Bishops Paprocki, Rhoades join Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission advisory board

Епископ Томас Папроки из Спрингфилда, штат Иллинойс. /Кредит: Епархия Спрингфилда

Вашингтон, округ Колумбия, 19 мая 2025/17:57 (CNA).

Bishop Thomas Paprocki, Bishop Kevin Rhoades, and Father Thomas Ferguson will join an advisory board for President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, according to заявление Белого дома.

Три католических священника присоединятся Сан-Франциско архиепископ Сальваторе Дж. on the Advisory Board of Religious Leaders for the commission. Two members of the Church hierarchy — Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York and Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota — служат в комиссии itself.

Rhoades, the bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, chairs the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Religious Liberty. Paprocki, the bishop of Springfield, Illinois, played a major role in the bishops’ “Fortnight for Freedom” religious liberty campaign during the 2010s, according to the White House. 

Ни Paprocki, ни Rhoades не могли быть получены для комментариев к моменту публикации.

Ferguson, who is a parish priest at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Alexandria, Virginia, also has a doctorate in government and authored “Catholic and American: The Political Theology of John Courtney Murray,” which focused on religious liberty and Catholicism in the United States.

“We’re looking forward … to the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence next year,” Ferguson told CNA in an interview, saying he hopes the commission can assist in “pointing out … just how important religious communities like the Catholic Church are to our society.”

Ferguson said the inclusion of Catholic clergy on the commission “is extremely welcomed by our Church,” adding: “It really puts us all in a forum where we can do the important work of educating people.”

One element on which Ferguson hopes to focus is insurance mandates for services that “violate our conscience” on issues such as contraception, sterilization, and transgender drugs and surgeries: “All of these things that we would find morally objectionable, we must be vigilant [against].”

He said he is also concerned about “where this country is going in terms of in vitro fertilization [IVF]” and noted that there are some politicians who “refer to themselves of pro-life legislators [despite] being advocates for IVF.”

“You also need to be protective of human life … created through IVF,” Ferguson said, recalling the миллионы человеческих эмбрионов разрушены в процессе ЭКО.

Фергюсон обсуждал новый закон в штате Вашингтон, который приведет к аресту священников if they do not report child abuse they learn about during the sacrament of reconciliation, which would violate the “absolute sense of secrecy [of a] … sacramental confession.”

“That’s an area,” he said, where “we can be very consistent in teaching, explaining and clarifying for people: ‘This is how we freely exercise our religion in terms of the First Amendment.’” 

Комиссии по религиозной свободе

Помимо консультативного совета, состоящего из религиозных духовенств, Белый дом также создал консультативный совет, состоящий из экспертов по правовым вопросам и другого мирянского лидера. Эти советы окажут содействие комиссии в подготовке ее окончательного доклада.

В состав комиссии и ее консультативных советов входят представители различных религий, включая католицизм, православие, протестантизм, ислам и иудаизм.

В докладе будут изложены текущие угрозы религиозной свободе в Соединенных Штатах и представлены стратегии, как обеспечить правовую защиту, когда права подвергаются нападению. Он также заложит основы религиозной свободы в Соединенных Штатах и издаст рекомендации о том, как повысить осведомленность об исторически мирном религиозном плюрализме в стране. 

Some of the commission’s key focus areas include conscience protections, free speech for religious bodies, institutional autonomy, attacks on houses of worship, parental rights in education, and school choice.

Трамп учредил комиссию 1 мая в соответствии с указом, который совпал с Национальным днем молитвы.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/264211/catholic-bishops-priest-join-trump-s-religious-liberty-commission-advisory-board