On July 21 , 1952 , he delivered the invocation at the opening session of the 1952 Democratic National Convention , saying " Today we face a crisis as grave as that of Valley Forge . " He asked for Divine protection against " the aggression of those within and without of Godless enslaving political systems and of those who wittingly or unwittingly seek to take away our freedoms by their advocacy of materialism and Godless humanism . " In July 1954 , he issued a pastoral letter exhorting Illinois Catholics to abstain from the assembly of the World Council of Churches at Evanston , writing , " The Catholic Church does not ... enter into any organization in which the delegates of many sects sit down in council or conference as equals ... She does not allow her children to engage in any activity ... based on the false assumption that Roman Catholics , too , are still searching for the truth of Christ , " to the dismay of several Protestant and ecumenical figures . However , earlier in 1943 , Stritch attended a peace program held by Protestant , Catholic , Eastern Orthodox , and Jewish leaders
1952 Democratic National Convention
1952 Democratic National Convention
Samuel Stritch