04 June 2007
The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See Celebrates the 231 st Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 2007
On July 3, 2007, Ambassador Francis Rooney and his wife, Kathleen, hosted the Embassy to the Holy See’s annual Independence Day celebration at Villa Richardson. Guests were entertained by the Carabinieri band in the beautiful gardens while enjoying traditional Independence Day fare.
Ambassador Rooney addressed the guests giving a brief his tory of the Declaration of Independence, the bedrock of the United States, signed on July 4, 1776, 231 years ago. He stressed the importance of the basic “inalienable rights” of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that are the backbone of the Declaration and the United States of America. The Ambassador said, “We celebrate that freedom today; we express our unity as a nation as the “ United States;” we give thanks for the quality of life Americans have and all the good we do.” In addition to giving thanks for the quality of life Americans have, the Ambassador also thanked the Holy See’s representatives for their professionalism and willingness to work with the United States on so many crucial issues to enhance and protect human dignity everywhere
Our relationship with the Holy See is a partnership to protect and enhance the fundamental dignity and freedom of every human person,” commented Ambassador Rooney on the friendship that has developed over the last three decades with the Holy See. As an example of the importance of this friendship, the Ambassador highlighted the visit of President Bush this past June as “an occasion to cement the already strong friendship between our two states.” He stressed the importance of equality and human dignity in the United States with a comment on the immigrants that have found a home there when “They sought and found a new beginning for themselves and their families in a land where people are truly free and where the protection of their human dignity is enshrined in law.”
