News 11.8.2012
Religious Freedom isn't Red or Blue - It's American
Across the country and around the world, people of all faiths are standing up for their religious freedom — and the Diocese of Dallas, in union with the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), stand with them. Through prayer, education, and public action, we are activating Americans from all faiths and walks of life to turn back these threats.
In March 2012, the Administrative Committee of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued “United for Religious Freedom,” a statement specifically on the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate. In April 2012, the USCCB’s Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty issued “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty,” a statement more broadly on threats to religious liberty, both here and abroad.
Continuing with this initiative of standing up to the threats against religious freedom in America, the USCCB has launched a new website - firstamericanfreedom.com. The site contains informative tracts about the current threats to religious freedom in America (including the HHS mandate), as well as information about threats at all levels of government, including federal, state, and local. The initiative also encourages people to respond to these threats with prayer, and allows everyone to sign up via text message via email or text message to stay up to date on the latest religious freedom issues and opportunities for action.
Resources on Religious Liberty, courtesty of firstamericanfreedom.com:
FAQs : FAQ on Religious Liberty
Open Letter : Putting Beliefs into Practice
Bulletin Insert : Religious Freedom Bulletin Insert
Prayer for Religious Freedom
O God our Creator, from your provident hand we have received our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You have called us as your people and given us the right and the duty to worship you, the only true God, and your Son, Jesus Christ. Through the power and working of your Holy Spirit, you call us to live out our faith in the midst of the world, bringing the light and the saving truth of the Gospel to every corner of society.
We ask you to bless us in our vigilance for the gift of religious liberty. Give us the strength of mind and heart to readily defend our freedoms when they are threatened; give us courage in making our voices heard on behalf of the rights of your Church and the freedom of conscience of all people of faith.
Grant, we pray, O heavenly Father, a clear and united voice to all your sons and daughters gathered in your Church in this decisive hour in the history of our nation, so that, with every trial withstood and every danger overcome— for the sake of our children, our grandchildren, and all who come after us— this great land will always be “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
SOURCE: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops