The Religious Freedom Day parade hit the streets of downtown
Fredericksburg Jan. 12 to commemorate the 243rd anniversary of Thomas
Jefferson’s drafting the Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom.
The bill caused much debate and took nine years before passing
the Virginia General Assembly Jan. 16, 1786. The bill was the basis for the
religion clause in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Jefferson felt strongly about religion, and his notes were clear
that the principle of religious freedom was meant to include every faith and
denomination.
Since 1974, the Rappahannock assembly
Knights of Columbus 1613 have commemorated the
bill and Jefferson’s role in preserving religious freedom in a ceremony for all
faiths at the Monument for Religious Freedom on Washington Avenue. The warm
weather and sunshine were a pleasant gift to the more than 100 participants
this year. The parade had been canceled the past two years due to inclement
weather.
Leading the parade was the Rappahannock Assembly Knights of
Columbus followed by groups such as the Knights Templar, members of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Lutheran Church and members of the
local Masonic Lodge. Members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians followed behind
explaining the parade’s significance to onlookers.
The celebration continued at the end of the parade route near the
monument for Religious Freedom. A stage was erected with a number of special
guests, including Fredericksburg Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw who officially
declared Jan. 12 to be Religious Freedom Day.
Father Donald J. Rooney, pastor of St. Bernadette Church in
Springfield, gave the keynote address praising the city of Fredericksburg for
the healthy dialogue and relationships that exist between the city’s different
religious groups.
“The United States is an experiment started by Thomas Jefferson
here in Fredericksburg,” said Father Rooney. “What does religion look like when
it is unbound by political power? It is here that we can live lives of a truly
spiritual context, free of war lords and prelates who would have political
reasons to twist the truths of faith and use them for evil. Here is the place
where all are free to be who they are spiritually, to live out their lives in a
relationship with God in whom they have been formed.”
Kassock is a freelancer
from Fredericksburg.