Helping Gang Members Heal R

JULY 8, 2019 THE JESUIT REVIEW OF FAITH AND CULTURE 2019 CPA MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR Helping Gang Members Heal R. W. Dellinger p18

Abused, When Catholic But Not Church Workers Abandoned Burn Out p32 p24

Catholic Horror Beyond ‘The Exorcist’ p34

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Welcome back to “America 6. Many Jesuits who have served 13. This Nobel Prize-winning Cath- Jeopardy!”, our annual beach-reading on the editorial staff of America at- olic playwright lived in a hotel near homage to America’s most popular tended the Jesuit novitiate of St. An- America’s first editorial office in New game show and everybody’s favorite drew-on-Hudson in Poughkeepsie, York City. A nearby tavern inspired the Catholic magazine. The game is N.Y., which was built on land pur- setting for “The Iceman Cometh.” played like the real “Jeopardy!” except chased from the family of this U.S. 14. John E. Sexton, a longtime that you’ll have to wait for the answers, president. subscriber to America, served as the er, questions, in the next issue. But if 7. In 1963, the editors marked the 15th president of this world-class you’re dying to know sooner, you can passing of this man by printing these university, whose campus is near go to the webpage with this column words from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” Washington Square. at americamagazine.org and see the on the cover of the memorial issue: 15. The editors of America op- answers/questions there. Good luck. “The cease of majesty/ Dies not alone/ posed this 1919 amendment to the U.S. Have a blessed summer! but, like a gulf, doth draw/ What’s near Constitution, which they understood 1. John V. Connorton Sr., a found- it with it.” to be, in part, an anti-Catholic plot. ing America patron, served as dep- 8. In 1989, Joseph A. O’Hare, S.J., 16. This man, who served as U.S. uty mayor to Robert F. Wagner Jr., 10th editor in chief of America, was secretary of state from 1953 to 1959, whose election as mayor of New York appointed the first chairman of the once wrote a letter to the editor of in 1953 exacerbated a feud between New York City Campaign Finance America. His son would be a frequent Eleanor Roosevelt and Carmine De- Board by this man, who served as may- contributor to our pages. Sapio, boss of this (in)famous New or of New York from 1978 to 1989. 17. This famous cardinal arch- York political machine. 9. This author of The Sun Also Ris- bishop of Boston donated the funds 2. The son of this famous Civ- es said that the controversial writer that the editors used to purchase new il War general, who led a “March to and America contributor Ezra Pound headquarters for America at 106 West the Sea,” entered the Society of Jesus possessed “the temperament of a toro 56th Street in 1962. and lived at the America House Jesu- di lidia from the breeding establish- 18. James Martin, S.J., editor at it Community in the winter and early ments of Don Eduardo Miura.” It was large of America, once worked with spring of 1914. not a compliment. Michael J. Cosgrove, a member of 3. This U.S. president, who sent 10. Leo J. O’Donovan, S.J., longtime America’s board of directors, at this congratulatory greetings to Amer- contributor to America and emeritus multinational conglomerate founded ica on its 50th anniversary in 1959, president of Georgetown University, by Thomas Edison. coached the football team at St. Louis attended the wedding of this George- 19. Oops. In the late 1970s, Amer- College, a Catholic preparatory school town graduate, who succeeded his fa- ica’s editors praised this man, Zimba- in San Antonio, Tex. ther as King of Spain in 2014. bwe’s new prime minister, declaring 4. At a summit in Geneva in 1985, 11. George W. Hunt, S.J., 11th edi- that he was “the very essence of reas- this Soviet leader surprised Presi- tor in chief, was an expert on the work surance and conciliation.” As it turned dent Ronald Reagan by quoting from of this author, who penned The Wap- out, he was neither. a column by Mary McGrory, who was shot Scandal and was known informal- 20. In June 2018, the 14th editor America’s Washington, D.C., corre- ly as the Chekhov of the Suburbs. in chief of America presided at the spondent and a columnist for The 12. When Wikileaks released graveside service at Arlington Nation- Washington Post. hacked emails from the Democrat- al Cemetery for this U.S. senator on 5. John LaFarge, S.J., sixth edi- ic National Committee in 2016, we the 50th anniversary of his death. tor in chief, was the great-great-great learned that this man, who was chair- grandson of this man, a founding fa- man of the Hillary Clinton campaign Matt Malone, S.J. ther of the United States and the first and a former White House chief of Twitter: @americaeditor. U.S. ambassador to France. staff, had been readingAmerica .

