LENT OF MANY THINGS

hen I count back through refused to endorse the cause of Irish 106 West 56th Street New York, NY 10019-3803 my predecessors as editor independence, Father Tierney publicly Ph: 212-581-4640; Fax: 212-399-3596 in chief, I figure just over accused him of violating his own stated Subscriptions: 1-800-627-9533 W www.americamagazine.org three-fourths of them were Irishmen principles of self-determination for all facebook.com/americamag by descent. This would explain why the peoples. The editors never warmed to twitter.com/americamag editors were always great sympathizers Mr. Wilson, especially since Wilson had with the cause of Irish independence. expelled Eugene O’Neill from Princeton President and Editor in Chief Matt Malone, S.J. This year, as part of the build-up to for the petty crimes of drunkenness and Executive Editors the centenary of the Easter Rising in vandalism. Robert C. Collins, S.J., Maurice Timothy Reidy

2016, we will release a new book, The The point is that Father Tierney was Executive Editor, America Films Troubles in America: Perspectives on not popular with the political classes; Jeremy Zipple, S.J. the Irish Question, which will include and when the secular press reported Managing Editor Kerry Weber commentary and extensive excerpts that Eamon de Valera was to be fêted Literary Editor Raymond A. Schroth, S.J. from America’s archives. It makes by the Jesuits at the headquarters of Senior Editor and Chief Correspondent Kevin Clarke fascinating reading in part because America and a dinner was to be held Editor at Large James Martin, S.J. America’s editors were no mere in his honor there, there was something Poetry Editor Joseph Hoover, S.J. of a backlash. Was this such a good chroniclers of these events but active Associate Editor and Vatican Correspondent participants as well. idea? The British didn’t think so—and Gerard O’Connell In the spring of 1919, Eamon in fact the British government forbade Senior Editor Edward W. Schmidt, S.J. de Valera, the New York-born Irish distribution of America on Irish shores Engagement and Community Editor revolutionary and future president and confiscated every extant copy. Elizabeth Tenety Associate Editors Ashley McKinless, Olga Segura of the Irish Republic, set sail for the But Father Tierney and the other Assistant Editors Francis W. Turnbull, S.J., United States on a fundraising trip editors were wise men. Some might Joseph McAuley for the Irish cause. The British, who say they were downright Jesuitical. The Art Director Sonja Kodiak Wilder regarded Mr. de Valera as a terrorist, British did not want the Jesuits to host Columnists Helen Alvaré, John J. Conley, S.J., were intent on capturing him as a de Valera for dinner? So Father Tierney Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M., James T. Keane, John W. Martens, Bill McGarvey, Angela Alaimo O’Donnell, bandit, or at least blocking him from did not offer de Valera dinner. He Margot Patterson, Nathan Schneider, Robert David these shores, and they made several offered him a modest reception instead. Sullivan attempts to intercept his ship during One that took place in the dining Correspondents John Carr (Washington), Antho- ny Egan, S.J. (Johannesburg), Jim McDermott, S.J. the Atlantic crossing. Once they had room…with some very heavy hors (Los Angeles), Timothy Padgett (Miami), Steven failed in that merry chase, they made it d’oeuvres, served in multiple courses Schwankert (Beijing), David Stewart, S.J. (London), clear to the U.S. government that they that were paired with wines. And there Judith Valente (Chicago), Mary Ann Walsh, R.S.M. (U.S. Church) were Irish musicians playing rebel would regard any honor offered Mr. Moderator, Catholic Book Club de Valera while he was traveling in the songs. And there were Irish republican Kevin Spinale, S.J. United States as an insult of no minor signage and decorations everywhere. Editorial e-mail significance. At the conclusion of the evening, all [email protected] Now the editor in chief of America agreed that it was the most elegant and in those days was a Jesuit named entertaining non-dinner an Irishman Publisher and Chief Financial Officer Edward Spallone. Deputy Publisher Rosa Del Saz. Vice Richard Tierney. Father Tierney had had ever enjoyed. President/Advancement Daniel Pawlus. Devel- a cunning genius and was built like a There’s a lesson in all of this, opment Coordinator Kerry Goleski. Operations Buick. He seemed destined to be either captured well in some lines by Padraig Staff Chris Keller, Glenda Castro. Advertising contact [email protected]; 212-515-0102. a Jesuit intellectual or a union boss. Pearse, one of the leaders of the Easter Subscription contact/Additional copies Luckily for us, Father Tierney chose the Rising. A determined people with a just [email protected]; former. At the time of de Valera’s visit, and moral cause will almost inevitably 1-800-627-9533 Father Tierney was already in some hot triumph. “Beware of the Risen People,... © 2015 America Press, Inc. water with the U.S. government. During ye that have harried and held,” Pearse World War I, his anti-British rhetoric wrote after the Rising. “Beware of the had led the U.S. government to put thing that is coming; beware of the America on a list of journals suspected risen people/ Who shall take what ye Cover: Cardinal Reinhard Marx, head of the of seditious activity; and after the war would not give.” German Bishops’ Conference, March 12, 2014. had ended, when Woodrow Wilson MATT MALONE, S.J. Reuters/Ina Fassbender Contents www.americamagazine.org VOL. 212 NO. 5, WHOLE NO. 5078 February 16, 2015

ARTICLES 16 THE ANNULMENT DILEMMA Revisiting a complicated process Paul V. Garrity

19 ‘WE HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO’ Cardinal Marx on Pope Francis, the synod and women in the church Luke Hansen

COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS

4 Current Comment

16 5 Editorial Among Schoolchildren

6 Reply All

9 Signs of the Times

14 Washington Front A Sermon on the Hill John Carr

24 Vatican Dispatch Francis’ Spiritual Reform Gerard O’Connell

27 Faith in Focus A Winter Soul Jessica Mesman Griffith

39 The Word In the Wilderness John W. Martens

27 BOOKS & CULTURE 29 THEATER “Cabaret” and “Sideshow” OF OTHER THINGS Ashes Mark the Frontier BOOKS Aimless Love; Blue Horses; Dylan Thomas; Cuban Revelations; Strong Boy

ON THE WEB Msgr. Paul V. Garrity takes questions on the annulment process and Brian B. Pinter leads a journey through the Song of Songs. Full digital highlights on page 38 and at americamagazine.org/webfeatures. 29 CURRENT COMMENT

that the world is taking seriously what is happening in the New Grecian Formula country.” Prime Minister Modi is the first Hindu nationalist Beware of Greeks bearing gripes. Since the nation’s to lead the country, and while he ran on an economic and economic bailout was arranged in 2010, European central governance platform, his victory seems to have emboldened bankers, keen to dispense hard medicine to the continent’s more militant Hindu groups. In December some of these fiscal prodigals, have been ignoring the resentment of nationalist groups conducted mass “reconversions” of ordinary Greeks, who have now endured years of personal Muslims and Christians. The Indian bishops have urged Mr. and national belt-tightening. The economy has contracted Modi to intervene to protect the nation’s religious minorities. by a quarter and unemployment is now over 25 percent. Some observers were quick to accuse President Obama The country’s debt stands at an insurmountable 175 of hypocrisy in cutting short his time in India in order to percent of G.D.P., higher than at the beginning of the pay his respects to the Saudi royal family on the death of crisis. In response, creditors in Europe, worried over Greek King Abdullah. The U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia— contagion, have pushed for even deeper cuts in government at once our partner in the fight against the Islamic State spending. and the chief financier of Islamic extremists—is built on But average Greeks have had enough. They voted on Jan. contradictions, but the elevation of the new King Salman 25 to put Alexis Tsipras and his Syriza Party in power on the gives the president a chance to recast this difficult alliance on promise that austerity would end, the debt burden would be the same terms he spoke of so passionately in New Delhi. lightened, and Greece would remain part of the European community. It is not clear how Mr. Tsipras can pull off that remarkable trifecta. Greece’s German creditors are holding Richard McBrien, R.I.P. the line on any further reduction in debt, and Mr. Tsipras is The late Rev. Richard P. McBrien’s outspoken manner won cheerfully encouraging other populist uprisings against debt him a following among those devoted to the reforms of the in Ireland and Spain. Cooler heads might hope to prevent Second Vatican Council and critics among others, who saw either a disastrous Greek exit from the European Union his views—on issues ranging from women’s ordination to the or a widespread unilateral repudiation of debt that would virgin birth—as erroneous or misleading. undermine long-term bond markets. Father McBrien taught at Boston College and served as Those insisting on a “fair” payout from Greece might president of the Catholic Theological Society of America. consider what is fair to people who are watching their Beginning in 1966, he wrote a column for the diocesan futures evaporate while the creators of the crisis book suites press, although several dioceses eventually dropped it as at Davos. Prime Minister Tsipras has reminded Europe’s too controversial. He described the liturgical practice of German overlords that a debt conference in 1953 set the eucharistic adoration, for example, as a theological “step stage for Germany’s remarkable revival after the war. A backward.” In 1980 the president of the University of similar conference to face up fairly to today’s European debt Notre Dame, Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., brought emergency might prevent an outcome that all sides publicly him to South Bend to strengthen the Catholic identity of declare they wish to avoid. the theology department. There, Brian E. Daley, S.J., told America, he was a “team player” and an “effective leader.” Perhaps his greatest achievement was the 1,290-page, The Promise of India one-volume edition (1981) of Catholicism, which sold over President Obama was in his element as he spoke forcefully to 150,000 copies worldwide. The diocesan censor declared a crowd of mostly young Indians about the ideals that bind the book orthodox, and the local bishop recommended the world’s oldest and largest democracies. Riding high after that readers study the book in its entirety so as to learn a successful round of discussions with India’s Prime Minister the difference between official teaching and theological Narenda Modi, the president placed conditions on what he speculation. hopes will be a “defining partnership” of the 21st century. Martin E. Marty, a Lutheran scholar, called Father “India will succeed,” he said, “so long as it is not splintered McBrien an “exemplar of the Christian life in action,” and the along the lines of religious faith” and “women and girls have Notre Dame historian R. Scott Appleby said that as a leader all the opportunities they deserve.” of the U.S. church’s “moderate left wing,” Father McBrien Archbishop Albert D’Souza of Agra, secretary general took on those “rolling back the council.” Foes tried relentlessly of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, was heartened to silence him. His reply was, “I don’t hold things back.” The by Mr. Obama’s tough-love message and said it “shows church is richer for it.

4 America February 16, 2015 EDITORIAL Among Schoolchildren

e expect a great deal from the nation’s public to have the resources that will allow them primary education system. Though teachers to successfully perform this double duty. Ware the frequent targets of some politicians— Unfortunately a report in 2011 collateral damage in an undeclared war on public sector union from the U.S. Department of Education membership—they accept each school day the challenge of documented spending disparities between preparing the next generation of Americans for productive affluent and high-poverty school districts; and meaningful lives. more than 40 percent of the latter were Mounting evidence suggests that their jobs are only significantly underfunded. This is because of the property-tax getting more difficult. The Southern Education Foundation funding structure for public education, and it often means reported in January that children growing up in poverty now that children who are already advantaged get additional en- make up the majority in the nation’s public schools. This richment opportunities, while peers in high-poverty districts conclusion is based on an analysis of statewide percentages strain for the basics. In a rational society that aims for fairness of children eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, which is and opportunity, schools in low-income communities would a somewhat imprecise measure because some schools try to not only achieve parity with wealthier districts; they would avoid stigmatizing children by providing a free lunch for ev- be better resourced. Their students have greater obstacles to eryone. But the trend of growing poverty among U.S. school- overcome. A thorough overhaul of district funding systems is children has been clear for some time, and it is corroborated an essential component of school reform. by other measures. The Children’s Defense Fund reports that Fighting poverty has become the surprise theme of the the United States has the second highest child poverty rate approaching 2016 presidential campaign, and during his re- among 35 industrialized countries, “despite having the largest cent State of the Union address, President Obama positioned economy in the world.” himself as a builder of a middle-class economy that will im- Five years into the economy’s uneven recovery, under- prove the standard of living for all. The focus on reducing pov- and unemployment rates remain high and wages stagnant. erty and shoring up the middle class is welcome, but unless Too many of the nine million private-sector jobs created since systemic modifications can make it through Congress, it is all the U.S. economy emerged from recession in 2009 are con- just talk. (Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, a pro- centrated in low-skill and low-pay sectors. While some state posal that enjoys bipartisan support, might be a good place and local minimum wage campaigns have scored victories, the to start.) federal minimum wage of $7.25 has been unchanged since Growing child poverty should raise alarms among po- 2009, and its buying power has diminished to a 40-year low. litical leaders and public policymakers. It suggests that the na- When parents are not doing well, their children suffer beside tion as a whole did not prepare a previous generation, who are them. Higher numbers of children are joining the free-lunch now raising their own children, for a modern workforce that line, especially in Southern and Western states. In Mississippi increasingly requires quality education. However either par- and New Mexico, nearly three-quarters of public school stu- ty chooses to respond to middle-class decline in the United dents now qualify for food assistance. States, creating fairness and opportunity for all begins with America has long supported mechanisms that allow improving public education. more children to tap into the special resource of this na- Defending improvements in public education, advo- tion’s Catholic schools, often incubators of opportunity in cates note the important role today’s schoolchildren will even- high-poverty communities, but it recognizes that addressing tually play as tomorrow’s working and tax-paying adults. But deficits in public schools, where most Catholic children now children are more than just potential cogs in the machinery receive their primary education, remains an essential obliga- of the nation’s workforce. They have the right to expect the tion of a vibrant and just society. Public schools have long adult world to look out for them and provide them the best since ceased to be places where children simply receive an ed- start in life possible—not because we all will someday depend ucation. As a consistent and dependable point of contact with on them, but because it is our God-given duty to them, one children, they have become essential for assessing needs and that should be borne with love and hope, not shouldered with distributing social services to children. Public schools deserve resentment or indifference.

