Healing a Divided Nation

June 1, 2026

Amid growing division and mistrust, true patriotism strengthens civic friendship, upholds the dignity of every person, and advances the common good

By Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William E. Lori

June 1, 2026

Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William E. Lori

Next month, the United States will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. For many, it will be a moment of patriotic fervor. For everyone, it should be a moment of grace and responsibility.

As Knights of Columbus, we are patriots. We love the lands of our birth, and many of our brother Knights have given their lives in defense of their countries. Patriotism is woven into the fabric of our Order. Indeed, our Fourth Degree is known as the “patriotic degree.”

Yet our patriotism is not blind. In celebrating this 250th anniversary, we give thanks to God for what is noble in America while not forgetting what is painful and flawed. The Declaration of Independence proclaimed that all are created equal and endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights. Two and a half centuries later, we often struggle to live up to that ideal. Many were excluded from those rights for generations — and some still are.

Let us be builders of unity in the broader culture by recognizing legitimate diversity where it exists and respecting the humanity of those with whom we disagree.

Perhaps most painful are our deep divisions. Our political culture is wounded. Public discourse is more vitriolic than ever, and the threat of political violence hangs in the air. Trust of our institutions and leaders is at an all-time low. Often, politics is more about theater than good governance, more about holding power than defending human dignity, and more about winning partisan victories than securing the common good.

As a result, our unity as a nation is endangered. We have lost our ability to discuss our differences with civility and our capacity for civic friendship. Everyone is expected to take sides, identifying as a Democrat or a Republican before identifying as Americans or, indeed, as Catholics. We have lost the capacity to listen, to empathize, to walk together as “one nation under God.”

Patriotism is not oblivious to a nation’s shortcomings. But neither do patriots content themselves with complaining about what’s wrong. True patriotism spurs us to help our country become the best version of itself — to make things better, to repair a broken system and a shattered web of relationships, beginning with the family, and to recover our highest ideals, especially the dignity of the human person at every stage of life, from conception until natural death. What, then, can we do?

As patriotic Knights of Columbus, let us do what we must always do: put into practice the principles of our Order — charity, unity and fraternity.

Charity takes many forms: feeding the hungry, protecting the widow, the orphan and the outcast. It also involves listening to others, discerning what is good, and striving to walk together. This does not mean abandoning truth; it means truth and charity walk together. It also means leaving our comfort zone and encountering those with whom we disagree, not as opponents but as persons made in God’s image.

Unity requires responsibility. We are called to be builders of unity in the Church, for Jesus prayed that his followers would be one. Let us also be builders of unity in the broader culture by recognizing legitimate diversity where it exists and respecting the humanity of those with whom we disagree.

Fraternity and friendship go hand in hand. Because we share a common humanity, we are to reach out to those in need. We also seek a culture of mutuality in which we both give and receive, supporting one another in our lives as believers and citizens.

In Blessed Michael McGivney, we encounter a priest who knew that following Christ is inseparable from building communities where human dignity is protected and hope is sustained. He reminds us that love of country and love of neighbor are not rivals but companions rooted in the Gospel.

SEBASTIANO DEL PIOMBO, The Visitation 1518-19 Oil on wood transferred to canvas, 168 x 132 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris

Healing a Divided Nation

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