Baltimore, Md., Nov 14, 2011 / 16:55 pm
The U.S. bishops must be “watchmen for the Church” in defending religious freedom, said Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Conn., head of the bishops’ new committee on religious liberty.
He warned of current laws, regulations and court decisions that treat religion “not as a contributor to our nation’s common morality” but “as a divisive and disruptive force better kept out of public life.”
Bishop Lori made his remarks at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' meeting on religious liberty at their fall general assembly in Baltimore, Md. on Nov. 14.
He said that the bishops have watched with growing alarm as religious freedom has been increasingly eroded in the United States and is at risk of becoming a second-class right.