February 16 , 2015 America 5 REPLY ALL Montgomery would not allow its pub- ciful God exists, if we have so lic spaces to be used. A delegation from many wars. On the contrary, con- No Simple Solutions the Southern Christian Leadership sider how in spite of centuries of “The Feminist Case Against Abortion,” Conference approached the only sin and greed and lust and cruelty by Serrin M. Foster (1/19), is one of Catholic church, the parish of St. Jude, and hatred and avarice and op- the more reasoned and thoughtful ap- with the space to provide a place of pression and injustice, spawned proaches to the thorny abortion issue rest. With some trepidation, given the and bred by the free wills of men, that I have read. And it is a thorny tensions in the state and the city, the the human race can still recover, issue. At times it seems that abor- pastor and archbishop gave permission each time, and can still produce tion opponents are on the opposite for the parish property to be used as men and women who overcome of all those who are concerned about a free and secure place for the march- evil with good, hatred with love, the weak, the poor, those who do not ers. A rousing vigil concert was orga- greed with charity, lust and cru- share in our nation’s abundance. On nized with stars like Harry Belafonte, elty with sanctity. How could all the other side, persons who care about Mahalia Jackson, Tony Bennett, Alan this be possible without the mer- social justice, including women’s rights, King, Leonard Bernstein and many ciful love of God, pouring out are often assumed to support abortion. others providing entertainment, en- His grace upon us? The red and blue divide, grossly over- couragement and a needed respite be- CHRISTIAN McNAMARA simplified, runs deep here. fore their final rendezvous at the state Online Comment Having worked for a time with capital. The Catholic Church in the A Good Bargain a pro-life group helping pregnant South was not always at the forefront Re “Which Side Are We On?” by women to choose options other than in the civil rights struggle, unfortu- Clayton Sinyai (1/19): In Pittsburgh abortion, I heard stories that broke nately, but I believe the hospitality of we see the old “do as I say, not as I my heart. I could never conclude that the church can tell a different story. do” routine that is trotted out every abortion was for them an easy way As a young Irish priest serving his time employees at a Catholic institu- out. The group provided the types of first assignment at St. Jude at that time, tion want the church to follow church support for mothers mentioned by Ms. it was an eyeopening experience and a teaching. How can an institution like Foster. What we did not do was con- wonderful opportunity to witness part Duquesne University claim that the demn them for even considering abor- of U.S. history being made. “religious identity” of the school would tion or add layers of guilt to what they (REV.) EDWARD K. ROONEY Fleming Island, Fla. be compromised by collective bar- already felt. Further, I do not think gaining and then turn around and not that simply making new laws prohibit- Overcoming Evil follow the very teachings they claim ing abortion will solve problems; they Re: “Merton (Still) Matters,” by Daniel would be compromised? are likely to create other problems. We P. Horan, O.F.M. (1/19): I think one I have been a theology teacher in all have to dig much deeper into the of the chief ways in which Merton can a unionized Catholic high school for context of our culture, which too often speak to millennials (or anyone else 41 years (and a union representative respects life only in speech. for much of that time) and have nev- LUCY FUCHS for that matter) involves his perspec- Brandon, Fla. tive on how to make sense of the evil er felt a conflict between what I teach and suffering that we see everywhere in the classroom and the work of the An Accommodating Church around us. In the face of events like Association of Catholic Teachers, the Re “Up The Mountain,” by John Sandy Hook, the continuing devas- bargaining agent representing over 600 Anderson (1/19): In “Selma” we see tation in Syria, the rampages of Boko high school teachers in the Archdiocese images of priests and sisters in their Haram in Nigeria, etc., I believe that of Philadelphia and Holy Cross High full regalia, many coming from far- many people, the young in particular, school in the Diocese of Trenton. The away places at great sacrifice, to sup- throw their hands up in sorrow and archdiocese has not “bargained away port the civil rights struggle. But many conclude that we are alone in a dark core tenets” of the Catholic faith, and today are unaware of the role the local and cruel universe. But Merton gives we have had a union for 47 years. ROBERT ZINGLE Catholic Church played. us a different view on suffering inThe Online Comment As the march progressed 80 miles Seven Storey Mountain: from Selma to the city of Montgomery, Worthy to Receive no space could be found to accommo- People seem to think that it is in Re “Communion Change?” (Signs of date all those brave souls. The city of some way a proof that no mer- the Times, 1/19): Blessed be the good

6 America February 16, 2015 STATUS UPDATE In the wake of the terrorist attacks on a what can happen in a society without another’s religion. Spiritually, we satirical magazine and Jewish market it. So I will support all free speech— need to examine our own beliefs. in Paris that left 17 dead, Pope Francis even the vile and hateful. I think the When outsiders mock our religion, condemned all violence carried out in the Charlie Hebdo cartoons are mostly sometimes it is a result of our own name of religion but suggested there are disgusting and the authors morally hypocrisy. (Sometimes it is just pure limits to the freedom of expression, that challenged, but I will let God sort that ridicule for ridicule’s sake.) Imagine if one “cannot make fun” of other religions. out. there were satirists during the time of Readers weigh in. CHRISTOPHER BOETIG the Pharisees. They would have had a field day. So we must allow this type of Legally, we must allow free speech satirization. The pope is wrong on the One could argue that Christ was killed (within limits defined by the soci- legal level. On a personal level, I agree because he spoke insults against the te- ety—there is no such thing as com- with him. Mockery is potent and will nets of a religion. While free speech is plete free speech). Morally, and eth- probably get you “punched” eventually. not a perfect solution, it is better than ically, I believe it is wrong to mock DAVANNA CIMINO

German bishops for their mercy on di- prehensible to the people who would [families], revealing and presenting vorced Catholics in civil unions! most profit from the church’s renewed the concrete ‘demands’ of their sharing I recall my ordination and first Mass concern for marriage and family life, in the love of Christ for his church in in 1962, when my dear sister Evelyn namely to the families in the pew and the particular family, social and ec- remained in the pew with her new at home. clesial situation in which they find husband at Communion time. She The discussion of this topic often themselves” (“Familiaris Consortio,” was denied an annulment, but despite feels more like it’s about the pastoral No. 51). In other words, be sure that her ill feelings toward the church, she practices of the institutional church the perspective, the context and the raised her children Catholic. Years later than about the daily life experienced language employed communicate to I visited her in a nursing home, where in the domestic church. In his pow- ordinary lay Catholics, most of whose she was suffering through the dreaded erful but, sadly, often overlooked ex- ecclesial and spiritual life happens at Alzheimer’s disease. When a priest at- hortation on the family, St. John Paul home. tempted to give her Communion, she II wrote, “In and through the events, DAVID M. THOMAS refused to receive it. I still wonder to- problems, difficulties and circumstanc- Whitefish, Mt. day if it was her disease or her sense of es of everyday life, God comes to them

“unworthiness” that made her refuse to Letters to the editor may be sent to America’s editorial office (address on page 2) or letters@ accept Communion. I shared her story americamagazine.org. America will also consider the following for print publication: with the priest, and together we bless- comments posted below articles on America’s Web site (americamagazine.org) and posts ed her. on Twitter and public Facebook pages. All correspondence may be edited for length. (REV.) DAVID M. CAREY Online Comment Where Families Are I read with great appreciation “Family in Focus” by the Rev. Robert P. Imbelli (12/8/14). Placing on sound ecclesial and theological ground the discussions now underway between the two meet- ings of the Synod on the Family is es- sential for the success of this process. I would like to add a further perspective, that of a lay theologian who served as an expert for our bishops at the first synod on the family (1980). It is this: Make the discussion and its eventu- al outcome concrete, real and com- “Just heard they’re going bankrupt.” BOB ECKSTEIN CARTOON:

February 16 , 2015 America 7 8 America February 16, 2015 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

DEATH PENALTY Development, called lethal injections a “cruel practice.” Cardinal Seán P. Cruel and Unusual? Court to O’Malley, Chair of the Committee on Pro-life Activities, added, “We pray Decide on Lethal Injections that the court’s review of these proto- cols will lead to the recognition that LETHAL DECISION. Deacon institutionalized practices of violence John Flanigan protests outside against any person erode reverence St. Louis University College Church on Jan. 28. for the sanctity of every human life. Capital punishment must end.” Currently the 32 states that have the death penalty use lethal injections. A shortage of drugs previously used in executions has caused states to try a variety of different drug combinations in lethal injections. Some, as shown by Lockett’s botched execution, do not work as intended. If they are going to continue with that method, the executions cannot take a significant period of time, said Mary Margaret Penrose, professor of constitutional law at Texas A&M’s University School of Law. “The court is saying, let’s at least pause and get more information,” she said, adding that she doesn’t think the court would “overturn the death penalty as a meth- od of punishment,” but the justices hen the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on the constitutionality of the might determine that until better executions by lethal injection in Oklahoma, its ruling will probably medication is available, states should Wnot be a tipping point toward the elimination of capital punishment “use another method.” in the United States, but some experts say it could be the beginning of the end of According to a Gallup poll last fall, this practice. a majority of Americans still support Richard C. Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center capital punishment, but some feel the based in Washington, said that much public discussion about lethal injections tide is slowly turning. Karen Clifton, took place last year after the botched execution of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma, executive director of the Catholic who writhed in pain for 40 minutes before dying apparently of heart failure. The Mobilizing Network to End the Use execution was “quite a shock” and “got a lot of attention,” which he said explains of the Death Penalty, said Catholics why the drugs used to execute Lockett deserve a review. are becoming more galvanized in their In April, the court will hear oral arguments in Glossip v. Gross, a case brought views against capital punishment. She by four death-row inmates in Oklahoma. One of the plaintiffs, Charles Warner, said the botched death by lethal injec- was executed on Jan. 15 after the court rejected a stay by a 5-to-4 vote. The court tion is a “stark reminder” that capital announced on Jan. 23 it would take the case and five days later agreed to stay the punishment is an affront to the dignity upcoming executions of the other three inmates until it issues a decision. of human life. The court’s decision to review the case was welcomed by representatives of Last October, Pope Francis called the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. In a statement Archbishop Thomas on Christians and all people of good G. Wenski of Miami, chair of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human will “to fight...for the abolition of the

February 16 , 2015 America 9 SIGNS OF THE TIMES death penalty...in all its forms” out the death penalty because they have ence of the suffragan bishops of that of respect for human dignity. The recognized it as a pro-life issue. “We ecclesiastical province. U.S. bishops have been campaigning are executing the marginalized in The emeritus archbishop of San against the death penalty for more our society,” she said, noting that the Francisco, John Quinn, has written than 40 years. Scriptures are full of references to insightfully on synodality in his book, Clifton said that in recent years how “we will be judged by how we Ever Ancient, Ever New: Structures of more Catholics have been against treat the least among us.” Communion in the Church (Paulist Press, 2013). Commenting on the VATICAN pope’s gesture, he said, “The deci- sion of Pope Francis that the pallium Pope Francis Sends Pallium Home should be conferred on metropoli- tan archbishops in their own diocese ope Francis has decided that the Archbishop of an Ecclesiastical brings to mind St. Cyprian who, in the public ceremony of investiture Province,” Monsignor Marini wrote. third century, said, ‘The bishop is in of metropolitan archbishops It is also a symbol of the metropolitan P the Church and the Church is in the with the pallium will henceforth take archbishop’s jurisdiction in his own di- bishop.’ place in the prelates’ home dioceses, ocese and in the other dioceses of his “The new papal arrangement serves not in the Vatican as has been the case ecclesiastical province. to emphasize that the giving of the pal- under recent pontiffs. In keeping with the new policy, lium is an ecclesial event, an event of He believes that in this way the whole diocese, and the ceremony “will greatly fa- not merely a juridical vor the participation of the or ceremonial event. local church in an important ‘The bishop is in the moment of its life and histo- Church.’” ry.” Msgr. Guido Marini, the He recalled that the master of ceremonies of papal pallium “is the most liturgies, gave the news in a ancient symbol of the letter on Jan. 12 to nuncios in bishop’s office going countries where there are met- back as far as the fourth ropolitan archbishops who century. It predates the were expected to receive the THE CHURCH IS IN THE BISHOP. Pope Francis presents a miter and the crosier as pallium from the pope at the pallium in St. Peter’s Basilica last June to Archbishop Leonard P. Blair of Hartford, Conn. episcopal symbols.” Vatican on June 29, the feast Archbishop Quinn of Sts. Peter and Paul. said the pope has introduced this new According to Monsignor Marini, the new archbishop of Chicago, Blase policy “to underline synodality in the Pope Francis believes that this new Cupich, who is the only metropolitan church,” and he recalled that on June, custom can serve to advance “that archbishop appointed by Pope Francis 29, 2013, Pope Francis stated clear- journey of synodality in the Catholic in the United States, will concelebrate ly that “synodality is the path of the Church which, from the beginning of Mass with the pope in the Vatican on Catholic Church.” In this light, he said, his pontificate, he has constantly em- June 29, together with some 40 oth- the pontiff ’s decision “becomes a re- phasized as particularly urgent and er metropolitan archbishops from all minder to the Archbishop, to his own precious at this time in the history of continents. At the end of Mass, he will diocese and to the bishops and dioceses the church.” receive the pallium from the hands of of his Metropolitan Province that they The pallium is a liturgical vestment the pontiff “in a private manner.” Some are being called to open new paths to that symbolizes “the bonds of hierar- time afterward, the papal nuncio to a true synodality of participation and chical communion between the See of the United States, Archbishop Carlo communion in their churches.” Peter and the Successor of the Apostle Maria ViganÒ, will invest him with GERARD O’CONNELL and those who are chosen to carry out the pallium at a public ceremony in the the episcopal ministry as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Chicago, in the pres- From CNS, RNS and other sources.

