saturday at noon eastern. literary life on c-span 2 and wings on american presidents and black entrepreneurs and dennis farny on the founding of beechcraft and the barnstormer and the lady and browse the rare book collection at water mark west's rare books and sunday at 5 p.m. eastern on american history tv, experience early plains life at the old cal town museum and the early days of flight at the kansas aviation museum and two participants from the kansas civil rights movement in 1958 sat down for service at the docham drug store. once a month we explore the history and literary life of city as cross america. this weekend from wichita, kansas, on c-span 2 and c-span 3. >> william lori addressed the ethic and public policy center religious freedom conference in washington, d.c. last week. they told the group the ferm government is requiring

religious institutions to offer a product contrary to their moral teaching. archbishop lori received the american religious freedom award. this is a half hour. >> appointing this honoree pope benedict brought to the historic center of catholicism in america a bold persuasive defender of religious freedom for 21st century america. arch bishop william he have lory first earned aacclaim in 2009 in bridge fort, connecticut, and some legislators seeking to retaliate against the church for the opposition to same sex marriage bill introduced an amazing piece of legislation that would have stripped catholic bishops and pastors of

their authority over their own diocese and parishs. more recentry in his service as chairman, the congressional testimony, writing, and his overall leadership role in the great debate on religious freedom in the united states has unfolded these past several months he's made himself a worthy success yoor to two predecessor bishops in the first catholic diseize in our country. and cardinal james gibbons, whose 1887 roman sermon as mentioned during the conference extolling the american arrangement on church and state helped pave the way toward the second vatican council's

landmark declaration on religious freedom. archbishop lory, a native of louisville, kentucky, 150e6d his seminary education in kentucky and mount st. marys in maryland and completed a doctorate in theology at the catholic university of america. after years of service in he became the fourth beneficiary off in bridge fort in 2001 and as he noted last week at the cathedral of mary our queen his education and what it means to be a bishop was enhanced by an encounter with a third grader in greenwich, connecticut, who when asked what bishops do during one of bishop lory's visits to our school shot her arm up, was recognized and brightly replied bishops move diagonally and protect the king.

one need not be annen enthusiast at the game of chess to this action. you honor us by your presence. we're eager to hear your thoughts on the challenges we must all face and address together and we're delighted to honor you with our inaugural american freedom award.

>> thank you so very much. eric, this is a really fine award. i will split it with you if you would like me to. would that be all right? distinguished religious leaders, governor lovett, mr. whalen, brian walsh and all dear friends, it is now been just over a week since i became archbishop of baltimore, and i find myself surrounded by history there. i live near the basilica of the assumption which is the oldest cathedral in the united states, the cornerstone of which was laid in 1808, the nation's first bishop, john carol, is buried beneath the basilica as are many of my predecessors. john carol was a cousin of charles carol a signer of the

declaration of independence. charles carol's story, indeed maryland's early history, teaches us about the fragility of religious liberty and the importance of exercising vigilance in protecting it. maryland was founded in the mid-17th century by the english, by the catholic lord baltimore and founded to be a society where people of different faiths could live together peacefully. this vision was soon codified in maryland's 1649 act concerning religion, also called the toleration act which was the first law in our nation's history to protect an individual's right to freedom of

conscience. maryland's experiment in religious toleration, however, ended within a few decades. around the turn of the 18th century the colony was placed under royal control and the church of england became the established religion. discriminatory laws including the loss of political rights were enacted against those who refused to conform. catholic chapels were closed. catholics were restricted to practicing their faith in their homes. the catholic community lived under those conditions until the american revolution. both charles, carol and his father although wealthy landowners were barred from active participation in politics because of their roman catholic

faith. despite this legal restrictions, in the early 1770s charles carol became a powerful voice for independence from british rule. eventually he was elected to represent the colony of maryland and in various committees and was selected as a delegate to the continental congress in 1776. then carol signed the declaration of independence and he was the only catholic to too so. just a few years later our founding fathers included the protection of the free exercise of religion in the first amendment of our constitution. in reflecting on his time in the constitutional convention, george washington stated in 1789

these words. he said if i could have entertained the slightest apprehension that the constitution framed in the convention where i had the honor to preside might possiblien danger the religious rights of any ecclesiastical society, certainly i would never have placed my signature to it. washington went on to state if i could now conceive that the general government might ever be so administered as to render the liberty of conscience insecure, i beg you will be persuaded that no one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny and every species of religious

