The Church’s defense of a moral reasoning based on the natural law is grounded
on her conviction that this law is not a threat to our freedom, but rather a
“language” which enables us to understand ourselves and the truth of our being,
and so to shape a more just and humane world. She thus proposes her moral
teaching as a message not of constraint but of liberation, and as the basis for
building a secure future.
The Church’s witness, then, is of its nature public: she seeks to
convince by proposing rational arguments in the public square. The legitimate
separation of Church and State cannot be taken to mean that the Church must be
silent on certain issues, nor that the State may choose not to engage, or be
engaged by, the voices of committed believers in determining the values which
will shape the future of the nation.
In the light of these considerations, it is imperative that the
entire Catholic community in the United States come to realize the grave threats
to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which
finds increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres. The
seriousness of these threats needs to be clearly appreciated at every level of
ecclesial life. Of particular concern are certain attempts being made to limit
that most cherished of American freedoms, the freedom of religion.
19 January 2012