10 America February 16, 2015 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Challenges for Women NEWS BRIEFS In Church and Society The cause for the beatification ofChiara Lubich, founder Violence against women, cultural of the international Focolare Movement, was opened on pressures regarding women’s physical Jan. 27 in a celebration in the Cathedral of Frascati, near appearance, attitudes that subjugate Rome. • Shower facilities for homeless people in Rome women or that ignore male-female dif- will open in St. Peter’s Square on Feb. 15, but the service ferences and the growing alienation of will now also include shaves and haircuts after a group of women from the church in some parts local barbers and hairdressers volunteered their talents. Chiara Lubich of the world are themes the Pontifical • The bishops of Niger suspended “until further notice” Council for Culture is set to explore all activities of the Catholic Church on Jan. 22 after the during its plenary assembly on Feb. 4 to looting of church facilities and the desecration of places of worship 7 at the Vatican. The assembly’s state- following protests against the renewed publication of the French ment, “Women’s Cultures: Equality weekly Charlie Hebdo. • During his Sunday Angelus address on Feb. and Difference,” looked at the continu- 1, Pope Francis announced that he will visit the Bosnian capital of ing quest to find balance in promoting Sarajevo on June 6. •A $1.75 million dollar grant from the Charles women’s equality while valuing the Koch Foundation is part of a $3 million pledge to Catholic University differences between women and men; of America announced in January that also includes $500,000 from the concrete and symbolic aspects of the Busch Family Foundation and $250,000 each from three business women’s potential for motherhood; leaders. • The African Union voted on Jan. 31 to back plans for a West cultural attitudes toward women’s bod- African military task force to fight Boko Haram militants, “prevent ies; and women and religion, including [their] expansion” and “eliminate their presence” in Nigeria and neigh- questions about their participation in boring countries. church decision-making. In the section on women and the church, the docu- ment described “multifaceted discom- classes offered at the university, but millions of people obtain health care fort” with images of women that are at a more affordable cost. Stephen coverage under the Affordable Care no longer relevant and with a Christian Katsouros, S.J., the new college’s dean Act, it will be “an incredible cruelty,” said community that seems to value their in- and executive director, told The Loyola Carol Keehan, D.C., the president and put even less than the world of business Phoenix, the university newspaper, chief executive officer of the Catholic and commerce does. Many women, it “The Jesuits and our colleagues do Health Association. “This act has put said, “have reached places of prestige not want our colleges and universities 20 million people in a position to have within society and the workplace but to become elite. [If we do so] we are health insurance,” she said on Jan. 28 have no corresponding decisional role leaving such great and college-deserv- in a videotaped message released at a nor responsibility within ecclesial com- ing students behind.” Arrupe College news conference on Capitol Hill. “It’s munities.” is part of Loyola’s commitment to not the whole job, but it’s an incredible President Obama’s efforts to increase step forward. And in each of those 20 college opportunity by making it more million people for their families it is ut- Jesuit Community affordable for students. Arrupe College terly life-changing.” The C.H.A. filed a College has committed to helping 2,275 stu- friend-of-the-court brief in the case of The world’s first Jesuit community dents earn associate’s degrees by 2025. King v. Burwell. The Supreme Court college—Arrupe College of Loyola In order to do so, it must admit around will hear oral arguments in the case in University Chicago—is scheduled to 200 students each year. March, with a decision expected in June. open at the university’s Water Tower Plaintiffs argue that the A.C.A. allows Campus on Aug. 17. The college, C.H.A. Urges Protection federal subsidies only in those states named for the late Pedro Arrupe, S.J., that run their own health insurance ex- a former Jesuit superior general, aims Of Health Care Reform changes, or marketplaces, and that they to provide prospective students with If the U.S. Supreme Court strikes cannot be used in the 37 states that rely the same liberal arts core curriculum down federal subsidies that have helped on the federal insurance exchange.

February 16 , 2015 America 11 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

DISPATCH | JOHANNESBURG At the other extreme, the beggars one sees at street lights in Johannesburg A Farewell to Race? share the same challenges: poverty, un- employment, desperation. The major- sn’t it time the countries of our notably humans’ exposure to differ- ity of the middle class are still white- world abolished the scientifical- ent climates over thousands of years. skinned, and most of the street poor Ily absurd notion of race from Similarly the notion of culture—often are black. That’s the persistent legacy our public lexicon? Or am I being a nebulous euphemism for race—is of apartheid, the grounds for our af- hopelessly utopian? I recently read a another category that on closer exam- firmative action policies. But unfor- provocative book, Declassified: Moving ination is a conceptual leaky bucket, tunately these policies, if intended to Beyond the Dead End of Race in South unless one rejects a crudely essentialist promote greater equality, have failed. Africa, by the retired Durban sociol- and fixed notion of “cultural heritage.” What they have done is create an ex- ogist Gerhard Maré (Johannesburg: Living cultural traditions adapt, draw- panded nonracial middle class at the Jacana Press 2014), which argues pre- ing on other traditions if they are to expense of a nonracial underclass of cisely that while it is utopian to poor people. make such a claim, it is essential A utopian view, beyond racial- that we do just that. A more equal society ized discourse, challenges this sys- Maré and I are not trying tem radically by promoting a non- to deny the reality of racism— is a less violent, less racial vision of equality and re- prejudice against a community insecure society. dress. Drawing on John Rawls and on the grounds of skin color— Catholic social thought from Pope whether on a personal level or in Leo XIII to Pope Francis (indeed, many cases as part of social pol- even—dare I say it?—Karl Marx), icy. Even in countries where in- a truly utopian vision would de- stitutionalized racism has been legally survive and thrive. Most people today velop policies in health, housing and abolished, racism persists. We need to embrace a variety of values coming education that would give to the poor ask why and uncover answers that do from many different cultural sources. opportunities to improve themselves, not simplify the problem by arguing Yet despite all this, societies still em- to acquire skills to pull themselves out that since races exist, “racism” is the brace racialism, whether by innocuous of poverty into the middle class. This cause of social inequities. While chal- definitions of race or through racially is in everyone’s interest: a more equal lenging the idea of race itself as a social defined affirmative action programs society is a less violent, less insecure construct, not a biological reality, Maré for “racially disadvantaged people.” By society. It is also a society that echoes points out that many countries delimit using scientifically dubious categories, the utopian dream of the Rev. Martin citizens according to race without any the former obfuscate what it means to Luther King Jr.: “I have a dream that sinister motive, what he calls “racial- be truly human. The latter, while right- my four little children will one day ism.” By extension, since such defini- ly addressing the just demand for re- live in a nation where they will not be tion is based on race—an unscientific dressing historical disadvantage, miss judged by the color of their skin but by absurdity—even benign racialism is the underlying cause of disadvantage, the content of their character.” also nonsense. argues Maré: social class. Dr. King’s vision of a nonracial Did I just say “nonsense”? I did. Let Members of the middle class or the United States inspired many South me explain. elite have more in common with each African activists in the late 1960s and Research into DNA and the human other than with working class or poor 1970s. Our own home-grown utopi- genome shows no genetic differences of their own skin colors. They live in ans, like Steve Biko and Rick Turner, between “races.” Skin color is a long the same suburbs or gated communi- said similar things. Gerhard Maré, evolutionary accident of geography, ties, go to the same schools and uni- who knew both of them, is saying, versities, enjoy the same high quality in his way, the same thing. Perhaps private health care and drive the same it’s time we gave utopian thinking a ANTHONY EGAN, S.J., a member of the Jesuit Institute South Africa, is one of America’s cars. At least this is what I see in South chance. Johannesburg, South Africa, correspondents. Africa. ANTHONY EGAN

12 America February 16, 2015 February 16 , 2015 America 13 WASHINGTON FRONT A Sermon on the Hill he most predictable threatens unborn children and others. common ground. Catholic, evangelical Washington ritual is the pres- He has said, “It is not ‘progressive’ to and other leaders are coming together Tident’s State of the Union try to resolve problems by eliminating a to make overcoming poverty a moral address. This civic liturgy includes human life.” Francis’ defense of families imperative and national priority, taking an entrance procession of the Senate, takes on both economic and moral pres- on the ideological divisions between a Cabinet and Supreme Court followed sures on family life, making ideologues narrow focus on family factors and an by the president, who declares the on both left and right uncomfortable. exclusive emphasis on economic fac- union “strong” and offers his policies When this modern “Francis” insists tors. These false choices are bad policy, to make it stronger. Members of the authentic power requires humble ser- bad politics and bad for poor people. president’s party repeatedly stand and vice, he is challenging the culture of There are crucial tests to come. applaud and the other party offers dis- Washington. When he calls nations to Republican reformers cannot justify approving silence from their seats. The place the poor and vulner- or go along with food ritualistic political theater includes the able first, pursue peace and Are our stamp and Medicaid presence of symbolic citizens chosen care for God’s creation, the cuts that undermine for their moving stories, which rein- pope is offering stark alter- leaders the safety net and hurt force poll-tested messages. natives to the priorities of the poor. Democratic The next time Vice President Biden Congress. Francis has said ready for leaders need to address and Speaker Boehner preside togeth- politics is “a lofty vocation Francis’ clearly how family er, the occasion won’t be so predict- and one of the highest forms structures and strengths able. John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi, of charity, inasmuch as it challenges affect the lives of poor very different Catholics, have invited seeks the common good.... to business children. Work is at the Pope Francis to address Congress in I ask God to give us more center of Pope Francis’ September. Only five decades ago, politicians capable of sincere as usual? dignity agenda, but jobs some American leaders declared a and effective dialogue.” This are often neglected in Catholic should not become president call for dialogue focused on this developing discus- because he would take orders from the the common good challenges the parti- sion. A decent job with a decent wage pope. Now Jorge Bergolio of Argentina san gamesmanship and special interest and benefits is the centerpiece of any has been invited to offer guidance to power that dominate Washington. real opportunity strategy. Catholic so- American legislators because of his But it doesn’t need to be this way, cial teaching insists that those who can leadership as Pope Francis. especially on poverty and opportuni- work should do so, but they need work The papal visit is generating much ty. President Obama seems liberat- and wages that can support a fami- excitement, but are our leaders ready ed, not demoralized, by the loss of a ly, not offer another form of poverty. for Francis’ challenges to political, eco- Democratic Senate. His “middle class Justice requires that those who cannot nomic and ecclesial business as usual? economics” would help lift up the poor, work should be able to live in dignity A Congressional resolution of invi- though he doesn’t say the word pover- and be treated with compassion. tation reportedly faltered, with some ty. Surprisingly, Mitt Romney (of “47 If Pope Francis comes before Republicans wary of Pope Francis’ in- percent” fame) is talking about pover- Congress in September, he is likely dictments of an “economy of exclusion,” ty; and Republicans like Paul Ryan of to say once again, “The greatness of “trickle-down economics” and anti-im- Wisconsin and Marco Rubio of Florida a society is found in the way it treats migrant policies. Some Democrats and Democrats like Chris Van Hollen those most in need, those who have might be worried about Pope Francis’ of Maryland and Elizabeth Warren of nothing apart from their poverty.” I criticism of a “throw-away culture” that Massachusetts are offering interest- hope all our leaders stand, applaud ing policy responses. There are quiet and say that’s one thing we can work JOHN CARR is director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at conversations among thinkers and re- on together. Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. searchers from left and right looking for JOHN CARR

14 America February 16, 2015

The Annulment Dilemma Revisiting a complicated process BY PAUL V. GARRITY

o clear guidance emerged from last fall’s it requires the petitioner, the person Synod of Bishops on the Family for di- seeking the annulment, to write an au- vorced and remarried Catholics who wish tobiographical essay, beginning with to receive holy Communion. Cardinal Sean childhood and continuing through O’Malley, O.F.M.Cap., among others, has adolescence, assessing his or her rela- Nsuggested that streamlining the annulment process may be tionship with parents, the history of dating, the best way to provide relief for couples whose second mar- sexual activity, courtship, proposal, marriage and significant riages are considered invalid by the Catholic Church because events in the marriage. This is the first obstacle, and for many of a prior valid marriage that has not been annulled. While people, it is an insurmountable one. In my experience, only this may be appropriate in some cases, even a streamlined one in five petitioners makes it past this first step. For col- process will not address the real pastoral questions that the lege-educated individuals who have written major reports or annulment process raises. term papers, the idea of a 10- or 15-page essay is not intim- Over the course of 40 years as a priest, I have helped many idating at all. But for countless others who have never writ- couples pursue an annulment in order to be free to validate ten more than a one page letter, this autobiographical essay their current marriage in the eyes of the church. I usually is a mountain too high to climb. I have set aside upwards of begin by explaining in simple terms the reason why their 50 applications for annulments that never made it past this current marriage is considered invalid by church standards. initial obstacle despite numerous encouraging conversations. This is a very hard nut to swallow for two people who have The annulment process also stalls at this juncture because pledged their love and fidelity to one another and who have it is simply very difficult and painful to relive the events and been enjoying the fruits of their relationship for more than a emotions of a marriage that has failed. For some, this process few years. Though insulted by this judgment, many couples can become very cathartic and healing, but for many others still decide to forge onward with faith and humility. the wounds of a failed marriage are too painful to touch. Try In explaining what an annulment is, I often hold up a pen as they may, reliving the past through an autobiography that with its point retracted. The assumption is that the pen con- others are going to read is humiliating for many divorced tains a cartridge and is suitable for writing. If I take the car- people. tridge out of the pen, it still looks the same as before. It is not until I try to write with the pen that I discover there is no ink. Pastoral Challenges While the pen looks like any other writing instrument, it is For those who are contemplating a second marriage, the not until I look inside and discover that something essential challenges posed by the annulment process are equally is missing that I understand why it will not write. daunting. It takes time for a divorced person to regain his or All marriages look alike from the outside. When a mar- her self-confidence and composure once the divorce is final. riage ends in divorce, the annulment process tries to look in- When true love finally comes along and marriage is the next side the marriage to see what may have been missing from step, it is very disheartening to learn that it is impossible the very beginning. When an essential element is determined even to set a date for a church wedding until an annulment to have been absent, a declaration of nullity is made by the has been granted. Given the fact that weddings are often church (i.e., it declares that the marriage was invalid, that it planned a year in advance and that the annulment process was not, in fact, a marriage.) In so-called “shotgun” weddings, may take 18 months, two and a half years seems like an aw- annulments are relatively easy because a pregnancy and a de- fully long time to wait. Throw in the biological clock, and the sire to do the “right thing” are seen as factors that limit the wait becomes even worse. freedom of both parties. The way the church understands annulments frequent- While this may seem to be a simple case, the process for ly causes special concern for divorced mothers and fathers. achieving a declaration of nullity is not simple at all. Initially They assume that if a marriage is annulled, the children of that marriage must be illegitimate. Explanations that this is MSGR. PAUL V. GARRITY, of the Archdiocese of Boston, is pastor of St. not true because they were civilly married at the time of the Catherine of Siena Parish in Norwood, Mass. birth of their children fall on deaf ears because the church’s

16 America February 16, 2015 What is on trial in an annulment process The Annulment Dilemma is the bond of marriage. Did it or did it not take place at the time of the marriage?

position is that a valid marriage never took place. For many riage that will require a full-blown annulment (i.e., canoni- couples in a second marriage, the idea of harming their chil- cal trial) in order for the divorced Protestant or whatever to dren in any way is absolutely out of the question. The logic marry his or her new Catholic spouse in a Catholic church. here is unassailable. This is very difficult for the non-Catholic partner to under- In contemplating the possibility of an annulment, one stand. of the first questions raised by a potential petitioner has to As a corollary, in the case of a second marriage where the do with the respondent, the other party in the failed mar- non-Catholic partner has been married before, an annul- riage. The fact that this person will need to be contacted and ment is needed before that person can be received into the invited to provide testimony is often a source of great anx- full communion of the church through the Rite of Christian iety. Divorces are never easy and never without pain. The Initiation of Adults. Where the non-Catholic believes that thought of having to involve the other party can oftentimes his or her first marriage was a valid union now ended by di- be a bridge too far. vorce (and therefore not annullable by Catholic standards), When Catholics have been divorced and are seeking an it becomes impossible for this person to be welcomed into annulment, there is an implicit understanding that this is the Catholic community. a Catholic thing. The explanation as to why an annulment In contrast to these cases, should a Catholic be married is needed becomes much more complex when the mar- by a justice of the peace on the beach or at city hall or even by riage that needs to be annulled is a marriage between two a Protestant minister in a Protestant church, this marriage, non-Catholics that took place at city hall, on the beach or should it end in divorce, can be easily annulled in a matter of in a Protestant church. Because the two parties are not weeks by the Catholic Church. This is called a documentary Catholic, they are not obliged to follow Catholic form (i.e., annulment or a defect of form annulment. In this case, all to be married in a church by a priest before two witnesses). the Catholic divorced party needs to do is present a copy of

COMPOSITE PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/AMERICA Their marriage, therefore, is considered to be a valid mar- his or her baptismal record and a copy of the divorce decree.

February 16, 2015 America 17 For a small filing fee, the church will issue a decree of nullity riage prior to the divorce. What is on trial in an annulment based on the simple fact that the Catholic party was obliged process, a canonical trial, is the bond of marriage. Did it or to follow Catholic form when getting married and did not did it not take place at the time of the marriage? Witness do so. Therefore, the church regards this marriage as being testimony is needed to provide information that suggests invalid for lack of form. It does not matter if this marriage something was lacking in the relationship before the mar- had lasted a month or 40 years. riage took place. Witnesses are not finding fault or placing The irony of all this is very clear. Catholics who marry blame for the marriage’s breakup. They are merely attest- outside the church usually are not observant Catholics. They ing to what they observed in the relationship that is being may have been baptized and never catechized. Or they may examined. Immaturity, a lack of good judgment or dimin- be individuals who have slipped away from the practice of ished freedom can emerge from this kind of testimony. The their faith. For them, the annulment process in preparation challenge, therefore, is to find people who have this kind of for a second marriage in the church is very simple. But the intimate knowledge about the marriage being studied and practicing Catholic who gets married in the church because who understand the nature of what is being sought in their it is the right thing to do has to go through an 18-month testimony. ordeal before an annulment is granted and they are free to There are also some very serious ecumenical questions marry in the church once again. The lapsed Catholic has about our understanding of marriage. Jesus’ statements in an easy time procuring an annulment, while the faithful the Gospels of Matthew (9:3-8), Mark (10:2-9) and Luke Catholic has to endure the lengthy and arduous process of (16:18) are the foundation of the Roman Catholic teaching a canonical trial. on the indissolubility of marriage. And while the sacramen- tality of marriage is seen to be rooted here, it was not until Witness Testimony the 12th century, at the Council of Verona, that our cur- Another tricky part of the annulment process has to do rent understanding of the sacrament of matrimony began with establishing the testimony of three or more witnesses. to develop. At the same time, over the centuries, most other In the annulment process, a witness is a person who does Christian denominations have read the same Scripture pas- not weigh in on the merits of the petitioner’s case but rath- sages and come to a very different place. Many Protestant er explains what they saw in the relationship and the mar- groups do not regard marriage as a sacrament. Certain steps can be taken to help im- prove the annulment process. In the Diocese of Springfield, Mass., for example, state- ments are taken orally rather than requir- ing a lengthy written report. Annulments could also be sped up if pastors were given a greater role in deciding cases at the par- ish level. Unfortunately, streamlining the process will do nothing for the Protestant, now married to a Catholic, who cannot in conscience apply for an annulment because he or she believes that his or her prior mar- riage was valid. The fact of a divorce should be proof enough that something essential was miss- ing in a marriage or that the marriage has died. To insist that a person who is happi- ly married for 25 years to a second spouse is still, in fact, married to the first spouse flies in the face of both reason and expe- rience. When we think of the complexi- ties of the current annulment process, we really should be asking: Is this what Jesus intended? For many of us who pastor par- ishes and try to shepherd God’s people, the answer is a resounding no. A

18 America February 16, 2015 ‘We Have a Lot of Work to Do’ Cardinal Marx on Pope Francis, the synod and women in the church BY LUKE HANSEN ardinal Reinhard Marx, archbish- op of the Diocese of Munich and Cardinal Reinhard Marx in Münster, Freising, is head of the German March 12, 2014. bishops’ conference, a member of Cthe Council of Cardinals that advises Pope Francis on church governance, coordinator of the Vatican’s Council for the Economy and author of Das Kapital: A Plea for Man (2008). Cardinal Marx delivered the annu- al Roger W. Heyns Lecture on Jan. 15 at Stanford University in California. This inter- view, which has been edited for clarity and ap- proved by the cardinal, took place on Jan. 18 in Memorial Church at Stanford University.

Has your experience on the Council of Cardinals offered you a different perspective on the church? I have a new responsibility. When I am in- terviewed—like today—and I am asked, “What are you doing on the council?” and “What does it mean to be with the pope?” I feel a higher responsibility. I don’t see the church in a new way, though. I have been a bishop for 18 years, ate a new constitution for the Roman a cardinal for five years and have been part of synods. I do see Curia, to reform the Vatican Bank and my new responsibility and the new opportunities, and also the to discuss many other things with the historical moment to step forward in the church and be part pope. But we cannot be present every day in of the history of the church. Rome. You must see this pontificate, this way, as a wider and new step. It is my impression that we are on a new way. We are What are the new opportunities? not creating a new church—it remains Catholic—but there is This whole pontificate has opened new paths. You can feel it. fresh air, a new step forward. Here in the United States everybody is speaking about Francis, even people not belonging to the Catholic Church. I have to What challenge accompanies this new time in the church? say: The pope is not the church. The church is more than the It is best to read “The Joy of the Gospel.” Some people say, “We pope. But there is a new atmosphere. A rabbi said to me, “Say don’t know what the pope really wants.” I say, “Read the text.” to the pope that he helps us, because he strengthens all reli- It does not give magical answers to complex questions, but gions, not just the Catholic Church.” So it’s a new movement. rather it conveys the path of the Spirit, the way of evangeliza- In the Council of Cardinals we have a special task to cre- tion, being close to the people, close to the poor, close to those who have failed, close to the sinners, not a narcissistic church, LUKE HANSEN, S.J., a former associate editor of America, is a student at not a church of fear. There is a new, free impulse to go out. the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University, in Berkeley, Calif. Some worry about what will happen. Francis uses a strong PHOTO: REUTERS/INA FASSBENDER

February 16, 2015 America 19 image: “I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty in your present ministry? because it has been out on the streets,” rather than a church I have been a priest for 35 years. This problem is not new. I that is very clean and has the truth and everything necessary. have the impression that we have a lot of work to do in the The latter church does not help the people. The Gospel is not theological field, not only related to the question of divorce new, but Francis is expressing it in a new way and is inspiring but also to the theology of marriage. I am astonished that many people all over the world, who are saying, “Yes, that is some can say everything is clear on this topic. Things are not the church.” It is a great gift for us. It’s very important. We clear. The issue is not about church doctrine being determined will see what he will do. He has been pope for only two years, by modern times. It is a question of aggiornamento, to say it in which is not much time. a way that the people can understand, and to always adapt our doctrine to the Gospel, to theology, in order to find in a new What can you tell us about Pope Francis, the person, from way the sense of what Jesus said, the meaning of the tradition working closely with him? of the church and of theology and so He is very authentic. He is relaxed, on. There is a lot to do. calm. At his age, he does not need to The spirit of I speak with many experts—canon achieve anything or prove he is some- lawyers and theologians—who rec- body. He is very clear and open and the synod is to ognize many questions related to the without pride. And strong. Not a find a way together, sacramentality and validity of mar- weak person, but strong. I think it is riages. One question is: What can we not so important to analyze the char- not to say, do when a person marries, divorces acter of the pope, but I understand the and later finds a new partner? There interest. ‘How can I find are different positions. Some bishops What is very interesting is how, at the synod said, “They are living in together with him, we will develop a way to bring sin.” But others said, “You cannot say the path forward for the church. For that somebody is in sin every day. example, he writes in “The Joy of the my position That is not possible.” You see, there are Gospel” about the relationship be- through?’ questions we must speak about. We tween the center in Rome and the opened a discussion on this topic in conferences of bishops, and also about the German bishops’ conference. Now the pastoral work in parishes, the local the text is published. I think it is a very churches and the character of the synods. These are very im- good text and a good contribution for the discussion of the portant for the future of the church. It is also very important synod. that we have a pope. Now everybody in the world is speaking It is very important that the synod does not have the spirit about the Catholic Church, not entirely positively, but mostly. of “all or nothing.” That is not a good way. The synod cannot So Christ did very well to create the office of St. Peter. We have winners and losers. That is not the spirit of the synod. see it. But that doesn’t mean centralism. I told the pope: “A The spirit of the synod is to find a way together, not to say, centralized institution is not a strong institution. It is a weak “How can I find a way to bringmy position through?” Rather: institution.” The Second Vatican Council began to establish a “How can I understand the other position, and how can we new balance between the center and the local church, because together find a new position?” That is the spirit of the synod. they saw, 50 years ago, the beginning of the universal church. Therefore it is very important that we are working on these It is not achieved, however. We must make it happen for the questions. I hope that the pope will inspire this synod. The first time. Now 50 years later, we see what it might be to be synod cannot decide; only a council or pope can decide. These a church in a globalized world, a universal, globalized church. questions must also be understood in a broader context. The We have not yet organized it sufficiently. That is the great task task is to help the people to live. It is not, according to “The Joy for this century. The temptation is to centralize, but it will not of the Gospel,” about how we can defend the truth. It is about function. The other challenge is finding a way to explain the helping people to find the truth. That is important. faith in the different parts of the world. What can the synods The Eucharist and reconciliation are necessary for people. and the local churches do together with Rome? How can we We say to some people, “You will never be reconciled until do this in a good way? your death.” That is impossible to believe when you see the situations. I could give examples. In the spirit of “The Joy of Two issues at the present synod are divorced and remarried the Gospel,” we have to see how the Eucharist is medicine for Catholics and gay Catholics, especially those in relationships. the people, to help the people. We must look for ways for peo- Do you have opportunities to listen directly to these Catholics ple to receive the Eucharist. It is not about finding ways to

20 America February 16, 2015 keep them out! We must find ways to welcome them. We have to use our imagination in asking, “Can we do something?” Perhaps it is not possible in some situations. That is not the question. The focus must be on how to welcome people.