persecution. some 20 years later in 1809 another of our founding fathers, thomas jefferson, emphasized the value of freedom of conscience when he stated this. he said no provision in our constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the enterprises of the civil authority. so we can be confident that our founding fathers needs the foundational value of religious liberty and freedom of conscience. today we are reminded that the lesson of maryland's early history and the story of charles carol, we are reminded that

religious liberty is fragile, that value is now under attack and it will require our active vigilance to protect it, not just for ourselves but for future generations. pope benedict highlighted this to a group of bishops earlier this year. the pope spoke forcefully about the need to defend religious liberty in the united states, he said with her long tradition of respect for the right relationship between faith and reason, the church has a critical role to play in countering cultural currents which seek to promote notions of freedom detached from world

truth. benedict went on to say that the legitimate separation of church and state cannot be taken to mean that the church must be silent on certain issues nor that the state may choose not to engage or be engaged by the voices of committed believers in determining the values which will shape the future of the nation. that was on january 19th of this year. on january 20th as if on cue the department of health and human services announced that it had to intention of changing the mandate it had proposed in august, a mandate which would force virtually all employers, even those with conscientious objections to provide health

care coverage for abortion inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraceptives. the mandate would be subject to an extremely narrow exception, one that covers houses of worship but leaves out the manifold ministries of charity and education that flow directly from that worship. this has now become the most critical religious liberty challenge that we face in the united states today. this is the first time that the federal government has compelled religious institutions to facilitate and to fund a product contrary to their moral teaching. compounding the problem, the

exemption has the federal government defining which religious institutions are religious enough to merit the protection of their religious liberty. so for these reasons a great number of catholic diocese, charities, universities, and other catholic institutions around the country found it necessary to file lawsuits this week against the federal government challenging the mandate as a violation of the first amendment and the religious freedom restoration act. it is unfortunate -- >> [ applause ] >> it is unfortunate, even tragic, that catholic

institutions and other religious groups as well have been forced by the federal government into this situation. part of the tragedy is how easily and on how many different occasions this conflict could have been avoided entirely despite the best efforts of our bishop's conference, the executive and legislative branchs have failed to head off the problem. for example, back in 2010 before the health care reform law was even passed, catholic bishops warned the congress about the need for clearer conscience protection in the face of the new health coverage mandates and the law. soon after the bill became law, the bishop's conference

supported the passage of the respect for rights of conscience act and an act which offered a complete solution to the conscience problem, drawing on language used in federal statutes repeatedly since 1973. once the administration began hinting that the so-called preventive services mandate would include things that the church institutions could not morally facilitate or fund, the conference staff began filing comments, began appearing at hearings, as early as the fall of 2010. once the regulations finally came out in august of 2011, we filed more comments. when the decision was announced that those august regulations

would not change, we protested again. despite these numerous opportunities to avoid this train wreck, on february the 10th hhs finalized the august regulation and i quote without change. thus they closed the door on any chance of removing the offending items from the mandate or expanding the exemption. all that remains is the so-called accommodation which is constrained by the final rule that precedes it, and which addresses itself only to a small part of the overall problem and does so inadequately. catholic institutions and other groups have thus been forced to

take action by litigation, a course that no one desires but a course that appears to be the only alternative left in order to seek relief from this unjust federal government mandate. friends, this is not about the catholic church wanting to force anybody to do anything. instead, it is about the federal government forcing the church consisting of its faithful and all but a few of its institutions to act against church teachings. this is not a fight we want, not a fight we ask for, but one forced upon us by the government on its own timing. this is not a republican or democratic or conservative or

liberal issue. it is an american issue. the church forms its positions based on principles. here are the principles in question are religious liberty for all and the life and dignity of every human person, our views, our position here is based not on polls, not on personalities, and not on political parties. now that i have said what this litigation is not about, what is it about? well, for starters, it is about it is about a warranted government definition of

religion, the mandate includes an extremely narrow definition of what hhs deems employers who among other things must hire and serve primarily those of their own faith. this exemption attacked religious freedom by defining it away. by limiting protections essentially to houses of worship. the exemption reduces the freedom of religion to freedom of worship. but more importantly, the purpose of the litigation is to block government coercion, to act against conscious. those deemed not to be religious employers will be forced by the

