Hey Deacon!
The Catholic Duty to Safeguard America’s Founding Principles
As we approach the 250th Anniversary of the United States independence, I continue to seek out themes and historical events that are connected to our Catholic faith. One of my go-to resources for ideas is Aleteia.org. This week’s newsletter featured an article written by Tom Hoopes; 4 Reasons America’s future depends on Catholics. The article summarizes comments made by Pope St. John Paul II with a papal central theme that American Catholics should turn to Our Lady of Guadalupe to lead us – specifically, to be the “soul” of the Republic. The following is my summary of Tom’s article.
Reason 1: America's future depends on religious people because its founding principles are religious principles. 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.
Reason 2: Catholics have a deep understanding of the Nation's founding principles. Catholic thinkers influenced the Declaration of Independence directly, and the words of Doctor of the Church, Robert Bellarmine, match key phrases in the Declaration document.
St. John Paul II made the connection explicit: “In a world without truth, freedom loses its foundation, and a democracy without values can lose its very soul. 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.”
Reason 3: Democracy requires moral truth. 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."
Reason 4: America functions as a “new Rome” and Catholics are called to be its “soul.” Catholics must play the same role early Christians played in Rome: offering a moral compass and spiritual witness. American Catholics are urged to turn to Our Lady of Guadalupe so that the Gospel might transform American culture from within. Pope Francis commented that the principles of the Declaration continue to inspire global movements for human dignity.
St. John Paul II's devotion to Our Lady was lifelong and unmistakable. In contrast to the culture-of-death, he called Our Lady of Guadalupe the Mother of Hope and the Mother and Evangelizer of America. He highlighted this theme at the First Synod of all the Bishops of America in December 1998.
His prayer to her captures it beautifully: "Virgin of Guadalupe, Mother of the Americas, we pray to you for all the Bishops, that they may lead the faithful along paths of intense Christian life, of love and humble service of God and souls."
As America marks 250 years, St. John Paul II's prophetic vision continues to ring true. The future of this Republic rests not on politics or power, but on whether Catholics answer the call to be its soul. May the grace of Our Lady of Guadalupe, of the Ozarks, of the Lake and of the Cove, draw our nation closer to her Son.