Dioceses Gear Up For Fortnight For Freedom, June 21-July 4

WASHINGTON—Dioceses nationwidewill highlight religious liberty during the Fortnight for Freedom, June 21-July4.

TheFortnight celebration opens with a June 21 Mass at 7 p.m. at Baltimore’sBasilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary,celebrated by Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore. A closing Mass will becelebrated July 4, in Washington, at 12:10 p.m. at the Basilica of the NationalShrine of the Immaculate Conception. Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington willcelebrate the Mass, and Archbishop Charles Chaput, OFM Cap. of Philadelphia,will be homilist.The Mass will betelevised nationwide on the EWTN cable network.

Alist of diocesan activities can be found at www.fortnight4freedom.org.

Celebrationsrange from special Masses and Holy Hours for religious liberty to concerts andmulti-media presentations, to a Catholic trivia night and distribution of yardsigns and car magnets.

The Archdiocese of Washington plansa “prayerful celebration of freedom,” June 24 at 4 p.m. at George WashingtonUniversity’s Smith Center, where Cardinal Wuerl will host over 4,000 attendeesat a music and video program tracing the history of religious liberty andcelebrating the Catholic experience. More information can be found at www.sacredproperty.org.

TheWashington Archdiocese also will host a “Be the Conscience!” music festival foryoung adults featuring Catholic artists on June 23, at 6 p.m. at Fridays CreekWinery, Owings, Maryland. The archdiocese also will provide 10,000 religiousliberty car magnets and plans an “I Am Free Because” Twitter campaign. Inanother effort, the archdiocese has encouraged parishioners to pray a shortprayer for religious freedom (“Minute to Win It!”) each day at 3 p.m., May 23,just before Pentecost, to November 25, the feast of Christ the King.

ACatholic Trivia Night, on June 25, 7:30 p.m., at Pat Troy’s in Old Town inAlexandria will be part of the Diocese of Arlington event. Participants areinvited to come in teams or solo but to leave their catechisms home.

In Kansas, the Catholic Bishops haveorganized a statewide rally for religious freedom, June 29, at 2 p.m. at theState Capitol Building in Topeka. In Wichita, Kansas, Bishop Michael Jackelswill lead a rally at the U.S. Courthouse in Wichita on the evening of June 21.

TheArchdiocese of Oklahoma City will host an Ecumenical Rally on Religious Freedom,June 23, at 1 p.m., at the Cox Convention Center. The Archdiocese ofPhiladelphia will host a Religious Liberty Conference, June 23-24, at St. CharlesBorromeo Seminary.

Inthe Diocese of Rochester, New York, St. Mary’s Parish in Canandaigua, New York,will host a 14-day Festival for Freedom. Speakers will include Austin Ruse,president of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute and founder of theNational Catholic Prayer Breakfast;FatherPeter Stravinskas, founder of “The Catholic Response Magazine” and “TheCatholic Answer”; Loretta Fleming of the National Committee for a Human LifeAmendment; Kathleen Gallagher, director of pro-life activities for the New YorkState Catholic Conference and director of the Catholic Action Network; KyleDuncan, General Counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty; and JonathanTobin, senior online editor of Commentary magazine.

Severaldioceses plan town hall meetings, including the Archdiocese of Boston, June 25,8 p.m. with Cardinal Sean O’Malley; Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, June 27, 7 p.m.with Bishop Frederick Campbell, Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, June 19, 9 a.m.;Diocese of Dallas, Texas, June 22 at 8:30 a.m. (English), June 24 (Spanish),and June 30 (English); Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky, June 25 at 6:30 p.m., witha prayer service and sharing on state immigration laws, and June 27, at 6:30 p.m.,on Catholic foster care and adoption services; and the Diocese of Portland,Maine, June 23 at 7 p.m.

TheDiocese of Dallas also will celebrate a Fortnight Mass in Spanish on June 24 at2:30 p.m., followed by an educational program in Spanish.

TheArchdiocese of St. Louis already has launched a six-month campaign forreligious liberty, from May 27, the feast of Pentecost, to November 25.Archbishop Robert Carlson will recite a prayer for religious liberty onCovenant Radio every day at 3 p.m. Archbishop Carlson also is encouragingfasting on Fridays for the protection of religious liberty.

TheDiocese of Charleston, South Carolina, will have a Eucharistic Procession onJune 23 at 9 a.m. led by Bishop Robert Guglielmone. The Archdiocese ofCincinnati will provide one thousand “Preserve Religious Freedom” yard signs.

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Keywords:Fortnight4Freedom, Fortnight For Freedom, Basilicaof the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Basilicaof the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Archbishop William Lori,Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop Charles Chaput, holy hours, Mass, Pentecost,Archbishop Robert Carlson, Bishop Frederick Campbell, Covenant Radio, CardinalSean O’Malley, Bishop Michael Jackels

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