During the summer of 1844, rising anti-Catholic sentiment in Philadelphia boiled into the streets of Kensington and Southwark, leaving 14 dead and dozens injured. It was hardly an isolated incident.  

From the mid-19th century and well into the 20th century, Catholics were the target of nativist factions that sought to keep them from practicing their faith or educating their children in Catholic schools — despite the guarantee of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that “Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion.”

Now, these and other stories come to life in a new documentary, Free Exercise: America’s Story of Religious Liberty, that makes its Philadelphia debut on Tuesday, Oct. 29 in a free screening at 6 PM at the Museum of the American Revolution.

The event features a panel discussion moderated by William Ewald, the John J. O’Brien Chair of International Law at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. Panelists include historian and film narrator Richard Brookhiser; the Rev. Philip Bochanski, Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia; and the Rev. Carolyn Clarene Cavaness, Pastor of Bethel AME Church of Ardmore.

Free Exercise is one of the most comprehensive looks at the tumultuous history of religious freedom in the U.S., as told primarily through the eyes of six American faith communities — Quakers, Baptists, Black churches, Catholics, Mormons, and Jews — before widening its focus and turning to more contemporary challenges.

The documentary, which includes interviews with dozens of historians, constitutional law scholars, and a variety of faith leaders, is currently being broadcast on PBS Member stations around the country. WHYY in Philadelphia intends to show the film later this fall.

“This film documents the history of the greatest experiment in religious liberty that the world has ever known,” said Thomas D. Lehrman, the film’s Executive Producer. “Among the blessings of liberty endowed by our Creator and secured by our Constitution, none surpass the free exercise of religion.”

In the film, Brookhiser chronicles the rise of anti-Catholic, anti-Irish nativism and tours the same Kensington streets where blood flowed and St. Michael’s parish burned before the militia put down the riots. Brookhiser then turns his attention to St. Philip Neri Parish in South Philadelphia where the second outbreak of violence occurred.

“All I can imagine is the great fear of the people that all that they had worked for to create this beautiful edifice to be the center of their lives — a life they shared with God — the fear that this would be burned as the others had been burned,” the Rev. Edward P. Kuczynski, current Pastor of St. Philip Neri, said in the film.

Free Exercise tells another Philadelphia story, as well: the founding of Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church in Philadelphia and the pioneering work of the Rev. Richard Allen in the fight against slavery.

The film also takes viewers on a journey from the fields of Flushing with the Quakers of New York; to an existential debate over religious liberty in Virginia involving upstart Baptists that led to the First Amendment; to a synagogue in Newport where George Washington made clear that American religious freedom included the Jewish people; to a trip up the Ohio River and a stop on the Underground Railroad where Christian faith leaders helped enslaved people to freedom; and on an epic journey to the mountain desert of Salt Lake where the Mormons sought out a place they could practice their religion in peace.

Finally, the film lands in the 20th century and brings us up to the present, as the American people continue to grapple with this most fundamental question: What does the Constitution’s commitment to the free exercise of religion mean?

“Religious liberty will not survive and thrive unless it lives in the hearts and minds of the American people,” said Yale legal scholar Akhil Amar in the film.

Others interviewed in the Catholic “chapter” of the film include Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York; Patrick Kelly, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus; John Garvey, former president of Catholic University of America; Dr. Robert P. George, the McCormick professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University; and Mark Rienzi, President of Becket.

“Free exercise is an epochal principle,” said Brookhiser. “But even the greatest principles are not self-enacting; they need to be understood and upheld in every generation.”

Register for the free screening of Free Exercise: America’s Story of Religious Liberty at the Museum of the American Revolution.

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Editor’s Note: This article was first published by CatholicPhilly.com on Oct. 18.