A Letter to the Archbishop

Dear Archbishop Lori,
Congratulations on your appearance on Meet the Press and welcome to Baltimore. Clearly you are going to be an active Archbishop and that could be positive for all of us.

It is also good to know that you are deeply committed to the concept of religious liberty. You should know that whether in Bridgeport or Baltimore you will be living in a pluralistic community with people of all faiths and no faiths. One can of course decide that all is evil and darkness, and the only light in our community is that emanating from the Holy Roman Catholic Church. History would suggest otherwise, and I'm sure you would agree that much good has come from the non-Catholic world, and much evil has come from the Catholic world.

I appreciate the fact that you did not buy into the notion that there is a war going on against religion. That is a tired bromide that should be put aside and not be brought up everytime someone challenges or criticizes an action or activity of the Church. Recent history, not to mention Church History over the years clearly demonstrates that the Church is not above criticism nor should it be. Being critical of something going on in the Church does not make one anti-Catholic or at war with the Church. Surely at this point in our history we can have disagreements without resorting to condemnations.

Back to religious liberty. You seem to have an excellent handle on what religious liberty necessitates in order for Catholics to practice their faith as they would choose. It is important to note that in this pluralistic society Catholics are not the only ones involved. As the old joke about heaven goes, 'when St. Peter walks the newcomers by the Catholic area in heaven he has to whisper, because the Catholics don't believe anybody else us up here.' Hopefully we are long past those days.

At any rate, what I'm wondering about is your concern for those other groups who also are guaranteed freedom of and from religion. As you implied in your remarks on Sunday, there is a large group of citizens who expect, need, and demand access to services which you might find objectionable. Does it bother you that if you were to get your way and deny access to contraception etc. to all employees in religious related institutions you would be denying services to many individuals, including non-Catholics, who are entitled to them?

You see, in this country, we can only live together through compromise. Religious liberty does not mean that the Church has a blank check to write the rules of how that liberty operates, because your freedom cannot interfere with that of another person's freedom. Twisting the concept of religious liberty to suit one's own purposes is not the way we do things in this country. It is not only the rights of the Church that need to be respected, but in this country the Church also needs to respect the rights of Protestants, non-believers, people of other faiths, and even those who may be hostile to our faith. Pope John Paul II was eloquent in always insisting on the worth, value, and dignity of every human being.

Can I recommend to you a closer reading of Vatican II's document on the Declaration on Religious Liberty, and maybe some further reading of the work of that great Catholic Theologian John Courtney Murray? No one understood the concept of religious liberty in the United States better. It is easy to criticize and attack, but I surely hope that you have come to Baltimore to solve problems and not to create additional divisions. If so, it means collaboration with all elements of the community and a willingness to forge consensus and compromises that all of our citizens can live together with in harmony. I would certainly support you in such an effort and wish for you much success in that regard.