2 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 3 THE ISSUE GIVE AND TAKE DISPATCHES FEATURES

6 12 18 YOUR TAKE ‘SING HALLELUJAH’ BECOMES A COMPLEX TRAUMA In what ways do you want to see lay ANTHEM OF HONG KONG Understanding the wounded people involved in investigations PROTESTS psyches of gang members of sexual abuse and its cover-up? R. W. Dellinger Infographic: Abortion laws change 8 across America 24 OUR TAKE WHEN PROFESSIONAL Holding bishops accountable; U.S. bishops approve new rules on CATHOLICS BURN OUT the housing shortage hits seniors accountability Working for the church can sometimes make it hard to 10 Mexico creates a security force to believe in it SHORT TAKE confront rising violence Kaya Oakes As deacons or not, women are called to church leadership GoodNews: A 1,200-year-old abbey Pia de Solenni learns new ecological tricks

4 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd AP Photo/Rodrigo

Looted coffins lay in a pile after grave robbers moved through El Cuadrado cemetery in Maracaibo, Venezuela, on May 16. THE ISSUE Cover: iStock FAITH IN FOCUS IDEAS IN REVIEW THE WORD

32 34 44 ABUSED, NOT ABANDONED THE GLOBAL SCOPE OF To follow Christ means to lift up I grew up in a violent home. CATHOLIC HORROR our brothers and sisters with The bleeding Christ reminds me There is a whole world beyond extravagance I am loved. “The Exorcist” Julie Ann Monroe Eve Tushnet By performing the good work of hospitality, Abraham glimpsed BOOKS the face of God POEM Dignity; Religion in the University; Michael Simone The Ministry of Truth; White Fragility 36 THANKS A LOT, SHAKESPEARE, CULTURE LAST TAKE FOR THE STARLING Francis Poulenc’s “Dialogues of Jonathan Greenhause the Carmélites” 46 ALBRECHT FREIHERR VON BOESELAGER We need a new narrative of migration

JULY 8, 2019 VOL. 221 NO. 1 WHOLE NO. 5222 YOUR TAKE

At their annual meeting in mid-June, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted overwhelmingly in favor of new protocols to hold themselves accountable for committing sexual abuse themselves and for mishandling accusations of abuse against others. The new protocols encourage lay involvement at every stage of an investigation but stopped short of requiring it. In a survey that was part of our online coverage of the bishops’ meeting, we asked America readers what they thought about the new protocols.

In what ways do you want to see lay people What issues are being neglected by the bishops involved in investigations of sexual abuse and its because of the ongoing need to address the sexual cover-up? abuse scandal? I would suggest that the criterion for the proper “way” is The bishops need to address corruption in general, not just whatever is required for re-establishing trust. Clearly, that sexual abuse. As we learned recently, not all corruption does require the effective presence of the laity. among the clergy is about sex. Financial corruption and Peter Tumulty fallout from clericalism must also be rooted out. Essex Junction, Vt. Sue Burro St. Louis, Mo. I would like to see lay people who are of different faiths come together to assess the appropriateness of the claim. Trust is being neglected. The faithful have lost a lot of trust If viable, civil authorities and the bishops’ committee in bishops. In order to regain that trust, every aspect of should be informed of the findings simultaneously. A sexual abuse accusations must include laypeople. member of the lay group should be assigned to monitor Joyce Green the case’s progress through the bishops’ investigation and Corpus Christi, Tex. deliberation. Grace Bernardi This issue is of paramount importance because the bishops Newton Square, Pa. have lost credibility; and until they effectively address this, their contributions to other issues are lacking. I am not too sure it is a lay person’s responsibility to teach Carlos Salinas, right and wrong to our clerics. I would like to see more Washington, D.C. clerics understanding the sensitivity, legal definition and legal consequences of abusing someone’s sexuality. If lay For Michael J. O’Loughlin’s report from Baltimore, people get involved or have to get involved, I would see it at see Page 15. the end of the investigation. Bill O'Brien Mundelein, Ill.

