The flag has been removed from the tower and the Shrine is returning to being a space that feels open to everyone. I am honestly stunned that this happened because it only occurred because you chose to speak up. Please keep looking out for one another and thank you for …
October 27, 2019
Final supporters
Dear Pope Francis, Archbishop Gregory, and Monsignor Rossi,
As members of the Catholic community, we implore you to stop displaying the United States flag on the bell tower of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC.
With such an enormous display on the front of the Shrine, visitors could easily assume an equivalence between church and nation. While Catholics are called to actively engage in civic life as citizens, we know that our primary allegiance is to bring about God’s Kin-dom here on earth. There are times, in fact, when our allegiance to Catholicism is in direct opposition to our allegiance to nation, such as when we must protest the taking of innocent life, whether the unborn child, the condemned prisoner, or the victim of United States military bombing missions.
Sadly, our nation’s flag has become a symbol of militarism and American exceptionalism around the world, values that our Catholic faith tradition acknowledges are antithetical to Jesus’ teachings. Since the Shrine attracts visitors from many countries, displaying it suggests that they are not one with their American brother and sister Catholics, but rather “others” in a foreign land. The Shrine needs to be a welcoming refuge, a place of safety and deep belonging for all Catholics.
For these reasons, we ask you to remove the flag permanently from the bell tower. Thank you for your prayerful consideration.
Sincerely,
Updates
Reached 250 supporters
September 10, 2019
August 29, 2019
I have been reading through the reflections many of you left and I am truly moved by the depth of your devotion to this sacred space. This conversation is happening because you chose to speak up about where our true priorities should lie. I am just holding the space for a dialogue that belongs entirely to this community.
August 27, 2019
I am honestly a bit overwhelmed by the momentum this has gained lately. This movement belongs entirely to the people who took the time to read the words and felt enough resonance to add their names. It is truly humbling to see so many of you feeling this deeply about our shared faith.
Reached 100 supporters
August 27, 2019
August 26, 2019
I am honestly overwhelmed by the response to this request and it truly belongs to all of you who share this vision. If we could just push a little further to hit our first hundred signatures that would be an incredible milestone for our message to reach the altar. Please keep helping me bring eyes to this effort while we wait for a response.
94 Comments
I agree with this letter 100%. Even as an individual Catholic citizen I have refused to display the flag for the same reason. It has been co-opted to stand for militarism and American exceptionalism and is totally contrary to my beliefs as a citizen and as a Catholic. I do not even like to use flag stamps for that reason.
Flags in any place of worship stand as symbols of idolatry. Nationalism, exceptionalism, and violence are woven into the U.S. flag. I am currently showing my students Theologians Under Hitler, an important film that serves as a warning about using religion to support the nation-state. This display is deeply disturbing.
Given the atrocities of the US these days on immigration, climate change, abortion, the death penalty, among other ways of violating Catholic Social Teaching, this display of the flag is wrongheaded.
Religious freedom means freedom to worship without appeal to national symbols. We pray for our country and give thanks to God for it. The church is not a place for national symbols but the symbols of God.
We do not gather as Americans when we come to any church; we come as God's people, who, I believe, is much larger and more humanly fundamental to our being than national citizenship.
Please Oh please .... Keep the flag of a imperial nation that has slaughtered millions of people in a 200-plus year history of slaughter of the native peoples, enslavement of Africans and war-making off of our sacred shrine. God forgive Us!
Do not show the American flag on the Basilica
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The flag has been removed from the tower and the Shrine is returning to being a space that feels open to everyone. I am honestly stunned that this happened because it only occurred because you chose to speak up. Please keep looking out for one another and thank you for …
October 27, 2019
Final supporters
Dear Pope Francis, Archbishop Gregory, and Monsignor Rossi,
As members of the Catholic community, we implore you to stop displaying the United States flag on the bell tower of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC.
With such an enormous display on the front of the Shrine, visitors could easily assume an equivalence between church and nation. While Catholics are called to actively engage in civic life as citizens, we know that our primary allegiance is to bring about God’s Kin-dom here on earth. There are times, in fact, when our allegiance to Catholicism is in direct opposition to our allegiance to nation, such as when we must protest the taking of innocent life, whether the unborn child, the condemned prisoner, or the victim of United States military bombing missions.
Sadly, our nation’s flag has become a symbol of militarism and American exceptionalism around the world, values that our Catholic faith tradition acknowledges are antithetical to Jesus’ teachings. Since the Shrine attracts visitors from many countries, displaying it suggests that they are not one with their American brother and sister Catholics, but rather “others” in a foreign land. The Shrine needs to be a welcoming refuge, a place of safety and deep belonging for all Catholics.
For these reasons, we ask you to remove the flag permanently from the bell tower. Thank you for your prayerful consideration.
Sincerely,
Updates
Reached 250 supporters
September 10, 2019
August 29, 2019
I have been reading through the reflections many of you left and I am truly moved by the depth of your devotion to this sacred space. This conversation is happening because you chose to speak up about where our true priorities should lie. I am just holding the space for a dialogue that belongs entirely to this community.
August 27, 2019
I am honestly a bit overwhelmed by the momentum this has gained lately. This movement belongs entirely to the people who took the time to read the words and felt enough resonance to add their names. It is truly humbling to see so many of you feeling this deeply about our shared faith.
Reached 100 supporters
August 27, 2019
August 26, 2019
I am honestly overwhelmed by the response to this request and it truly belongs to all of you who share this vision. If we could just push a little further to hit our first hundred signatures that would be an incredible milestone for our message to reach the altar. Please keep helping me bring eyes to this effort while we wait for a response.
94 Comments
I have no difficulty with flying our U.S. flag on church property. However, I do feel the size of this flag and it's placement on the Shrine itself does send the wrong message to visitors of our national Catholic shrine.
I agree with this letter 100%. Even as an individual Catholic citizen I have refused to display the flag for the same reason. It has been co-opted to stand for militarism and American exceptionalism and is totally contrary to my beliefs as a citizen and as a Catholic. I do not even like to use flag stamps for that reason.
Flags in any place of worship stand as symbols of idolatry. Nationalism, exceptionalism, and violence are woven into the U.S. flag. I am currently showing my students Theologians Under Hitler, an important film that serves as a warning about using religion to support the nation-state. This display is deeply disturbing.
Given the atrocities of the US these days on immigration, climate change, abortion, the death penalty, among other ways of violating Catholic Social Teaching, this display of the flag is wrongheaded.
Religious freedom means freedom to worship without appeal to national symbols. We pray for our country and give thanks to God for it. The church is not a place for national symbols but the symbols of God.
We do not gather as Americans when we come to any church; we come as God's people, who, I believe, is much larger and more humanly fundamental to our being than national citizenship.
Please Oh please .... Keep the flag of a imperial nation that has slaughtered millions of people in a 200-plus year history of slaughter of the native peoples, enslavement of Africans and war-making off of our sacred shrine. God forgive Us!
Do not show the American flag on the Basilica
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I have no difficulty with flying our U.S. flag on church property. However, I do feel the size of this flag and it's placement on the Shrine itself does send the wrong message to visitors of our national Catholic shrine.