Bishop Robert Barron to Address Religion and Democracy at National Prayer Event

Bishop Robert Barron will deliver an address at President Donald Trump’s Rededicate 250 prayer event on the National Mall this Sunday. The gathering, organized by the Trump-aligned Freedom 250 nonprofit, is intended to rededicate the nation as "One Nation Under God" ahead of America’s 250th anniversary. It is expected to include the president, White House Cabinet members and major faith leaders.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Barron said his speech will focus on what he described as the marginalization of God and religion in society. He stated that this marginalization represents a true threat to democracy. Barron asserted that God is essential to the foundations of American democracy.

Barron told Fox News Digital that many current societal issues stem from a cultural separation from God. He linked this separation to what he called radical self-choice, wokeism and a culture of self-invention. Barron said such an approach is deadly to democracy.

"God is essential to the very foundations of American democracy," Barron said. " — Bishop Robert Barron (Fox News) Barron said he will open his remarks by referencing Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. He noted that early drafts of the speech lacked the phrase "under God," but Lincoln added it during delivery.

Barron argued this reflected a deep intuition that America is shaped by moral and spiritual values from God. He pointed to the Declaration of Independence’s statement that all men are created equal as a concept made possible by Christianity. Barron observed that classical political philosophers did not affirm the equality of all people in intelligence, virtue or other qualities.

He said the equality derives from all people being equally children of God, endowed by their creator with inalienable rights. Barron contrasted this with societies that do not center belief in God, citing Soviet Russia and communist China as examples where rights were not universally recognized. He said removing the creator from the equation would cause rights to disappear.

The bishop added that Lincoln’s addition of "under God" signaled that the nation required this foundation for a new birth of freedom. The address will also examine the nature of freedom. Barron said the modern view equates freedom with spontaneous choice and doing whatever one wants.

In contrast, he said the founding fathers, trained in biblical and classical traditions, saw freedom as the ordering of desire toward the good. Barron used the examples of mastering a new language or learning to play the piano. He explained that true freedom comes from internalizing rules and structure, allowing one to achieve the good effortlessly.

This moral freedom, he said, enables people to become who they are meant to be.