Professional mental health care providers specializing in sexual trauma, lawyers who are deeply familiar with family and criminal law, members of sexual victims’ rights groups, pediatricians, sexual assault nurse examiners, physicians, representatives of law enforcement and parish leaders [should] be core members of a case review board whose purpose is to provide actionable information to church leadership in the handling of each sexual assault case. Rebecca Gonzalez Severna Park, Md.

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New Protocols on Clergy Sexual Abuse: A First Step

It has been one year since Theodore countability for bishops responsible olics regarding these new policies is McCarrick, the once-powerful car- for clerical abuse and its cover-up. At “trust but verify.” dinal archbishop of Washington their annual spring meeting in Bal- These reforms are a welcome and and Vatican advisor, announced his timore, the bishops overwhelmingly necessary first step; they almost cer- withdrawal from public ministry approved three measures toward that tainly will need to be updated and re- after an allegation that he sexually end: a third-party hotline to report vised in the coming years. In any case, abused a teenager decades ago was abuse; a system, which can include even the most perfect protocols need found credible. Since then, other laypeople, to receive and investigate to be implemented with justice and revelations have unsettled the U.S. these claims; and a protocol that al- transparency in order to restore trust. church. The Pennsylvania grand lows bishops to restrict the ministry The true test of the bishops’ commit- jury report, released last August, led of retired prelates who are accused of ment to reform will be how these poli- to investigations into the church’s abuse or negligence. cies are used to report and respond to handling of abuse claims in 20 These new measures have, how- actual episcopal misconduct. other states, and dozens of dioceses ever, been met with skepticism from At that point, the faithful will ex- have released the names of credibly some church reform groups because pect—and pastoral responsibility will accused priests. they do not absolutely require the in- require—a forthright response, apply- In June, the U.S. bishops put for- volvement of laypeople. Bishops have ing these new procedures as a start- ward their first official response to the responded that such involvement is a ing point and going beyond them growing chorus of justifiably angry practical certainty even if not formal- where necessary. This will show and frustrated Catholics who want to ly mandated. At this point, the reason- whether the bishops have truly see concrete measures and public ac- able stance among concerned Cath- learned the lessons of this past year.

The Affordable Housing Shortage Hits Seniors

On June 12, about 1,400 protesters for renters and assistance programs than family-size houses but less costly gathered outside the residence of for homebuyers) but also financial in- than assisted-living facilities, includ- Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York, centives for communities that build, ing trailer-size homes on small lots, demanding that he fulfill his campaign or at least allow, new housing. “in-law” apartments added to existing promise to build more senior housing. Young adults and families with houses and apartment buildings near The protest drew people of all ages, young children have long been frus- public transit. perhaps because younger residents trated searching for affordable homes The trouble is that many commu- are looking out for their own future, near job opportunities. The National nities make it very difficult to add such perhaps because of a growing Low Income Housing Coalition re- housing. Seniors, especially those who recognition that the affordableported in June that a worker earning live alone, face the same resistance housing shortage is a threat to all. the federal minimum hourly wage of as recent college graduates in an eco- That threat may turn housing $7.25 would have to work 127 hours a nomic and political environment that policy into a major topic in the 2020 week to live in a two-bedroom home still promotes the costly option of a presidential campaign, challenging with a rent at the national average. single-family home with a front lawn the view that the provision of homes is In most places, buying a first home is and two-car garage. a concern only of local government. In even farther out of reach. The protest Housing production has long particular, the Democratic candidates in New York City suggests that older been steered toward sprawling sub- Cory Booker, Julián Castro, Kama- Americans—a powerful voting bloc— urbs, thanks to the lower costs of la Harris and Elizabeth Warren offer are also becoming dissatisfied with building on vacant land, spending pri- a variety of plans that include direct their limited options. Some seek al- orities for infrastructure (new high- benefits to families (like tax credits ternatives that are more manageable ways as opposed to public transit) and

