When the final draft of the Declaration of Independence was approved on July 4, 1776, by the 56 delegates to the Second Continental Congress, the design was begun for this exceptional nation, the United States of America, which would be unlike any in the history of mankind.

These founders declared that the American colonies had the right from Nature and Nature’s God to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They stated that a separation from England was necessary and justified as evidenced by their listing of 27 abuses and usurpations of the rights of the colonists. This document was the first ever where a whole people declared themselves as the instruments, the designers, of their own government.

On behalf of the colonists they represented, these delegates asserted that governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers not from a king or emperor or dictatorial power, but from the consent of the governed.

Chief among the rights inherent to each of us, our founders held that religious freedom was the first and the foundational freedom. The right to believe as we choose, free from government dictates, along with the right to exercise or live our faith openly without persecution or prejudice was the standard which the laws of this new nation could not compromise.

Thomas Jefferson wrote: “But our rulers can have authority over such natural rights only as we have submitted to them. The rights of conscience we never submitted, we could not submit. We are answerable for them to our God.’

So that First Amendment Religious Freedom may be practiced and preserved for every generation, it is essential that Americans understand this freedom and the circumstances from which it came. From different faiths we must stand unified to support each other, recognizing and respecting doctrinal differences while upholding our common religious liberty.

Catholics for Freedom of Religion strives to educate about our Freedom of Religion…how rare it is, how dearly it was purchased for us, and how quickly it can be lost.