Columbia March 2010 by Columbia Magazine

Of Church and State TODAY, most people believe there should be a “separation of church and state,” yet there is an ongoing disagreement about what form such a separation should take. Many interpret it to mean that all religious beliefs and expressions of faith should remain “private” and have no place in the public square. The political sphere is thus declared to be explicitly a-theistic. From this perspective, moral arguments are sometimes rejected simply because they are associated with religious beliefs, while the rational basis of such arguments is denied or ignored. Of course, the Catholic understanding of the church-state distinction, like the relationship between faith and reason, is much different. As the Second Vatican Council observed, “The Church and the political community in their own fields are autonomous and independent from each other. Yet both, under different titles, are devoted to the personal and social vocation of the same men” (Gaudium et Spes, 76). Both religion and politics, in other words, play an important role in society and public life. Certainly, any attempt to force a person to accept particular religious doctrines or to worship in a particular way is contrary to the nature of the Gospel, which, as Pope John Paul II said, cannot be imposed but only proposed through authentic Christian witness. Nonetheless, public recognition of human dignity and the common good, rooted in our being created by a loving God, is a prerequisite — not an impediment — to true religious freedom. On this point, the Catechism of the Catholic Church is instructional: “Every in-

stitution is inspired, at least implicitly, by a vision of man and his destiny….” Societies that do not recognize “a certain preeminence of man over things” and “man’s origin and destiny in God” — or that reject this vision “in the name of their independence from God” — are left to find their source of meaning in some ideology. The result, the Catechism argues, is an implicit or explicit form of totalitarian power (CCC 2244, cf. Centesimus Annus, 45-46). The importance of recognizing the transcendent dimension of human identity was understood by the Founding Fathers of the United States when they drafted the Declaration of Independence, declaring that “all men are created equal” and “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” This was likewise understood by the Knights of Columbus when the Order petitioned the U.S. government to add the words “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance in the early 1950s. Defending these words of the Pledge, and defending those individuals who as a matter of conscience refuse to participate in or accept immoral practices, are among the many ways that the Order remains a voice for authentic freedom today. Whether countering prejudices against religious minorities or speaking out against oppressive atheistic regimes, the Knights of Columbus, from its earliest days, has stood for an authentic separation of church and state, while recognizing that the source of man’s dignity and freedom is not found within himself or the state, but in God.♦ ALTON J. PELOWSKI MANAGING EDITOR

Supreme Knight’s Book Club – March 30 In his new book, Be a Man!: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be (Ignatius, 2009), Father Larry Richards invites all men to grow in understanding of true manhood. A popular speaker and author, Father Richards is a member of Francis V. Kloecker Jr. Council 13602 in Erie, Pa. Join Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson and Father Richards online for a discussion of Be a Man! March 30 at 5 p.m. (ET). For more information, or to submit your questions, visit www.kofc.org/bookclub. 2 ♦ COLUMBIA ♦

MARCH 2010

COLUMBIA PUBLISHER Knights of Columbus ________ SUPREME OFFICERS Carl A. Anderson SUPREME KNIGHT Most Rev. William E. Lori, S.T.D. SUPREME CHAPLAIN Dennis A. Savoie DEPUTY SUPREME KNIGHT Donald R. Kehoe SUPREME SECRETARY Emilio B. Moure SUPREME TREASURER John A. Marrella SUPREME ADVOCATE ________ EDITORIAL Alton J. Pelowski alton.pelowski@kofc.org MANAGING EDITOR Patrick Scalisi patrick.scalisi@kofc.org ASSOCIATE EDITOR Brian Dowling brian.dowling@kofc.org CREATIVE & EDITORIAL ASSISTANT ________ GRAPHICS Lee Rader DESIGN

Venerable Michael McGivney (1852-90) Apostle to the Young, Protector of Christian Family Life and Founder of the Knights of Columbus, Intercede for Us. ________ HOW TO REACH US MAIL COLUMBIA 1 Columbus Plaza New Haven, CT 06510-3326 PHONE 203-752-4398 FAX 203-752-4109 E-MAIL columbia@kofc.org INTERNET www.kofc.org/columbia CUSTOMER SERVICE 1-800-380-9995 ________ Membership in the Knights of Columbus is open to men 18 years of age or older who are practical (that is, practicing) Catholics in union with the Holy See. This means that an applicant or member accepts the teaching authority of the Catholic Church on matters of faith and morals, aspires to live in accord with the precepts of the Catholic Church, and is in good standing in the Catholic Church.

COVER PHOTO: Courtesy of Birmingham (Ala.) Public Library Archives

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