The National Catholic Weekly March 11, 2013 $3.50 of Many Things
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THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC WEEKLY MARCH 11, 2013 $3.50 OF MANY THINGS PUBLISHED BY JESUITS OF THE UNITED STATES iving as I do in a very large, Girard, Michael Kirwan, S.J.: “the fragile glass house, I am reluc - Gospel is the biblical spirit that exposes PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER tant to throw stones. I say this the truth of violent origins, takes the John P. Schlegel, S.J. L EDITOR IN CHIEF because Lent is a good time to take side of the victim and works toward the stock of the moral quality of one’s rela - overcoming of scapegoating as a viable Matt Malone , S.J. tionships and general environs, to get a means of social formation.” In other EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT better idea of how one is or is not a words, the life, death and resurrection MANAGING EDITOR part of the world’s problems. There is, of Jesus subvert the whole ghastly Robert C. Collins, S.J. however, an occasionally indiscernible enterprise. DIGITAL EDITOR line between healthy reflection and self- You may be asking why any of this Maurice Timothy Reidy righteous judgment. In recent years, in matters. For starters, if mimetic theory LITERARY EDITOR addition to the patient grace of God, I is true, then we may need to rethink Raymond A. Schroth, S.J. have come to rely on a more this-world - some of our most treasured presupposi - POETRY EDITOR ly insight in order to make sense of tions. If Girard’s world is, in fact, the James S. Torrens, S.J. such things: the thought of René world we live in, then the modern ASSOCIATE EDITORS Girard, the French-American Catholic notion of the autonomous, self-actual - Kevin Clarke cultural critic. Girard stumbled onto an izing individual, for example, is nothing Kerry Weber idea a few years ago that he calls more than a romantic myth. Luke Hansen, S.J. mimetic theory, and the basic gist of it Girard is not without his critics; I EDITOR AT LARGE is this: have a few questions myself. Still, his James Martin, S.J. First, Girard says, all human desire is theory has some very interesting possi - ART DIRECTOR mimetic. Apart from fundamental bio - bilities. It could help us understand, for Stephanie Ratcliffe logical needs, human beings copy one example, something that is much on my ASSISTANT EDITOR S another, not just in basic linguistic and mind these days: According to Girard’s Francis W. Turnbull, S.J. Olga Segura behavioral patterns but also in terms of theory, the scapegoat isn’t necessarily what we consciously want. Strictly innocent and frequently isn’t. A sinner COLUMNISTS Angela Alaimo-O’Donnell speaking, then, I have no desires that are can still be a scapegoat. Colleen Carroll Campbell original to me; rather, I desire according That counterintuitive fact helps John J. Conley, S.J. to the desire of another. explain the sense of self-righteous satis - Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M. Girard’s second insight is that faction we derive from throwing stones. James T. Keane human conflict occurs when the desires And there’s a lot of stone throwing at John W. Martens Bill McGarvey of multiple people converge on the the moment; the news is full of tales of Margot Patterson same object, either seen (that iPad), or individuals who have done apparently Michael Rossmann, S.J. unseen (happiness). Third, this conflict, sinful things. Many of us like to point WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT which he calls mimetic rivalry, quickly to them—prelates, athletes, next-door John Carr escalates and can plunge a whole com - neighbors, whomever—and say, along munity into crisis. Such crises are with the rest of the group, that there is BUSINESS DEPARTMENT resolved through “the scapegoat mecha - no way that we could have done what CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER nism.” One person, then another and he or she did; that, even in the same sit - Lisa Pope then a whole group of people point the uation, in the same circumstances, we 106 West 56th Street finger of suspicion at an individual, the would certainly have acted differently. New York, NY 10019-3803 sacrificial victim, who is then expelled That’s a comforting thought, though Ph: 212-581-4640; Fax: 212-399-3596 or destroyed. The sacrifice of the scape - mostly a lie. goat restores order to the Girard’s theory, not to mention reve - E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] community...until the next crisis. lation and much of human history, Web site: www.americamagazine.org. Admittedly, this is pretty grim news. challenges that smug, self-righteous Customer Service: 1-800-627-9533 We are, by nature, not free in the way assumption. This Lent, we would