DONALD WUERL: THE NEW EVANGELIZATION

THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC WEEKLY FEB. 28, 2011 $3.50 OF MANY THINGS

PUBLISHED BY JESUITS OF THE UNITED STATES ast fall (11/15) I recommended many reasons, just does not compare. in these pages that since the In the 1980s and ’90s I traveled in EDITOR IN CHIEF Drew Christiansen, S.J. negotiations for a two-state Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Iraq to Lsolution between Israel and Palestine get a better sense of the Middle East. In EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT were failing, it was time to consider the Jordan I encountered a politician at a MANAGING EDITOR one-state solution, a proposal that has briefing who said he wanted to drive Robert C. Collins, S.J. a history among Jewish intellectuals. Israel into the sea and a young man in a EDITORIAL DIRECTOR The one-state Israel-Palestine, with a Palestinian refugee camp who suddenly Karen Sue Smith new constitution guaranteeing equal pleaded with me to take him to ONLINE EDITOR rights for all, would make Palestinians America. Maurice Timothy Reidy equal citizens. And both sides would Today I support J Street, the new CULTURE EDITOR have to learn to forgive and live in Jewish lobby that loves both Israel and James Martin, S.J. peace. peace, and read widely, including LITERARY EDITOR This inspired an orchestrated reports from Israeli newspapers. But Patricia A. Kossmann avalanche (about 90 letters) of condem - with sadness I also see Arab homes POETRY EDITOR nation. The writers had been instructed bulldozed to make way for Israelis, James S. Torrens, S.J. to accuse me of not knowing that all between 1,100 and 1,400 citizens of ASSOCIATE EDITORS Arabs want to kill all Jews. And since I Gaza killed in the invasion of 2008, the Kevin Clarke was a Catholic priest, they held me Wall, highways on which Arabs may Kerry Weber responsible for the Holocaust. not drive, Palestinians humiliated at Raymond A. Schroth, S.J. The letters brought back childhood checkpoints and beaten by mobs of set - Edward W. Schmidt , S.J. memories. My father’s best friend from tlers, the Christian population evapo - ART DIRECTOR World War I and the Trenton rating, illegal Jewish settlements domi - Stephanie Ratcliffe American Legion was Lester Block, nating the water supply and the West ASSISTANT EDITOR whose Navy sweater from 1917 I am Bank. Conservative voices in Israel call Francis W. Turnbull, S.J. wearing as I write this. For my brother for bans on Jews renting property to ASSISTANT LITERARY EDITOR David and me, he was our Uncle Lester. Arabs and on dating between Arab Regina Nigro When he visited, he would pick us up boys and Jewish girls and want a loyalty GUEST EDITOR and swing us around; he brought us oath for citizenship. Is this democracy? Francis X. Hezel , S.J. matzos for the holidays; and his wife Most Israelis say they want peace, fed us kosher hot dogs in their home. and the conditions that would create it BUSINESS DEPARTMENT When I was 10, I joined the Jewish are clear, but as Gideon Levy wrote in PUBLISHER Cub Scout troop across the street from Haaretz, “The Israelis don’t really want Jan Attridge Blessed Sacrament Church, and in our peace; they prefer real estate.” Those CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER early teens we went to a summer riding who mention this are branded anti- Lisa Pope camp with Jewish boys. Once when we Semites; Jews in both Israel and ADVERTISING were planning our family vacation, a America who cannot morally support Julia Sosa New England inn asked for letters of Israeli policies are labeled “Not real recommendation; our last name sug - Jews.” 106 West 56th Street New York, NY 10019-3803 gested we might be Jews. We went In Dt 4:5-8 Moses addresses the somewhere else. In short, I grew up Israelites about to enter the promised Ph: 212-581-4640; Fax: 212-399-3596 identifying with Jewish people, and as a land. The Lord has said that this land E-mail: [email protected]; priest I see Christianity’s roots in the must be distinguished by the justice of [email protected] Web site: www.americamagazine.org. Hebrew Scriptures. its laws. When other nations see Israel’s Customer Service: 1-800-627-9533 As a student and journalist I have just laws they will say, “Surely this great © 2011 America Press, Inc. marveled that Jews, with 3 percent of nation is a wide and discerning people. the American population (Catholics are For what other nation has a god so near over 20 percent), have led the nation’s it as the Lord our God is whenever we intellectual discourse, particularly on call to him?” social justice issues. The Catholic intel - Is that Israel today? lectual tradition in this country, for RAYMOND A. SCHROTH, S.J. Cover: Shutterstock/Vesnam CONTENTS www.americamagazine.org Vol. 204 No. 6, WholE No. 4923 FEBruary 28, 2011

ARTICLES 11 PASS IT ON Renewing one’s own faith is the first step to evangelizing others. Donald Wuerl

14 DEFINING FEMINISM Can the church and the world agree on the role of women? M. Cathleen Kaveny

COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS 4 Current Comment 11 5 Editorial Saving the Neighborhood 6 Signs of the Times

9 Column Radical Hospitality Kyle T. Kramer

18 State of the Question Exit Interviews 21 Poem Abundance William J. Rewak 29 Letters

31 The Word Set on Rock Barbara E. Reid 14

BOOKS & CULTURE 20 MUSIC Faith and doubt in the music of Josh Ritter BOOKS The Good Soldiers; War; Anterooms

ON THE WEB ON THE WEB M. Cathleen Kaveny talks about Catholicism and feminism on our podcast. Plus, reviews of Oscar -contender films, and the latest word from Latin America, courtesy of Mirada Global. All at americamagazine.org. 20 CURRENT COMMENT

only 23 percent—are ready for college or careers. A new Jobs, Anyone? book, Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Surveys show that a Republican majority in the House was Campuses , reports that according to a study of 2,000 stu - swept into Congress by voters concerned about the federal dents in 24 four-year colleges across the country, U.S. col - deficit, confused about health care reform and angry about leges are falling behind world competition because the stu - the economy, but most especially about the lack of jobs. dents cannot write. Repeatedly, they said their top priority was jobs. If that It is possible to get a degree in business or education, was a mandate, the next election may well be decided by the two most popular majors, without doing much writing. the voters’ perceptions of who is more likely to create jobs. In 10 selected public four-year colleges, out of 41 courses Job creation certainly has not been the new majority’s required for an education degree, fewer than four courses first priority. That was to repeal the health care reform. By required future teachers to write 10 to 19 pages a semester, putting the adjective job-killing in front of the repeal bill’s or at most 1.3 pages week. name, some may have hoped that voters would mistake their Nationally, students spend on average about 12 hours a ideological mission of destruction for an idea to create jobs. week studying outside the classroom, and one-third spend But it would have created not one job. And even the adjec - under five. Teachers who answer President Obama’s challenge tive was false. Health care, in fact, is the only sector of the must enter the classroom armed with Thoreau, Hemingway, U.S. economy that has steadily created jobs throughout the Joan Didion and E. B. White. They must risk displeasing recession; and the reform, which will bring some 30 million their own students and require them to read and write. new customers to insurance companies and into doctors’ care, would surely create jobs, not kill them. An Overdue Apology How will the 112th Congress create jobs? It is hard to The 2-year-old boy was baptized Antoine Joseph on May say, but it will take more than merely “undoing” the initia - 6, 1798. On that day his godparents, Marie Joseph and tives of the last Congress. Already some lawmakers are Antonio, accompanied his mother, a slave woman known taking the Environmental Protection Agency to task, even only as Manon, to St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans. though the agency saves lives by working to ensure that These names were recorded in ink in the baptismal records corporations do not foul the atmosphere or the nation’s of the archdiocese. On Feb. 1 the name of Antoine Joseph waters and land. The assault will do nothing to create jobs was among those made available in another format—the and could impede job creation efforts already in motion. online records of the Archdiocesan Office of Archives. The The government already has sponsored clean-energy first five registers, written in Spanish, now on the office’s initiatives for entrepreneurs; has begun to woo the auto Web site include the baptismal records of slaves and free industry away from its oil dependence and toward higher- people of color in New Orleans from 1777 to 1801. They mileage vehicles, hybrids and electric cars; and has budget - can be accessed by anyone from anywhere. ed for public transportation initiatives like high-speed rail The pages are difficult to decipher without the help of projects and other infrastructure improvements. All of additional records, and the process of scanning and preserv - these initiatives will put Americans to work. The 111th ing the pages was an expensive, painstaking and time-con - Congress saw to that. But where are the job creation suming endeavor. Despite this, the project is a worthy one, strategies of the 112th Congress? and not simply for research purposes. The archdiocese saw the launch as an opportunity to recognize the integral role Enter the Lists of African-American Catholics in building the city of New President Obama’s State of the Union address included a Orleans and the church, and to recognize by name some of call to compete with China by raising our educational the thousands of otherwise anonymous slaves. It was also a standards, and he challenged the rising generation to enter chance for Archbishop Gregory Aymond to offer an apolo - the lists. “To every young person tonight who’s contem - gy on behalf of the church for the fact that the church and plating their career choice…. If you want to make a differ - some religious orders owned slaves at the time. The publi - ence...become a teacher.” cation of these records is also a small but worthwhile step According to recent studies, the president has underes - toward the transparency many long for in today’s church. It timated the shabby state of learning in both the high is a reminder that, though the church may move slowly, it is schools and colleges of the country. In New York State also an institution capable of admitting its wrongs, learning only half the high school graduates—in New York City from its history and moving forward with grace.

4 America February 28, 2011 EDITORIAL Saving the Neighborhood

hile Americans were trying to make sense of The neighborhood and the sense the mass shooting in Tucson last month, pub - of social self that it nourished survived W lic debate was renewed on the ban of auto - the rise of technology, the development matic weapons, the need for improved mental health refer - of new means of transportation and ral and the vitriolic political atmosphere. Philip Rucker of communication, the migration from The Washington Post, however, pointed in a different direc - rural farms, the growth of large cities tion. “He didn’t know most of his neighbors,” Mr. Rucker and the shrinking size of the family. wrote in a description that could apply just as much to Jared The decline of the social self, then, is not the direct result of Loughner, the loner who took six lives, as to the resident Mr. technology or the changes it wrought. Rucker was interviewing. “Socially, everyone keeps to them - Sometime after World War II the neighborhood selves,” the neighbor of Loughner’s admitted. began its long decline. The exposed front porch looking out Individualism has always been prized in the United on the street gave way to the sheltered backyard enclosed by States for the blessings it confers: freedom for persons to a chain-link fence. The sociologist Robert Putnam docu - define themselves as they wish and to explore the world on ments the phenomenon, in his best-selling book Bowling their own terms. But there is also a serious downside, never Alone . The author shows how Americans have drifted away as vividly evident as it was in Tucson when one individual from neighborhood associations, participation in local clubs ran wild a few weeks ago, or in the 24 other mass shootings and organizations and even the type of social visiting that that have taken place in the past decade, or the 43 during the once was a major recreational outlet. Putnam discounts 1990s, or the 32 during the 1980s. many of the standard explanations for this phenomenon: If the Constitution enshrines the rights of the individ - family changes, the growing number of working wives, sub - ual, the history of this nation qualified them by building in urban sprawl and the mounting pressures of work. In the a social dimension. Every New England village had a town end, the author can assert only that the loss of the social self hall in which people met to debate local issues, and there is the result of a generational change whose cause remains a were clubs and organizations that people joined to educate mystery. or entertain themselves. These affiliations did not cancel the Whatever the explanation, the gradual decline of the American pursuit of individuality, but they modified it by neighborhood has left residents without a safety net that generating a sense of the social self—an understanding that served important purposes. The old neighborhood provided each person is in part a product of society and is also support for people in need—not always the penniless, but responsible to society. certainly the friendless. Jared Loughner seemed to be one of Even as the United States evolved from a nation of those. So were many of the others responsible for the num - farmsteads and rural communities into a network of large ber of mass shootings that has increased dramatically: 22 in cities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Americans six decades before 1960; 119 in the five decades since 1960. did not lose a sense of the social self. The grange halls may Recouping the neighborhood is not an exercise in nos - have vanished, but people somehow found a sense of com - talgia, but a protective strategy looking to the future. It is a munity within the large urban setting. In the early postwar means of affording loners the help they may need or, at the years, the neighborhood was a buffer against the anonymity very least, of guarding others against the damage the worst of of the metropolis. Stickball games in the street, conversa - them can inflict. Even the government behemoth Depart- tions with neighbors sitting on their front porches or ment of Homeland Security, with its sophisticated spyware stoops, butcher shops in which customers were on a first- and its budget of billions, has admitted that the most effective name basis with the man behind the counter, a policeman means to forestall terrorist plots is community watchfulness. who greeted everyone as he walked his beat and gossips who Six would-be terrorists in Lackawanna, N.Y., were arrested in took the measure of everyone—all were familiar features of 2002 after they were reported by suspicious neighbors. the old neighborhood. It was a time when people in the Imagine what sharp-eyed neighbors might have reported neighborhood had a claim on, even if not a high regard for, about Jared Loughner. Perhaps they might have been able to one another. help him before he picked up his Glock.

February 28, 2011 America 5 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

AFRICA Vast Biofuel Demand Drives ‘Land Grabs’ epresentatives of Catholic organizations at the World Social Forum in Dakar, Senegal, said that R massive foreign investment in large tracts of land across Africa—“land grabbing,” according to detractors—is pushing small farmers off their land and threatening anoth - er worldwide food crisis. Martin Brockelman-Simon, executive director of Misereor, the German bishops’ development agency, esti - mated that up to 48 million arable acres have been bought by interests outside of Africa since 2006. Foreign investors are using fertile or resource-rich African land to grow crops that can be exported to other countries or used for biofuel production, or for mining interests. “These deals are causing loss of food supply, social conflicts, depletion of water sup - plies, loss of jobs and ecological damage,” Brockelman- Simon said. “Food crops, such as jatropha, that can now be used for agro-fuels have Information and Action Network. tenure systems must be given greater become a very valuable commodity,” Would-be private investors in recognition. “We must not allow a new said Rene Segbenou, president of the Africa often suggest that Africa has form of impoverishment of the masses Benin-based National Network for huge swathes of unused and vacant that tramples on the rights of people to Sustainable Management of Genetic lands that can be turned into easy land,” he said. The delegates’ statement Resources. “This is driving the push profits, said Ruth Hall, a senior calls for national governments in by foreign investors to buy up more researcher at the Institute for Poverty, Africa to cease what amounts to collu - and more land for the production of Land and Agrarian Studies in Cape sion with land-grabbers and to “imple - agro-fuels, as this has become a very Town, South Africa. She said one ment an effective framework for the lucrative business.” company even claims that the pur - recognition and regulation of land “Recent massive land grabs target - chase of African land is socially rights for users through consultation ing tens of millions of acres for the responsible, but Hall called Africa’s with all stakeholders.” benefit of private interests or third purported land overabundance a mar - Placide Mukebo, coordinator of the states...violate human rights by depriv - keting myth. Land that sometimes Office of Development in the Diocese ing peasants, pastoralists and fisher - appears vacant is usually used by tribes of Lubumbashi, Congo, said that land- men of their means of production, by or nomadic cattle herders, who need grabbing by foreign mining companies restricting their access to natural access to land to survive, she said. is causing an exodus of small farmers resources or by removing their free - Land-grabbing is relatively easy in to the cities. “The farmers are either dom to produce as they wish,” said a Africa because few traditional commu - forced off the lands, or they agree to draft statement prepared by delegates nities maintain formal title to land that go, but they don’t get adequate com - at the six-day conference that ended has often been used communally for pensation,” he said. Mukebo said that on Feb. 11. Among those working on generations. The Rev. Alphonse Seck, 34 of the 51 farming communities the the statement were representatives of vicar general of the Diocese of Dakar diocese has worked with have been Misereor, Caritas Senegal, the Senegal and executive secretary of the Senegal displaced from their land in the last 10 bishops’ Justice and Peace bishops’ Justice and Peace years. Only seven communities held Commission and the Food First Commission, said customary land legal titles to land.

6 America February 28, 2011 nation—and some of the key partici - Medical Center in Flint, Mich., and a At work on a cooperative farming project in Southern Sudan pants in crafting the statement— former nurse at the hospital, said became embroiled in a debate on the workers and management enjoyed a merits of health care reform legislation. good relationship for about six years The document calls on unions and until executives at Ascension Health, employers to respect “each other’s mis - the nation’s largest Catholic hospital sion and legitimacy” and to pledge not chain, “decided two things: The profits to “demean or undermine each other’s weren’t big enough at Genesys, and institutions, leaders, representatives, they were going to put the unions in effectiveness or motives.” Both sides their proper place.” also must be “dedicated to ensuring That set off, according to Bugbee, a that organizing campaigns will not series of anti-union moves by hospital disturb patients or interfere with the management, which in turn brought a delivery of patient care.” series of countermoves by the union Shea said that “Respecting the Just and its allies, including the publication Rights of Workers” may yet prove to last year by Interfaith Worker Justice be useful. “Unions complained about of “Ascension Health: A Fall From it because it didn’t go far enough. Grace—Workers’ Rights Abuses at Hospitals complained because it went Ascension Health’s Michigan too far. So we must have done some - Hospitals.” thing right,” he said. Bugbee said the tactic that finally At the annual meeting of the got management’s attention was the CATHOLIC HOSPITALS Catholic Labor Network in Teamsters’ backing of a rival hospital’s Washington, D.C., on Feb. 12, partici - building bid. Both parties came back Union Struggles pants were told that health care orga - to the bargaining table. The nurses nizing continues at Catholic institu - eventually agreed to concessions that Persist tions, although not necessarily under led to a new contract, but Bugbee he issuance of a joint state - the tenets laid out by “Respecting the claimed that even with the contract, ment in 2009 by Catholic hos - Just Rights of Workers.” “morale is the lowest it’s ever been.” Tpitals and labor unions about Marie Puleo, a Franciscan sis - the right of workers to organize is still ter who is senior vice president of waiting for its first application, accord - mission for Steward Healthcare ing to a participant in the drafting of System, a for-profit chain that the document. The statement, runs six Catholic hospitals in “Respecting the Just Rights of Massachusetts, outlined the posi - Workers: Guidance and Options for tive working relationship the Catholic Health Care and Unions,” was chain has with S.E.I.U. Both the prepared by the U.S. Conference of hospitals and the union consider Catholic Bishops, the Catholic Health as the enemy not each other but Association, the A.F.L.-C.I.O. and the the current health care system, she Service Employees International said. Union. Jerry Shea, assistant to the Relations are not as stable at president at the A.F.L.-C.I.O., said the other health care sites around the document first became sidetracked country where management and when participants agreed to hold back labor square off. Nina Bugbee, a its release until closer to Labor Day staff representative for a 2009. By then, Shea added, the initia - Teamsters local representing hos - tive was further sidelined as the pital workers at Genesys Regional

February 28, 2011 America 7 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Budget Priorities The fe deral budget crunch should not NEWS BRIEFS be eased by cutting programs that help the poor, refugees and the unem - The San Antonio executive Al J. Notzon III has been ployed in the United States or those appointed chair of the U.S. Conference of Bishops’ struggling in developing nations, National Review Board. His term begins in June. • warned church leaders. “In a time of New York’s Archbishop Timothy Dolan has denied economic crisis, the poor and vulnera - that as bishop of Milwaukee he attempted to hide ble are in greater need of assistance, $130 million in diocesan funds from lawsuits by vic - not less,” said Bishop Stephen E. tims of sexual abuse. • John Sweeney, former presi - Blaire of Stockton, Calif., chairman of dent of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., was honored along with the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Stan Musial and Jean Kennedy Smith with a Medal John Sweeney Domestic Justice and Human of Freedom at a White House ceremony on Feb. 15. Development, in a letter to Congress • Masses have resumed on Yeonpyeong , the South Korean island on Feb. 14. A second letter from Ken shelled by North Korean artillery in November. Its population of Hackett, president of Catholic Relief 1,700 included 450 Catholics. • Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald , the Services, and Bishop Howard J. Vatican’s ambassador to Egypt, said on Feb. 11 that he hoped the Hubbard of Albany, N.Y., chairman of country’s future would include greater social justice and freedom. the Committee on International “The events of recent weeks have produced a feeling of solidarity Justice and Peace, noted cuts of up to among Christians and Muslims,” he said, “a good basis for increased 26 percent of funding in programs for dialogue and cooperation in society.” • A U.K. judge, in a decision on international assistance this year, but Feb. 14 of London’s High Court, has turned back an attempt to rein - only 2.6 percent in cuts for the overall terpret Britain’s 1967 Abortion Act to allow so-called “D.I.Y.” or budget. “Shared sacrifice is one thing,” “bedroom” abortions. said Hackett and Bishop Hubbard; “it is another to make disproportionate cuts in programs that serve the most Naguib, told protesters to go home. terclaims against the federal govern - vulnerable.” The Rev. Larry Snyder, He feared Egyptian young people will ment, which has attempted to block president of Catholic Charities USA, now “turn their backs on the church” the full enactment of S.B. 1070. The urged policymakers to improve gov - and say, “You never stood with first counterclaim cites failure to ernment efficiency before resorting to us...you never taught us to stand up achieve and maintain operational cuts. for our rights.” The Rev. Douglas May control of Arizona’s border with of Maryknoll, who worked in Egypt Mexico, as called for in a trio of acts for 18 years of Mubarak’s nearly 30- dating to 2006. Other counts include Lost Youth in Egypt? year rule, said Christian leaders in failure to protect Arizona from “inva - Two priests with strong ties to Egypt Egypt played it safe. “I’m afraid that sion” and failure to enforce or follow said they feared young Egyptian the church leadership has lost its cred - immigration laws. José Robles, direc - Catholics will turn away from the ibility with the Christian youth over tor of the Office of Hispanic church because it did not back this,” he said. Ministries for the Diocese of protests that led to the resignation of Phoenix, said the governor’s counter - President Hosni Mubarak. The Rev. Arizona Defends Its claims were “poorly timed and coun - Makarios Isaac, an Egyptian-born terproductive to efforts already in priest of the Archdiocese of Toronto Immigration Law place to resolve this issue.” Robles also and an associate of the Maryknoll Gov. Jan Brewer said she was prepared said Arizona has more pressing Fathers and Brothers, said the main to defend S.B. 1070, a controversial issues, most notably a budget deficit, Muslim and Orthodox leaders for - law aimed at curbing illegal immigra - high unemployment and “widespread bade participation in the protests and tion, all the way to the U.S. Supreme human suffering.” the Coptic Catholic patriarch of Court. Brewer spoke at a news confer - Alexandria, Cardinal Antonios ence on Feb. 10 announcing five coun - From CNS and other sources.

