Pope Leo: United States founded on religious liberty and human dignity

‘In every generation, those who have arrived seeking freedom, opportunity and a place to belong have helped to shape the nation’s character. To receive them with compassion is a recognition of the dignity that belongs to every human person.’

The principles of religious freedom and the dignity of every human life – including of immigrants – are fundamental to the United States, Pope Leo said.

In a letter published on 4 July to mark 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, the Pope said that “freedom of religion has long been central to the American promise, protecting both individual dignity and the peaceful coexistence of a diverse people”.

This has allowed the Catholic Church to flourish in the United States, he said, “to the advantage not only of her own members, but of the entire nation”, arguing that faith in public life “life new vigour to the pursuit of justice, peace and the common good, bringing to perfection every national gift bestowed by the Creator”.

He said it is “in the faithful fulfilment of duty – to God and country – that Catholics are called to continue to serve the nation”.

Leo also argued that the principle of human dignity “leads to recognising the importance of safeguarding human life from its beginning at conception until natural death, and of building a society in which the vulnerable, the suffering and the forgotten are always met with compassion, solidarity and love”.

“Defending human life also includes welcoming, protecting and assisting immigrants, whose hopes, sacrifices and contribution have formed part of the history of this country from its very beginning,” he said.

“In every generation, those who have arrived seeking freedom, opportunity and a place to belong have helped to shape the nation’s character. To receive them with compassion and generosity is not only an act of charity, but also a recognition of the dignity that belongs to every human person.”

He encouraged Americans to “honour the courage and vision of those who came before them by strengthening their communities, respecting their differences and working together toward a more perfect union”.

The message echoed the themes of a video address published the previous day in which the Pope accepted the Liberty Medal, an award from the US National Constitution Centre recognising people “of courage and conviction who strive to secure the blessings of liberty for people around the globe”.

He said that as “a son of this great nation” he was inspired by the words of the Declaration of Independence and its vision “ultimately grounded in an understanding of the human person inspired by the great biblical vision of man and woman being created in in the divine image”.

This vision of freedom drew people to the US “as the country opened its doors to successive waves of immigrants, enabling them and their children to play their part in shaping the future of the nation”, Leo said. 

It also inspired the US “in the darkest hours of the last century, at the time of the two world wars, to look beyond itself and, at great sacrifice, to champion the cause of freedom beyond its own borders”.

Emphasising the importance of the right to life as a founding principle, he said that “the moral greatness of a nation is manifested, above all, in its capacity to support, protect and cherish the lives of all, especially the most vulnerable and those whose worth is questioned”.

Leo argued that freedom of conscience was integral to the US understanding of liberty “that holds sacred the inner sphere of the person where convictions are formed and where conscience can guide the decisions made in the intimacy of the human heart”.

He called for “a public discourse marked by moderation, respect for the views of others and an ongoing effort to find common ground in promoting the cause of peace and reconciliation, at home and abroad”, to allow Americans “to find that common ground and the strength necessary to pursue a better future”.

“The principles that inspired America’s founders, rooted as they are in the truth of the human person, brought them together in a single cause, a common dream,” he said.

“Unity lent strength to that dream, giving rise, under God, to the United States of America. E pluribus unum – out of many, one.”

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