8 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG sation isbeginning torecognize this. is encouragingthatthenational conver ashealthcare andeducation.It mon good fellow citizensinametropolitan area. clusionary andinsensitive totheneedsof lotor thatmandatelarge sizescanbeex ing laws thatprohibit multi-unithousing towns and neighborhoods. But rigid zon cific housingprojects are appropriate for conversation todetermine whether spe community groups must beapartofthe housing policy. Local governments and of subsidiarityshouldbeabandonedin 1.1 percent. 18decreased bythe populationunderage 2010 and2018. Duringthesame period, population increased 30 percent between released inlateJune, thenation’s over-65 tocensusdata ing lessuseful.According ban-sprawl, single-family model of hous makeas demographicthesubur changes comprehensive isneeded federalpolicy sit-oriented construction, butamore incentives forzoningreform andtran flexible housing production by offering tentative steps toward encouraging more in California). children have (seeProposition 13 gone to stay houseseven inlarge aftertheir them thatencourage ty taxadvantages and who, inmany places, enjoy proper to buy homesbefore pricesskyrocketed number of baby boomers, who were able ings. These policies have benefited a large anything other thansingle-family dwell in many Americancitiestobuild large at least 75percent oftheresidential land Times recently reported, itisillegal on single-family housing.AsThe New York tions ofmetropolitan areas to detached renters. por Zoninglaws alsolimithuge tax policiesthatfavor homeowners over Housing isasmuchapartofthecom This isnot tosay thattheprinciple The Obamaadministration made ------

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What the debate over deacons gets wrong about Catholic women Walking in the Footsteps

Two years ago I was on a panel at the world through its members. Most discussion about women into it seems of Jesus in the Holy Land University of Notre Dame, where a of that work will be done not by or- myopic at best. Most men are called fellow presenter lamented the almost dained ministers or the hierarchy to live their relationship with Christ Under the leadership of Fr. James Martin, S.J. total absence of women in leadership but by lay women and men. So long differently. Could not the same apply in the church. I finally had to interject as we are focused on the diaconate, to all women without offending their that I was the chancellor of one of the we are ignoring the reality articu- equal dignity? Meanwhile, we leave 11-Day Pilgrimage largest dioceses in the country and lated in the Second Vatican Coun- the shaping of our culture, and in turn fourth on the organization chart for cil’s “Dogmatic Constitution on the our families and even our church, to February 27 to March 8, 2020 the Diocese of Orange, which covers Church”: Our job as laypeople is to other men and women who have iden- Orange County, Calif. go where the clergy cannot. tified the real positions of influence: I was reminded of this exchange Every Catholic has the power to social media, politics, science, the arts, when Pope Francis, returning from influence our culture, but too often education and business. Fr. James Martin, S.J. his trip to North Macedonia and Bul- the influence flows in the opposite While the church certainly needs garia in May, gave his long-awaited, direction. Catholic parents, for exam- competent lay women and men in if somewhat indirect, response to the ple, lament that neither they nor the leadership roles, we need exponen- question of whether the church would church have the same pull on their tially more competent lay women and Fr. Matt Malone, S.J. allow the ordination of women to the children that the culture does. Insta- men living out every aspect of their JERUSALEM permanent diaconate. As a woman in gram and “Game of Thrones” probably lives influenced by their faith and an leadership in the church, I think we shape the values of young people more authentic understanding of the digni- are having the wrong conversation directly than all the great homilists ty of the human person. The hierar- when we focus so narrowly on the put together. The current sex abuse chy spends a great deal of time talking question of women deacons that we crisis suggests that the church itself is about human dignity; but it is the actu- fail to see the ways Catholic women afflicted by the sins of the surrounding al doctors, scientists, teachers, social Full Package can—and already do—lead. culture and is, in fact, a microcosm of workers and many others, including The group the pope commis- that culture. parents, who make this a reality for us. sioned in 2016 to study the historical If Catholics want to have influ- While I am grateful to be able to SEA OF GALILEE role of women deacons was unable ence, even power, it seems to me that serve in the role I currently hold, I to reach consensus on a number of we would advance the conversation see so many opportunities for women issues. Put simply, there are records much more by talking about the role of outside the church, in places where from the early church of women being the laity in the culture and in the world. the church will always struggle to Land-Only Package identified as deacons. But there is no At the close of Vatican II, St. Paul have an impact. Lay men and women conclusive evidence that the role of fe- VI asked women “to bring the spirit of are called to the tremendous honor male deacons has ever been tied to the this council into institutions, schools, of building up the kingdom in these ordained sacramental role that male homes and daily life” and said, “It is places, and we do not need any title CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE deacons exercise. In a conversation for you to save the peace of the world.” besides Catholic to do so. with women religious superiors on If that truly is the case, then we should May 10, Pope Francis said any change be following the directive that women Pia de Solenni is the chancellor of the to the diaconate must be grounded in have a role in every aspect of society, Diocese of Orange County, Calif., and Space is extremely limited. For more information contact revelation. “If the Lord didn’t want a enunciated in the Vatican document a theological advisor to its bishop. James Cappabianca sacramental ministry for women,” he “On the Collaboration of Men and Director of Advancement said, “it can’t go forward.” Women in Society” in 2004. (212) 515-0101 I worry that by focusing so in- As it stands, the ordained voca- [email protected] tensely on the question of women tions of permanent deacon, priest and deacons, we miss the larger challenge bishop are held by a relatively small facing our church. The church has a number of men. To take such a narrow global mission to sanctify the entire vocation and then try to fit a general