8 America February 28, 2011 KYLE T. KRAMER

Radical Hospitality he shooting of Congress- day, and what seemed doomed to dis - hunkers down and hurls epithets over woman Gabrielle Giffords in aster ended in détente. Many students the fortress walls. Courageous hospi - T Tucson, Ariz., on Jan. 8 even confided in me that, as difficult as tality, on the other hand, flings open sparked a national conversation about it had been, they were grateful for the the door and discerns Christ in the the need for civility in our public dis - experience. strange and the stranger—even when, course. It is a much-needed virtue in I have thought a great deal about as St. Meinrad learned at the cost of ecclesial circles as well, where polar - what enabled that course to end as his life, what we admit is threatening. ized, shrill voices so often dominate. well as it did. I believe one reason is Welcoming others and their opinions The graduate lay ministry forma - that it took place in a context of what I requires facing the fear that something tion program I direct at St. John’s call radical hospitality. in us may have to die, perhaps even the College in St. Cloud, Minn., deals with Hospitality is a primary charism of certitude to which we cling. these tensions in microcosm. Students the Benedictine monks who Hospitality can be span the theological spectrum, but this conduct the school. The Rule We are fearless when it is root - mix of perspectives has worked in the of St. Benedict, which has ed, as the word radical classroom—until recently. In one wisely guided Benedictine all part of denotes. Saint Meinrad course, however, ideological fault lines communities for 15 cen - Archabbey has deep became painfully apparent. The atmo - turies, urges that “all guests the same roots in a rich tradition, sphere grew increasingly hostile and who present themselves are God-given with a thick Catholic tense, with plenty of “passionate inten - to be welcomed as Christ.” identity that is not sity,” to borrow a phrase from Yeats’s Hospitality is a fierce disci - belonging, overtly evangelical nor “The Second Coming.” pline; the monastery’s name - and we need encrusted with exces - Through some intervention by the sake, St. Meinrad, was a sive trappings of tradi - professor, the school’s president-rector ninth-century hermit monk each other. tionalism but grounded and me, however, the class was able to who became known as the in everyday habits of pull back from the brink. I worried that martyr of hospitality because he was prayer and community life honed by some of the more vocal students would killed by two thieves he had invited into 1,500 years of practice. And it is root - either drop out or feel so shut down his cabin in the woods of the Swiss ed in love: the alpha and omega of the that they no longer would participate, Alps. I would like to think that the stu - entire creation, the force that pulls and that the tension would continue to dents’ experience of Benedictine hospi - everyone and everything toward a cen - fester underground. But to my sur - tality played a part in dampening the ter that can hold. prise, and to the great credit of the pro - heated rhetoric of their class. Our ecclesial and popular cultures fessor and the class, all the students To welcome others as Christ is to seem lately to favor strident, uncom - remained. The temperature cooled, recognize that despite vast differences, promising voices and to dismiss mod - intimidated students felt more at ease the diverse human family is part of the erate stances, like that of the to speak, and all went on to have a same God-given belonging, and we Benedictines, as lacking strong convic - meaningful engagement with the need one another to survive and thrive. tion. But what I have seen of fearless, course content and one another’s ideas. Hospitality is simply a practical work - rooted Benedictine hospitality looks I will not claim that there was a ing out of this truth. The monks’ hospi - less like the muddle of the middle and marvelous meeting and melding of tality means not only welcoming people more like the golden-mean possibility minds or that all tensions faded. But with their concrete needs but also mak - of reconciliation—in a theology class - civility and charity did finally carry the ing a safe space for the expression of room, within the church and amid their differing perspectives and ideas. pressing issues of the global commons. Such an open-minded and open- It makes me suspect that such moder - KYLE T. KRAMER is the author of A Time to Plant: Life Lessons in Work, Prayer, and hearted stance is radical, first of all, in ation, like love, might be the most rad - Dirt (Sorin Books, 2010). its fearlessness. Fear bolts the gate, ical stance of all.

February 28, 2011 America 9 a c i r E m a

: E t i s o p m o c

; k c o t s r E t t u h s

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10 America February 28, 2011 RENEWING ONE ’S OWN FAITH IS THE FIRST STEP TO EVANGELIzING OTHERS . Pass It On BY DONALD WUERL

ot long ago, a parishioner shared a story about an inci - dent that deeply troubled him. His nephew, a Catholic and a junior at a well-regarded liberal arts college, had written a research paper on physician-assisted suicide. He told his uncle and a group of about 15 others, all NCatholic, that he had concluded that it is good for people with handicaps and certain illnesses to be able to end their misery whenever they want. It was obvious to him that their quality of life is so minimal that they need that option. No one said anything. Finally, the parishioner spoke up. He was not willing to let this go by without discussion. He gently challenged the young man to think about the issues of human dignity, the value of life and the reality of truth. The nephew and a niece responded that they believed there is no such thing as absolute truth and that everyone has a right to deter - mine his or her own destiny. The only other person entering the conversa - tion, the young man’s father, proposed they resolve the disagreement by let - ting people vote on whether assisted suicide should be permitted. Everyone present was highly educated. Most had attended Catholic colleges. All considered themselves practicing Catholics except one, who had left the Catholic Church while attending a Catholic university because the church’s views differed from her political and social views. Yet none spoke up in defense of the vulnerable. This conversation could have happened anywhere today, and likely some variation of it has taken place in other Catholic families. Even Catholics raised in Catholic families, who were educated at Catholic institutions and who attend Mass regularly, do not necessarily know or understand their faith or believe it. Many others have left the church altogether. In fact, if the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life is correct, approximately 10 percent of all Americans are “former” Catholics. In spite of the genuine and sometimes heroic efforts of parents and teachers in Catholic schools and parish religious education programs,

CARDINAL DONALD WUERL is archbishop of Washington, D.C.

February 28, 2011 America 11 sometimes the message simply is not heard the first time an increased interest in vocations to the priesthood; and around. In today’s culture, it cannot be assumed that bap - groups ranging from those who are a part of the new move - tized Catholics will embrace discipleship and become active ments to those with special needs are increasingly engaged followers of Christ. Many Catholics are affected by the sec - with their church. The archdiocese held its first White ularism, materialism and individualism of our society, as are Mass recently to celebrate the giftedness to our church and many of their friends, families and neighbors who do not society of those who have special needs. At the same time, profess the faith. It is difficult for the church to be heard parishes have started to actively embrace evangelization through the pervasive noise. efforts, including door-to-door invitations to Invite-A- Many Catholics have embraced a postmodern mentality Friend Sunday and visits by parishioners to those members that rejects belief in a universal and objective truth, leading who have stopped coming to Mass, to invite them back. to a rise in relativism. Many mistrust institutions, including the church, and do not turn to her for guidance. A self-ref - Reproposing the Gospel erencing individualism evaluates in terms of what is best for But is this enough? Last year, it became clear that we needed the self rather than what is best for the common good. a focus, something to tie all these good things together and There may be an interest in spirituality, but it is often with - to inspire more, to bring back that 50 percent of young adults out humble submission to truth beyond the self. The sense not in the pews every week. It became apparent that the call of individuality is so strong that many have lost a desire for of Pope John Paul II and recently Pope Benedict XVI for a community and living in solidarity with others. “new evangelization” was what we were trying to do already. Clearly, many Catholics do not know their faith well, nor But by focusing on this in a more intentional and deliberate have they accepted the invitation from Christ to follow him way, through what Pope Benedict calls a “reproposing” of the as disciples. So what can be done? In a recent pastoral letter, faith, we could gain much-needed momentum. Disciples of the Lord: Sharing the Vision, I wrote that Christ The Holy Spirit is working in our age, as in every age, but still calls us to conversion and discipleship, “but, for many, there is much to do. I wrote the pastoral letter to awaken the invitation has lost its appeal.” It seems that “for some anew in the hearts of Catholics that the church exists to who initially heard this incredible proclamation, the mes - evangelize. The Second Vatican Council’s “Dogmatic sage has become stale. The vision has faded. The promises Constitution on the Church” quotes Pius XI: “It is neces - seem empty or unconnected to their lives.” sary never to lose sight of the fact that the objective of the A recent survey conducted by the Archdiocese of church is to evangelize, not to civilize. If it civilizes, it is for Washington concluded that nearly 50 the sake of evangelization.” percent of Catholics between the ages of ON THE WEB The transformation of society begins 25 and 34 attend Mass no more than a The editors blog with conversion, not with another new few times a year, if at all. Nearly as many, at “In All Things.” program. The antidote to our spiritual americamagazine.org/things however, consider prayer and spirituality malaise is for each of us to know and to be very important in their lives. The deepen our knowledge of the crucified hunger is there, but the message of the Gospel has been and risen Jesus. For people to hear the Gospel, the tellers eclipsed. must be credible and alive in their experience of Christ. At the other end of the spectrum, one sees great signs of This conversion essentially involves discernment. Each of vitality. In the past year, as I have met and talked with pas - us Catholics must stop and see where the Lord is working toral leaders across the archdiocese, I can see that the church and where there is room for growth. Following this basic in Washington, D.C., is doing many things right and well, or principle, and understanding that parish life is at the heart at least it is making strides in a positive direction. There is of the church experience, the Archdiocese of Washington is room for improvement and growth, but the spark is there. introducing a new tool to help parishes discern where they Each January, for example, 20,000 young people from across are most vital and where the Spirit is calling them to grow. the United States gather at the Verizon Center in The “Indicators of Vitality” make up a self-assessment tool Washington for a Rally and Mass for Life. This year we that gives pastors and parish leaders a way to plan for the added a second venue with space for an additional 10,000 future by looking at the health and vitality of their parishes young people to cheer, pray and stand up for the culture of in five areas: worship, education, community life, service and life. The free tickets for both locations—30,000 seats— administration (which includes the leadership, stewardship, were claimed within minutes, and requests continued to management and decision-making processes of the parish). pour in. School enrollment has stabilized as communities The process of parish self-assessment brings pastoral become more engaged with their Catholic schools; a new planning to a level where it is going to be lived. Parishes self- archdiocesan seminary will open in the fall to accommodate identify their vision and their needs. The staff of the arch -

12 America February 28, 2011 diocese is available to help the parishes achieve their goals, not to impose a new program. This vision implicitly recog - nizes that the people and their pastors are the experts on their parish, and diocesan support must be oriented to sup - porting pastors, not the other way around. This vision of evangelization recognizes that listening is inherent to preaching. When those who preach know how the world is listening, they can, in the words of Pope John Paul II, preach the unchanging truth with “new ardor, new methods and new expression.” That truth needs to be pro - claimed in a way that the world can comprehend, whether from the pulpit, in conversation or through contemporary music or social media.

Encounter With the Risen Christ Both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI teach that, especially in this culture, the faith must still be taught in all its fullness, richness and transforming power. Entry into this truth brings entry into the life and love of God.

If there is anything we Christians should know, it is that  VM 4V\U[NYHK\H[LZ human beings yearn for life and love and will turn just about HYLLTWSV`LKVY PU anywhere to find it. The church ministers this life and love NYHK\H[LZJOVVSVUL `LHYV\[ 6UL[OPYK HYL in the most beautiful and complete way. Many today are not LTWSV`LKI` NYHK\H[PVU open to the message the church teaches because it is often presented in a way that does not penetrate the postmodern mentality. But there is and has always been power to trans - form lives in the love of God, the truth of Christ and the The Mount is a gentle work of the Holy Spirit. This is the heart of our mes - jooyfulyfulyful & robust sage, and it does not change. An encounter with Christ makes all the difference, which contemporary Catholic we cannot forget. This is the ageless message of the saints, and it continues to inspire and challenge in our own day. In universityersityy.. encountering Christ, we share in God’s life and love in a dynamic way and are enlivened by the Holy Spirit to share The Mount is the perffeect place to discover what this message with others. Our primary encounters with role God plays in your liffee. Nearly everywhere Christ come in the Eucharist and the other sacraments, you turn on this campus, you’ll hear—and take especially the sacrament of reconciliation. We meet him, part in—a dialogue about social justice and the too, in reading Scripture, in our prayer and in the commu - search ffoor higher meaning. nity of believers, including when we reach out to those around us, especially the poor and vulnerable, through Through our curriculum, campus ministry works of charity and justice. andand service organizations, community-based That is why, as we repropose the Gospel through the new service projects woven into classes, retreats evangelization, we are called to do even better what we and campus activities, the Mount community already do. Good liturgy is important. Prayer is important. experiences the intersection of faith and Reading Scripture is important. Our life in community is culture in our Catholic liberal arts tradition. important, especially as manifested in our social ministries. wwww.msmary.ms.msmary.edu As Pope John Paul taught, “Those who have come into gen - uine contact with Christ cannot keep him for themselves; ,TTP[ZI\YN4HY`SHUK6\Y  HJYL JHTW\Z PZ Q\ZZ[[ HU OV\Y»Z KYP]L MYVT they must proclaim him” (“Novo Millennio Ineunte,” No. 49). )HS[PTVYLHUK >>HHZOPUN[VU+* This is the heart and challenge of the new evangelization:  [VSSMYLLc HKTPZZPVUZ'TZTHY`LK\ reinvigorating our own faith so we then can invite others to ffaithaith ddiscoveryiscooververryy leadleadershipership ccommunityommunity rediscover Christ. A