all do © 2013 America Press, Inc. that we thought; worse, we are prone to well to consider how. I myself intend to pretty brutal forms of violence. The do so in the quiet, though expansive liv - Cover: An image of Pope Benedict XVI at St. Paul’s Outside the Walls in good news, however, is that there is a ing room of my own glass house. Rome Feb. 11, 2013. Reuters/ way out. In the words of one student of MATT MALONE, S.J. Alessandro Bianchi CONTENTS www.americamagazine.org Vol. 208 No. 8, Whole No. 5003 March 11, 2013 ARTICLES 11 A POPE’S PROGRESS Assessing Benedict’s legacy Christopher M. Bellitto 16 READING BENEDICT Reviewing the pope’s love of the word Drew Christiansen • Tracey Rowland • Daniel J. Harrington James Martin • Our Readers 23 HELLO, I MUST BE GOING A history of papal resignations John W. O’Malley 25 WHO’S NEXT? 16 More questions about the next pope Thomas J. Reese COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS 4 Current Comment 5 Editorial A Time to Act 6 Signs of the Times 9 Washington Front The Pope They Missed John Carr 37 Letters 39 The Word The Life Offered John W. Martens 23 BOOKS & CULTURE 29 MEDIA Netflix’s “House of Cards” COLUMN Boom and Bust BOOKS ON THE BIBLE Disputed Questions ON THE WEB ON THE WEB Thomas J. Reese, S.J., right, discusses the papal transition on our podcast. Plus, a video introduction to Together on Retreat: Meeting Jesus in Prayer , the new e-book from James Martin, S.J. All at americamagazine.org. 29 CURRENT COMMENT gal voters by means of elaborate identity checks and bad Raising the Minimum local management. The screening has a disproportionately In his State of the Union address, President Obama made adverse effect on eligible minority voters. The Brennan an important case for raising the federal minimum wage to report calls for modernized digital registration, a comput - $9 an hour. The last time Congress voted to raise the min - erized statewide voter database and 10 weekdays and two imum wage was in 2007, when it authorized a graduated weekends of early voting as well as an increase in the num - three-year increase. Since then the cost of living has ber of polling places. increased significantly, mostly because of an escalation in There are already at least seven voting reform bills fuel prices. The current rate of $7.25 is simply not high before Congress waiting for attention. A newly appointed enough. Many people who earn the minimum wage have bipartisan presidential commission approaches its task to work multiple jobs to pay the bills. Others must rely on with some of their homework already done by someone public assistance to cover what they cannot afford. Many else. Now all must agree that democracy can flourish only young people continue to live at home because their wages if everyone can and will easily vote. are not enough to pay rent. Raising the minimum wage would make a difference in Hearing All Sides many lives. One student told The Huffington Post: “If Some notable voices have responded positively to the latest the…minimum wage goes up, then I would either be able attempt by the Department of Health and Human to make $200 more a month (which I could put toward Services to resolve a public policy dispute with the U.S. loans or, better yet, actually start saving), or I could work bishops and Catholic institutional employers. The depart - about six or seven fewer hours a week, giving me more ment has dropped ill-advised qualifications for faith-based time to focus on my education.” entities that would be eligible for an exemption from or an The president has also recommended pegging the mini - accommodation with a new mandate for cost-free contra - mum wage to inflation. This would be a major step for - ception coverage in new health insurance plans. ward. Because Congress must authorize every increase, the In an initial statement Cardinal Timothy Dolan of minimum wage has gradually fallen behind the cost of liv - New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic ing. “The remuneration of work is not something that can Bishops, struck a conciliatory tone in the ongoing dis - be left to the laws of the marketplace; nor should it be a pute, noting his desire to find “an acceptable decision left to the will of the more powerful,” wrote Pope solution…that respects the consciences of all.” After press John XXIII. reports described the U.S. bishops’ statement as a “rejec - tion” of the administration’s overture, Cardinal Dolan Save the Vote took the unusual step of correcting the record, noting the Testifying in 2006 on the reauthorization of the Voting intention of the bishops to study the proposed H.H.S. Rights Act of 1965, the historian Alex Keyssar said the guidelines and to continue their dialogue with the “right to vote can be as fragile as it is fundamental.” In the Obama administration.