During the Fortnight for Freedom which just concluded July 4, the American bishops encouraged Catholics to think about religious freedom and the threats it faces today. It is not always recognized or appreciated that our country is both the source and the home of religious freedom in the modern world and that Catholics had a groundbreaking role in that. While religious freedom was a preoccupation of many colonists, three colonies in particular played an essential role in developing the understanding of religious freedom that is reflected in the First Amendment.
Maryland, the only colony started by Catholics, was the first. George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, had been a rising person of influence in the court of King James I of England, but his political career derailed when he converted to Catholicism in 1624. Calvert developed an interest in the New World and in 1632 secured a grant from the new king, Charles I, who was married to a Catholic and under whose reign Catholics were not significantly persecuted, to establish what he later named Maryland, after his wife. But he died soon after the royal grant. His son, Cecil Calvert, the new Lord Baltimore, took up his father's quest and sailed to the New World in 1634 on two ships, the Ark and the Dove.
Maryland was a "proprietary" colony, meaning that Calvert was the outright owner and landlord. In order to have a sufficient number of settlers and because of his intention to establish religious freedom in the new colony, Calvert deliberately loaded his ships with both Catholics and Protestants. For eight years, religious freedom prevailed, but when the English Civil War between the Royalists, whose religions were Catholic and Anglican, and the Protestants and Puritans under the fearsome Oliver Cromwell, spilled over into the New World, Puritans from Virginia invaded Maryland in 1645, deposed Calvert, and began to oppress Catholics, thus abolishing religious freedom.
Calvert regained control of the colony in 1647, and in 1649 the Maryland colonial government, at a time when the English Civil War was still raging, enacted the Act of Religious Toleration – the first clear statement of religious freedom by a public body in the modern world and the source of the phrase "free exercise of religion" in the First Amendment to the Constitution.
The Act stated that "no person ... professing to believe in Jesus Christ, shall from henceforth be any way troubled, molested or discountenanced for or in respect of his or her religion nor in the free exercise thereof within this Province." The Act also provided that "no person may be compelled to the belief or exercise of any other Religion against his or her consent."
Although it is difficult to find historical confirmation, this separate statement on behalf of "any" religion seems to have meant religious freedom beyond Christianity – that is, for Jews and for Indians. Upon the later accession to the English throne by William in 1680, the Anglican Church was established as the official church of Maryland, and with respect to religion, Maryland became similar to the other English/Anglican colonies, where Catholics were oppressed.
When Puritan minister Roger Williams arrived in Massachusetts in 1631, he found that the colony contained a mixture of Pilgrims, who were separated from the Church of England, and Puritans, who were reformers of the Church of England. As for religious freedom, neither group satisfied Williams. Surely one of history's strongest advocates of liberty of conscience, he began to criticize the unified civil and religious authority in Massachusetts. He further annoyed almost everyone by asking why the Indians had not been paid for their land, which the colonists had settled on. In 1635, the General Court of Massachusetts, stating that Williams had expressed "diverse new opinions against the authority of the magistrates and churches here," expelled him from Massachusetts.
Williams went next door and founded the new colony of Rhode Island and named the chief city Providence. He separated the colony's government completely from religion. In 1663, King Charles II, who became a Catholic on his deathbed, officially chartered Rhode Island and declared that no person in the colony "shall be molested, punished, disquieted, or called into question for any difference in opinion in matters of religion." All Christians were guaranteed "the free exercise and enjoyment of their civil and religious rights." Such liberty almost immediately became available to non-Christians and the unchurched as well. Rhode Island soon began to be regarded as a haven not only for various kinds of Christians but for atheists, skeptics and other non-conformists as well.
Charles II of England was also the legal source of the creation of Quaker William Penn's Pennsylvania, the last of the three Americans colonies that played an historic role in establishing religious freedom not only in this country but also in the modern world. As a Quaker, Penn was a dissident in England, and he had actually served time in prison for his public advocacy of religious tolerance. But the king, owing a large debt of gratitude to Penn's father, a famous admiral in the king's navy, established the proprietary colony of Pennsylvania and Delaware in 1681 with Penn as the proprietor. In 1682, Penn published his Frame of Government of Pennsylvania, which provided that "all persons" shall "in no ways be molested or prejudiced for their religious persuasion or practice" nor "be compelled . . . to frequent or maintain any religious worship..." This applied to everyone, although there were initially restrictions on non-believers and Jews holding public office.
These three American colonies pioneered religious freedom at a time, the 17th Century, when all European countries had established national religions. In addition, they created the background and set the stage in the next century for our Constitution's First Amendment, with its prohibition of an established national religion and its guarantee of the "free exercise" of religion.
Thomas R. Ascik is an attorney who gave a recent talk at St. Barnabas Church in Arden entitled "Religion and the American Constitution, a Primer," as part of the U.S. bishops' Fortnight for Freedom campaign that ran June 21-July 4.
"Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man," (Mt 1:19).
On March 19, the Church will celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph, husband of Mary. I always look forward to St. Joseph's feast day because ever since I came back to the Church 20 years ago, I have had great admiration for this great saint – second only to the Queen of All Saints, the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The title "Husband of Mary" not only tells us one of the roles St. Joseph played in the Holy Family, but also the reason we celebrate this feast. St. Joseph was first and foremost the husband of Mary, and after the Christ Child was born, Joseph then became the foster father of the Infant Jesus. It is precisely this role of a husband that I want to talk about.
I had the opportunity last month to cover once again the Charlotte Catholic Men's Conference, an annual event that normally attracts men from all around the Diocese of Charlotte. Normally, most of the participants are married men and fathers. This year was no exception. However, something that caught my attention this year more than ever was that all three speakers, especially the last two, Brian Pusateri and Joe McClane, spoke about the current epidemic of men addicted to online pornography.
According to Pusateri, 63 percent of men watch pornography online at least once a month. Pusateri also said that 85 percent of sins confessed by men are of a sexual nature. McClane, who shared with the men that he as a younger man had been addicted to pornography, went as far as saying that pornography was worse than adultery because "a person you can confront, but a cyber image you can't."
If six out of 10 men watch pornography at least once a month, and 85 percent of Catholic men struggle with lust and unchaste behavior, it would be interesting to know what percentage of those same men are married. But whatever that number may be, it could be safe to say that this pornographic pandemic must be creating havoc in a large number of Catholic marriages.
I want to encourage all husbands like myself, and especially those who are also fathers, to cultivate a devotion to St. Joseph. St. Matthew describes St. Joseph as a "righteous man," and the Church has always described this great saint as a model of chastity. Because we believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary, then we should deduce that Joseph also lived out his marriage vocation in perfect chastity. I imagine also that Mary was and is an incredibly beautiful soul, but she must have been a very attractive and beautiful woman. How is that for avoiding the near occasion of sin, guys! Of course, we all know that sin of all kinds start in our hearts and not from the outside.
Gentlemen, if you belong to the 85 percent, continue to avail yourself of the mercy of God in the sacrament of reconciliation, but definitely add a strong devotion to this great model of manhood and righteousness to your spiritual arsenal. Meditate on the life of St. Joseph and develop a real friendship with him. Ask him to help you in times of temptation. If your health allows it, fast and pray on the first Wednesday of every month in honor of the husband of Mary, and ask him to intercede for you and your bride. Ask him to help you live out your marriage vocation and foster holiness in your family just as St. Joseph did.
Blessed be St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse.
Rico De Silva is the Hispanic communications reporter for the Catholic News Herald.