February 28, 2011 America 13 Defining Feminism Can the church and the world agree on the role of women? BY M. CATHLEEN KAVENY

bout 13 years ago, I presented a paper at a conference on “Women’s Health and Human Rights” at the Vatican. A high - lAight of the event was a special audience for the conference participants with Pope John Paul II. To the surprise and delight of his listeners, he benignly proclaimed, “Io sono il Papa feminista,” “I am the feminist pope.” He meant it. In 1988, Pope John Paul II issued the apostolic letter “Mulieris Dignitatem” or “On the Dignity and Vocation of Women.” Repeatedly he called for the development of a “new feminism” designed to honor and celebrate the “femi - nine genius” in all walks of life, in the world of work as well as the domestic world. If feminism is ultimately about affirming the dignity and well-being of women, the Roman Catholic Church as a whole is a feminist church in many crucial ways. It has done an enormous amount of good for women, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, in precarious circumstances throughout the world. To take only one example, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, Gender & Women runs pro - grams around the world that help women organize into coop - particularly by its opposition to contraception and abortion. eratives for the production and marketing of goods; it also And officials in the Vatican have regularly published broad provides shelters for basic needs, educational programs in lit - denunciations of feminism, castigating its destructive effects eracy and training in business knowledge and empowerment. on society and the family, particularly upon children, both At the same time, it is safe to say that many people do not born and unborn. share the late pope’s easy association of feminism and the Catholic women can sometimes find themselves caught papacy. In fact, there are some—among both secular femi - in the middle, loving their church and their faith but dispir - nists and Catholic feminists—who would bristle at the ited by occasional statements that suggest that the Vatican association. Secular feminists have frequently decried views them as disordered or defiled simply because they are Catholicism as being opposed to the flourishing of women, women. Last July the Vatican caused a public relations firestorm after its announcement of two grave crimes under canon law: sexual abuse by members of the clergy and the M. CATHLEEN KAVENY is the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor attempt to ordain a woman. Even women who support the of Law and Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame in church’s restriction of the priesthood to males winced at the South Bend, Ind. She delivered a version of this article in New York City decision to group these two acts in the same document. on Nov. 19, 2010, at the launch of “Contending Modernities: Catholic, Muslim, and Secular,” a multiyear research project sponsored by the uni - In order to sort out the convergences and divergences versity. That text is at http://blogs.nd.edu/contendingmodernities/. between Catholicism and secular feminism, there must be

14 America February 28, 2011 nuanced historical, cultural and geographic studies. The status (Gal 3:28). On the other hand, the church does not tensions between the two are not the same in the United see human persons as purely spiritual bundles of reason and States as they are in sub-Saharan Africa, for example. At the will. We humans do not merely have bodies, we are embod - same time, nuanced, rigorous, comparative analysis of the ied, and that embodiment is part of the goodness of God’s normative frameworks of Catholicism and feminism sorely creation. In particular, our different embodiment as either needs to be undertaken. male or female is a divinely ordained aspect of the created Consideration must be given to three normative polari - order, which needs to be respected if humanity is to flourish. The Vatican worries that some strands of secular, Western feminism are emphasizing equality to the detri - ment of difference. It suspects that this unbalanced Catholic emphasis obscures the ontological difference between men and women and the goodness of that difference for both individuals and society. In particular, the Vatican women can fears that an insufficient appreciation of difference will denigrate women’s unique power as mothers, who shape and nurture the next generation. find themselves Feminists are worried too. The way in which some Vatican documents—and some supporters of John Paul caught in the II-style feminism—try to specify these differences between men and women concerns feminists, because it can seem as if certain character traits are being defined and imposed as middle, loving either male or female without any regard for empirical study or individual difference. And that definition and their church imposition, they believe, contributes to inequality. Consider, for example, the position of Gloria Conde, a feminist in the John Paul II style, in her book New but dispirited Woman (Circle Press). Quoting Judith M. Bardwick, she writes: “The ‘masculine’ is equivalent to the objective, by Vatican analytical, active, inclined to thought, rational, indomitable, interfering, one who obstructs, indepen - dent, self-sufficient, emotionally controlled, and self- statements. assured. With his mind, the man distinguishes, analyzes, separates, and perfects. The ‘feminine’ corresponds to the subjective, intuitive, passive, tender, sensitive, easily influ - enced, docile, receptive, empathetic, dependent, emotion - ties within the Roman Catholic framework itself, polarities al, and conservative. Her mind picks up relations, she pos - that help illuminate Pope John Paul II’s claim, even while sesses intuitive perception of sentiments, and she tends to significant tensions remain between Catholicism and femi - unite rather than divide.” nism. These three polarities are: equality and difference, The trouble with this sort of sharply dichotomous nature and nurture and complementarity and collaboration. understanding of the difference between men and women is Many Catholics and many feminists see these tensions as that it undermines women whose personalities or jobs do creative and affirm the importance of holding onto both not correspond in every respect to the traditional feminine poles in each polarity. But there is also antagonism. Each virtues. Here is an example. In the beginning of my teaching party fears that the other is in danger of letting go of one career a young man came to me about a grade; he was upset pole, to the detriment of women and, indeed, to the detri - that he got a B plus in my class. Could I not see how he was ment of all of society. An examination of the fears of each really an A student, how the low grade I gave him marred c E

group will facilitate a better mutual understanding. the perfection of his transcript? I told him I could see—but h c E i

I still could not change the grade. It would not be fair to his W

y c

Equality and Difference classmates. As he left the office in frustration, he offered a N a N / s

On the one hand, the Catholic tradition has long held that final reproach: “But you’re a woman. You’re supposed to be N c

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all human beings are made in the image and likeness of God, nice!” For any professor grading an exam, male or female, t o h equal in dignity, no matter their sex, race, ethnicity or social fairness has to trump niceness. p

February 28, 2011 America 15 Nature and Nurture pattern is imprinted upon the physical and psychic structure Where do these differences between men and women come of human beings. from, anyway? This question points to a second flash point: The Vatican is making an important point. Nature mat - the polarity bet ween nature and nurture. ters. Some differences between males and females seem On the one hand, the Catholic tradition recognizes that ingrained, not imposed, as anyone might suspect who has human being s are essentially social; our understandings of ever watched an 18-month-old boy cheerfully repurposing a our place in the world are shaped and transmitted by the Barbie doll as a hammer. More scientifically, endocrinolo - languages, cultures and societies in which we live. On the gists are making great strides in understanding the way male other hand, that tradition also proclaims that there is some and female hormones, like testosterone and estrogen, affect irreducible core of “human nature” that remains constant our brains and therefore influence our ability to reason and across time, place and culture. The church is committed to to choose. It is a serious anthropological mistake to think of the notion of a common human nature. This commitment human beings as androgynous minds encased in male or forms the basis not only for the procla - female bodies. mation of equal human dignity but also For their part, however, feminists worry for the tradition’s confidence in the pos - ON THE WEB that what some people view as the designs sibility of articulating some basis for a A conversation of nature are not natura l at all but are, in with M. Cathleen Kaveny. universal morality that transcends par - americamagazine.org/podcast fact, the deceptive mask worn by ingrained ticular religious and cultural traditions. patterns of sexism. In this cosmopolitan and fractious Consider, for example, the article on world, belief in a common human nature will be increas - “Woman” in the 1914 Catholic Encyclopedia, in which one ingly indispensable. of the authors maintains that the education of women The Vatican believes that the secular West has gone too should be directed toward their roles as wives and mothers. far in endorsing nurture to the detriment of nature. The The author hastens to observe that “the Catholic Church idea that human nature, including sex and gender, is com - places here no barriers that have not already been estab - pletely malleable worries the Vatican, because the idea does lished by nature.” While a few women might go on to earn not give enough weight to the created order, whose intricate higher degrees, the author asserts, “the sexes can never be on an equality as regards studies pursued at a university.” Ironically, that assertion may be correct—just not in the way the author supposed. A recent study showed that women outnumber men as students at every degree level in higher education in the United States. Men still outnumber women in some fields, but overall the educational gap America between men and woman has closed and even begun to reverse itself. 

en Español Complementa rit y and Collaboration With women flooding the educational system, men find America is pleased to offer a selection themselves competing with them for advancement and aca - of its articles in Spanish. demic honors. Pope Benedict XVI, when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, expressed con - cern about such compet ition betw een men and women and The translations have been made called instead for a collaborative relationship between the available by Mirada Global, a multilin- sexes (“On the Collaboration of Men and Women in the gual Web site that brings together arti- Church and in the World,” 2004).  cles from Jesuit publications in North His view is this: The basis of a collaborative relationship and South America. Articles are also is the recognition of the complementary gifts and skills of      available in Portuguese. men and women. Women in particular should not aim to emulate the strengths of men but should instead nurture their own distinct gifts. Complementarity is most clearly Available at visible in the roles that men and women play in marriage americamagazine.org/espanol and family life but should be visible in other contexts as well. One of the hallmarks of John Paul II-style feminism, in

16 America February 28, 2011 fact, is an effort to define the “feminine genius” in all spheres together—in the many areas and interests they share ought of women’s existence in terms of the virtues of motherhood. not to be considered a destructive form of competition. The For their part, many other feminists are worried about common pursuit of excellence, or virtue, is a key element of the call to complementarity, not necessarily because they are the classical definition of friendship. opposed to the idea that both men and women bring some distinct and important gifts to human society but because of Toward a Better Conversation the way that idea tends to work out in practice. In fact, they How to begin bridging the tensions between Catholicism fear it undermines collaboration, because it tends to pro - and feminism? In my view, more attention must be paid to mote separation and practical inequality. the concrete circumstances in which women live their The great Protestant theologian Karl Barth explicated lives. Pope John Paul II observed that many working male-female complementarity in terms of A and B—one women carry out their jobs with a maternal spirit. Turning need not be a psychic to guess which sex is which. The way that observation around, I suggest that many mothers the concept of complementarity works in geometry also around the world must deploy a broad range of skills in reveals the potential problem: Two angles are complemen - working to raise their children. The church offers an tary if they add up to 90 degrees, so a complementary angle important iconic ideal of motherhood: the Virgin Mary is all and only that which the primary angle is not. peacefully cradling a newborn baby. But mothers in war- Analogously, if one begins with a man, then a woman must torn lands, for example, do not have that opportunity; they be all and only that which a man is not—her role is to fill in must tirelessly labor to feed and protect their children. the gaps. If complementarity is taken too far, then, it does Even in peaceful countries, babies grow up; dealing with a not facilitate collaboration but rather fosters entirely sepa - teenager in crisis because of drugs or alcohol requires rate spheres of interest and specialization. steely resolve more than maternal sweetness. The concept of complementarity rightly affirms the Life is complicated. Allowing the actual circum - importance—and unique demands—of motherhood on stances—and struggles—of women around the globe to women. But how does it account for the gifts, ambitions and take center stage may enable many feminists and many concerns that men and women have in common, even in Catholics to move past an either/or understanding of the parenting? For men and women to strive for excellence— three polarities. A

SHU’s Polish Studies Fund presents the First Annual Lachowicz Lecture THE DICTATORSHIP OF George Weigel RELATIVISM Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Pope Benedict XVI’s Response Public Policy Center, Papal Biographer

“The Communist War Against Pope John Paul II: Fr. Gediminas T. Jankunas, STD ISBN: 0-8189-1316-9 352 Pages New Evidence from the Archives – $24.95 Prod Code 1316-7 New Lessons for the Future” Pope Benedict XVI warns us of the dangers of relativism, the denial Wednesday, that anything (including Scripture and the teachings of the Church) can be the absolute truth. From his March 2, experiences in Nazi Germany, to his studies of Augustine and Bo- naventure, to his role as a peritus in Vatican II, and both as Cardinal 7:00 PM and as Pope, he has returned to this subject time and again. His remedy: truth lies in Jesus Christ, the unique revelation of God. It is Chapel of the only by recognizing Jesus Christ, the Church and her liturgy, that this Holy Spirit danger can be overcome. Fr. Gediminas T. Jankunas, a priest of the diocese of Panevezys, 5151 Park Avenue, Lithuania, presently teaches Christology at the Kaunas Theological Fairfield, CT 06825-1000 Seminary and Pastoral Studies at the University of Vytautas Magnus.

