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When Congress and President Clinton enacted the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act in 1994, it ostensibly protected “reproductive health services” and “places of religious worship,” from disruption or destruction of property. But from the start FACE was used almost exclusively to target nonviolent, pro-life civil disobedience, such as sit-ins at abortion clinics.
Several years ago nine individuals, arrested for a peaceful, prayerful sit-in at a late-term abortion clinic in Washington, D.C., were charged with “obstruction” under the FACE law and “conspiracy,” under a law resurrected from the post-Civil War era, and sentenced to years in prison—which they were all serving until President Trump pardoned them.
FACE has almost never been used to protect pro-life pregnancy resource centers or houses of worship—even after Roe v. Wade was overturned and pro-life centers and Catholic churches were violently attacked, some firebombed, across the country.
Now, following the Jan. 18 invasion and disruption of Sunday services at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota by anti-ICE protesters, several people have been arrested, and reports indicate the Department of Justice intends to charge them under the FACE Act and also the Enforcement Act of 1871 used previously against pro-lifers.
Finally, the FACE law is being enforced as written, to protect not just abortion clinics but churches as well. And that 1871 “Ku Klux Klan” law, instead of being used exclusively against peaceful pro-lifer protesters, is also being applied against raucous church invaders.
Justice demands that laws be applied consistently—and that the religious freedom, and the right to peaceably assemble of those gathered in worship, and of pro-lifers engaged in the time-honored American tradition of peaceful civil disobedience, be respected and protected.
Author: Rick Hinshaw, long-time Catholic communications professional, now also co-hosts a Podcast with Dr. Jim Dolan, a Catholic professional in the behavioral health field. Check out their latest discussion, “The Social Impact of Roe v. Wade: 50 Years later.” https://tinyurl.com/yeypbrpc
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of the Rosary for America
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Pray the Rosary for America
A PATRIOT'S PRAYER
I am one American.
I strive to be an American patriot.
Sometimes, Lord, I feel alone and discouraged.
Sometimes the work of defending my country is too hard
and I am not adequate to the task.
I pray that you, Lord, who inspired America’s Founding Fathers,
who strengthen our soldier sons and daughters,
who bless this country to the good of its citizens and the world,
would open my eyes to the light of your truth.
That You ask nothing of me without giving me the way.
That You put nothing before me without giving me the strength.
That I need only open my heart to Your love and Your will.
America trusts in God and on You I can rely.
I am strong enough.
You have made me so.
I am wise enough.
You have made me so.
If You are with me, who can prevail against me?
I will stand as the American Patriot You guide me to be.
Amen.
©2024 by Barbara Samuells
STUDENTS MAY PRAY IN SCHOOL
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
ARE NOT “GOD-FREE ZONES”
America’s children need not leave their faith outside the school house door.
For students to be silenced or disciplined by a school authority for appropriate religious expression should never happen. Sadly, young students may well conclude…
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Educational resources for parish members who work to support Religious Freedoms.
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AT WORLD MEETING OF FAMILIES: DEFENDING FREEDOM OF RELIGION
Barbara Samuells, president of Catholics for Freedom of Religion and a parishioner at St. Matthew’s, Dix Hills, shares her experience at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM RALLY 2018
IN SERVICE TO THE CHURCH
Click here to watch Barbara on TeleCare TV.
Pope Francis has observed that “religion [cannot] be relegated to the inner sanctum of personal life, without influence on societal and national life.” Evangelii Gaudium. . . , no. 183. In insisting that our liberties as Americans be respected, Pope Benedict XVI said that this work belongs to “an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity endowed with a strong critical sense vis-à-vis the dominant culture.” Therefore, catechesis on religious liberty is not the work of priests alone. If religious liberty is not properly understood, all people suffer and are deprived of the essential contribution to the common good, be it in education, health care, feeding the hungry, civil rights, and social services that individuals make every day, both here at home and overseas.
CATHOLICS FOR FREEDOM OF RELIGION
MISSION STATEMENT
America’s First Amendment guarantees its citizens five freedoms, the first of which is Freedom of Religion. Freedom of Religion includes the freedom to worship according to one’s beliefs as well as the freedom to practice that faith in everyday life according to one’s conscience.
So that this First Amendment freedom may be practiced and preserved for generations yet unborn it is essential that Americans understand this freedom and the circumstances from which it came. A fitting place for the development of this understanding and protection of Religious Freedom is inside all faith communities.
Catholics for Freedom of Religion offers resources to parish members who work to support Religious Freedom by initiating parish laity groups with these suggested goals:
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To educate and inspire for Freedom of Religion
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To remain non-partisan, advocating for no candidate or party
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To invite and include other faith communities
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To become a permanent group within each parish to educate every generation of Catholics about our Freedom of Religion…how rare it is, how dearly it was purchased for us and how certainly it is being lost.
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To recognize and oppose attacks on Freedom of Religion from any source
“We hold it for a fundamental and undeniable truth, that religion, or the duty we owe our Creator and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence. The religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate. This right is in its nature an unalienable right.” James Madison
“While Americans presume that the Constitution guarantees their rights, in practice our rights survive or disappear based on how firmly we defend them.” Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
