The Most Rev. Daniel Flores, S.T.D., bishop of Brownsville, will present the lecture “The Church, State and Shifting Dynamics of Public Secularity” in the Msgr. William D. Steele Lecture Series at 7 p.m. on Oct. 18 in Nold Auditorium at St. Mary’s Seminary, 9845 Memorial Dr. This lecture is sponsored by the University of St. Thomas School of Theology.

 

Bishop Flores will discuss current controversies, involving both the Church and the government, surrounding the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate and immigration policy. 

 

He will further examine how the Church's mission is affected by the shifting character of the secular consensus in the United States and by the consequent fluidity of public consciousness and policy. He will propose how the Catholic community might respond to this ongoing dynamic.

 

Bishop Flores will also address what is at stake in the Church's current struggle to defend religious freedom against government encroachment.

 

“One of the most vital things is the preservation of that wide space in our society and culture where free peoples and institutions can operate, persuade, cooperate and compete,” Bishop Flores said. “When the government treads too heavily on the public operation of non-governmental institutions, it stifles and strong-arms the institutions that people freely choose to establish and form.”