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February 28, 2011 America 17 STATE OF THE QUESTION Exit Interviews N o s

n “On Their Way Out,” (1/3) William J. Byron, S.J., applying a business p m o h t

management principle, suggested that it would be profitable to interview peo - y l i

ple who are leaving the church in order to learn what is driving so many m E / s N

I c away. America received an unusually high number of replies, particularly on its

: c i

Web site. The following is a representative selection from those letters, edited and h p a r condensed for space. G

Almost Leaving in an Episcopal church and heard the whistleblowers were separately told I’ve considered leaving many times: priest say, “In the Episcopal Church all that we had never had an authentic when I have to fill out questionnaires, baptized Christians can receive the calling to the monastic life, and one- as if I were a common criminal, in order Eucharist.” After an eight-day retreat, I by-one advised to leave because we to work with children, because some began to receive the Eucharist in that had a problem with authority and priests can’t control themselves; when a church and continue to do so today. In were ill-suited for the tranquil disci - bishop suggests that dissenters not politics I’m an independent and refuse pline of monasticism. One had been in receive Communion; when a nun is to allow anyone to diminish my ability the order for 18 years, another for 30. excommunicated for making a difficult to hear the Gospel or deprive me of Six weeks later at a family dinner bioethical decision necessary to save a the “peace of Christ.” The Eucharist is attended by a prominent foreign Jesuit woman’s life; when women aspiring to a sacrament to be lived, not rationed or and a monsignor, my aunt asked why I the priesthood are linked with sexual used as a weapon. had left. When I told the group, the abusers as guilty of a “grave delict”; EILEEN M. FORD Jesuit erupted in rage. “It never hap - Rockport, Mass. when at each election I’m handed a pened,” he shouted. “I forbid you to diocesan voting guide which might as ever say it happened. Or even to It Never Happened well be stamped “Vote Republican.” believe that it happened.” I swore that In the 1950s and until the mid-’60s, But I remain, because the priests in night I would never again allow myself the abbot of the Trappist monastery I my parish don’t think respectful dis - to be humiliated and silenced. My par - had entered in 1959 was recruiting sent is a sin and do think that social ents took the Jesuit’s side, and they and barely legal colts for his stable. Boys 17 sins like racism and war-making are their cronies treated me as an enemy of to 23, considered too young by the more important than masturbation the church for the rest of their lives. order’s standards elsewhere, often and condom use. JOHN CAVANAGH ANITA GARRICK became the abbot’s lovers. He was dis - Plymouth, N.H. Arlington, Va. creet and dropped them as they got older, but eventually there was a row Eucharist Lived, Not Rationed over how the place was governed. In No Old Age Apathy Here I left in 2004 when a few bishops 1964 a team of abbots came to investi - A striking feature of the articulate com - declared that John Kerry and anyone gate, and four of us went together to ments appearing on the America Web who voted for him should not receive tell what we had seen and heard. We site is the number from readers in their Holy Communion because of his pro- signed notarized affidavits after being 60s, 70s and 80s. Some have thought - choice position on abortion. I person - promised immunity from retaliation, fully and painfully gone, some are in the ally believe that abortion is just about assured that the Congregation for process, and some are staying in spite of the worst thing any woman can do to Religious was monitoring the investi - what they know. These are not the herself and her unborn child, but the gation and guaranteed our immunity. young nonparticipants usually heard audacity of Catholic bishops interfer - The investigators thanked us for about with lamentation or criticism in ing in presidential elections by politi - sticking our necks out, fired the abbot the news. These have lived with the cizing the Eucharist was the last straw. and his friends at once and brought in church in parishes and dioceses, and Around that time I attended a funeral a new superior. But within a year the with the Vatican as it went through its

18 America February 28, 2011 legalistic Latin stage, its Vatican II does not trouble him. The furniture the effect of their not wanting to know stage, and its current reform of the has been rearranged and the lace “edg - the reasons. Reasons are disturbing, reform, child-abuse-cover-up stage. ing” of the alb now begins at the hip. but the comfortable must be dis - Those worrying about “apathy” among The choir has had to learn plainchant, turbed—and the disturbed comfort - the “lapsed” ignore the overwhelming the parish council has been abolished, ed—if our church is to change and reality in front of them. Passion is the the priest’s sermons dwell on minutiae, thrive. Since the Reformation and opposite of apathy. It is found in the indulgences, priestly authority and Enlightenment, the leadership has put remarkable abundance of those who 16th-century martyrs—never on Christian doctrine and practice in the might be expected to have cooled down Scripture. Mass-going, with his flam - deep freeze and dogmatized what a bit with the wisdom of age. boyance, is painful. He refuses to meet should be mere policy. Exit interviews JACK BARRY with other Christian clergy, asserts his would disclose the irrelevancy of the Columbus, Md. “otherness” by wearing his biretta and Liturgy of the Word, especially the cassock even while shopping on Main homily, and that religious education, New Liturgy, More Losses Street. Why do I stay? I’m over 70, including seminaries, is academic but Father Byron’s article has a note of love the other parishioners, fear caus - not transformative of the heart. Those despair in it that I share. A while ago I ing scandal if I go to the Anglican who drift away are searching for what left the church for three years. It was church and have no car to drive to they cannot find here—a personal ridiculously easy. You just stop. At the another Catholic parish. But I am on relationship with God. time I had just fulfilled a term on the the brink. JAMES J. FLYNN parish council, was active in local poli - MARY WOODHOUSE Spokane, Wash. tics and had taught C.C.D. classes. In Atlanta, Ga. short, I was known. No one, cleric or I’m Still Here lay, approached me in any way. Perhaps Hanging on by the Fingertips I am the researcher identified in Father it was because my wife continued to We are not becoming the smaller, Byron’s article as author of a 1971 attend Mass, and she kept the weekly purer church that Pope Benedict had study on why Catholics leave the envelopes coming in. If those stop, you wished on us, but a meaner, cramped church. I was a Jesuit seminarian for get noticed. I’m back thanks to a won - and narrower church. My parish, at six years but had problems with the derful priest I met in Seattle. I’m in a the moment, is lucky to have a reli - Catholic tradition. Three years ago, different parish and again alive. gious order that espouses the Vatican during a recitation of the Creed at But we are about to launch a new II reforms and offers liturgies that Mass, I found myself saying, “I’m not a liturgy that will have only one effect— meet all age groups. One dear friend in Catholic anymore.” I couldn’t keep more losses. The reasons for leaving in Florida saw everything changed when mumbling my way through the Creed. Father Byron’s article will remain. the bishop, a law and order man, It was not about the way shown by Losses will continue, if not accelerate. moved in a former Episcopal priest Jesus. My journey brought me to a And the Rite of Christian Initiation of given to the Latin Mass and retro vest - small Anabaptist group of Adults seems more aimed at weeding ments, who delivered a rant against Mennonites and Brethren. The only out all but the most committed. We gays in his homily. She has fled to a creed was, “Continue the work of continue to bleed but inhibit new small Spanish parish where she can’t Jesus.” I wept. But when I returned on blood. stand the music, but the atmosphere is a Sunday to my Catholic church, I HARRY DEMAIO warm. She is an example of disen - wept again. I am now both Catholic Cincinnati, Ohio chanted Catholics hanging on by their and Anabaptist. Help! fingertips. I worry about my children What keeps me apart from the and grandchildren. church? The bishops are always in the The arrival of a new parish priest has WINIFRED HOLLOWAY room with you. What keeps me a part made me a stranger in my church. He Saratoga Springs, N.Y. of the church? My local parish, the has established an ultra-retro-ortho - contemplative tradition (Merton, dox liturgy and says the Latin Mass To Leave Is to Search Rohr, Keating), the “new story” people every day. When he is not available to I am an 82-year-old former priest who (Teilhard, Berry), the witness of say Mass in English, he abolished the left after 16 years of priestly and aca - women religious. My favorite Catholic word and Communion ceremony and demic ministry. No one asked me why, recollection is an empty, dark church substituted prayer and the rosary. The and only my wife and my Jesuit spiri - with a flickering red light. fact that few attend and the daily tual director know the reasons. The JOHN KOTRE churchgoers no longer see one another failure in church leadership today is Ann Arbor, Mich.

February 28, 2011 America 19 BOOKS &CULTURE

MUSIC | KERRY WEBER natural world and, with regard to God, questioning whether it’s worth having A STILL, SMALL VOICE at all. Faith and doubt in the music of Josh Ritter O’Connor Meets Dylan he singer-songwriter Josh space to accommodate the fans. Filling An Idaho native and son of two neuro - Ritter has opened for an Irish the pews, they refused to let the scientists, Ritter attended Oberlin Trock band, held sold-out stained-glass surroundings or the lack College with the intention of following shows with the Boston Symphony of alcohol sales dampen their enthusi - in his parents’ footsteps but eventually Orchestra and graced the stage at a asm for Ritter, who, beneath a mop of settled on a self-designed degree number of New York City’s most pop - red-brown curls and dressed in a white in “American history through narrative ular venues. But the first place I saw suit, cheerfully crossed in front of the folk music.” This focus, not to mention Ritter perform live in concert was a pulpit to take the so-called stage. years of practice and grueling tour church. While the venue was unusual for schedules, has paid off. Today he is a In 2007 he performed a solo show rock and roll, it seemed fitting for vital force shaping the very tradition in the Christ & Holy Trinity Ritter, given that so much of his song he studied. Episcopal Church in Westport, Conn., catalog deals with faith—keeping faith Ritter, 34, started singing in coffee apparently the only local venue with in oneself, finding it in others or in the houses in New England and found his r E r i s s a k

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20 America February 28, 2011 big break in Ireland, gaining notoriety pain, wondering and longing can be love always wins out, even when faith while touring with the Irish rock band, heard in many of his latest songs. But and reason fail us. the Frames. Always rock and roll, so can the hope that followed. Along the way, Ritter strives to bal - often folk-inspired and with some ance the apparent contradictions country twang, Ritter’s music is God as Black Hole? between faith and science; he has no melodically and lyrically rich, influ - Ritter’s music does not present a world problem pairing the mystical experi - enced as much by Flannery O’Connor without God but rather a world that and Muriel Spark as by Bruce cannot figure out whether the Creator Springsteen and Bob Dylan. Ritter’s got back to work after resting on the songs tell stories of love and fear, grace seventh day. The biggest question in Abundance and redemption, of busting out, jour - Ritter’s music is not “Does God exist?” See this piece neying and returning. but “Does God care?” “Rattling of crystal Ritter demonstrates apparently Locks,” with its pounding drumbeats effortless ability to weave spiritual and and haunting minor chords, shakes its how the light biblical allusions into his lyrics in a fist at a God-as-black-hole, who takes fractures? way that is more literary than reli - and consumes without giving back and gious, subtle yet still meaningful. His without explanation, without answer. fourth studio album, “The Animal This is the kind of god who allows sol - It’s the fracturing Years,” was a broken-hearted love song diers to die at war, men to kill men and of beauty for America, with tracks about doubt, hearts to be broken; there is no hint war, love of country and peace—not that the same god might also be capa - so there is more uncommon themes, but masterfully ble of offering comfort. to go around nuanced—the kind of songs Thomas In “Folk Bloodbath,” a song in Merton might have written had he which several characters meet violent, embarked on a rock career instead of a untimely ends, Ritter sings, “I’m hop - to admire. monastic one. ing it ain’t true that the same God that The earth opens But the faith present in Ritter’s looks out for them looks out for me each day songs is Jeffersonian: we make our own and you.” And if it is? Well, as he sings happiness; the focus is more on how we in “Lantern,” it’s time to take things that way behave than what we say we believe. At into our own hands, to “throw away times, Ritter describes a world in those lamentations” in favor of “a book which religion is distorted by humani - of jubilations,” even if “we’ll have to each time ty, where things are not always as they write it for ourselves.” a deer leaps seem, where “lost sheep grow teeth” In “So Runs,” Ritter serves as a each time and “forsake their lambs and lie down Thomistic troubadour, posing ques - with the lions”; eyes are as green “as the tions and providing answers, unafraid you smile. grass that might grow in the 23rd of either. Again, in “Lantern,” he sings: Psalm”; and “the garden of Eden/ was WILLIAM J. REWAK burned to make way for a train.” Yet in For every cry in the night that world Ritter provides a surprising Somebody says, “Have faith!” WILLIAM J. REWAK, S.J. , is interim amount of hope. It’s just that we must “Be content inside your questions” director of the Jesuit Retreat Center at look to each other to find it. “Minotaurs inside a maze” Los Altos, Calif. In “So Runs the World Away,” his Tell me what’s the point of light sixth and most recent album, Ritter That you have to strike a match to presents a world on the cusp of find? ence with the scientific one, filtering change; forward momentum is each through the other. In this balance, embodied in the energy of his Why get lost, Ritter wonders, when this interconnectedness, Ritter finds songs. On his Web site, Ritter wrote we have one another to offer light? So the greatest sense of peace. about “a new feeling” he experienced he sings to those who love him, asks In “Lark” images of shells, trees, prior to writing and recording the others to walk with him through dark - larks, heartbeats, oxygen and “priestly album, an emptiness that settled on ness and shadows, and promises to do greens” swim together in a world him “like a cold shadow.” This sort of the same. Ritter sings of a world where where there are “telescopes atop the