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‘Sing Hallelujah’ becomes anthem of Hong Kong protests By Verna Yu

Throughout mass protests in June over a proposed con- outside Hong Kong’s special administrative region and into troversial extradition law in Hong Kong, one prominent mainland China’s Communist Party-controlled judiciary. feature stood out: the almost continuous singing of the A Catholic activist who identified himself only as Jo- hymn “Sing Hallelujah to the Lord.” seph said he believed there would have been more blood- The hymn singing broke out spontaneously during shed during the mass protests if Catholic and Protestant demonstration processions, in makeshift services on foot- clergy had not at times “acted as a barrier” between the riot bridges and in impromptu prayer meetings before traffic police and angry young protesters, who joined in singing roadblocks. It was sung during a gathering of protesters on “Sing Hallelujah.” the lush lawn around the Legislative Council building and, A 24-year-old non-Christian protester who identified most prominently, during tense stand-offs between pro- himself as Tommy said he was impressed by “the powerful testers and police. “Sing Hallelujah to the Lord” was sung beliefs and conviction of the Christians” who sang through- so often during the demonstrations across central Hong out the protests, even late at night, and believed their pres- Kong that it became recognized as the extradition protests’ ence has protected all of them against a police crackdown. unofficial theme song. The Hong Kong government has reassured residents Many Christians said they felt empowered by a per- that political and religious offenses would not be included vasive sense of God, while non-Christian demonstrators among those that could lead to extradition under the pro- said they were also touched by a feeling of love and peace posed law. But many in Hong Kong fear the amended law through the singing of the hymn. About 11 percent of Hong would see not only criminal fugitives but also government Kong’s residents are Christian, including 390,000 Catho- critics, journalists, Christians and anyone targeted by the lics who make up about 5 percent of the population. Chinese government sent to China for trial. Hong Kong has been rocked by protests that began on Cardinal John Tong Hon, apostolic administrator of the June 9, when an estimated one million people marched to Diocese of Hong Kong, and the Rev. Eric So Shing-yit, chair- urge Hong Kong’s legislature to scrap an amendment to an man of the Hong Kong Christian Council, called on Hong extradition bill that would allow suspects to be sent for trial Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam to withdraw the extradition

12 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 13 Protesters gather around Hong Kong’s Legislative Council building on June 16.

