Elected officials recognize grassroots June celebration of ‘Fidelity Month’
The grassroots movement Fidelity Month, founded by Professor Robert P. George in 2023, has gained recognition from state leaders, including Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Utah Governor Spencer Cox, as well as the Kentucky Senate and Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers. The movement aims to encourage Americans to reaffirm commitments to faith, family, community, and patriotism during the month of June, citing a WSJ poll showing declining engagement in these values. Fidelity Month promotes participation through webinars, a high school essay contest, and other community programs, emphasizing grassroots initiative rather than top‑down organization. Since its inception, the campaign has seen steady growth in social media engagement, event attendance, and partnerships with elected officials and organizations nationwide.
4 months ago
Fidelity Month, a grassroots campaign promoting faith in God, family, community and country, received formal acknowledgments from several state leaders in June 2026, marking its third year of nationwide observance.
Governors Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas and Spencer Cox of Utah issued proclamations naming June “Fidelity Month.” The Kentucky Senate and Glendale, Arizona Mayor Jerry Weiers also joined the list of officials supporting the initiative 1 2.
The movement was launched in 2023 by Princeton law professor Robert P. George, who cited a Wall Street Journal poll showing declines in patriotism, religious practice, child‑bearing and community involvement among Americans 1 2. George’s goal was to dedicate one month each year for citizens to reaffirm these “basic values.”
Christopher Parr, the movement’s spokesperson, emphasizes that Fidelity Month is “a grassroots movement, not a top‑down organization.” Participants are encouraged to organize local events, webinars, and a high‑school essay contest using guidance from the website, while the emphasis remains on individual and community initiative 1 2.
Parr reports steady increases in social‑media engagement, website traffic, event attendance, and the number of partnering organizations and elected officials since the campaign’s inception 1 2. The movement’s supporters span diverse backgrounds and regions across the United States.
Governor Sanders’ proclamation highlighted America’s founding on “faith, liberty, and patriotism,” and described fidelity to God, family, community and country as essential to “human flourishing” and a “healthy, stable, well‑ordered society” 1 2.
Organizers hope that each successive June will see broader participation, using Fidelity Month as a unifying occasion for Americans to celebrate shared values 1 2.
Examine Catholic teachings on civic fidelity and community engagement
Catholic teaching presents civic fidelity and community engagement not as optional “civic virtues,” but as duties rooted in the dignity of the human person, the moral responsibility to promote the common good, and the Christian obligation to witness to God’s sovereignty in public life. At the same time, the Church insists that obedience to civil authority is real but limited: civil law cannot claim moral authority against God’s law.
The Catechism teaches that in Christian social teaching, members of society have moral obligations toward the state. These obligations include the performance of civic duties, and they also require rejecting any attempt to turn the state into an instrument used by particular social groups against the authentic good of all.
Similarly, the Catechism explicitly makes certain civic duties morally obligatory, especially those connected with order, representation, and defense:
This is rooted in “submission to authority and co-responsibility for the common good,” which frames civic life as a space where charity and justice must take public form.
Catholic civic fidelity is not merely compliance; it includes respect for legitimate authority. The Catechism notes the Christian duty to offer prayers and thanksgiving for those who exercise authority, “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life.”
Pope John Paul II deepens this by teaching that civil institutions and those responsible for them can be seen as “a sign of the presence of God who guides historical events,” and that authority comes from God (“Omnis potestas a Deo”).
Pope Francis stresses that responsible citizenship enhances the social dimension of life through acting as committed and responsible citizens—not as a mob swayed by power. He also reiterates that responsible citizenship is a virtue and political participation a moral obligation.
So civic fidelity includes disciplined participation: being neither indifferent nor reactive, neither partisan rage nor passive withdrawal, but steady moral engagement.
The Catechism defines participation as “the voluntary and generous engagement of a person in social interchange,” and it adds that participation is necessary for all to promote the common good, each according to role and position. This obligation is “inherent in the dignity of the human person.”