At the synod, you referred to “the case of two homosexuals who have been living together for 35 years and taking care of each other, even in the last phases of their lives,” and you asked, “How can I say that this has no value?” What have you learned from these relationships and does it have any bearing on sexual ethics today? When speaking about sexual ethics, perhaps we must not begin with sleeping together, but with love, fidelity and the search for a life-long relationship. I am astonished that most of our young people, including Catholic homosexuals who are practicing, want a relationship that lasts forever. The doctrine of the church is not so strange for people. It is true. We must begin with the main points of the doctrine, to see the dream: the dream is to have a person say, a man and woman say, “You and you, forever. You and you, forever.” And we as church say, “Yes, that’s absolutely O.K. Your vision is right!” So we find the way. Then perhaps there is failure. They find the person, and it is not a great success. But life-long fidelity is right and good. The church says that a gay relationship is not on the same level as a relationship between a man and a woman. That is clear. But when they are faithful, when they are engaged for the poor, when they are working, it is not possible to say, “Everything you do, because you are a homosexual, is neg- ative.” That must be said, and I have heard no objection. It is not possible to see a person from only one point of view, without seeing the whole situation of a person. That is very important for sexual ethics. The same goes for people who are together but marry later, or when they are faithful together but only in a civil marriage. It is not possible to say that the relationship was all negative if the couple is faithful together, and they are waiting, or plan- ning their life, and after 10 years they find the way to come to the sacrament. When possible, we must help the couple to find fulfillment in the sacrament of marriage. We discussed this question at the synod, and many synod fathers share this opinion. I was not alone in this opinion.

Just last month Bishop Johan Bonny of Antwerp, Belgium, said the church should recognize a “diversity of forms” and could bless some gay relationships based on these values of love, fidel- ity and commitment. Is it important for the church to discuss these possibilities? I said in the synod that Paul VI had a great vision in “Humanae Vitae.” The relationship between a man and a woman is very important. The sexual relationship in a faithful relationship is founded on the connection of procreation, giving love, sexual-

February 16, 2015 America 21 ity and openness to life. Paul VI believed that this connection In Germany the heads of the Protestant and Catholic would be destroyed. He was right; see all the questions of churches will also make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, to reproductive medicine and so on. We cannot exclude this go back to our roots. We will make a greater celebration not great model of sexuality, and say, “We have diversity,” or of Martin Luther but of Christ, a Christ-celebration that “Everybody has the right to....” The great meaning of sex- looks forward: What is our testimony now, what can we do uality is the relationship between a man and a woman and now, what is the future of the Christian faith, and what can the openness to give life. I have also previously mentioned we do together. These are our plans for marking the 500th the question of accompanying people, to see what people are anniversary. doing in their lives and in their personal situation. Pope Francis has called for an increased role of women in the How will the Catholic and Protestant churches mark the church. What can you imagine as possible? What would help 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017? What are the church better fulfill its mission? the possibilities for greater cooperation among our churches? The declericalization of power is very important in the We are on a good path in Germany and at the level of the Roman Curia and the administrations of dioceses. We Holy See, with the Lutheran World Federation, to join our must look at canon law and reflect theologically to see what remembrances of this time. We in the Catholic Church can- roles require priests; and then all the other roles, in the not “celebrate” this anniversary, since it is not good that the widest sense possible, must be open for lay people, men church has been divided during these centuries. But we have and women, but especially women. In the administration to heal our memories—an important point and a good step of the Vatican, it is not necessary that clerics guide all the forward in our relationship. In Germany I was very happy congregations, councils and departments. It is a pity that that the heads of the Protestant church are very clear that there are no women among the lay people in the Council they do not want to celebrate the anniversary without the for the Economy. The specialists were chosen before I Catholics. One hundred years ago, or even 50 years ago, a started as coordinator, but I will search for women to serve Protestant bishop would not have said, “I will only cele- in this role. brate when the Catholics are present.” So we are planning it. For the first time ever in the Vatican, our council has lay “Healing Memories” will be a celebration together. people with the same responsibilities and rights as the cardi-

22 America February 16, 2015 nals. It does not seem like a big thing, but great things begin ops and the Holy Father have to begin the change. I was with small steps, right? very often in seminars or courses for heads of companies, I say it and repeat it also in my diocese: Please see what you and that was always clear: the stairs are cleaned from above, can do to bring lay people, especially women, into positions not from below—from the top down, not the bottom up. So of responsibility in diocesan administration. We have made a the leaders must begin; the chiefs must begin. The mentality plan for the Catholic Church in Germany to have more lead- must change. The church is not a business, but the meth- ing positions in diocesan administrations to be filled by wom- ods are not so different. We have to work more in teams, in en. In three years we will look at what has been done. projects. The question is: Who has the resources to bring On this issue we must make a great effort for the future, these ideas forward? Not: Who belongs to the clergy? God not only to be modern or to imitate the world but in realiz- gives us all these people, and we say, “No, he is not a cleric, he ing that this exclusion of women is not in the spirit of the cannot do this job.” Or “His idea is not so important.” That Gospel. Sometimes the development of the world gives us is not acceptable. No, no, no. a hint—vox temporis vox Dei (“the voice of the time is the voice of God”). The development in the world gives us signs, Pope Francis will make his first visit to the United States in the signs of the times. John XXIII and the Second Vatican September. What is your hope for the visit? Council said we must interpret the signs of the times in light I am always astonished by the pope’s capacity to bring peo- of the Gospel. One of these signs is the rights of women, the ple together and to inspire them. I hope the people in the emancipation of women. John XXIII said it more than 50 United States can experience this too. One of the main tasks years ago. We are always on the way to fulfilling it. and challenges for a bishop, and for the pope, is to bring people together and unify the world. The church is anin - Progress is not apparent. strumentum unitatis, an instrument and sacrament of unity Sometimes it has become worse! among the people and between God and the people. I hope that when the pope visits the United States—and possibly What impediments need to be overcome? the United Nations—the church can show to the world that Mentality! Mentality! Mentality! And the decisions of those the church will be an instrument not for itself but for the responsible. It is clear: The bishops have to decide. The bish- unity of the nations and the world. A

February 16, 2015 America 23 VATICAN DISPATCH Francis’ Spiritual Reform andated by the cardinals bit. But it showed that “Francis really bus, accompanied by 82 members of in the pre-conclave meet- knows and understands well the real the Roman Curia. He is likely to do Mings to reform the Roman situation in the Vatican,” one Vatican that this year too. Curia, Pope Francis is taking his task prelate told me recently. Furthermore, It should be noted, however, that very seriously and moving in a more he said, the checklist has relevance far Francis is aiming at a spiritual reform radical direction than anyone had ex- beyond the Roman Curia. not only in the Vatican; he is seeking pected. His aim is not simply structur- After presenting Vatican prelates to promote it also in dioceses, parishes, al reform of the Vatican offices, though with this examination of conscience in communities and, of course, in individ- that is part of it; his primary goal is the early December, Pope Francis is now ual believers throughout the Catholic spiritual reform of all those working in taking them “for spiritual exercises” world. His message for Lent, issued on the offices of the Holy See, a reform of outside Rome from Feb. 22 to 27. Jan. 27, is a step in this direction. In attitudes and hearts. Francis, the first Jesuit it he addresses what he “The spiritual reform [of the pope in the history of the sees as one of the great Roman Curia] is my great concern church, came to the See challenges in our world right now, to change people’s hearts,” of Peter with a lifetime of The pope’s today: “the globalization Francis said in an interview with La experience as a spiritual primary of indifference.” Nación on Dec. 7. He revealed then director and retreat-giver. He first used this that he was preparing two Christmas Though widely recognized goal is striking expression on addresses: one for the prelates of the as a man of government, reform of July 8, 2013, when on Roman Curia, the second for the other he is first and foremost a his first journey outside Vatican staff members. After that, he spiritual leader. He has attitudes Rome, he traveled to the said, there would be “spiritual exercises learned from Jesus in the and hearts. island of Lampedusa, for prefects and secretaries...six days Gospel the importance and off the southern coast locked in, praying. Just as we did last value of withdrawing from of Italy, to weep for year, we’ll do it again the first week of the crowd to a quiet place the tens of thousands Lent.” where one can reflect and pray. of migrants who had drowned in the As is well known, his Christmas Before Francis became pope, the Mediterranean Sea in recent years. address to the Vatican cardinals, arch- annual Lenten retreat was always held During his homily at Mass on the is- bishops, bishops and monsignors was inside the Vatican; prelates would turn land, he denounced what he called “the not exactly the kind of pre-Christ- up for common prayer and for the globalization of indifference,” which he mas talk they had been accustomed morning and afternoon talks given by said had deprived us of the ability to to under recent pontiffs. Francis’ talk the retreat director in the Redemptoris weep. went to the heart of things; it offered Mater chapel of the Apostolic Palace. Since then he has used the expres- a profound 15 point examination of But not all prelates abandoned their sion on a wide variety of occasions, conscience. He identified 15 “illnesses” work schedules in those days; some and this year he has developed his that Vatican prelates may have con- choose to work at home during the re- Lenten Message around that same tracted or succumbed to in their ser- treat week. Francis has changed that. theme. In it, he describes the “glo- vice of the Church of Rome. He asked Last year he decided that the Lenten balization of indifference” as “indif- each of them to examine their con- retreat for the pope and Roman Curia ference to our neighbor and to God” sciences against his checklist. It had a should be held outside Rome, at a cen- and says it is “a real temptation for big impact, and some did not like it one ter run by the Pauline religious family us Christians.” His message explains called the “Casa Divin Maestro,” near how we can combat it and “become is- GERARD O’CONNELL is America’s Rome the town of Ariccia in the Alban Hills, lands of mercy in the midst of the sea correspondent. America’s Vatican coverage is sponsored in part by the Jesuit communities of 18 miles from the Vatican. Overriding of indifference!” the United States. Twitter: @gerryorome. security concerns, he traveled there by GERARD O’CONNELL

24 America February 16, 2015 February 16 , 2015 America 25 26 America February 16, 2015 FAITH IN FOCUS A Winter Soul Breaking through the coldest months BY JESSICA MESMAN GRIFFITH he first time I saw the fire and reading epic nov- snow, I was 26 years els. (When we couldn’t find Told. I’d moved to a rental with a fireplace, I Pittsburgh for graduate school bought a fire pit and parked it after a lifetime in southern outside the living room win- Louisiana, where I’d never dow so I could at least watch owned a coat, hat, scarf or the sparks in the darkness.) mittens. I remember I walked I was determined to emerge outside the coffee shop where from my first Northern I was studying and stood Michigan winter victorious, there, turning circles in won- sporting Viking horns and der like some alien fallen to braids and a breastplate of earth, looking every bit the yo- bones and feathers. kel I was, overpowered by the I learned a lot. I learned beauty of the fat, white flakes, to stop washing my face and by the sudden hushed silence hands with soap and water to that seemed to descend upon prevent my skin from crack- the city, by the way it actually ing and bleeding. I learned sparkled. I remember think- to wear makeup every day, ing, in complete earnestness, not for beautification but This is magic. as an extra protective layer. But Pittsburgh’s winters were mild where Traverse City, Mich., was before I learned to avoid cotton and denim and short compared to the winters in he left for his job interview, I cried. and to invest in a down coat and the South Bend, Ind., where I moved af- It is Up North (they capitalize that most expensive boots I could afford. ter my wedding. After three years of here). Way Up North: 45th parallel I learned the terms polar vortex and bone-crushing cold and life under the north, 300 inches of snow last winter Alberta Clipper. I learned, sort of, to “permacloud,” which rolls in sometime north, subzero temperatures north, drive in snow (I’m the one crawling around November and doesn’t budge winter for nine months north. along holding up traffic into Traverse until May, I threatened my husband I made the best of it last year. Really, City—sorry). I learned several differ- that I would never again live above I did. It pricked my pride to have so ent ways to tie a scarf. I learned how to the Mason-Dixon line. He got a job in many people warn me about how aw- make a hot toddy and to drink fish oil Virginia, and I swore we’d never leave. ful the winters would be, and I adopt- with breakfast. I said, many times, he’d have to dig my ed a mantra: You won’t break me. I’m When we lit our spring equinox bony fingers out of the red clay. He did. a fast learner and a die-hard romantic. bonfire in snow up to our waists on When I looked at the map to see I would study northerness. I would March 21, I was a little discouraged. write us into a winter story. We would On Easter Sunday, we hunted eggs not just survive; we would thrive. We in gloomy snow piles and walked in JESSICA MESMAN GRIFFITH is the author, with Amy Andrews, of the memoir Love & Salt, would snowshoe. gale force winds on Sleeping Bear A Spiritual Friendship in Letters, and a I read Norse myths and Norwegian Dunes. Admittedly, the temperature regular contributor to Good Letters, the Image novels and memoirs and got a (tem- was starting to rise, and we were grate- Blog. She lives in northern Michigan with her husband, the writer Dave Griffith, and their porary) tattoo of Thor. I told myself I ful to be outdoors at all, but the gloom children. had a winter soul, made for sitting by was unrelenting. All I could think of ANN KISSANE ENGELHART ART:

