Religion & Law

[This is the last in a series.  The full series may be found here.]

Since the Catholic immigration to the United States began in numbers in the middle to late Nineteenth Century, religious liberty and Catholic schools have been intertwined in American history.

Beginning with the Supreme Court?s 1925 decision in Pierce v. Society of Sisters, which affirmed the right of parents to choose faith-based education for their children over the state?s attempt to force all children into government-run schools, and continuing through the 2002 decision in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, which approved the inclusion of Catholic and other religious private schools in the Cleveland voucher program for disadvantaged families, a robust and living form of religious liberty has been realized in the right of educational choice for Catholic education.

The Catechism of the Catholic School recognizes the fundamental right of parents to choose the school for their children in keeping with their religious faith:

"As those first responsible for the education of their children, parents have the right to choose a school for them which corresponds to their own convictions.  This right is fundamental.  As far as possible parents have the duty of choosing schools that will best help them in their task as Christian educators.  Public authorities have the duty of guaranteeing this parental right and of ensuring the concrete conditions for its exercise."  Catechism of the Catholic Church, para. 2229.

The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution speaks in terms of ?free exercise? of religious faith,  The plain import of this phrase ? ?free exercise? ? is that of acting upon one?s beliefs.  ?Exercise? denotes action, not merely passive contemplation. As Catholics, we among believers are especially drawn to collective exercise of our faith, in the aptly-named Mass and the other Sacraments.

Coming together as a community in Catholic education is also a vital form of devotion and religious expression.  When, as but one pedestrian example, my daugher and her class-mates talk about Christian themes in a great literary work in English class in a Catholic high school, knowing that such a discussion is welcomed and encouraged, their faith is exercised and the blessings of religious liberty are realized again.

By choosing Catholic education for our children, we continue in a long-standing tradition and participate actively in that continuing exercise of religious liberty.  And whatever choices we make as families, whether to parish or public schools or alternative arrangements such as home-schooling, we can join together in this weekend?s celebration of our nation?s birth by celebrating as well the cherished freedom to make educational choices for our children.  Let us also remain committed to expanding those opportunities for all.

Happy Fourth of July!