Quebec City, Canada, Aug 12, 2008 / 21:37 pm
Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas recently sat down with CNA to talk about his assessment of the involvement of American Catholics in the public forum. According to the archbishop, it’s “very, very critical for Catholics” to become more engaged as citizens, given the societal climate.
There are many issues that are important to us as Catholics, whose fate is “uncertain in the public square right now,” Archbishop Naumann explained.
“At other moments in our history, maybe we look back, and we think they were more serene. But at this moment I think it’s very, very critical for Catholics to take very seriously their responsibility to be active citizens and to bring the values and the virtues of our faith into the public square and into the public debate. … It’s going to be critical in terms of how the Church and other Christians, other believers are able to operate in this society if we are not vigilant at this moment.”
Catholics must be aware that there are efforts to silence the voice of the Church in the public debate, Archbishop Naumann said. “We can’t allow ourselves to be intimidated by them. And we need to exercise our rights and our freedom of speech,” he asserted.