February 28, 2011 America 21 mountains of ecstatic vision.” It is a the listener to determine the source. that matters is the display of valor, we world where faith is sometimes lacking The faith in Ritter’s songs is active, have nothing to regret. but where doubt sounds a lot like searching, wandering. It is a journey Filkins’s The Forever War (Knopf) hope. He sings: “I am assured, yes, made better in the company of loved has already been reviewed in these peace will come to me/ a peace that ones. In “Long Shadows,” the final song pages (11/3/08), but it warrants can, yes/ surpass the speed, yes/ of my on “So Runs,” Ritter pledges to stand another mention because the author understanding and my need.” by those who stand by him in the dark; exemplifies so many of the best quali - he sings of the need to provide light for ties of the modern correspondent: A Wandering Faith one another along the way, the need to courage—exemplified not just by fac - In Ritter’s songs, God is often distant help each other to see the good, the ing fire but in those long solitary runs but there, somewhere. Despite shad - hope and maybe the divine in this through a Baghdad park along the ows and doubts, the world. The voice in Tigris, risking his life in order to main - search for this God, ON THE WEB the song is not tain his psychic balance—and person - and a possible con - Reviews of select afraid anymore. al tenderness and compassion in the nection, is not Oscar-contender films. He’s got love. He’s face of chaos and bloodshed. over. At a time when americamagazine.org/culture got friends. With His four years on urban battlefields life sometimes seems them, he’ll keep zip by in scenes of dismembered filled with noise, confusion and empti - searching for a way forward, a new corpses and severed heads, in frank ness, Ritter sings of shutting out that light and, as Ritter puts it in the title of discussions with Iraqis who lie to the din and trying to decipher what one song, “Another New World.” You Americans to get their money while remains. Like Elijah standing by the get the sense that he is willing to hating them and wishing them gone. mouth of his cave, Ritter sings of find - explore the kingdom of God, even if he There are sensitive moments, as when ing a place where one might hear that doesn’t quite believe in it. Tommy Smith, the blond-haired, boy - “still, small voice” as it “comes in blazing ish medic, bleeding from his own from some vast horizon.” But it is up to KERRY WEBER is associate editor of America . wounds, picks up eight wounded com - rades in the middle of a firefight. Smith’s voice is so gentle that Filkins, BOOKS | RAYMOND A. SCHROTH twice his age, feels the urge to hug him as if he were a child; but instead he OUT OF THE FOG lends Smith his cell phone to call his mother in Brooklyn. THE GOOD SOLDIERS In his report on the slaughter of the Later a photographer needs a pic - By David Finkel Light Brigade at the battle of ture of a dead insurgent. He and Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 304p $26 Balaclava, William Howard Russell, Filkins, with a dozen marine guards, the first of the great war correspon - go to climb a minaret where an insur - WAR dents, identifies the basic elements of gent had been killed the day before. By Sebastian Junger the best war-reporting as respect for But two marines insist that they go up Twelve. 287p $26.99 the heroic dead and a suggestion that first. The leader, Cpl. William L. something is seriously wrong. Miller, is immediately killed. Filkins, “If the exhibition of the most In World War I the romantic hero crushed, holds himself responsible. A brilliant valor, of the excess of Richard Harding Davis added moral few months later Filkins spots Miller’s courage, and of a daring which outrage when the German army burned parents at the memorial service in would have reflected luster on Louvain. In World War II Ernie Pyle, North Carolina. After the service, in the best days of chivalry can the G.I.’s friend, brought readers into fear, the guilty war correspondent afford full consolation for the the foxholes to admire and to mourn. approaches them. The father greets disaster of today, we can have no Today’s “embedded generation”— him: “We’re so grateful to you. If it reason to regret the melancholy including Dexter Filkins, David Finkel weren’t for you, we would never have loss which we sustained in a con - and Sebastian Junger—build on this known how our son died.” test with a savage and barbarian tradition. But they write on two wars, The Washington Post’s David enemy.” Iraq and Afghanistan, widely regarded Finkel methodically structures The —The London Times as unjust and futile exercises of Good Soldiers , an account of his eight Nov. 13, 1854 American power. As at Balaclava, if all months with the 2-16 Infantry

22 America February 28, 2011 Mœ¦š¤ MŠš¡Ž£Š JŽ£¦“¤ RŽ¤¡ŽŠ¤ Hœ¦£Ž C Ž—Ž‹¡Š¤“š‘ ၹၸၸY ŽŠ¡£! ’Ž“¡¤’—ŠŒŽœœ¤¤’ŽŠ­Ž¤¡ŽŠ¤œ¨Ž˜Žš¤““š¤¤’Žš“¤Ž¤Š¤Ž£ Centennial Speakers Series Patrick Ryan, S.J. Drew Christiansen, S.J. James Martin, S.J. Laurence J. McGinley Professor of religion and Editor-in-Chief Culture editor society at America Magazine America Magazine Fordham University ¦£—“˜ဖ’¡“£¤“ŠšŽš£“œš£ ’Š¤ ŠŽšŽ¤¤œ¤¤’Ž ¦£¤Š¡လ  Ž£¦“¤ ¦“Ž¤¤œ “š¤¤’Ž £—Š˜“Œœ¡— Š¤’œ—“ŒœŒ“Š—¤¤ŽŠŒ’“š‘œœš ှŠ—˜œ£¤ဿ¨Ž¡­¤’“š‘ ŽŠŒŽŠŠšŠ¡  Friday,March4,2011 Monday,March28,2011 Monday,May9,2011 7:30p.m. 7:30p.m. 7:30p.m.

239FingerboardRoad*StatenIsland*NY*10305 Phone:718.727.3844Website:mountmanresa.org FredHerron,InterimExecutiveDirector

Sabbatical in Scotland RXUIXWXUH 30 Anniversary Year ASevenWeekSabbaticalfor depends on priests and religious in Perth.

Participants invariably highlight these dimensions of our sabbatical \RX programme: the focus on personal Job Opening: growth and inner healing, the contemplative approach to prayer, EExecutivexecutive Director emphasis on a spirituality of true please For Position Summary, remember self-esteem, the introduction to Celtic studies and spirituality and Duties, Responsibilities DPHULFD the three day pilgrimage to St. and Qualifications in Columba’s island of Iona. See and your enjoy Scotland. Visit Website will. www.jrclosaltos.org 16 May – 29 June 2011 24 October – 8 December 2011 Please submit applications electronically to Full details at: [email protected] our america press inc., www.kinnoullmonastery.org legal 106 west 56th street Contact: Applications close title new york, ny March 31, 2011 is: 10019 e-mail: [email protected]

February 28, 2011 America 23 2 4 5/8 Battalion in the midst of the Baghdad missing hands, arms, legs, an eye. The of the men he affectionately portrays. “surge.” Each chapter of his book cen - troops had brought some of their prob - When I was in officers’ basic training in ters on one day, is introduced by a quo - lems into the army with them. In 2006 1955, I wrote home expressing my dis - tation from President Bush—for exam - 15 percent of all recruits had criminal may at the manners and morals of some ple: “We’re kicking ass, Sept. 4, 2007.” records, from drug use to manslaugh - of my fellow officers. My father, who Each chapter tells a story that may or ter. Kauzlarich skimmed off 10 percent had won the Distinguished Service may not support the introductory quo - of them as unsuitable before deploy - Cross in World War I, admonished me tation. For the most part Finkel keeps ment. Depressed by defeats, soldiers to withhold judgment: my survival in his opinions to himself and focuses on a start referring to their commander as battle would depend upon these men. West Point graduate, 40-year-old Lost Kauz. The day General Petraeus That is Junger’s theme. Lieut. Col. Ralph Kauzlarich, a Mass- visits, hears their optimistic report and Junger, known for The Perfect going Catholic from Kansas with a praises them as he leaves, they are hit Storm , and Tim Hetherington, with Bible next to his bed. Each day the with another bomb. whom he would make the documen - tary film “Restrepo,” based on their experiences, made five trips over the course of 15 months to live with the Second Platoon of Battle Company in a remote Korengal Valley outpost north of the Khyber Pass. Its men are considered among the worst disci - plined; they drink a lot and fight shirt - less, but they fight well, as if bonded “to one another by hoops of steel.” Their mission is to walk out into the six-mile-long valley at night, draw fire and engage the enemy who might be only 50 yards away, then to raid vil - lages in search of weapons. Juan Restrepo was a beloved medic who played classical guitar and who died with two bullets to the face; for him they named a remote mountain out - post where there is no electricity, run - commander finds a reason to say, “It’s Some of Finkel’s most powerful ning water or hot food, and where all good”—whether it is or not. scenes are from his visits to the men in some spend most of the year exchang - The troops’ average age is 19; they their hospitals in the States. Sergeant ing gunfire with the Taliban. have been told by their chaplain to be Michael Emory, a long scar across his As in Iraq, the military in ready to die; and their new home is misshapen head, diapered, barely Afghanistan are susceptible to the illu - Rusamiyah on the eastern edge of mobile, a tube in his throat, hears his sion of progress when the country is Baghdad, where everything is the color wife say, “I love you,” and starts to cry. actually coming apart at the seams. of dirt and stinks of raw sewage and The president comes to visit and tells Some commanders fall into the burning trash. Soon after arrival her, “Thank you for your husband’s Vietnam fallacy of imagining they are Kauzlarich gives the locals a show of service to his country.” She starts to winning if 50 Taliban are killed and force as his nervous men march for 10 cry, and Bush hugs her and says, “we” lose only a few. While keeping hours through the town. But on April “Everything’s going to be okay.” But she this valley under control, nearly 50 6 an IED blows up a Humvee, which is crying in anger at Bush. Her hus - American soldiers have died. As this is in turn crashes into an ambulance, and band is ruined. Bush does not under - written 1,420 have died in the war. the ammunition explodes. The driver stand. Nothing is okay. Junger entitles his chapters “Fear,” burns to death, his body charred If Filkins embodies Richard “Killing” and “Love,” and while the love beyond recognition. Harding Davis and Finkel Ernie Pyle, among fighting men is a theme in all The casualty list grows. By October, in War Sebastian Junger combines both three books, Junger’s research makes 11 are dead, another 44 injured— and adds a psychological appreciation the case that the behavior described by

24 America February 28, 2011 “DEEPLY   CONSOLING”*    “Time Drawn Into Eternity” A conferenceconference onon SacredSSaaaccred TimeTime andaannd thethe LiturgicalLiturgicaal CalendarCalenddaar NEW!