bill. In a June 19 statement, Cardinal Tong and tests, Christians singing hymns were visible throughout the Mr. So Shing-yit also appealed to the special demonstration. administrative region’s government to “launch At the end of the march that organizers said was at- a thorough, independent inquiry” into clashes tended by two million people, protesters gathered in the between police and protesters opposed to the covered forecourt of the legislature building, where sev- bill. eral Christian pastors and priests—including the Auxil- The rounds of “Sing Hallelujah to the iary Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing, O.F.M., of the Diocese Lord” first started at a prayer meeting staged of Hong Kong—took turns praying and singing hymns by a group of pastors and young Christians with hundreds in the mostly young crowd until 2 a.m. on outside the government headquarters on June 17. the night of June 11, when protesters gath- “Our beliefs told us: Where our sheep are [is] where the ered to call for retraction of the bill. A pas- pastors should be,” Bishop Ha told the crowd. “Although tor who helped organize the prayer meeting, we face a huge challenge, we’re not afraid because we know the Rev. Wu Chi Wai, general secretary of where our strength comes from,” he said. the Hong Kong Church Renewal Movement, Bishop Ha reminded the faithful that the protesters told America that the demonstrators were were Christians first. “Even though the government did hoping that their singing and praying could many things that we don’t like and were very wrong, we defuse the tense atmosphere between pro- cannot demonize them because this is [against the de- AP Photo/Kin Cheung AP Photo/Kin testers and police. mands] of our faith,” he said. “We hoped to bring the presence of Christ Professor Ying Fuk Tsang, director of the divinity there. We saw our roles as peacemakers placed between school at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said Chris- protesters and police to calm emotions,” said Mr. Wu. tians and churches in Hong Kong are normally not out- The protest was largely peaceful on June 12 until riot spoken on political issues, but they are more visible in this police armed with rifles and shields began to use rubber movement because they have become aware that religious bullets, tear gas and bean-bag shots to disperse unarmed freedom would be under threat under the amended law. crowds in the afternoon, according to pastors and Chris- Mr. Ying said the Chinese government is now likely tians who were at the scene. More than 20 Protestant pas- to reassess its relationship with Hong Kong churches and tors held a press conference the day after the rally to con- Christian leaders. But pastors who have spoken out say demn excessive force used by police on unarmed, peaceful that even though there might be repercussions, it was still protesters. important to speak the truth during the protests. A retired pastor, the Rev. Yuen Tin Yau, asked the “This is out of the values of our beliefs,” said Mr. Wu. press: “Who was the one who used violence? Who rioted? “And that’s human dignity and freedom.” I believe it was the government who used its power to hurt In his homily at a Mass on June 16, Cardinal Joseph the powerless Hong Kong people.” Zen Ze-kiun, retired bishop of Hong Kong, thanked God Although Ms. Lam suspended efforts to pass the bill on that Hong Kong has so many people who care about jus- June 15, authorities justified the use of force on civilians by tice. “Although we won this battle, we need to continue to saying the protests were a “riot.” Outrage at that claim, to- use peace, love and justice to arouse society, and Christ will gether with Ms. Lam’s refusal to completely scrap the con- stand by us,” he said. troversial bill, prompted yet another protest on June 16. The Hong Kong Federation of Catholic Students, the Verna Yu contributes from Hong Kong. Justice and Peace Commission of Hong Kong, the Dioce- With additional reporting from Catholic News Service. san Youth Commission of Hong Kong and the Justice and Peace Group of the Franciscans had organized a Mass and a prayer meeting that night. As in previous democracy pro-

