I received a splendid formulation of an important truth about American history: “[The] Protestant belief in the priesthood of the believer, our newly discovered privilege of having a personal relationship with Christ, raised the dignity of man and led to the principles found in our Declaration and Constitution.” The Protestant stress on this doctrine was historically determinative for the United States. But well-catechized Catholics, too, believe in the priesthood of all believers (they simply believe that there is also a specifically ministerial priesthood); that’s one reason the building up of our Republic was a genuinely ecumenical effort, and not merely a self-consciously Protestant one. (Yes, I know about John Jay, and also about the burning of the Charlestown Convent, etc. Those were sad chapters in a story that was, overall, an edifying example to the whole world. America has offered a peaceful home to people seeking to practice their religions — and it has been a key principle with us to protect, especially, those who have unpopular religions, because they, of course, are the ones whose rights are most in danger. It’s hard to assemble an angry mob to burn down a popular house of worship.)

Pope John Paul II used to quote Vatican II to the effect that Christ does not merely reveal God to man – he also reveals man to man. This NRO reader connected the dots for me, in an especially uplifting way, between the revelation of man’s dignity in the Christ event and the dignity of man as a self-governing being in the American tradition. I’m grateful.