The U.S. Bishops have made religious liberty a top priority for many years, especially in the face of serious challenges from the HHS contraceptive mandate to the most recent Bladensburg Peace Cross decision.  For a number of years the bishops highlighted the issue for American Catholics during their “Fortnight for Freedom” campaign. That campaign faced a number of criticisms over the years, including the criticism that it was always playing rearguard defense when what was needed was a better evangelical offense that could begin to make a more positive and persuasive case for the distinctive freedom of the Church in this country.  Now “Fortnight for Freedom” has been reduced to a week, but that change is less important than another one which many might miss if they aren’t paying close attention. The logo for Religious Freedom Week now prominently features an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Why might that be? The image of the sacred heart of Jesus is ancient. As St. John himself testified, “one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out.” (John 19.15) St. John highlighted the sacred heart of Jesus “so that you may believe,” and so that you may see that God so loved the world. Our redemption flows from the heart of God Incarnate to unite our hearts to his sacred heart. So it is something extraordinary that on this Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, the bishops would also make this the central image on which we should gaze as we speak about religious freedom and the common good.  In 1899, Pope Leo XIII’s Annum Sacrum made the connection with great force, writing that the Sacred Heart gives us “a sensible image of the infinite love of Jesus Christ which moves us to love one another.” This is why he commended all Catholics to consecrate themselves to the Sacred Heart on this day, “binding” ourselves to the divine heart of Jesus Christ. But for Pope Leo this was not simply an act of personal piety, but was something for the commonwealth — the Sacred Heart of Jesus was a palpable image for connecting public affairs more intimately to God. Pope Leo writes in Annum Sacrum: