6 Gulf Pine Catholic • June 19, 2026 Half a century after the American Revolution, Alexis de Tocqueville journeyed from France to the United States to study our fledgling democracy. His trip resulted in the book “Democracy in America,” where he asserts that America’s greatest strength is our ability to correct ourselves. De Tocqueville also observed, “Nothing is more wonderful than the art of being free, but nothing is harder to learn how to use than freedom.” In 1886, Fredrick Douglass delivered his speech, “A Lecture on the Civil Rights Bill,” where he identifies the conscience rights underpinning our nation’s ability to self-correct, saying, “No right was deemed by the fathers of the government more sacred than the right of speech. It was in their eyes, as in the eyes of all thoughtful men, the great moral renovator of society and government.” In addition to free speech, conscience rights underpin the free exercise of religion and are essential to achieving the promise of America, as Pope St. John Paul II observed in his 1995 visit to our nation, saying, “America, may your trust always be in God and in none other.” Then quoting Francis Scott Key, he said, “and then, ‘the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave o՚er the land of the free and the home of the brave.’” The promise of America has always been best expressed in the free exercise of religion, like the work of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, who came to America in 1889 with the hope of making a positive difference in the world. Her story is dramatized in the Christopher Award-winning film “Cabrini,” where she meets with the pope to answer his concerns about her poor health and whether that hardship should curtail her venture to America. “We can serve our weakness,” Mother Cabrini tells the pope, “or we can serve our purpose. Not both.” Later in the film, when Mother Cabrini faces obstacles to her mission, she declares, “Begin the mission, the means will come.” Mother Cabrini’s declaration is one of faith in God to provide for us when we set out to make the world a better place. The declaration that set our nation in motion was rooted in faith and in a purpose articulated by Benjamin Franklin in a letter he wrote after signing the Declaration of Independence. “Our cause is the cause of all mankind,” Franklin wrote, “we are fighting for their liberty in defending our own.” This coming July 4, we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It’s a milestone that marks the moment when our freedoms were so boldly articulated. It has fallen to each successive generation to learn how to use those freedoms and make the necessary self-corrections. We celebrate our nation’s milestone with gratitude because it set in motion the freedom that allowed Father James Keller, M.M., to call a war-weary American people to move forward in faith when he founded The Christophers back in 1945. Soon after, Father Keller wrote the following words that embody the promise of America. “The mere fact that you are alive, reading these words, no matter your age, the state of your health or physical condition, means that you have been chosen by God to perform some work that no other person can do. If you wish to leave the world better than you found it, you must be convinced that you have been put here for a purpose, delegated by God to play a part in renewing the face of the earth.” Fr. Ed Dougherty, M.M., serves on The Christophers’ Board of Directors. For a free copy of the Christopher News Note, GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP, write: The Christophers, 5 Hanover Square, New York, NY 10004; or e-mail: mail@christophers.org. The Promise of America Light One Candle Father Dougherty A few days ago, I celebrated Mass at the nursing home in the local town. Prior to Covid, I celebrated Mass there on a regular basis. The complex is owned and ministered to by the Sisters of Mercy. It includes a section for patients who need ongoing care and residence. Another section is a complex that houses some thirty nuns, now, retired, but still very active and mobile, who served as teachers in various high schools in the surrounding towns. This latter section of about thirty served as their residence where both their health and well being was accommodated. Following the Mass, I was invited to join the nuns for their lunch time meal. There, amid all the questions and introductions, I was able to enjoy a feast of salmon smothered in parsley sauce along with a generous helping of mashed potatoes, carrots and cauliflower, as well as soup, dessert, and tea or coffee. In the course of our many conversations and many questions about my ministry history, one of the nuns, came up and said: “We had a couple drop by here a few days. They were traveling around Ireland. They stopped into our convent because he wanted to tell us that he had Irish nuns who taught him while he was in elementary school. He and his wife were both Americans and lived in America. He just wanted to find out where in Ireland did his teaching nuns come from who taught him in elementary school." Out of curiosity, the sister who was speaking to them, asked where he went to elementary school in the States. He volunteered, “Mississippi.” This was followed by “Biloxi, Mississippi. That is where I went to elementary school and was taught there by a group of Irish nuns.” The nun that the couple spoke to was out of town the day I was there. When I heard “Biloxi,” my curiosity peaked. I told the nun who relayed the encounter to me that I had served in Biloxi as a priest for four years back in the late 1970’s and that I was a frequent visitor to Nativity School, visiting classrooms and during recess. I was very familiar with the Irish nuns that taught there. I knew that this group of Irish nuns who taught there had their mother house in another part of Ireland, in towns called Nenagh and Birr, some hundred miles away. Recently, I read a story abut a professor who gave a pop quiz to his students. The story was told by one of his students. She said that she just breezed through the quiz until she came to the last question. The question: “What is the name of the woman who cleans the floor in this building?” She knew the woman referred to in the question. She’d seen the cleaning woman many times. She was tall, darkhaired, probably in her 50s. But the student had to hand in her paper, leaving the last question blank. When one student complained and asked if the last question would count toward the grade, the professor replied, "Absolutely! In your careers you will meet many people. All of them are significant! They deserve your attention and care, even if all you can do is smile and say hello." It was an example the student never forgot. And, oh!, the cleaning woman’s name -- Dorothy. We may never remember all the names, but when do we ever have an excuse not to care?” The man and his wife who visited Ireland, brought with him some very fond and special memories of being taught by a group of Irish Sisters at Nativity B.V.M. School in Biloxi, MS. As they traveled around Ireland, he still carried the experience of his happy school days that was mingled with the hope and desire that, perchance, he might connect with his inspiring teachers. If not, at least, he may be inspired by the landscape that allowed some nuns to plant seeds of love, care, affirmation, support, encouragement in the minds and hearts of students who would be imbued with the spirit that such nuns carried to the mission fields of Biloxi. SEE ACROSS THE POND, PAGE 7 He didn’t forget Across the Pond Father Tracey
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