News & Events

Maryland’s Catholic bishops bear witness to the devastating impact that hunger, homelessness and unemployment have on individuals and families.

When Did We See You Hungry? is a joint statement signed by Washington Archbishop Donald Cardinal Wuerl, Baltimore Apostolic Administrator Cardinal-elect Edwin F. O’Brien and Wilmington Bishop W. Francis Malooly. “Loving those among us who are struggling, poor, unemployed or homeless is not merely something that we do out of the goodness of our own hearts. Rather, it is an obligation and a requirement of true justice,” they wrote.

“The principle of Catholic social teaching … instructs that we cannot wash our hands of the work of caring for the poor by simply asking the government to do it. However, the government has a crucial role to play; and part of our responsibility is to be sure that our leaders take action when they must.”

Maryland’s bishops call on Catholics and all Marylanders to reaffirm and uphold America’s First Freedom and the foundational principles upon which its democratic society is built. “Religious liberty – a right rooted in our human dignity and protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution – is being silently and subtly eroded,” wrote the bishops of Maryland in the statement. “[I]n recent years there has been a subtle promotion of the idea that religious liberty should be restricted to Sunday morning worship.”

The Most Sacred of All Property: Religious Freedom and the People of Maryland is signed by Washington Archbishop Donald Cardinal Wuerl, Baltimore Apostolic Administrator Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien, and Wilmington Bishop W. Francis Malooly. The statement was issued with input from a task force chaired by John Garvey, President of The Catholic University of America, that included experts in legal, theological, and historical issues.

“Religious liberty is the most important civil rights issue of our time. This thoughtful statement by the Maryland Catholic bishops is a reminder of the role it has played in our history, and of the continuing need to cherish and protect it,” noted Garvey. The statement will be distributed to Maryland’s nearly 280 Catholic parishes and other Catholic institutions, as well as to all of Maryland’s state and Congressional elected officials.

“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religious belief. No one should be subject to coercion because of those beliefs. ... Society as a whole benefits when all citizens in our pluralistic democracy – including religious citizens and institutions – remain free to participate in public life and to do so in accordance with their sincerely held beliefs,” wrote the bishops.

A copy of the complete statement along with additional resource materials may be found at www.mdcathcon.org/religiousfreedom.