A Sorrow Shared A Combined Edition of the Nouwen Classics In Memoriam and A Letter of Consolation Henri J.M. Nouwen Foreword by Barbara Brown Taylor In a first-ever combined English edition of Nouwen’s classics In Memoriam and A Letter of Consolation, this beloved spiritual giant explores the depths of his grief after the death of his mother and writes tenderly and wisely to his bereaved father, yearning for the light of Christ in the darkness Poems are being accepted for the 2011 Foley Poetry Award. of loss and sorrow. 128 pages / $12.95 Each entrant is asked to submit only one typed, unpublished poem of 30 lines or fewer that is not under consideration elsewhere. Include contact information on the *Deeply consoling ... same page as the poem. Poems will not be returned. Please do not submit poems by for Nouwen is right that e-mail or fax. Submissions must be postmarked between Jan. 1 and March 31, 2011 . we find comfort where our Poems received outside the designated period will be treated as regular poetry sub - wounds hurt most. missions, and are not eligible for the prize. BARBARA BROWN TAYLOR Author of An Altar in the World The winning poem will be published in the June 6-13 issue of America. Three run - ner-up poems will be published in subsequent issues.

Cash prize $1,000 Available from your bookstore or from ave maria press® Notre Dame, IN 46556 Send poems to: Foley Poetry Contest, America www.avemariapress.com • Ph: 800.282.1865 A Ministry of the Indiana Province of Holy Cross 106 West 56th St., New York, NY 10019 holycrossvocations.org PROMO CODE: AZ5Ø211Ø5MA

February 28, 2011 America 25 Chris Hedges in War Is a Force That profoundly.” Apparently he has not and Anterooms is no exception. The Gives Us Meaning as mere comradeship read John’s Gospel: “Greater love than volume opens with a selection of orig - rises to the level of love as well. Junger this no man has, than to lay down his inal lyrics, marvels of compression and is upset one night when the men cheer life for his friend.” clarity, touching on the very human the news that a single enemy soldier, But Filkins, Finkel and Junger have longing for immortality and transcen - who had lost his leg and was desperate - all achieved three noble goals: They dence. A prime example is the volume’s ly crawling around the mountainside, have written journalistic classics, deep - opening poem, “The House,” in which had died. Where was their compassion ened our love for every man and woman a widower recalls his late wife’s recur - for another man their age? in uniform and helped us see the wars ring dream of a white house glimpsed But the men were thinking corpo - in Iraq and Afghanistan as not just only from the outside. The poem ends rately. If that one enemy survived he tragedies but follies, for which history with a haunting image—the speaker might kill you or your buddy. When will hold their architects responsible. searching desperately in his own their new lieutenant, Steve Gillespie, is dreams for the house, which has come appointed, the enlisted men rush him, Update: In April 2010, after three to represent the possibility of an after - pin him down, pull up his shirt and years of sacrifice, the American forces life in which he might be reunited with pound his stomach red and raw. This is pulled out of the Korengal Valley and his beloved: love. They show their affection by beat - left it to the Afghans. In November ing one another. They no longer exist one member of Battle Company, Sgt. Is she now there, wherever there as individuals but as a platoon; in com - Salvatore Giunta, received the first may be? bat every detail, even a loose shoelace, Congressional Medal of Honor Only a foolish man would hope to determines the survival of the group. awarded since Vietnam for his courage find In the fog of combat, says Junger, in trying to rescue his buddies under That haven fashioned by her not knowing when or where you might fire three years before. dreaming mind. die, the desperate bond between men Night after night, my love, I put to is born. He says “the willingness to die RAYMOND A. SCHROTH, S.J. , an associate sea. for another person is a form of love editor of America , is the author of Bob Drinan: The Controversial Life of the that even religions fail to inspire, and First Catholic Priest Elected to Congress The longing for transcendence the experience of it changes a person (Fordham Univ. Press). takes another form in “Young Orchard,” in which saplings “Rise against their rootedness/ On a gusty APRIL LINDNER day,” an image that stands for the ways in which terrestrial beings—trees and AT PLAY WITH MYTH AND FORM humans alike—chafe at the constric - tions of our earthly incarnations. ANTEROOMS ducing definitive translations of Another fine poem, “The Measuring New Poems and Translations Racine and Voltaire, as well as a libret - Worm,” uses a tiny, closely observed By Richard Wilbur tist, working with the composer detail—the movements of an inch Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 80p $20 Leonard Bernstein and the playwright worm—to touch on the mature poet’s (hardcover) Lillian Hellman on “Candide,” the fear of death: popular operetta based on Voltaire’s Arguably America’s greatest living novel. To round out his résumé, It’s as if he sent poet, Richard Wilbur is, beyond Wilbur also authored several delight - By a sort of semaphore doubt, our most skilled contemporary ful collections of poetry for children. Dark omegas meant practitioner of traditional forms. A Anterooms provides a sampling of this two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner and a impressive range by a poet still work - To warn of Last Things. former poetry consultant to the ing in peak form. Library of Congress, he has had a long Though rhyme and regular meter If those lines seem ominous, and auspicious career, publishing his fell out of fashion in the latter half of Wilbur manages in this slender poem first volume of poetry at age 26 and his the 20th century, Wilbur never aban - to also convey hope: most recent at 89. In the intervening doned received poetic forms. His decades, Wilbur also established him - poems have long been known for their Although he doesn’t know it, self as an accomplished translator, pro - elegance and their attention to craft, He will soon have wings,

26 America February 28, 2011 And I too don’t know light verse has fallen out of fashion, but serious ones is the crisp intelligence Toward what undreamt condition Wilbur continues to write it, and that runs through both. Inch by inch I go. Anterooms contains a The witty, meticu - sampling of rhymes lously crafted poems of Later, in the volume’s third section, intended “for children Anterooms amply illus - the poet tallies his own foibles and fail - and others.” “Some trate why Wilbur has ings. In “Out Here,” a snow shovel left Words Inside of Words” long been a poet’s poet. leaning against a house in July offers up playful mus - Unlike most contempo - becomes a small affectation of Yankee ings on the relationship rary verse, Wilbur’s ruggedness. “A Reckoning” finds the between words like poems are worth speaker recalling “Fatuities that I/ “homeowner” and rereading not because Have uttered, drunk or dry” and real - “meow,” or “ice cube” and they—in the words of izing that his real failings are not those “cub.” Anterooms also Wallace Stevens— small human errors but instead the sin includes a smidgeon of “resist the intelligence/ of pride that makes him feel them so satire, “The President’s Almost successfully” fully. Song to the Baron,” and call for effortful Anterooms intersperses sections of written for a musical decodings. Sparkling Wilbur’s original lyric poems with his version of Jean Giraudoux’s La Folle de and transparent, Wilbur’s poems yield deft translations from Stephen Chaillot . In it, powerful characters fan - their meanings on a first reading, but Mallarmé, Paul Verlaine, Horace and tasize about an ideal workforce made nonetheless contain depths worth div - Joseph Brodsky, as well as a sampling up of automatons: “What a luscious ing into again and again. of 37 verse riddles from the Latin poet conception, far sweeter than babas or Symphosius. In particular, “Presepio,” tarts!/ A standardized laboring man APRIL LINDNER is an associate professor of English at St. Joseph’s University in the first of Brodsky’s “Two Nativity with replaceable parts!” Tying together Philadelphia and the author, most recently, of Poems,” feels thematically tied to the volume’s humorous poems with its Jane (Poppy/Little Brown). Wilbur’s own original poems, its description of the relationship between a small clay crèche and the humans who gaze down at it evoking a touching loneliness:

Now you are huge compared to them, and high This Dominican parish of over one thousand families is seeking a Director of Beyond their ken. Like a midnight Faith Formation and Evangelization, who will enable parishioners to gain a passerby greater knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith, and to deepen their spirituality. Who finds the pane of some small hut aglow, In collaboration with the Parish community, the Director of Faith Formation and You peer from the cosmos at this Evangelization will design and implement programs which will enhance our vi- little show. sion to become a center of evangelization. The Director will develop, implement and direct curricula and opportunities for the spiritual formation of parishioners, from those who are taking their first steps to those ready to bring the Good News There is something haunting and of Jesus Christ to the world. mysterious in the inversion depicted here, with the holy nativity scene The position requires energy, commitment, courage and creativity. Successful candidates will be proficient in organizing and teaching, with excellent communi- shrunk by time almost out of the view - cation skills. er’s reach. The onlooker longs for a spark of divinity, for “A different 3UHIHUUHGFDQGLGDWHVZLOOKROGDPDVWHU¶VGHJUHHLQUHOLJLRXVHGXFDWLRQWKHRORJ\ galaxy, in whose wastes there shine/ or pastoral studies, and have five years of related experience. The candidate must be an active, practicing Catholic. More lights than there are sands in Palestine.” The position is available July 1, 2011. Application deadline is March 31, 2011. Within this slender volume, All finalists will be interviewed in Seattle. To obtain a job description and appli- Wilbur’s tonal range extends from the cation, please send your resume to [email protected]. Blessed Sacrament Parish is located at 5050 8th Ave. NE, Seattle, WA 98105. sublime to the silly. Like formal poetry,

February 28, 2011 America 27 CLASSIFIED istry experience. vision and mission. A master’s degree and interna - Please send by e-mail a résumé, cover letter and tional field experience are preferred. International For Sale contact information for three professional refer - and domestic travel are required of this position. Applications will be accepted through March 15 “SACRED SOUNDS OF SACRED HEART,” a CD ences to [email protected]. with an anticipated start date of June 1. Please send of music produced by the Adult Choir of Sacred a cover letter, résumé and salary history to the Heart of Jesus Parish, Cambridge, Mass. The CD DIRECTOR SEARCH. St. Francis Prayer Center, search committee at [email protected]. is a collection of inspiring and uplifting music. a small, daytime retreat center located in Flint, Ideal for personal prayer, meditation, parish Mich., seeks a new director. If you have a passion EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR sought by Africa Faith retreats, missions and days of recollection. Cost: for spirituality and the poor, please consider us. & Justice Network in Washington, D.C., office. $13 plus $2 S&H. Please call (617) 547-0399, or We are looking for a well-rounded person with Details at afjn.org. contact [email protected]. training in spirituality and administrative ability. Please send résumé to: Search Committee, G-2381 Parish Missions E. Carpenter Rd., Flint, MI 48505, or send résumé LAY ECCLESIAL MINISTER. St. Helen Catholic Church, Amory, Miss., living and worshiping in INSPIRING, DYNAMIC PREACHING : parish by e-mail to [email protected]. Visit our the spirit of Vatican II, seeks to fill a full-time missions, retreats, days of recollection; www Web site at stfrancisprayerflint.com. position of Lay Ecclesial Minister July 1, 2011. .sabbathretreats.org. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR The Conrad N. Hilton Pastor to 75-family northeast Mississippi parish Fund for Sisters (www.hiltonfundforsisters.org), continuing enrichment in worship, outreach and Positions located in Los Angeles, Calif., is a philanthropic religious formation. Master’s or certificate in pas - DIRECTOR, CAMPUS MINISTRY. Barry organization that engages in grant-making to sup - toral studies or equivalent and pastoral experience University, a Catholic, Dominican institution, port the human service ministries of Catholic required. Send résumé to: Diocese of Jackson, invites applications for a full-time Director of Sisters worldwide. The Fund is committed to P.O. Box 2248, Jackson, MS 39225-2248, Attn: Campus Ministry position beginning summer of helping the world’s disadvantaged and vulnerable Msgr. Elvin Sunds. Applications accepted 2011. Barry University’s Department of Campus people and disburses approximately $7 to $8 mil - through April 1, 2011. Call (662) 256-9595 for Ministry is committed to responding to the reli - lion in small grants annually. The Executive information about this truly 21st-century parish. gious and spiritual needs of the entire campus com - Director will collaborate with the governing board munity and embodying the mission and core com - to develop and implement the vision of the Fund. Retreats mitments of the University and sponsorship of the This position will report to the chairperson of the BETHANY RETREAT HOUSE, East Chicago, Adrian Dominican Sisters. governing board and will oversee the Fund’s staff Ind., offers private and individually directed silent This position provides leadership and direc - and its operations. Qualifications include: member retreats, including dreamwork and Ignatian 30 tion in the development, coordination and assess - of a Roman Catholic congregation of women reli - days, year-round in a prayerful home setting. ment of programs, activities and services for prayer gious with significant knowledge and experience Contact Joyce Diltz, P.H.J.C.; Ph.: (219) 398- and retreat, worship and sacramental celebrations with varied congregations; five-plus years of leader - 5047; [email protected]; bethanyre - and community service and reflection. The ship and collaborative relationship-building expe - treathouse.org. Director also collaborates with clergy/representa - rience; proficiency in strategic planning, program tives/leaders of other Christian denominations, development and evaluation; expertise in educa - world faiths and diverse cultural groups. tion, health, leadership development and/or Wills Applicants will have a master’s degree in prac - human services; strong oral and written communi - Please remember America in your will. Our legal title tical theology or pastoral ministry. Doctoral degree cation skills; solid analytical, research, evaluation is: America Press Inc., 106 West 56th Street, New preferred. A minimum of five years of campus min - and computer skills; and a passion for the Fund’s York, NY 10019.