12 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 13 INFOGRAPHIC

In bid to overturn Roe v. Wade, a flurry of changes to abortion laws Gov. John Bel Edwards of Louisiana, a Democrat, signed er new limits, would only be enforceable after a Supreme into law on May 30 a measure that makes nearly all Court decision overturns the Roe v. Wade decision (1973). abortions in his state illegal once fetal cardiac activity is Nationally, abortion rates have been reaching historic detected, adding Louisiana to the list of mainly Southern lows and significant percentages of Americans continue to states that signaled a desire to overturn decades of express support for restrictions on abortion as pregnancies abortion policy in the United States. Louisiana joins five approach fetal viability. While the sudden rush of limiting other states—Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Missouri and legislation has cheered many prolife advocates, some wor- Kentucky—that have passed “fetal heartbeat laws” in ry that the rush to ban or restrict abortion could backfire. 2019, which, if upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, would Others wondered how prepared U.S. communities are to essentially outlaw abortion after six to eight weeks. step in to assist women with unplanned or medically prob- Limits on abortion after 18 to 22 weeks of gestation lematic pregnancies should Roe be abruptly overturned. were passed in other states this year, and on May 15 Ala- bama passed what is perhaps the nation’s most controver- Kevin Clarke, chief correspondent. sial new abortion law, a nearly total ban on abortion at any Twitter: @ClarkeAtAmerica. stage of pregnancy except in the case of a fatal fetal abnor- mality or lethal risk to a woman during pregnancy. The new Learn more about the nation’s changing laws on abortion and what that suggests about a showdown law includes no exceptions for rape and incest. The Ala- over Roe v. Wade in a comprehensive report online at bama ban is set to take effect in November but, like the oth- americamagazine.org.

FETAL HEARTBEAT ABORTION RIGHTS EXPANDED OR PROTECTED These states limit access to abortion after a doctor Ohio April 11 These states expanded access to abortion by can detect fetal cardiac activity, effectively banning Kentucky March 15 making abortion a “fundamental right,” nullifying abortions after 6-8 weeks. Georgia is the only state previous law and allowing late-term abortion in the Louisiana May 29 that allows exceptions for rape or incest. Dates refer absence of “fetal viability.” They may also mandate to the enactment of the laws. Mississippi May 24 that insurance companies include coverage for Georgia May 7 abortions. Other states increased funding to cover abortions for low-income women. Missouri May 17

COMPLETE BAN Maine June 10 Alabama’s law, signed May 15, is the strictest in the nation; it bans all Vermont May 10 abortions without exceptions for rape or incest, but with exceptions for New York Jan 22 extreme health risk to the mother or if a fetus cannot survive. Illinois June 12 Nevada May 21

NEARLY Fetal heartbeat limit ONE IN FOUR Abortion rights expanded/protected WOMEN in the United States— Complete ban 23.7%—will have an abortion by age 45. THE U.S. ABORTION RATE DECLINED ABORTION 14% between 2011 has become increasingly and 2014, reaching a concentrated among record low of 14.6 per LOW-INCOME WOMEN, 1,000 women WHO ACCOUNTED FOR aged 15 to 44. 49% OF PATIENTS IN 2014.

Sources: “Early Abortion Bans: Which States Have Passed Them?“, NPR, June 5, 2019; “While Some States Try to Ban Abortion, These States Are Expanding Access,” Vox, June 20, 2019; The Guttmacher Institute. 14 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 15 CNS photo/Bob Rolle CNS photo/Bob

U.S. bishops adopt Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin new protocols to improve of Newark, N.J., center, responds to a reporter’s accountability for sexual abuse question on June 13.