February 16 , 2015 America 27 was the dogwoods in full bloom back ture—that which you sow does not halfway mark of a northern winter, it in Virginia, the daffodils long since up come to life unless it dies (1 Cor 15:36). doesn’t quite get to the heart of things. and withered. We drove the 20 min- Suffering and death are necessary, not Fallow is too gentle a word for this utes back to our gray ranch house in meaningless. A crusty old Anglican kind of winter. This is not a season of the gray north woods, and I crawled theologian named Richard Sibbes said quiet melancholy, a few weeks at a slow- into bed and cried. that as “winter prepares the earth for er pace to be savored over a cup of tea. By the time I woke up to snow on the spring, so do afflictions sanctified This is months trapped inside with my son’s birthday in May, I was well prepare the soul for glory.” small children. This is influenza and beyond broken. There is plenty of beautiful writing whooping cough. This is getting stuck about winter as a fallow time—a sea- halfway into the bank parking lot and A Time to Thrive son of rest and emptiness necessary blocking traffic. This is black ice and In hindsight, my naïveté seems cute. for farmlands and humans to contin- zero visibility. This is breaking bones Now that I’m a hardened northern- ue producing a healthy harvest. Caryll in a fall. This is holes in the roof from er, I know that winter isn’t a time to Houselander, my favorite Catholic ec- the weight of the snow and the holes in thrive. It’s a time to buy a light therapy centric, said in her Advent essays that the road that swallow your tires. This is box, take massive amounts of vitamin many are too impatient with winter. “A what comes before the fallow time. This D and get on antidepressants. In the seed contains all the life and loveliness is a harrowing. worst months, January through April, of a flower,” she writes, “but it contains A harrow is a horrible-looking farm anyone who can afford to leave for a it in a little hard black pip of a thing tool with wheels and spikes and teeth. It while, does. But most people just put which even the glorious sun will not en- breaks up the earth, crushes, pulverizes, their heads down, feed their fires and liven unless it is buried under the earth. plunders. Sound too extreme? Then I’ve press on. Or they ski. A lot. As my There must be a period of gestation be- captured it perfectly. neighbor says, There’s no way out but fore anything can flower.” She urges us New year, new mantra. As this win- through. And sometimes going through to trust that Christ grows in the fallow ter gets underway in earnest, I say, go just isn’t pretty. Sometimes you crawl time, in our sorrow, and “in due season ahead and break me. Plunder me, take to the finish. all the fret and strain and tension of it me down, so I can be made new. Maybe Sometimes, winter breaks us. And will give place to a splendor of peace.” that is exactly what I need—not merely maybe that’s okay. This is all very nice and reassur- a rest but a reinvention. St. Paul reminds us again and again ing and exactly what might pop up in If I can’t be a Viking, Lord, make that without death there is no resur- my Instagram feed as an inspiration- me the Darkling Thrush of Thomas rection, no restoration. Look around al meme on some February morning. Hardy’s poem, who though “...frail, you, fools, he says, it’s the law of na- But when February isn’t even near the gaunt, and small, in blast-beruffled plume” flings his soul upon the growing gloom and sings.

So little cause for carolings Of such ecstatic sound Was written on terrestrial things Afar or nigh around, That I could think there trembled through His happy good-night air Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew And I was unaware.

If I survive another polar vortex, it will not be by my own schemes and strengths and romantic fantasies but by grace (and a nice long hiatus in New Orleans). My soul might be the only thing that can grow in this weather. A

28 America February 16, 2015 Books & Culture

THEATER | ROB WEINERT-KENDT Indeed, though the center of the show is supposed to be the fluttering LOOK AT THIS chanteuse Sally Bowles, played com- pellingly if jaggedly by Emma Stone, it The strange, seductive worlds of ‘Cabaret’ and ‘Side Show’ is Fräulein Schneider who emerges as the show’s true conscience. (It doesn’t show that skewers show busi- and wilder, and knowing any minute hurt that the grounded, unsentimental ness strikes a slippery bargain their parents are going to come home.” Emond is giving the performance of a A with its audience, and it can But it is the bullies who will crash lifetime.) It is Schneider who early on backfire. While we may smile know- the party, since the only grown-ups has the ostensibly benign welcoming ingly at its insights into backstage around—like the sympathetic but com- waltz “So What?,” in which she shrugs chicanery and the cynicism of produc- promised Fräulein Schneider (Linda off the poverty of a new tenant because ers, and enjoy its winking parodies of Emond)—are too deeply implicated she has few other offers. Her noncha- other, implicitly lesser shows, a piece in the social breakdown and anxious lance about her fate—“It’ll all go on of entertainment intended to make us scarcity of Weimar-era Germany. Who if we’re here or not/ So who cares, so think critically about the value of en- can afford to take a stand when there what?”—may sound like I’ve-seen- tertainment itself risks having its own are bills to pay? As the lurking emcee it-all wisdom. Instead it is setting the judgments turned back on itself. If played definitively by Alan Cumming tone for a world where nothing has any we are meant to see, after all, that the sings at one point, chillingly, “Hearts real value, only a price. people who make theater are just out grow hard/ On a windy street/ Lips In a show with no shortage of to turn a quick buck by selling cheap grow cold/ With the rent to meet.” haunting moments, perhaps the most thrills to gullible audiences, then who are we, and how is the show we are OLD CHUMS. Alan Cumming watching not just another scam? and the cast of “Cabaret” It gets more complicated, and the stakes are much higher, when the cri- tique is more ambitious. The point of the great, troubling musical Cabaret is not just that show business is craven and corrupt but that it signifies a deep- er social corrosion—that all too many of us would prefer to fiddle while Rome burns or, to be more specific, to party while the Nazi Party takes over. The Roundabout Theatre’s current re-run of its hit 1998 revival is a smart, slick contraption that drives that point home, to a fault. “There was a city called Berlin in a country called Germany. It was the end of the world, and I was dancing with Sally Bowles, and we were both fast asleep,” recalls Cliff Bradshaw (Bill Heck), the callow American writer who gets caught up in the whirl of the city’s seedy nightlife and who elsewhere compares the scene to “a bunch of kids playing in their room, getting wilder PHOTO: JOAN MARCUS

February 16 , 2015 America 29 quietly devastating one comes when But hey, at least we’re not in bed with But this is a more conventional, rise- Schneider is wooed by a courtly gro- Nazis! and-fall showbiz fable than “Cabaret,” cer, Herr Schultz (Danny Burstein). I can’t say for sure if director Sam as the sisters trade one exploitive im- He gently extols the virtues of mar- Mendes’s production actually encour- presario for another, a slick young cad riage in song, and she is moved; as ages this sort of dismissive stance. We (Ryan Silverman). The show’s central they get up to dance, the tune is taken hardly need to be reminded of the image—of two distinct individuals in- up by the blond prostitute who lives Senate torture report or the Ferguson separably, tragically joined as one—is next door, singing in German under grand jury or the immiseration of im- not just its strongest element, it is pretty moonlight-blue nightclub lighting as migrants and the poor to conjure par- much the whole show. Though Condon Cumming’s spidery emcee looks on. allel injustices in our own time and has tightened and strengthened the This new couple’s feelings may be sin- place. But it’s unsettling to think that script, it remains essentially a series of cere, but this overlay reminds us of the “Cabaret,” as sharp a takedown of com- variations on the theme of split identity. illusory, transactional world in which placency and decadence in the face of Visually, this never loses its fascination, they live. How can love survive in a encroaching evil as has ever been writ- as Padgett and Davie dance delicately bordello? ten, may itself have become a kind of in tandem, or strain palpably at each It gets worse. Schultz is Jewish and bread-and-circuses diversion. other’s limits when they are at odds Schneider not; their unhappy ending Some critics have seen parallels to offstage. Just to watch them descend is foreordained. As the Nazi shadow “Cabaret” in the recent Broadway re- stairs or sit down together is to marvel advances, “Cabaret” is in danger of re- vival of Side Show. This cult musical at their hard-won poise. ceding into history; the moral short- about the real-life Hilton sisters, con- The show also relentlessly returns to hand for ultimate evil that the swas- joined twins who enjoyed a brief career the awkward subject of romance, treat- tika too easily represents can distance as a novelty act in vaudeville, also has ing the question of how exactly that us from the complicity in which the a grinning emcee (Robert Joy) who might “work” with varying degrees of show has artfully entangled us. After invites us in the opening number to sensitivity and playful prurience. “Side all, we’re enjoying a show with ticket “look at the freaks.” In director/adap- Show” does not shrink from any chance prices north of $150, drinking $19 tor Bill Condon’s expert production, to wring emotional conflict from this cocktails at cabaret tables that place said freaks are outfitted in seamlessly conundrum—which is another way us in a nightclub much like the fic- authentic costumes, from a bearded to say that its bathetic score, by Bill tional Kit Kat Club (and in the former lady to a lizard man, and the actors Russell and Henry Krieger, lays the Studio 54, no less); we’re encouraged playing the Hilton sisters, Erin Davie power ballads on pretty thick. There is a to leer at the exposed flesh and snick- and Emily Padgett, are attached at the kind of loud Broadway belting that has er at Cumming’s explicit provocations. hip by unseen magnets. earned the semi-affectionate label “park and bark,” and apart from a few nimble vaudeville pastiches, “Side Show” is a quintessential park-and-bark property. That earned the show, which debuted briefly on Broadway in 1995, a cadre of rabid fans, though not enough to keep the show open. It closed at the St. James Theatre on Jan. 4, after only 77 perfor- mances. I cannot say that it would have run longer if it were a more challenging show—if it dared to ask us, as “Cabaret” does, to consider how our taste for di- version may make us complicit in or blind to oppressive social forces—but it would certainly make “Side Show” more than, well, a side show.

ROB WEINERT-KENDT, an arts journalist and associate editor of American Theatre mag- azine, has written for The New York Times and Time Out New York. He writes a blog called The Wicked Stage.

30 America February 16, 2015 OF OTHER THINGS | EDWARD W. SCHMIDT ASHES MARK THE FRONTIER

n Ash Wednesday a couple of es. Every school closing evokes lament. parishes, spiritual centers and media. years ago, we had Mass in the Every church closed feels like a collec- On the Friday after my Ash Omorning at our Jesuit head- tive death. The Rev. Andrew Greeley Wednesday walk, I stopped in the local quarters in Chicago and distributed once explained that this is because the Walgreens. Before me in the checkout ashes. That afternoon I met a young Catholic Church is powerfully incar- line was a woman who, with her hus- man new to our office, a recent graduate national. It invests in bricks and door- band, did much great work with local of Northwestern University, who told frames, blackboards and statues, can- Jesuit schools. She mentioned a young me right out that he felt bad because dles that flicker and bells that ring. We man, Peter, an alumnus of two Jesuit he had not been to Mass that day. I was know our religion is more than these, schools, who was involved in that work. impressed. Later, after dinner, I took a but when lights burn Peter is one of many walk through the neighborhood. It was out and the bells go Jesuit alums attracted February, warm with an early hint of silent, we feel loss. We Ashes are by the chance to put spring. And I kept spotting foreheads have tied our memories a brief their education to work. marked with an ashy cross. A young and our imaginations They have a great edu- woman chatted on her phone—she to places where we have reminder cation, and they want it had her ashes. A young man engrossed been and celebrated of an to make a difference. in his iPod—his cross bobbed with the life’s passages. No, the Here is the chal- music. Three young women rounded a gates of hell will ulti- enduring lenge. I do not know corner by a bar laughing—ashes in a mately not prevail, but reality. if Peter was one of bar? A man clipped along in shorts and the solid rock founda- those walking by on T-shirt—his sweaty ashes clearly said tion feels the erosive Ash Wednesday with penance. A woman knotted her face power of turbulent their faith written on and clutched the wheel of her S.U.V. tides. their faces. It does not as she sped through a red light—no A number of stud- matter. I do not know crusader ever wore a more threatening ies have attested to if he was in church cross! Throughout the neighborhood, this erosion. Christian last Sunday. That does which draws many young adults, ash- Smith’s Soul Searching matter, but it is not all. marked faces abounded. affirmed religious de- What matters is that At the Jesuits’ general congregation sires of teenagers, but here is a connection, a in 2008, Pope Benedict told the Jesuits these desires often do beginning of a network to go to the frontiers. Father General not translate into practice. Earlier stud- of faith. The young women and men Adolfo Nicolás has repeated the chal- ies (Peter Steinfels’s A People Adrift; looking for something beyond residual lenge. By implication, Jesuit schools Tom Beaudoin’s Virtual Faith) offered faith, beyond virtual religion, beyond and other ministries are called to be various analyses, but each said that we noise and clutter and hype—they are out there on the edges. Those young have much work to do. calling out to the church for compan- faces I saw along Halsted Street on Much great work is happening. I am ionship on their journey. They may be Ash Wednesday, were they showing on a national seminar on Jesuit higher our farthest frontier, our most challeng- that we had done our job? Or were education, where I have heard stories ing borderland. they a healthy push to do much more? of strong programs founded to study Ash Wednesday’s marked fore- Were they showing us where the fron- and promote Catholic identity, Catholic heads represent far more than personal tiers lie, the borderlands of new mis- imagination and Catholic thought. I piety. They let us recognize our fellow sion, new ideas, new commitment? have learned of the hundreds of faculty strugglers and know that we can call We know stories of decline. Bishops and staff members at Catholic univer- out for help along the way. They are a have spent much energy facing the sities and colleges dedicated to making brief reminder of an enduring reality, need to close or to consolidate parish- a difference. I have spoken with eager that we can go to the frontiers together students grateful for the difference and from our ashes build a society that EDWARD W. SCHMIDT, S.J., is senior editor these schools make in their lives. This is more just and more faithful. of America. is equally true of Catholic high schools, EDWARD W. SCHMIDT