LOYOLA RETREAT HOUSE ON THE POTOMAC America classified. Classified advertisements are P.O. Box 9, Faulkner, MD 20632 accepted for publication in either the print version of www.loyolaonthepotomac.com 301-392-0801 America or on our Web site, www.americam - agazine.org. Ten-word minimum. Rates are per word 30 Day Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius per issue. 1-5 times: $1.50; 6-11 times: $1.28; 12-23 Date: July 11 – August 14, 2011 Cost: $2,300 times: $1.23. For an additional $30, your print ad will be posted on America ’s Web site for one week. The flat Ten-Month Program for Directing in the Ignatian Tradition rate for a Web-only classified ad is $150 for 30 days. Beginning September, 2011 Ads may be submitted by e-mail to: ads@americam - This program will extend from September to June and consists of eight monthly Saturday agazine.org; by fax to (928) 222-2107; by postal mail meetings from 9:00 – 4:00 and two weekends in residence. to: Classified Department, America , 106 West 56th St., New York, NY 10019. To post a classified ad To receive more information about the schedule, costs, and for an application form, please email online, go to our home page and click on “Advertising” Pat McDermott, IHM at [email protected] or at the top of the page. We do not accept ad copy over call 301-392-0817 the phone. MasterCard and Visa accepted. For more information call: (212) 515-0102.

28 America February 28, 2011 LETTERS we believe is happening in the today. The voices in favor—Judah eucharistic liturgy, is it wrong to use Magnes, founder of Hebrew language that we would not hear on University, Buber and Arendt— were Hit the Road the street, in a bus terminal or at a shouted down. But imagine Gaza and Ginny Daly’s “Cycles of Life” (1/31) sporting event? More precious lan - what’s left of the West Bank in a two on bike riding is great. I too can attest guage is exactly what is called for. As state solution and you have a “ban - to the value of bike riding. Several challenging as the new translation may tamized” construction so impractical years ago and several tens of pounds seem to some, Professor Millies is and have perpetuated the inequalities overweight and approaching diabetes right; it will soon be here. The attitude of today. Those who propose the one caused by obesity, I got back on the of those responsible for the translation state in essence focus on the ethical bike. Now, many tens of pounds will translate into the attitude of those question of equality. If you have a reli - lighter and with my cholesterol level who receive it. It is an opportunity to gious state and you are not of that reli - much reduced, bike rides have become engage in catechesis that will not only gion, what becomes of you? an important part of my life. Long solo increase our own faith, but will also— Integration can work. They don’t have rides are times to share and enjoy the simply because it is a change— to love each other at first, but let’s get beauty of God’s creation. Besides, the increase appreciation of that which for them to stop killing each other. beauty of our land is much better at some has become mechanical and In Tunisia and Egypt, I am buoyed bike speeds than at interstate highway stale. by the optimism in the streets. The speeds. I recommend, as an example of MIKE CURREN United States has placed itself on the Boston, Mass. this, the Road to the Sun in Glacier side of human rights in Egypt, but we National Park. have given Mubarak $1.3 billion dol - JIM LACASSE, S.J. Holding On to Hope lars a year and Israel $4 billion a year, Bakersfield, Calif. Introduced to America while visiting both mostly for military equipment. If a friend, I read with surprise “Two the changes we hope for are going to Lost in Translation People, One State” (11/15) by happen, the unconditional flow of dol - In response to Steven P. Millies in Raymond A. Schroth, S.J. I am Jewish “Bringing Liturgy to Life” (2/7): Has lars to Israel will have to be altered. and lived in Israel a number of years, IRA SPIEGEL someone suggested that Jesus spoke in and I compliment the author on his Nyack, N.Y. some arcane “sacral” way different underlying tone of hope. from everyday speech? I don’t think so. The argument for the one state Some Know It All The best translations reflect his clarity solution has a creditable history, lost in Reading “Tomorrow’s Theologians,” and directness. But some of the new the sectarianism that consumes us by Paul Crowley, S.J. (2/7), it revision wording seems “precious” in a way that smacks of religious jargon that merely obfuscates. The insertion of unfamiliar words into well-known WITHOUT GUILE passages works like linguistic speed- bumps. As a sociologist, I notice that shifting demographics show a dispro - portionate aging population ahead. Even those with dementia respond well to the current liturgies, but the catechesis for these thousands of aging and infirm faithful may become frus - trating all around. (REV.) ROBERT J. MAHONEY Kansas City, Mo. N I E T

A Ritual Gone Stale S K C E The new translation of the liturgy dis - B O B cussed in Steven P. Millies’s “Bringing Y B

Liturgy to Life” (2/7) is a great oppor - N O O

“Carl never liked seeing his family.” T tunity to explain the Mass. Given what R A C

February 28, 2011 America 29 occurred to me that theology, as the greatest concern is that the “integral” language to be part of the country’s study of the nature of God, must be a perspective he espouses may mean a faith and prayer. developing and open-ended study. nonengagement with the theological (REV.) HARRY BEHAN St. Peter, Minn. When I studied at a Franciscan col - heritage of the past. lege years ago, theology was presented JACOB MOH Kuching, Malaysia I Know the Spirit Works as “facts” taught by the Catholic In response to Father Ruff’s letter Church. As I grew in grace, I learned Languages Change Behavior (2/14), one might ask, Who cares to understand better the first grade Re your report in Signs of the Times about this new translation? Check out catechism question, Why did God on the open letter of Anthony Ruff, the over 20,000 signatures on “What make us? It is an ongoing process, in O.S.B., to the U.S. bishops (2/14): I If We Just Said Wait?” (whatifwejust which we humans can never know have retired to Ireland, where the saidwait.org). Perhaps top-down deci - God completely. Our “knowing” is priests have asked the Vatican to sion making in Rome worked in the greater than the knowledge of mind include them out, as in Germany. My Middle Ages, but it does not work for alone. Perhaps the expression “rela - own dislikes for the new translations American churchgoers in the 21st cen - tionship in faith” comes close to include the following: The imposition tury. We are the church. As a theolo - describing what happens. I sometimes and the straitjacket of a dead language, gian and a baptized Catholic, I know wonder why scientific studies Latin, on living modern cultures is the Spirit works through me and the acknowledge that there is more to ridiculous; and the Latin is low Latin, laity. It would be a shame if the learn, while some “theologians” give later than the Greek and not as beauti - American Catholic church was losing the impression that all theology has ful. The lack of inclusive language is financial contributors to other denom - already been learned. GERMAINE WEIMAN outrageous in this day and age. About inations, but that is happening more Houston, Tex. 30 years ago, bishops in Minnesota and more. This archaic, self-selecting, declared sexism a sin in the same way celibate male club has proven its dys - Lost in the Present that racism is sinful. We deal with function in many ways, especially I deeply appreciate Father Crowley’s racism by changing the language so recently. It is time for a change. Let us insights in “Tomorrow’s Theologians” that we can change the behavior. This pray for God’s grace to do it. (2/7), and I know he writes from the should be the ideal time to use inclu - NICHOLAS NARLOCH point of view of a Jesuit in higher stud - sive language. The whole point of the Waukesha, Wis. ies theology. As an Asian student, I vernacular was to allow the poetry, Lock the Barn Door recognize what he describes, but my imagery and beauty of each national Father Ruff’s letter (2/14) comes too late; the horse is already out of the barn. To send a letter to the editor we recommend using the link that appears I wonder how much money has been below articles on America ’s Web site, www.americamagazine.org. This allows and will be spent preparing for the new us to consider your letter for publication in both print and online versions of English missal translation. Could it be the magazine. Letters may also be sent to America ’s editorial office (address on page 2) or by e-mail to: [email protected]. They should be brief better spent providing homes and shel - and include the writer’s name, postal address and daytime phone number. ters for pregnant women who do not Letters may be edited for length and clarity. wish to abort their babies but who live in abusive situations? Cared for, and with parenting and career counseling,

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30 America February 28, 2011 THE WORD Set on Rock NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A), MARCH 6, 2011 Readings: Dt 11:18-32; Ps 31:2-25; Rom 3:21-28; Mt 7:21-27 “The house...did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock” (Mt 7:25)

t is certain that the rain, floods who listens to “these words of mine”— concerning God’s commandments. As and winds will come. Images of that is, the way he interprets the the season of Lent approaches, it is an Idevastating floods in Haiti, Torah—and acts on them will be “set apt time to examine our choices. Are Chiapas, New Orleans, Malaysia, solidly on rock.” we building on a rock-solid founda - Pakistan and, most recently, Sri Lanka, Two things are necessary to tion by adopting daily practices fill our news. When many of the places build this firm foundation: that sharpen our hearing of the hardest hit are where the world’s poor - both hearing and doing the word and that impel est people reside, the pleas to God in word. Listening is not us to act on it? Do we today’s psalm to be a “rock of safety” enough. Nor is it ade - take a lesson from take on a literalness and an urgency. quate simply to proclaim Peter, named “Rock”: Sometimes preachers declare these Jesus as “Lord.” Many that, as for him, our disasters to be punishments from times in the Gospel, surety can be a rock God, and they urge people to repent of people in need cry out of stumbling, as their sinfulness. These preachers to Jesus as Lord to when he rejected espouse the kind of theology found in save them. “Jesus is the Wisdom literature: that good Lord” was also an acclamation used PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE things come to those who act upright - in early Christian liturgies (Rom • How has God been a rock of safety for ly and that punishment awaits those 10:9; 1 Cor 12:3; Phil 2:11). More you in a time of need? who do not. The story of Job, of is needed than calling on Jesus at course, like that of Jesus, proves the times of crisis or acclaiming his • In what spiritual practices do you engage in an effort to build your rock foundation? inadequacy of this approach. power in liturgical gatherings.

In the Gospel today, Jesus presumes Doing the will of God by putting • How do your prayer, fasting and almsgiv - E N N

ing provide a rock of refuge for others in u that rain, floods and winds will occur, Jesus’ words into action is also D

need? D a t

both literally and metaphorically. essential. : t r What he offers is not a theology about At the same time, Paul reminds a why these things happen but a manner us in today’s second reading that being Jesus’ hard words about his own suf - of life that enables believers to with - in right relation with God, self and all fering and death? stand all of life’s challenges and to be creation does not depend on our own Three concrete actions for building found upright when the final reckon - actions but on God’s grace. This, Paul our house on rock are given by Jesus in ing occurs (signaled by the phrase “on insists, is a free gift already accom - the Gospel for Ash Wednesday: alms - that day” in verse 22). The Gospel is plished by Christ. Our part is to giving, prayer and fasting (Mt 6:1-18). the concluding section of the Sermon believe. This faith is both having the In prayer, we allow God to attune our on the Mount, on which we have been conviction that God can and does ears to the divine voice echoed in all of reflecting for the past several weeks. accomplish in us the transformation creation, both in floods and calm. In Jesus sums it up by saying that anyone wrought in and by Christ and also act - fasting, we empty ourselves of our own ing in accord with the gift offered us. desires, so as to hear the cries of those BARBARA E. REID, O.P., a member of the To hear the words of Jesus and put who hunger not by choice. In almsgiv - Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids, Mich., is them into action requires an active ing, rather than shore up our own indi - a professor of New Testament studies at choice, just as it did for the Israelites, vidual rocky perches, we become a Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, Ill., where she is vice president and academic as we hear in today’s first reading, in rock of safety for those who are buffet - dean. which Moses puts the choice to them ed hardest by life’s storms.

February 28, 2011 America 31 SPECIAL EASTER OFFER FROM AMERICA MAGAZINE!

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