“Free Exercise” Religious Freedom Film Premieres in Philadelphia – CatholicPhilly

By Kevin Shinkle • Posted October 18, 2024

In the summer of 1844, rising anti-Catholic sentiment in Philadelphia spread to the streets of Kensington and Southwark, leaving 14 dead and dozens injured. It wasn’t an isolated incident.

From the mid-19th century well into the 20th century, Catholics were the target of nativist factions that sought to prevent them from practicing their faith or educating their children in Catholic schools – despite the First Amendment’s guarantee of the U.S. Constitution. that “Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion.”

Now these and other stories are brought to life in a new documentary film called “Free Exercise: America’s Story of Religious Liberty,” premiering October 29 in Philadelphia and free at the Museum of the American Revolution in Old Town at 6 p.m is shown, Philadelphia. Everyone is welcome.

The event will include a panel discussion moderated by William Ewald, the John J. O’Brien Chair in International Law at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. Panelists include historian and film narrator Richard Brookhiser; Father Philip Bochanski, Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia; and Rev. Carolyn Clarene Cavaness, pastor of Bethel AME Church of Ardmore.

“Free Exercise” takes an in-depth look at the turbulent history of religious freedom in the United States, told primarily through the eyes of six American faith communities—Quakers, Baptists, Black Churches, Catholics, Mormons, and Jews—before broadening the focus and turn to more contemporary challenges.

The documentary features interviews with dozens of historians, constitutional law scholars and various faith leaders, is currently airing on PBS member stations nationwide (see local listings). WHYY in Philadelphia plans to screen the film later this fall.

“This film documents the story of the greatest experiment in religious freedom the world has ever seen,” said Thomas D. Lehrman, the film’s executive producer. “Among the blessings of freedom bestowed by our Creator and secured by our Constitution, none surpasses the free exercise of religion.”

In the film, Brookhiser chronicles the rise of anti-Catholic and anti-Irish nativism, visiting the same streets in Kensington where blood was shed and St. Michael Church burned down before a militia quelled the riots.

Brookhiser then turns his attention to St. Philip Neri Church in South Philadelphia, where the second outbreak of violence occurred.

“All I can imagine is people’s great fear of everything they worked for to make this beautiful building the center of their lives – a life they shared with God – the fear that this “I’m burned,” said Father Edward P. Kuczynski, current pastor of St. Philip Neri Parish, in the film.

“Free Exercise” also tells another Philadelphia story: the founding of Mother Bethel AME Church in Philadelphia and the pioneering work of Rev. Richard Allen in the fight against slavery.

The film also takes viewers on a journey with Quakers from the areas of Flushing, New York; to an existential debate over religious freedom in Virginia involving aspiring Baptists that led to the First Amendment; to a synagogue in Newport, where George Washington made clear that American religious freedom included the Jewish people; to a trip up the Ohio River and a stop on the Underground Railroad, where Christian faith leaders helped enslaved people find their way to freedom; and an epic journey to the mountain desert of Salt Lake, Utah, where Mormons sought a place to practice their religion in peace.

Finally, the film lands in the 21st century as the American people continue to grapple with that most fundamental question: What does the Constitution’s commitment to the free exercise of religion mean?

“Religious freedom will not survive and thrive unless it lives in the hearts and minds of the American people,” Yale law scholar Akhil Amar said in the film.

Others interviewed in the Catholic portion of the film include Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York; Patrick Kelly, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus; John Garvey, former president of the Catholic University of America; Dr. Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Law at Princeton University and Mark Rienzi, President of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.

“Free movement is an epoch-making principle. But even the greatest principles are not self-realization. They must be understood and upheld in every generation,” Brookhiser said.

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For more information and to register for the event at the Museum of the American Revolution, click on this link:

See more information about the film Here: