Presidential Message on U.S. Catholic Bishops Honoring the 250th Anniversary of American Independence [America Consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus]

Today, Melania and I join in prayer with Catholic Bishops gathered in Orlando, Florida, as they consecrate the United States of America to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the occasion of our 250th year of American Independence—a powerful moment in our national story and a poignant reminder that America has always been guided by the loving hand of God.

Even in the centuries before the United States was conceived in nationhood, America was a land of prayer, a place of miracles, and home to some of the most faithful and devoted Christians to ever live. From the heroic bands of Christian missionaries, settlers, and explorers who tamed the unknown to spread the Gospel to the priests, chaplains, and churchgoers who forged our spirit in every generation since, the love of Jesus Christ has stood at the center of our identity and way of life.

Inspired by this proud birthright of faith, just years after the end of the Revolutionary War, Bishop John Carroll—the first Catholic bishop in the United States and cousin of Catholic Founding Father Charles Carroll—consecrated our young Republic to Mary, the Mother of God. Today, this grand legacy of faith in America reaches yet another historic milestone as America’s Catholic Bishops consecrate our Nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, during which they will prayerfully “celebrate the abundant gifts” that God has “given this nation, founded on the self-evident truths that our Creator has endowed all people with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” And following today’s consecration, on June 12, Christians in the United States and around the world will celebrate the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, a joyful celebration of God’s boundless love for all His creation.

This year’s Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus also fittingly marks the anniversary of one of the most momentous days in Western civilization’s long twilight struggle against atheistic communism. On June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan delivered his historic address at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, in which he famously implored Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.”

Toward the end of his remarks, President Reagan identified what he called “the most fundamental distinction of all between East and West: The totalitarian world produces backwardness because it does such violence to the spirit, thwarting the human impulse to create, to enjoy, to worship.”

President Reagan recounted the construction by the communist East German government of a mighty television tower in the 1960s. “Virtually ever since,” Reagan said, “the authorities have been working to correct what they view as the tower’s one major flaw, treating the glass sphere at the top with paints and chemicals of every kind. Yet even today when the sun strikes that sphere, that sphere that towers over all Berlin, the light makes the sign of the cross. There in Berlin, like the city itself, symbols of love, symbols of worship, cannot be suppressed.”

On that very day, just over 200 miles away, Pope Saint John Paul II, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, was speaking in his native Poland. On the Westerplatte peninsula, the place where, in an extraordinary display of heroic virtue, an isolated force of around 200 Polish warriors held out for 7 days against approximately 4,000 German troops attacking from sea, land, and air in the opening days of World War II, the Pope challenged a gathering of Polish youth: “Each of you, young friends, also finds your own ‘Westerplatte’ in life. A set of tasks that must be undertaken and fulfilled. A just cause that you cannot simply fail to fight for. A duty, an obligation, from which you cannot shirk. You cannot ‘desert.’ Finally—a certain order of truths and values that must be ‘upheld’ and ‘defended,’ just as at Westerplatte, within oneself and around oneself. Yes, defended—for oneself and for others.”

Pope Saint John Paul II closed by quoting the words of a Polish martyr. “More horrifying than a defeat of arms is the defeat of the human spirit.”

Thanks to the moral leadership of President Reagan and Pope Saint John Paul II, the tireless work and determination of free men and women around the world, and the moral witness of millions who endured prolonged suffering within the Captive Nations, the godless forces of Soviet communism were vanquished—and the human spirit triumphed.

Today, nearly four decades later, our Nation and our culture confront a new set of menacing ideologies seeking once again to cast God out from our society. But today, as Catholic Bishops consecrate the United States of America to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in this 250th year of our Independence, we recommit ourselves, like President Reagan and Pope Saint John Paul II, to defending our spiritual identity and great civilizational inheritance. Above all, we pray that America will continue for the next 250 years, and beyond, to be a land of faith, a country of miracles, and a light and glory to all nations.

This isn't just a symbolic gesture; it is a profound spiritual anchor. Set into motion at the 2025 Plenary Assembly in Baltimore and passing with an overwhelming majority, the consecration takes place today, June 11, on the exact Solemnity of the Sacred Heart.

The timing of this event is completely intentional. As the nation marks its semiquincentennial—exactly 250 years since its founding in 1776—the Church is making a definitive, uncompromising declaration. In an era consumed by shifting morals and cultural division, officially dedicating the country to the Sacred Heart is a massive reassertion of ultimate authority.

You cannot heal a nation purely through political action or secular policy. True, lasting restoration only happens when a country actively submits its future to the absolute sovereignty of Christ.

A truly historic day. 🇺🇸A✝️

This was a very thoughtful and sincere statement from the president. I’m so glad he has released these remarks to the public to remind others on how we are spiritually bound as Americans and people of faith.

Meanwhile, my next thought was; has anyone seen Melania in the past month or two?
I’m still adjusting to having a president who for the most part, appears alone as he tends the affairs of America.
I understand why she wouldn’t wish to return to Washington.

First landing, 1607, Cape Henry, Virginia:

We do hereby dedicate this Land, and ourselves, to reach the People within these shores with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to raise up Godly generations after us, and with these generations take the Kingdom of God to all the earth. May this Covenant of Dedication remain to all generations, as long as this earth remains, and may this Land, along with England, be Evangelist to the World. May all who see this Cross, remember what we have done here, and may those who come here to inhabit join us in this Covenant and in this most noble work that the Holy Scriptures may be fulfilled.

The Mayflower Compact, 1620:

In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign lord King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc.
Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our King and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony: unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.
In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names; Cape Cod, the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord King James, of England, France and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini 1620.
John Carver, William Bradford, Edward Winslow, William Brewster, Isaac Allerton, Myles Standish, John Alden, Samuel Fuller, Christopher Martin, William Mullins, William White, Richard Warren, John Howland, Stephen Hopkins, Edward Tilley, John Tilley, Francis Cooke, Thomas Rogers, Thomas Tinker, John Rigdale, Edward Fuller, John Turner, Francis Eaton, James Chilton, John Crackstone, John Billington, Moses Fletcher, John Goodman, Degory Priest, Thomas Williams, Gilbert Winslow, Edmund Margesson, Peter Browne, Richard Britteridge, George Soule, Richard Clarke, Richard Gardiner, John Allerton, Thomas English, Edward Doty, Edward Leister

Yes, thank you for those inspiring references. And in addition to this, when Ponce de Leon landed in Florida in 1513, the priests with him celebrated a Mass and praised God that he had led them to a new land where the Gospel of Jesus Christ could be proclaimed. The invocation said in part:

"Lord God, eternal and almighty, by Your holy word You created heaven, earth, and sea. May Your name be blessed and glorified; may Your majesty be praised, since You have deigned through Your humble servants that Your holy name be made known and proclaimed in this other part of the world."

Yesterday's Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was different than all of these as it was the first time the actual United States of America (which did not yet exist in those earlier times) was specifically singled out, and not just "the land" (which if one takes it literally includes all the contiguous area between Alaska and the southern tip of South America).

O Most Sacred Heart of Jesus: You know the longing of our hearts, and you desire that we enjoy friendship with you.

From your pierced side, you have poured out the wellspring of life, for which we thirst. Your heart burns with a love for all people to return to right relationship with you.

We celebrate the abundant gifts you have given this nation, founded on the self-evident truths that our Creator has endowed all people with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

We make reparation for the offenses against you and against human dignity that have taken place in this nation. May our hearts be united to yours, so that our families and communities enjoy peace and happiness; may broken relationships be reconciled, injustices repaired, and the wounds of our land be healed.

May your holy Catholic Church serve as a sign pointing all people to your infinite love.

O Desire of Nations and Center of History, we ask you to bless these United States of America. Who live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever Amen.

Most Scared Heart of Jesus, Have mercy on us!

Immaculate Heart if Mary, pray for us!

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