Catholic Cardinal to BYU: LDS, Catholics must defend religious freedom

The growing assault on religious freedom in the United States must be met by the combined defenses of both Catholics and Latter-day Saints, Cardinal Francis George told a packed Marriott Center on the BYU campus Tuesday morning.

"In recent years, Catholics and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have stood more frequently side by side in the public square to defend human life and dignity," said George, Archbishop of Chicago and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "I'm personally grateful that after 180 years of living mostly apart, we've begun to see each other as trustworthy partners in defense of shared moral principles."

George shared three main points, beginning with the Catholic understanding of religious freedom, which he said is shared by Mormons and must be protected in order to maintain the public good.

"It cannot be reduced to freedom of worship or even freedom of private conscience," George said. "It means that religious groups as individuals have a right to exercise their influence in the public square."