Evening star., 1960-10-05
CATHOLICS
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NAInOEINS
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admit that we have contribu-
ted to doubts about our inten-
tions. 1t is our hope that this
statement may help to dispel
such doubts.
ITO this end we make the
following declarations of our
convictions about religion and
the free society. We do this
with an uncompromised and
uncompromising loyalty both
to the Catholic Church and to
the American Republic.
"1. We believe in the free
dom of religious conscience
and in the Catholics obliga-
ton to guarantee full free
dom of belief and worship as
a civil right. This obligation
follows from basic Christian
convictions about the dignity
of the human person and the
inviolability of the individual
conscience. And we believe
that Catholics have a special
duty to work for the realization
of the principle Of freedom of
religion in every nation,
whether they are a minority or
a majority Of the citizens.
%. We deplore the denial of
religious freedom in any land.
We especially deplore this de-
nial in countries where Catho-
lies constitute a MAJORITY
even an. overwhelming major
ity. In the words of Giacomo
Cardinal Lercaro, the pres
ent archbishop of Bologna
Christian teaching concerning
the presence of God in the hu-
man soul and belief in the
tranScendent value in history
OF the human person lays the
foundation for use of per-
suasive methods in matters OF
religious faith and forbidS CO.
ercion and violence The
Catholics commitment to re-
ligiouS liberty, therefore. he
says, is not a concession Sug-
gested by prudence and
grudgingly made to the spirit
OF the times. Rather, it is
rooted in the permanent prin-
ciples of catholicism
Separation Affirmed
"3. We believe constitutional
separation of church and state
offers the best guarantee both
OF religious freedom and of civic
peace. The principle of separa-
ton is part of our American
heritage. and as citizens who
are Catholics we value it as an
integral part Of our national
life. Efforts which tend to un-
dermine the principle of sep
aration. whether they come
from Catholics, Protestants OF
Jews, believers or unbelievers
shoul dbe resisted no matter
how well-intentioned such ef-
forts might be.
a. We believe that among
the fundamentals of religious
liberty are the freedom of a
church to teach its members
and the freedom of it's members
to accept the teachings of their
church. These freedoms should
be invulnerable to the preSSures
OF conformity. For civil society
to dictate how a citizen forms
his conscience would be a gross
violation of freedom. Civil So
ciety's legitimate interest is
limited to the public acts of the
believer as they affect the whole
community.
IS. In his public acts as they
affect the whole community, the
Catholic is bound in conscience
to promote the common good
and to avoid any seeking of q
merely sectarian advantage. He
is bound also to recognize the
proper scope or independence
OF the political order. As
Jacques Maritain has pointed
out, the Church provides Cath
olicS with certain general prin-
ciples to guide us in our life as
citizens. 1t directs us to the
pursuit of justice and the pro-
motion of the common good in
our attitudes toward both do
mestic and international prob
lens. But it is as individual
citizens and officeholders, not
as a religious bloc, that we
make the specific application oi
these principles in political life
Here we function not as Cath.
olic citizens" but as citizens
who are Catholics. 1t is in this
spirit that we submit this
statement to our fellow Amer.
leans"