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Happy Independence Day

by Heidi Schlumpf

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hschlumpf@ncronline.org

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July 4, 2011

A wonderful quote I'd never seen before, shared by my friend and fellow Catholic freelance writer Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda:

"Whereas nationalism involves recognizing and pursing the good of one's own nation alone, without regard for the rights of others, patriotism, on the other hand, is a love for one's native land that accords rights to all other nations equal to those claimed for one's own. Patriotism, in other words, leads to a properly ordered social love." --Pope John Paul II in Memory and Identity: Conversations at the Dawn of a Millennium (Rizzoli, 2005)

Great food for thought on our country's Independence Day.

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