Fr. Deacon Andrew Bennett, Director of RFI’s North America Action Team, addressed the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops during their 2019 Plenary Assembly, a gathering of approximately 90 bishops from across Canada.

Bennett’s written remarks, “The Truth No State Can Abolish,” were published in Convivium, and the full panel during the Plenary Assembly is available for viewing at Salt and Light TV. 

During his remarks, Bennett highlighted the duty that comes with the right to religious freedom:

For us as Catholics, religious freedom is not simply an inherent freedom that we cherish; we have a responsibility to act on it and to advance the Gospel in this country at all times and in all places, explicitly and implicitly, as we are called to do …religious freedom carries with it the responsibility of defending the religious freedom of those who do not hold to our faith, that they too may be free to exercise their faith fully and publicly. Our shared humanity demands this.

Read Bennett’s full address here, and watch the event here.