February 16 , 2015 America 31 BOOKINGS | JON M. SWEENEY enviable ways. We want both the eyes and heart of what’s expressed in a UNCOVERING MEANING great Billy Collins poem—as in these from the title poem, “Aimless Love”: AIMLESS LOVE poet in English, are mi- “This morning as New and Selected Poems nuscule outside institu- I walked along the By Billy Collins tional collections. lakeshore,/ I fell in Random House. 288p $16 What is the secret love with a wren/ of poetry that reaches and later in the day BLUE HORSES a truly wide audience? with a mouse/ the Poems This quote from fel- cat had dropped un- By Mary Oliver low poet Alice Fulton der the dining room Penguin. 96p $24.95 appears frequently on table.” Concluding: Collins’s dust jackets “…my heart is al- DYLAN THOMAS and in his press cover- ways propped up/ A Centenary Celebration age: “Billy Collins puts in a field on its tri- Edited by Hannah Ellis the ‘fun’ back in ‘profun- pod,/ ready for the Bloomsbury. 272p $33 dity.’” Perhaps that’s a good way to put it—but If anyone could predict which books while Aimless Love hit will sell, publishing wouldn’t be the the New York Times dumb business it really is. Publishers best-seller list upon publication in have always made their living guess- hardcover last year, and it is a mix of fun ing, pretending we have fingers on the and profundity, I think the two rarely if pulse of what readers want and need. ever track together in the same poem. Most often, we’re wrong, which is why Every line from his 2008 collection, only one in a 100 books sells 5,000 Ballistics, included in Aimless Love, is copies. So when you hear that a book hard-earned wisdom, rough-edged has sold, say, 50,000, well, that’s a re- verse. I love these lines from “The First markable bestseller. Occasionally, but Night,” one of several poems about only very occasionally, a poetry volume life endings, in which the poet is re- reaches that level. flecting on what it must be like on the Take a look at the best-sellers in the evening of one’s death: “…it is enough poetry category at any given time, and to frighten me/ into paying more at- you’ll find a mix of lightweight, inspira- tention to the world’s tional/spiritual fluff, classics that college day-moon,/ to sun- kids are pretending to read and then one light bright on water/ or two truly marvelous contemporary or fragmented in a poets who by some hermetical miracle grove of trees,/ and next arrow.” have made their way to financial suc- to look more closely But others in cess. In this latter category I am talking here at these small Aimless Love come only about the poets Mary Oliver and leaves,/ these senti- across as silly, ephem- Billy Collins; they can actually make a nel thorns,/ whose eral and without good living at it. Their sales are a few employment it is to much importance or times more than those of, say, Wendell guard the rose.” depth. Perhaps they Berry. Other well-deserving, terrif- There are 51 new are there to make us ic living poets like Sharon Olds, Jane poems in Aimless pause, like the Selah Hirschfield, John Ashbery and Louise Love, and many of in the Psalms; if so, Glück stand in what we might call third them show this same that works. place. Then the sales of Geoffrey Hill, ability to observe the A half-genera- whom many consider the greatest living world in digestible, tion ago, the mantle

32 America February 16, 2015 of popular poet was worn lightly by minds us of those days, combining my taste, Oliver is the subtle master Seamus Heaney, who was never flip short, personal reflections, including an of the practice. We instinctively know or foolish with his gift. When Heaney interesting one by Philip Pullman, and that Oliver writes about things that died in 2013, it was reported that essays of literary criticism from experts, are true, and we are drawn to her work during several years of the last decade including a fascinating piece on Thomas because, even if we don’t learn to slow of his life his books accounted for two- and plagiarism by Welsh bookseller Jeff down ourselves and see, we may use thirds of all poetry sales in the United Towns, with poems of homage by an her senses if only for a few minutes. I Kingdom. His sales were even a higher unexpected cadre, including Rowan have often heard my friend, the poet percentage in his native Ireland, and Williams and former President Jimmy Mark Burrows, call this “poetry of al- certainly higher in total numbers sold Carter. Sadly, however, this finely edited lurement,” and he’s right. in the United States, where Heaney collection also reminds us of Thomas’s That said, I do have one small com- taught at Harvard for the better part lechery and lewd behavior, and has the plaint with Oliver’s new book that has of a quarter century. His funeral was potential to relaunch the ancient myth nothing to do with the work itself: her broadcast live on Irish television. that a great poet must be a magician, a publisher has made a book out of half a In the 1950s, it was Robert Frost trickster or a martyr who uses the sad- one. Each poem begins on a right hand and Dylan Thomas, appealing not only ness of his own life to bring meaning to page; and since most of them are not to tens of thousands each time a new our own. long enough to continue onto the back collection appeared, but filling audito- Mary Oliver’s sadness always seems of that page (the verso), 29 pages are riums throughout the United States on to be useful to her. Blue Horses is what left blank in a book with a total page their reading tours. Each man would we have come to expect of this fine count of 79. Nevertheless, what’s here read not only his own poems but also American poet who will turn 80 in is vital. classics by others. Some of these read- September. One primary reason for Oliver always writes poems, like ings were recorded and released on her popularity is surely her ability to “Angels” in Blue Horses, that stop me Caedmon and Columbia Records LPs, show us how to see things that we oth- in my tracks. Kingfishers, owls, and which also sold briskly. The newDylan erwise walk right past. This she shares human love are here in this collec- Thomas: A Centenary Celebration re- with the best of Billy Collins, but to tion, and that will remind you of other

February 16 , 2015 America 33 Oliver poems, but there also are more But only, I think, because/ I didn’t stay the ways daily life in the country is per- elusive, spiritual creatures. The poet is, long enough.” meated by a deep sense of history. in fact, looking for them. “Angels” ends If we can slow down, will we see Frank also has personal roots in with: “I’ll just leave you with this./ I such things? Perhaps. This is why so Cuba. His grandfather went to Cuba don’t care how many angels can/ dance many of us still read poems: we are al- in the 1960s and wrote a book on on the head of a pin. It’s/ enough to ways looking, and some poets help us it, after decades of writing about know that for some people/ they exist, see. The poet doesn’t so much make Latin America. Frank married into a and that they dance.” Later, in “Such meaning as uncover it. Cuban family and raised two daugh- Silence,” Oliver tells us: “I sat on the ters in Cuba. He has a deep feeling bench, waiting for something./ An JON M. SWEENEY is the editor in chief of for the country, but that is not to say Paraclete Poetry and author of many books, angel, perhaps./ Or dancers with the including When Saint Francis Saved the that he is an apologist. Frank writes: legs of goats./ No, I didn’t see either. Church and Inventing Hell. “Discontent runs deep in Cuba, where no one has made a living wage for two decades.” He describes the | BOOKS JOY GORDON heavy-handed tactics of the state and does not shy away from describing THE FORBIDDEN ISLAND the state as repressive. But at the same time, he points out that the nature of CUBAN REVELATIONS in Havana is a vivid, engaging explo- the Cuban state’s repression is rather Behind the Scenes in Havana ration of Cuban politics, culture and different from what is portrayed in the By Marc Frank economic life. Frank witnessed the col- United States. The “official” dissidents The University Press of Florida. 344p lapse of the economy in the early 1990s who are touted in the United States $29.95 and the desperation that gripped the and elsewhere are for the most part marginal and within Cuba are wide- Much of what we in the United States ly viewed as corrupt and ineffectual. know about Cuba is in the form of There is far more political space than stereotypes, often cartoonish and un- we would think, and it works rath- revealing: there is Fidel (the dictator); er differently than we would expect. and Raúl (no different from Fidel). But The Cuban mass media have often of course, how things work in Cuba is been quite narrow and limited. But, in fact nuanced and complex. The re- as Frank shows, the views expressed cent thaw in U.S.-Cuban relations by filmmakers, artists and intellectuals has opened up new possibilities for are diverse and often sharply critical of Americans to acquire a sense of what the state. Cuba is really like. Cuban Revelations also makes clear Marc Frank is one of the few that Cuba must be understood in Americans who has lived in Cuba long part through the lens of its turbulent enough to have a deep understanding relationship with the United States. of the country. But more than that—he There is a generation of political ex- can interpret Cuba for Americans in a iles in Miami, marked by bitterness way that makes it possible to under- and obsession. There is an econom- stand how it works and where things do ic embargo, more than a half century not work at all; which political leaders old, which undermines Cuba’s access are viewed as credible and legitimate to everything from Braille printers to and why that is so. Frank, a reporter for entire population. He captures the science conferences to global financial Reuters, has been living and working in complicated relationship between the institutions. Every Cuban child knows Cuba for nearly three decades, and he is state and Cuba’s religious communi- about the Platt Amendment of 1901, considered the dean of the foreign press ties; the movements of the state as it in which the U.S. government autho- corps in Havana. This has given him an scrambles in the face of one crisis after rized itself to intervene at will in Cuba, understanding of the country that few another; Cuba’s artistic and intellectu- while few Americans have ever heard foreigners can claim. al life; Cuba’s foreign relations and its of it. There are family members in Cuban Revelations: Behind the Scenes role in the region; Cuba’s history and the two countries who have not seen

34 America February 16, 2015 each other in decades, sometimes out Castro upon assuming the presidency found ambivalence about ceding con- of rancor, sometimes because of visa in 2010 was Archbishop Dominique trol over the economy. Even for those denials and the ever-changing travel Mamberti, the Vatican’s foreign min- who follow Cuba, the economic poli- restrictions. At the same time, U.S. ister. Relations between the state and cies can seem like a sequence of baffling politics are influenced by the outsized the Catholic Church are now quite and unpredictable measures—licenses influence of the Cuban American cordial, with the church providing a for home barber shops are offered, community, which has more represen- voice that both carries moral weight then cancelled, then offered again, then tation in Congress than any other im- and also has the respect of the state. In cancelled again. Cuba eagerly pursued migrant population, as well as a strong 2010, Cardinal Ortega played a critical foreign investment with scores of new grip on Florida’s electoral votes in any role in negotiating the release of the trade partners, then jettisoned many presidential election. dissidents arrested in the crackdown of them and focused much of its trade Frank also explores the complicat- in 2003. The Catholic Church in Cuba in large-scale partnerships with allies, ed relationship between the Cuban has, for the last several years, been a re- particularly China and Venezuela, and state and the Cuban Catholic Church, spected advocate for reform. It played a more recently Brazil. which is the largest organized body in central role in brokering the recent ex- Frank also shows that, while the U.S. Cuba apart from the state. In the pe- change of prisoners and the reopening embargo creates an endless series of ob- riod after the revolution, the church of diplomatic relations. stacles and burdens, Cuba’s economic was deeply antagonistic to the state. But perhaps the book’s greatest difficulties are at least equally rooted Jaime Ortega, now the cardinal, was strength lies in making sense of Cuba’s in the tremendously inefficient practic- subjected to a “re-education” camp in economy, including the implications of es that have been in place for decades. the 1960s and has long been an out- the dual currency system. If you have Cuba’s efforts at economic reform are spoken critic. But the relationship of not lived in Cuba, then it is hard to tied to everything else—the emigration the state and the church has become fathom exactly how the dual currency of Cuba’s best and brightest, the corrup- increasingly civil, particularly since system works, much less how much it tion, the sense of uncertainty that young the visit of St. John Paul II in 1998. shapes everyone’s lives. Frank does a Cubans have about their future. At the The first diplomat received by Raúl superb job of capturing the state’s pro- same time, the economic reforms are

Poems are being accepted for the 2015 Foley Poetry Award. Each entrant is asked to submit only one typed, unpublished poem on any topic. The poem should be 30 lines or fewer and not under consideration elsewhere. Include contact information on the same page as the poem. Poems will not be returned. FOLEY Please do not submit poems by email or fax. Submissions must be postmarked between Jan. 1 and March 31, 2015. Poems received outside the designated period will be treated as regular poetry submissions and are not eligible for the prize. POETRY The winning poem will be published in the June 8-15 issue of America. Three runner-up poems will be published in subsequent issues. Notable entrants also may be considered for inclusion on our poetry site, americaliterary.tumblr.com. Cash prize: $1,000 CONTEST Send poems to: Foley Poetry Contest America Magazine 106 West 56th Street New York, NY 10019

