Bishop Barron at Religious Liberty hearing warns of ‘dictatorship of relativism’

 

Washington D.C., Jun 17, 2025 / 17:56 pm (CNA).

During the first hearing of President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, Bishop Robert Barron echoed Pope Benedict XVI’s warning against the “dictatorship of relativism” encroaching on American society.

Barron, bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, said at the June 16 hearing that “religion is being attacked in our society” and referenced a homily given by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in April 2005, the day before he was elected pope.

“[This attack] is coming from a … philosophy that Joseph Ratzinger — Pope Benedict XVI — called the ‘dictatorship of relativism,’” Barron said. “I call it the culture of self-invention: the complete prioritization given to individual autonomy; that we decide value, that we decide meaning, that we decide purpose.”

That philosophy, according to Barron, “rightly appreciates the classical religions as the chief opponent.” He said these tensions arise from religious views that stand for objective moral values grounded on God and a stable human nature, which leads adherents of relativism to seek to push faith out of sectors of public life, such as in education and health care.

Many members of the commission and guest witnesses expressed similar concerns about the lack of faith and decline in religious liberty in the country through laws and regulations at the federal and state levels of government.

This includes rules that force religious Americans to violate their beliefs through contraception mandates for health care coverage, which the Little Sisters of the Poor defeated at the Supreme Court. Yet Catholic nuns are still fighting state-level contraception mandates in states like New York.

Members also touched on parental rights in education, such as the ongoing Supreme Court case against Montgomery County Public Schools, where officials are denying parents the ability to opt their children out of lessons that promote transgenderism as early as preschool.

The commission includes two Catholic prelates: Barron and Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the latter of whom was absent due to transportation issues. The 14-member commission is led by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and includes Ryan Anderson, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center; Pastor Paula White, special advisor to the White House Faith Office; psychologist and talk show host Phil McGraw; and neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson.

Attorney General Pam Bondi, who spoke at the hearing, said the president is seeking to reverse these trends, adding that the commission’s work is “vital to addressing the emerging threats to religious liberty.” The commission will develop a report within the next year to advise Trump on how he can combat threats to religious freedom.

Bondi, who said religious liberty is “built into the foundation of our founding documents,” voiced criticism of the past administration under former President Joe Biden. She noted some recent threats to religious liberty including the prosecution of pro-life protesters, an FBI investigation into traditionalist Catholics, and the shutdown of places of worship during COVID-19.

“Every individual must be free to worship without fear, without coercion, and without government interference,” Bondi said.

Freedom to worship or free exercise?

One theme throughout the first hearing of the commission was that the First Amendment guarantee that Congress shall make no law “prohibiting the free exercise” of religion is not limited to simply a freedom to worship God but rather extends to living out one’s faith.

Anderson, for example, argued that attacks on religious liberty are not just related to worship but rather extend to attacks on the right to “bring your religious values into the public square.”

One of the expert witnesses who addressed the commission, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty president Mark Rienzi, emphasized this point, noting that the “freedom to live out one’s faith” is essential to the First Amendment, adding that religious liberty is “the basis and bellwether for all human rights.”

Rienzi spoke about the historical efforts to defend religious liberty in the United States, noting that there were bad Supreme Court cases throughout American history, such as the Minersville School District v. Gobitis decision, which sought to force Jehovah’s Witnesses to salute the flag in schools despite their belief that it was “equivalent to worshipping a false idol.”

This 1940 decision was quickly overturned just three years later when the court ruled in favor of Jehovah’s Witnesses in West Virginia who refused to salute the flag. Rienzi said governments often try to reject religious liberty for the case of convenience but that the court decided “some things are beyond the reach of politics and government.”

“There are places in our lives where the government is not allowed to go,” Rienzi added.

Separation of church and state

Questions about the separation of church and state and to what degree the government can or should promote religion as a public good were also discussed at length during the commission’s hearing.

Mark David Hall, the director of the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy at Regent University, testified that the separation of church and state is not a “bilateral barrier” but is rather meant to only restrict the state from imposing itself on the church.

Former Notre Dame law professor Gerard Bradley, who spoke as an expert witness, similarly said the American Founding Fathers did not envision a public “secularized space in which religion was banished.”

He argued that a proper promotion of the common good includes “encouragement and help and recognition of religion.” For example, he criticized lawmakers for justifying legislative prayer as just a way to solemnize the activity, arguing they should simply say “we’re praying here.”

“It’s fine if the government works with religion, even for the sake of religion,” Bradley said.

Bradley encouraged “promoting religion for the sake of religion,” such as having prayer in public schools, but noted that the government must be careful to not be sectarian. He also said any promotion should have voluntary observance and any policy should be “considered carefully” to ensure there are no violations of people’s rights.

McGraw, commonly known as “Dr. Phil,” mildly pushed back on that position, saying: “If we’re promoting religion, that’s different than promoting choice.”

Bradley responded, arguing that just like the government “ought to promote marriage and family as good things” it should also “promote [religion] as a good thing” rather than remain neutral on the subject.