Cardinal George speaks about religious freedom at BYU

IC photo by Marie Mischel

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His Eminence Cardinal Francis George, archbishop of Chicago and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, spoke at Brigham Young University on Tuesday.

PROVO - Common values such as the central role of families, the importance of religious values and the need to stand together against threats to religious freedom bind Catholics and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said His Eminence Cardinal

George, archbishop of Chicago and president of the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops, during his presentation at Brigham Young University on Tuesday.

"I come before you today as a religious leader who shares with you a love for our country and also, for many, a growing concern about its moral health as a good society," Cardinal George said. "In recent years, Catholics and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have stood more frequently side by side in the public square to defend human life and dignity."

The partnership between Catholics and Mormons has been strengthened by Gordon B. Hinckley

opening his doors to bishops of Utah during his tenure as president of the LDS Church, and President Thomas Monson's presence and speech at the Cathedral of the Madeleine's centennial celebration, Cardinal George said.

"I'm personally grateful that after 180 years of living mostly apart from each other, Catholics and Latter-day Saints have begun to see one another as trustworthy partners

in the defense of shared moral principles and in the promotion of the common good of our beloved country," he said.

Catholics and Mormons have a shared calling to defend marriage as a union between one man and one woman, and opposing abortion and euthanasia, Cardinal George said. Religious freedom means that religious groups and individuals have the right to exercise their influence

in the public square, he said, although he acknowledged that by doing so they might become targets for retribution.

"The question of freedom lies at the heart of modern society's deepest conflicts, as it always lies at the heart of who we are as creatures made in the image and likeness of a god who loves us freely," he said.

Catholics, Mormons and others should work together against the "tidal forces at work in our government and society to reduce religion to a merely private reality," Cardinal George said. "At stake is whether or not the religious voice will be heard in the public square."

The cardinal "combined very nicely Catholicism

and Mormonism, especially in practical and social areas," said Fr. Langes Silva, judicial

vicar of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, who attended the forum with a number of other members from the Pastoral Center and the diocese. "I think he connected with the audience very nicely, using examples from his own life and mentioning things from his personal experience."

Cardinal George has been president of the USCCB since 2007; he was elevated to cardinal by Pope John II in 1998. He was ordained in 1963 and holds a master's degree in philosophy from the Catholic University of America, a doctorate in American philosophy from Tulane University and a doctorate in sacred theology from the Pontifical Urban University in Rome. He was elected Vicar General of the Oblates in Rome and participated

in the 2005 conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI.