in shared community is being lost. Interpretations of our Constitut- ion's First Amendment have clearly shifted from separating Church and State to separating religion from our social order. The coming of the Holy Spirit brought a sense of unity to those fractured eleven Apostles.