Faith and Family / Sean Gallagher

Sacrifice and service lie at the heart of America in its founding and today

Charles Carroll was the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence, which was adopted on July 4, 1776 by the Second Continental Congress.

When he signed it, he specifically wrote “Charles Carroll of Carrollton.” That specified Carroll from other men of the same name in the colony of Maryland, including some of his relatives.

By putting himself forward in this way, Carroll took a great risk. At the time, he owned a great amount of land and was the wealthiest man in all the colonies, with an estimated worth of $375 million if he were alive today.

If the British Army had defeated the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, then the signers of the Declaration of Independence, in addition to being executed, would have had all their lands and wealth seized by the British crown.

In light of these risks, the immortal words that ended this declaration take on real weight: “And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.”

Charles Carroll signed this document even though, because of his Catholic faith, he was barred from voting in elections in his native Maryland.

While the colony was founded in 1634 by English Catholic Cecil Calvert as a place of religious toleration (at least for those who professed the Trinity), a successful Puritan revolt there in 1694 resulted in the outlawing of Catholicism, making Catholics there second-class citizens.

Carroll was willing to sacrifice his life, fortune and honor for the belief that the United States of America, independent of Great Britain, would be a place where religious liberty would be firmly established.

And he was the last signer of the Declaration of Independence to die, passing from this life in 1832 at 95.

Victor Gallagher, my paternal grandfather, was born 74 years later in 1906, the grandson of an Irish immigrant. My maternal grandfather, Richard Phillips, was born three years later into a family with much deeper roots in American history.

Both of them gave of themselves in service to our country in World War II, if in different ways. As a farmer, Victor was very much needed on the home front.

Richard’s story shows the degree of sacrifice that our country needed in the war. He was drafted at age 33 in late 1942 as a father of two children, with one (my mother) on the way. He served in the U.S. Navy as a radar operator on a troop transport ship in the south Pacific.

Victor certainly did not risk his life, fortune or honor during the war. But his service as a farmer was a grave necessity for our country at the time. Richard was willing to sacrifice his life in service to our country, as many sailors did in the Pacific. And, had he died there, my grandmother Louise would have been in a very difficult position as the single mother of three young children.

As a Catholic and an American at the 250th anniversary of the founding of our country, I am proud of Charles Carroll pledging his life, fortune and honor to create a country where all people are free to practice their faith in all aspects of their lives.

And I am proud, too, of how both of my grandfathers, born just a couple of generations after Carroll died, gave of themselves in service to our country and its ideals of liberty.

With the help of God’s grace, Catholic families in America on this historic anniversary can carry on the traditions of sacrifice and service witnessed to by our forebears. †