The Role of the Committee and the Scope of the Report

2025 Annual Report of the Committee on Religious Liberty
Section I

Section I: The Role of the Committee and the Scope of the Report

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the assembly of the Catholic bishops of the United States, and the vehicle by which they act collaboratively on vital issues confronting the Church and society. The USCCB’s Committee for Religious Liberty works to strengthen and sustain religious freedom by assisting the U.S. bishops, individually and collectively, to teach about religious freedom to the faithful and the broader public, and to promote and defend religious freedom in law and policy. Resources outlining numerous aspects of the Committee’s work can be found at www.usccb.org/committees/religious-liberty

The Committee focuses on religious liberty issues that fall within certain parameters, which also define the scope of this report. 

First, the Committee works on religious liberty here in the United States. This does not reflect a lack of concern by the bishops for religious liberty abroad—rather, international religious liberty issues fall under the purview of the Committee on International Justice and Peace. And the state of religious liberty in many countries is indeed dire. While religious liberty has come under increasing pressure in the United States in recent years, Americans remain blessed by our country’s tradition of honoring this God-given right. The work of the Committee for Religious Liberty on domestic issues helps to ensure that the United States continues to be an example for other governments. 

Second, the Committee addresses religious liberty issues at the federal or national level. Primarily this consists of federal legislation, actions of the federal executive branch, and decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Committee also addresses matters occurring at the state or local level when they represent national trends or are matters of national importance. State and local religious liberty issues, and religious liberty court cases that have not yet reached the Supreme Court, are generally outside the scope of the Committee’s work.

Third, the Committee actively upholds and protects religious liberty for all faiths, but the Committee naturally has a special role, expertise, and interest in protecting the free exercise of the Catholic religion. So, while this report includes discussion of religious liberty issues affecting other faiths, it is not intended to be an exhaustive treatment of all challenges to religious liberty in the United States. 

Last, when a government infringes on the religious liberty of Catholics, it is typically in furtherance of a worldview or policy priority that is itself contrary to, or to degrees at variance with, Catholic social teaching. But governments also can advance such objectionable policies in ways that do not burden the consciences of individuals or the integrity of religious institutions. On matters of this sort, other committees of the Conference take the lead with the consultation and support of the Committee for Religious Liberty as necessary. 

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