April 21, 2025 - Archbishop Statement on the 250th Anniversary of the Lexington and Concord Battles

On Saturday, I had the privilege of attending some of the commemorative events in Lexington.  In this 250th year since the events of Lexington and Concord and the struggle for independence that followed that fateful day, I pray for our city, our state, and our nation.  Like all wars, the Revolution was a terrible crucible of death and suffering.  It was as much a civil war as a war of independence.  One in ten of all those in the colonies lost their lives through battle, violence, and disease.  Communities across the continent were drawn into the struggle: long-established colonists, native peoples, enslaved people, and new immigrants.
 
Of course, our commemorations are not intended to celebrate death and suffering but rather the sacrifices of those first Americans and the enduring vision that they established of the fundamental dignity and equality of all and the universal longing for liberty.  That struggle has never ceased, for visions and ideals are meaningless if they do not find concrete expression.  Each generation must accept its obligation to live those ideals.  Our own generation is just as fractious as the first patriots, and our call is just as clear: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
 
May those words and that vision find expression in us and in our time.  I wish to all the blessings of liberty and prosperity on this Patriots Day!  God bless the City of Boston, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the United States of America!