The quadrennial race for the White House has begun, so you and I will be barraged by whatever it takes to buy our vote.
John Ireland (1838-1918), the first Archbishop of Saint Paul, had a strong and unyielding commitment to the proposition that a free and open democracy was the finest way of governance.
The Vatican found his proposition scandalous. The Vatican was, to say the least, suspicious of democracy and preferred monarchy as the best form of governance. Ireland’s thoughts were identified, by the Vatican, as the heresy of Americanism.
Ireland believed that human beings, given the correct information, could be trusted to make decisions for the common good.
He believed that a free, democratic society and Catholic faith were compatible. In his strong commitment to education, he believed that a well-educated citizenry was the guarantee of a strong democratic society.
There has always been a fair amount of carnival sideshow connected with political campaigns. You and I are called to sidestep the carnival and focus on the values and principles we hold as support for a fair and free, inclusive and unprejudiced way of life.
John Ireland still looms large in the life of the Minnesota Catholic Church; as does the principle that being both a good Catholic and a good citizen are necessary if we are to remain free.
Father Steve Adrian
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