government to violate their own teaching within their very own institution. this is not only an injustice in itself, but it also undermines the effective proclamation of those teachings to the faithful and to the world. i emphasize the fact of government coercion because it is one of the key differences between a mere dispute over reproductive health policy and a dispute over religious freedom. nose who would try to conceal the religious freedom aspect have done all in their power to conceal the key facts that the church is being forced by the government to violate its own belief. in a bizarre turn, those same advocates accuse the church of

somehow forcing its beliefs on others. when the exact opposite is true. to be sure, the mandate entails a breach in the separation of church and state, but it is an incursion by the state into the church's territory, not the other way around. and this is not the only strange inversion we have seen in the public discourse since the mandate. in the game of protecting choice, the government is depriving the church of its choice and how to run its own institution. in the name of protecting a diversity of views within catholic institutions, the

government is imposing uniformity on employers, all but eliminating workplaces ordered the catholic values. or still, these radical distortions seem to be having some sway in our culture when they should be last out of public opinion. this underscores the depth of the problem that we face and points to the long-term remedy for it, which is teaching about religious freedom, the very value that brings us here tonight and for which i am so grateful. put in another word, the hhs lawsuits if it were successful would only provide a band-aid solution to the greater problem of radical secularism that we are facing in our country.

kbleszed pope john paul ii discussed this problem almost two decades ago when he visited the baltimore cathedral and stated this. he said the challenge facing you, dear friends, is to increase people's awareness of the importance for society of religious freedom. to defend that freedom against those who would take religion out of the public domain and establish secularism as america's official faith. and he said it is vitally necessary for the very survival of the american experience to transmit to the next generation the precious legacy of religious freedom and the convictions which sustain it. so how do we pass on our great legacy of religious freedom to the next generation.

as americans, we must learn about this legacy of our founding fathers. as people of faith, we must mine our own religious traditions and religious freedom and share the treasures we find, not only within our own communities, but with society at large. and we need to pray diligently as communities, as families, as individuals for religious liberty. with this in mind, the u.s. bishops ad hoc committee on religious liberties has suggested that we celebrate a fortnight for freedom this summer from june 21 to july 4. this will be a special period of prayer in the two weeks leading up to the fourth of july. in the catholic tradition, these

two weeks include the feast days of members of the church who were martyred by the state for their religious beliefs. st. thomas moore and st. john fisher. but regardless of your tradition and what they otherwise fall within those two weeks, we invite you to join us in prayer and in a great national campaign of teaching and witness for religious liberty. this may take as many forms as they are great religious traditions in our country and will itself serve as a sign of the religious diversity that flows from religious freedom and that makes our country great. for example, we are encouraging all catholic churches to ring

their bells on june 21 and july 4 at noon eastern time, 9:00 a.m. pacific time. and so we hope other houses of worship with bells will join us in that special sign of sol lairty and support for religious liberty. to let freedom ring. the possibilities, of course, are endless. prayer services for religious liberty with your own tradition, ecumenical and interfaith event to show the breadth of support for this foundational value, just to name a few. here's the key point. united states bishops and faithful catholics in this country, numerous though we may be, cannot fight the tide of radical secularism alone. and so i'm here tonight to ask

your help. whatever help you feel you can give because together, we can achieve great things. although fighting the tide of secularism in general and current threats to religious liberty in particular can seem like a daunting task. we know that with god, all things are possible. we know that prayer is the ultimate source of our strength in this fight. thank you so much for this religious freedom award. you honor me great think. thank you for all that where you are doing to defend religious liberty. thank you for seeing the urgency of defending religious liberty for all believers. thanks for listening and may god bless the giants of america. -- united states of america.

[ applause ] during this holiday week, we are featuring some of america history tv's programs in prime time here on c-span3. tonight, a look back at world war ii. it begins at 8:00 eastern with reporting and censorship during the war. at 9:00 eastern, three original members of the band of brothers from the 101st airborne division and two actors from the hbo miniseries. american history tv, normally seen weekends, prime time all this week here on c-span3. government officials, religious leaders and public policy experts from across the nation gathered in washington, d.c. last week for the 2012 national religious freedom conference. officials raised concerns over religious freedom domestically and abroad. this portion is about two hours.