The Church thus treats community engagement as a moral expression of personhood: humans flourish not only privately but socially, through truthful and responsible involvement in shared life.
A further Catechism-based passage (in the Compendium) asks how one participates in bringing about the common good. It answers: by respecting just laws, taking personal responsibility for one’s own commitments (family, work), and citizens “should take an active part in public life as far as possible.”
This suggests engagement is not limited to voting. It includes ways of contributing responsibly where one has legitimate influence and competence—especially on matters affecting vulnerable persons.
The US bishops emphasize subsidiarity: larger institutions should not overwhelm smaller ones, yet larger institutions have responsibilities when smaller ones cannot protect dignity, meet needs, or advance the common good.
This principle shapes community engagement: Catholics are called to help at the level where effective help can truly reach people—while also supporting broader institutions when necessity requires it.
In the US bishops’ teaching, the common good requires that human rights be protected and basic responsibilities met. They name rights crucial for human flourishing—especially the right to life, and related rights such as access to necessities for decency, freedom of religion, and family life.
Engagement aimed at the common good therefore cannot be narrowed to consumer preferences or mere stability; it must include defending and promoting the rights that make a genuinely human life possible.
Catholic teaching holds both together:
So civic fidelity includes faithfulness under constraint: one can respect civil authority while refusing mandates that violate conscience in relation to God.
Pope John Paul II similarly teaches everything must be subject to God’s sovereignty, “to the extent that anything that goes against his law can in no way become binding.”
The Enchiridion excerpt (“Libertas praestantissimum”) discusses bounds of liberty and obedience in terms that distinguish lawful justice from oppressive or anti-religious law. It states that if state laws are “openly at variance with divine right,” impose injury upon the Church, oppose duties of religion, or violate Christ’s authority in the Supreme Pontiff, then resisting is a duty—“to obey a crime.”
This is not an invitation to chaos; it is a moral claim that civil authority loses its claim to obedience when it becomes a direct instrument against divine law and the Church’s mission.
The Catechism of the Ukrainian Catholic Church (drawing on Christian social teaching) states that in a democratic system all citizens are responsible for the welfare of all—at local, regional, and national levels.
It then describes civic duties in concrete terms: participating in elections, paying taxes, defending one’s country, abiding by law, solidarity, and mutual respect.
Community engagement therefore includes solidarity and mutual respect, not just institutional participation; the moral texture of society matters.
That same source adds that Christians who run for elected office or serve in government must not compromise their faith. It quotes a teaching emphasizing that as citizens participate more in government, it is necessary that they be righteous—morally formed with gospel principles permeating their character.
This integrates civic fidelity with moral formation: participation is not only a “mechanism” (elections) but a “moral discipline” (formed consciences shaped by the Gospel).
Catholic tradition recognizes that people can face conflicts of duties. An Enchiridion text explains that when the state demands one thing as citizens and religion another as Christians—because rulers disregard the sacred power of the Church—then the duties cannot be treated as equivalent.
The Church also teaches that civic loves and responsibilities must not displace the higher demands of God. This is a principle of “order”: proper civic love exists, but duties toward God remain “much more sacred than those toward man.”
Pope Pius XII teaches that the Church exhorts Catholics to “love their country with sincere and strong love,” give due obedience in line with natural and divine law to those holding public office, and provide active assistance for undertakings by which their native land can prosper peacefully and in true development.
This frames civic fidelity as a form of charity: love of country becomes morally ordered and directed toward peace, prosperity, and development consistent with God’s law.
Catholic teaching unites civic fidelity and community engagement through the common good: Catholics owe moral duties to the state (including concrete civic responsibilities) and are called to participate actively in public life as far as possible, as a virtue grounded in human dignity. At the same time, fidelity is not blind obedience: civil authority cannot command what violates God’s law or the Church’s mission, and Catholics may have to resist when the state becomes openly opposed to divine right.