February 16 , 2015 America 35 sending shock waves throughout the Frank gives us insights supported by counting of “The Babe Ruth of Boxing” population, particularly the massive considerable research and analysis is a story that could only be found in layoffs and reduction in food subsi- that is sharp and compelling. Cuban the history pages of early 20th-century dies. As Frank points out, Cuba has Revelations offers fine storytelling America. He was the Muhammad Ali long been the most egalitarian society through the lens of Frank’s life and of his generation. in Latin America. But the inequalities work and does much to bring its Sullivan was born the son of an im- have grown since the economic cri- readers an understanding that is both migrant father who fled from Ireland sis, and Frank provides a clear sense vivid and deeply substantial about this to the United States. The anti-Irish, of how that has occurred and what it remarkable country. anti-Catholic discrimination faced by means for the Cuban population. the famine refugees was not subtle. It In his portrayal of Cuba’s economic JOY GORDON holds the Ellacuria chair in so- blared in black and white, in shop win- life, as well as throughout the book, cial ethics at Loyola University Chicago. dows and newspaper classified ads. He was faced with: “No Irish person need PETER W. WOOD apply” and “Catholics and dogs not al- lowed.” However, Sullivan’s toughness IRISH-AMERICAN IDOL and work ethic carried him to the high- est levels of one of the most unforgiving STRONG BOY hero of the ring in the days when prize- sports. When he won the heavyweight The Life and Times of John L. fighting was illegal, though avidly fol- belt in 1882, no Bostonians celebrat- Sullivan, America’s First Sports lowed by every social ed more than the Irish, Hero class. Klein recounts who felt blistered by By Christopher Klein the many times when the Brahmin scorn Lyons Press. 368p $26.95 the law gave Sullivan since their arrival. Now more trouble than one of their own was Strong Boy—The Life and Times of many of his ring oppo- champion of America. John L. Sullivan, America’s First Sports nents. Sullivan fought Sullivan instantly be- Hero by Christopher Klein is a raw, and beat all the great came an Irish-American powerful and disturbing biography—a boxers of his gener- idol, one of the coun- head-spinning take on Sullivan’s tur- ation—Paddy Ryan, try’s first ethnic heroes. bulent life. Unlike other sports mem- Charley Mitchell, Jake In London Sullivan oirists, Klein doesn’t pull punches; he Kilrain—with the no- was lauded by the offers slashing comments on a mythic table exception a black Prince of Wales; Teddy sports hero. fighter, Peter Jackson, Roosevelt considered Sullivan’s arrogant boast of the against whom Sullivan him an outstand- 1880s, “I can lick any son-of-a-bitch in drew the color line. ing American; Baron the world,” still resonates today inside For more than a de- Rothschild staged one smoky barrooms across American and cade Sullivan was invincible. The cham- of the champion’s fights on his private Europe. This daring claim could an- pionship seemed to belong to him. To estate in France. nounce only one man: Irish-American have met him was a rare honor and peo- After Sullivan became champion, he John L. Sullivan, the world’s heavy- ple stood in line to “shake the hand that spent most of his time touring as an ac- weight boxing champion. A legend- shook the hand of John L. Sullivan,” as tor on the vaudevillian circuit instead of ary fighter, he won the title in the last a popular catchphrase of the time ran. training. Klein chronicles his rapid fistic bare-knuckle championship and then Strong Boy is the story of one of the decline—his spousal abuse, assault and travelled the world like no sportsman most feared boxers in history up to that battery, womanizing and his constant before him, defending his title against point. Sullivan terrified contenders drinking. Sullivan’s lack of training all comers. But as Klein documents, across the globe. With his swaggering caught up with him, and with a “tumor- Sullivan was a legendary drinker who virility he would become one of those ous belly, sagging skin, and eyes hanging turned up for many of his most im- outrageous characters that made the low in their eye sockets, he was matched portant contests scarcely able to defend turn of the century a colorful era. He with a brash young boxer named Jim himself. drank as he fought, prodigiously, nev- Corbett.” Klein’s biography gives us an undi- er meeting a saloon he didn’t like. And The Sullivan-Corbett match was luted view of the Boston Strong Boy, a the nation loved him for it. Klein’s re- held on Sept. 7, 1892. “Corbett sat in

36 America February 16, 2015 his dressing room as a priest gave him program that includes a J.R.O.T.C. leadership com- a blessing, while a relaxed Sullivan CLASSIFIED ponent for students in the grades nine through 12. cracked jokes with his trainers,” writes The new principal of La Salle Institute will be an experienced, energetic and innovative person of in- Klein.The kid from Chicago was given Books tegrity and serve as the academic and pastoral leader by little chance, but the champion who had Charles de Foucauld: Journey to Tamanrasset, of the school community. The successful applicant Antoine Chatelard. http://www.brothercharles.org/ will be a relationship-builder, forging partnerships a punch like a thunderbolt from Zeus wordpress/. was well past his prime, dissipated by with all constituencies. The principal will participate fully in the life of the school, be an exceptional com- years of boozing and inactivity, and on Positions municator and team-builder, embrace change and this night, one of the greatest upsets in ADMINISTRATIVE OPENING for demonstrate the ability to articulate a vision and sporting history occurred. SUPERINTENDENT OF CATHOLIC plan strategically for the future. Candidates must SCHOOLS. The Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, be passionate about deepening the school’s commit- In 1915, after losing his title belt, is currently accepting applications for the po- ment to innovation, understand the positive impact Sullivan announced a new pursuit: “I am sition of Superintendent of Catholic Schools. of technology on education and work to enhance the ‘coming back’ to have a go with a bigger The superintendent coordinates the Office of student-centered program of the school. Catholic Schools staff, consisting of an Assistant A qualified applicant must be a practicing champion than I ever was—the cham- Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction; Catholic, hold a master’s degree in educational ad- pion of champions—John Barleycorn.” an Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources ministration, possess an administrative certification, Klein writes, “His anti-alcohol speech and Government Programs; and a Director of have a minimum of five years of successful experi- reflected the arc of his life—it was en- Technology and Professional Development. The ence in secondary school administration and present superintendent also represents the diocese on edu- a proven track record of accomplishment. Position titled, ‘From Glory to Gutter to God.’” cational matters to the civic community and other is available July 1, 2015. Salary is competitive and Klein’s book shows the genuine effort groups that support the diocesan schools. The su- commensurate with experience. made by a troubled soul to gain some perintendent is supported by diocesan-level advisory Candidates must submit electronically a letter boards and reports to the Bishop through the Vicar of introduction; résumé; statement describing the understanding of the long, dissipated for Educational and Pastoral Services. The candi- role of today’s Catholic secondary school adminis- journey that had been his life. Despite date must be a practicing Catholic in good stand- trator in advancing Catholic values and education- gaining fame and fortune, Sullivan was ing, able and willing to give witness to the Catholic al excellence in the Lasallian tradition; and names, faith at all times. A graduate degree in education or addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers someone obsessed with the need to re- a related field is required. A doctoral degree is pre- of five professional references to: La Salle Institute deem himself. ferred. Relevant experience in Catholic schools, ed- Principal Search, Catholic School Management, Upon his death, bereaved Bostonians ucational leadership and faith formation are highly Attn: Jennifer C. Kensel at office@catholic- kept spilling in to pay respects to the old desirable. Résumé with cover letter, academic tran- schoolmgmt.com. Review of applications begins scripts and licenses, and three references with com- Feb. 1, 2015. gladiator. The mourners were still filing plete contact information can be sent to: Rev. Msgr. through when it was time to leave for John A. Zuraw, Chancellor/Vicar for Pastoral and Sabbatical Educational Services, Diocese of Youngstown, 144 the 10 a.m. funeral Mass at St. Paul’s SUMMER SABBATICAL AT S.A.T. Come for West Wood Street, Youngstown OH 44503. Email: a month or a week to the San Francisco Bay area. Church. Klein says, “His coffin was as [email protected]. Timeline: opening The Summer Sabbatical Program at the School of notice, Jan. 20, 2015; application deadline, Feb. 27, big as a bed….His iconic white mus- Applied Theology runs May 30 to June 25, 2015. 2015; effective date, July 1, 2015. tache flowed gallantly, with the fine curls Topics include: “The Liberated Heart: Becoming Who We Truly Are,” with Joyce Rupp; “Praying on each end. The lifeless right hand that EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR. The Religious with Beauty,” with Br. Mickey O’Neill McGrath; had once delivered such violent punish- Formation Conference (R.F.C.), which fosters and “The Path of Desire: Adventures in Spirituality,” serves initial and lifelong formation for members of ment clenched a black rosary.” with Lisa Fullam; and “Mysticism and the Future religious congregations of women and men, is seek- Father Lyons blessed Sullivan’s grave of Christianity,” with Michael Crosby, O.F.M.Cap. ing a new Executive Director for the national office For more information. go to www.satgtu.org/ and reminded all in attendance that located in Washington, D.C. The successful candi- summer2015, or contact Celeste Crine, O.S.F., date must be a member of a Roman Catholic re- Sullivan’s greatest triumph had come Associate Director, at (510) 652-1651. outside the ring—his victory over the ligious congregation and have experience with for- mation or leadership. Qualifications include a mas- bottle. Reading Strong Boy is like hav- ter’s degree in theology or equivalent. Applications ing a ringside seat at the colorful and will be received until March 10, 2015. Go to www. WANT YOUR AD HERE? extravagant world of The Great John L. RelForCon.org/EDSearch for more detailed infor- Visit americamagazine.org. mation and application process for the Executive Sullivan. He was a deeply flawed man, Director position. Email: [email protected]. but he remains a great champion, an important cultural figure and a worthy LA SALLE INSTITUTE, Troy, New York. Call 212-515-0102. sports idol. PRINCIPAL. La Salle Institute (www.lasallein- stitute.org), an independent Catholic college pre- Ten-word minimum. Rates are per word per is- paratory school in Troy, N.Y., serving young men sue. 1-5 times: $1.50; 6-11 times: $1.28; 12-23 PETER W. WOOD, a high school teacher, is in grades six through 12, is seeking a dynamic, col- times: $1.23; 24-41 times: $1.17; 42 times or the author of Confessions of a Fighter— laborative and mission-driven principal. Established more: $1.12. For an additional $30, your print Battling Through the Golden Gloves and by the Brothers of the Christian Schools in 1850, ad will be posted on America’s Web site for one A Clenched Fist—The Making of a Golden La Salle Institute enjoys a tradition of excellence, week. The flat rate for a Web-only classified ad is Gloves Champion. offering a competitive academic and co-curricular $150 for 30 days.

February 16 , 2015 America 37 FROM OUR BLOGS The Black Box Idolatry: Questions for Frank Pasquale Nathan Schneider Obama says jobs aren’t everything, PODCAST GOP kind of agrees Msgr. Paul V. Garrity takes questions on the an- Robert David Sullivan nulment process on “America This Week.” Dawn of the Planet of the 1 Percent David Stewart, S.J. WHAT YOU ARE READING Full Transcript of Pope’s Press Confer- THE LIVING WORD ence on Flight from Manila Brian B. Pinter leads a seven-day journey of reflec- Gerard O’Connell tion through the Song of Songs. The Feminist Case Against Abortion, Serrin M. Foster How Not to Preach, John J. Conley, S.J. Following Faithfully, Michael G. FILM AND THEATER Lawler and Todd A. Salzman Michael V. Tueth, S.J. reviews the film “Into the Cardinal Marx on Francis, the Synod Woods” and “It’s Only a Play” on Broadway. and Women in the Church Luke Hansen, S.J.

“I’m not certain my parish priest reads this publication. I must buy him a copy!” —Amy Born on How Not to Preach

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38 America February 16, 2015 THE WORD

to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” In the Wilderness Repentance functions as this “appeal to FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT (B), FEB. 22, 2015 God for a good conscience.” Readings: Gn 9:8–15, 44–46; Ps 25:4–9; 1 Pt 3:18–22; Mk 1:12–15 Repentance is available to us be- cause Jesus chose to align himself “Repent, and believe in the good news” (Mk 1:15) in the battle against evil so fully that any theological reasons for to relax in the car on the way to work after emerging from the wilderness, Jesus’ baptism have been can deteriorate into curses cast against “Christ also suffered for sins once for proposed, explaining it as a the first driver to cut you off. A prom- all, the righteous for the unrighteous, M in order to bring you to God. He was sacramental model for the church, an ise not to drink, and all the hard work act of solidarity with sinful humanity that accompanied it in rehab, can put to death in the flesh, but or “a manifestation of his self-empty- fall apart in one visit to the made alive in the spirit, in ing” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, bar, resulting in a sense of which also he went and No. 1224), but any answer must stress frustration and inepti- made a proclamation that “the baptism of Jesus is on his part tude. A family gathered to the spirits in prison, the acceptance and inauguration of his in joy can be smashed who in former times mission as God’s suffering Servant. He apart with the sudden did not obey, when allows himself to be numbered among death of a child, plunging God waited patient- sinners” (No. 536). After Jesus’ bap- people into suffering and ly in the days of Noah, tism, “the Spirit immediately drove darkness. Sin crouches during the building of the him out into the wilderness.” Because nearby, to tempt us in our ark.” There is a question as Jesus aligns himself with sinful hu- struggles, our losses and our manity, the act immediately following suffering. PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE his baptism is to do battle with evil, as Unlike Jesus, our ability to resist each of us must do daily. temptation is flawed, even with the Let Jesus be with you in the wilderness. For what do you need to repent? Jesus, who takes on all of our hu- gift of baptism, but baptism also al- manity, did not travel from baptism lows us to seek safety in the church A. DUNNE TAD ART: straight to the glory of the transfigu- when evil threatens to overcome us ration but went from baptism to the and drive us into the wilderness alone. to whom these “spirits in prison” rep- wilderness, because it is a place that For Jesus comes out of the wilderness resent—whether these spirits are the haunts our fragile humanity no matter proclaiming, “The time is fulfilled, and “fallen angels” or the human dead of where we are, and it demands redemp- the kingdom of God has come near; the time of Noah—but Jesus’ proc- tion. Jesus’ redemption of humanity repent, and believe in the good news.” lamation to them is built into the begins with the incarnation, but we The church was built for the ongoing church for us: “Repent, and believe in see it advance in his obedience (unlike battle and for repentance when we fall. the good news!” Adam and Eve) to the will of God and Repentance is a sign of why the church It is Christ—through his battle in his steadfastness to resist tempta- was built: for salvation. with evil in the wilderness, his suf- tion. Noah’s ark was built to save those fering and death and finally his res- The model Jesus presents to us who took refuge in it, and God prom- urrection—who has gained salvation when “he was in the wilderness 40 ised that “the waters shall never again for us. Christ is raised up and at the days, tempted by Satan” is one ground- become a flood to destroy all flesh.” right hand of God has authority over ed in the reality of human life. Life can This ark is an ancient Christian image all powers, human and demonic. We be hard, life can be unfair, and life can for the church, for as it says in 1 Peter, must be encouraged to grasp fearless- knock you to the ground. A promise by it “a few, that is, eight persons, were ly our baptismal mission, for there is saved through water;” but in a spiritual no power over which Christ does not sense “baptism, which this prefigured, rule, and that mission includes repen- JOHN W. MARTENS is an associate professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas, St. now saves you—not as a removal of tance when we stumble in our own Paul, Minn. Twitter: @BibleJunkies. dirt from the body, but as an appeal personal battles. JOHN W. MARTENS

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