The Freedom From Religion Foundation has registered strong opposition to the City of Quincy’s plan to install two 10-foot-tall bronze statues of Catholic saints outside its new Public Safety Headquarters at a cost to the public of $850,000.
Multiple Quincy residents have contacted FFRF with concerns about this overtly religious display featuring Catholic Saints Michael the Archangel and Florian on government property. In response, FFRF sent a legal letter to Mayor Thomas Koch and the Quincy City Council, urging them to rescind the reckless decision and instead uphold constitutional principles and respect the religious and irreligious diversity of Quincy residents.
FFRF warns that this action violates both the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights and the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Massachusetts Declaration of Rights explicitly states: “All religious sects and denominations…shall be equally under the protection of the law; and no subordination of any one sect or denomination to another shall ever be established by law.”
FFRF points out that the statues’ religious nature is undeniable. Saint Florian was a Christian martyr canonized by Pope Lucius III, and Saint Michael the Archangel is revered in the Catholic faith as a “defender of faith, protector of souls and a symbol of divine justice.” Such explicitly sectarian imagery has no place at a government building meant to serve all residents equally, regardless of their religious beliefs.
“The Supreme Court has long held that the Establishment Clause requires ‘government neutrality between religion and religion, and between religion and nonreligion,’” FFRF Staff Attorney Madeline Ziegler wrote in the letter to city officials. “The proposed purchase and display of two religious statues conveys a message to non-Christians and nonreligious citizens that they are not welcome or accepted in Quincy.”
Beyond the constitutional violations, the financial burden of erecting these statues is alarming. The City of Quincy intends to spend $850,000 in taxpayer money to commission and install the statues — a significant expense that raises serious concerns about fiscal responsibility and public spending priorities. Making the proposal even more egregious is the fact that the Public Safety Building is part of an overall municipal complex.
“Using public funds for Roman Catholic iconography not only breaches constitutional boundaries, but sends a message to community members who rely on public safety services that Catholics are insiders and that non-Catholics and non-Christians are outsiders,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Taxpayer money must serve the entire community, not fund religious favoritism.”
FFRF also highlights the growing religious diversity in the United States. Nearly 37 percent of Americans are non-Christian, including the 29 percent who identify as nonreligious. In Massachusetts, 48 percent of adults are non-Christian including the 37 percent who are religiously unaffiliated.
FFRF urges Quincy officials to immediately reconsider and rescind this unconstitutional decision. Upholding the constitutional separation of state and church ensures that the city government remains impartial and that all Quincy residents feel equally respected and represented.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with nearly 42,000 members nationwide, including more than 800 members in Massachusetts. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
