As Catholics consecrated the nation to the Sacred Heart, speakers at the Zeale for America 250 rally emphasized America's greatness while largely avoiding the language of repentance traditionally associated with the devotion.
A new poll by PRRI shows two-thirds of Americans still prefer a nation made of many different faiths, despite the growth of Christian nationalism in the public square.
"Christ does not advance the kingdom through political coercion or institutional domination," writes Enzo Del Brocco. "The kingdom arrives quietly, often unnoticed, yet capable of transforming everything around it."
The nation’s Catholic bishops gathered June 11 in Orlando for a liturgy consecrating the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, drawing on a centuries-old devotion to mark the country’s 250th anniversary.
To mark the 250th anniversary of the United States, Catholic bishops from across the nation will come together Thursday to consecrate the country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
As the U.S. marks its 250th anniversary, the nation's Catholic bishops have released a prayer service text commemorating its immigrants and refugees, as well as those trafficked under historic and modern forms of slavery in the U.S.
"Rededicate 250 was plagued by the same division that has afflicted American Christians since our country's beginning, and which now undermines the already fragile MAGA coalition between Catholics and Protestants," Emma Cieslik writes.
Thousands of people streamed onto the National Mall for a daylong prayer rally Sunday billed as a "rededication of our country as One Nation under God."
In recent decades, the 1776 document's few references to God have been especially polarizing, as Americans defend starkly contrasting views of the United States.
The U.S. officials who will speak "are political lieutenants of an administration that has waged war on immigrants, gutted Catholic Charities contracts, and treated the Holy Father as an adversary," said one critic.
The medal recognizes what organizers described as the pontiff's lifelong advocacy for religious liberty and freedom of conscience — principles embedded in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