The U.S. Catholic bishops voted overwhelmingly to ready rely on lay expertise for assistance in many areas and adopt new protocols to hold themselves accountable for that they would be highly unlikely to conduct an investiga- committing sexual abuse themselves and for mishandling tion without laypeople. accusations of abuse by others made known to them. Kim Smolik, the chief executive officer of the lay reform Though designed to include laypeople at every stage of an group Leadership Roundtable, said she was “pleased that investigation—they advise that bishops “should” include multiple bishops requested to specify lay involvement in the laypeople by way of an office in their chanceries—lay reform documents” but that the organization was “disappointed” groups and victim advocates say they are unsatisfactory such involvement was not mandated. She said that while the because they stop short of requiring such involvement. Vatican’s law does not require lay involvement, it was “an In response to a new Vatican law spelled out in “Vos open door for each region of the world to be able to enact and estis lux mundi,” the apostolic letter issued by Pope Fran- involve the laity at the level which they felt was necessary.” cis on his own initiative in June, which requires bishops The pope’s apostolic letter establishes “a floor, not a around the world to create structures to ensure account- ceiling,” Ms. Smolik said. “We hoped the bishops would ability for bishops, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops treat it that way and require an institutionalized lay in- voted to create a third-party reporting hotline; to adopt a volvement.” She added that her organization, which re- procedure for receiving those complaints and including cently hosted meetings with top church leaders on the is- laypeople to investigate them; and to compile into one sue of accountability, hopes bishops will enact an auditing place existing measures that restrict the public ministry of procedure to measure the implementation of the new rules retired bishops who leave office “for grave reason.” As they and address the “root causes” of what she called a “leader- concluded this spring meeting in Baltimore on June 13, the ship crisis.” U.S. bishops also approved a code of conduct that they say The victim advocacy group Survivors Network of those binds them to the “Charter for the Protection of Children Abused by Priests said in a statement that without mandat- and Young People,” known as the Dallas Charter. ing lay involvement and requiring that all allegations of According to one new protocol, a metropolitan bishop, abuse or mismanagement be reported to civil authorities, who oversees bishops in a geographic area, “should” appoint the new protocols lack bite: “There is no guarantee that “a qualified lay person to receive reports” from the hotline reports will be routed to police and investigations will be about misconduct by a bishop. If the report is deemed credi- transparent and public. Instead, all reports can remain se- ble and if the Vatican orders an investigation into a bishop, the cret and insulated within the church’s internal systems.” metropolitan “should appoint an investigator chosen from According to the new rules, the metropolitan bishops among the lay persons previously identified by the province.” must report allegations of criminal conduct to civil author- But because the Vatican’s own law stops short of man- ities as required by laws in their jurisdictions. dating lay involvement—though it does say laypeople can be involved—some U.S. bishops said they could not require Michael J. O’Loughlin, national correspondent. lay involvement. Many bishops pointed out that they al- Twitter: @MikeOLoughlin.

14 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 15 Can a new National Guard end impunity and violent crime in Mexico?

On April 19, armed men burst into a bar in Minatitlán, a Guard will initially consist of some 60,000 former soldiers town in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz, during a joined by federal and naval police. According to the López family celebration. They killed 13 people, including an Obrador administration’s National Security Plan, the new infant boy. On May 28, the bodies of six men were found force will gradually assume its duties over a period of five wearing military-style uniforms, shot and dumped into a years, after which the armed forces will have been fully re- ditch in Satevó, in the northern state of Chihuahua. tired from a role in fighting crime. These bloody incidents are worrying signs of what is But critics worry the new force continues the militariza- now seemingly inevitable: 2019 is on track to become the tion of Mexican law enforcement and does little to protect most violent year in Mexico in recent memory. According civil society from human rights violations. Although the to the federal government, at least 8,493 people were killed National Guard will be subject to civilian courts and will be during the first three months of this year. If this trend con- led by civilians, Mexican soldiers have been accused of thou- tinues, the year will end with approximately 35,000 mur- sands of human rights violations over the past decade. ders in Mexico—more than the already record-breaking “In theory, the former military who will become mem- 34,202 homicide victims in 2018. bers of the National Guard will be subjected to sensitivity Crime and violence are perhaps the most daunting training with regard to human rights, but I don’t see that challenges facing the administration of President Andrés happening in practice. There won’t be enough time to train Manuel López Obrador. The Mexican Congress, controlled them in that sense,” María Elena Morera of the human by Mr. López Obrador’s Movement for National Regener- rights group Causa en Común told America. “Soldiers are ation, approved a series of laws in May aimed at finalizing prepared for war, not fighting crime. The uniform won’t the creation of the president’s answer to the violence that change that.” plagues the country—the National Guard. Many policy critics say the National Guard, with its de- The new security force is meant to relieve Mexico’s cidedly military character, is merely a continuation of mil- armed forces, which have been accused of thousands of hu- itarized law enforcement in a country where more than 90 man rights violations, of a role in fighting organized crime, percent of crimes are carried out in impunity. The federal at- a role the military assumed over a decade ago. The National torney general’s office recently reported that under former

16 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 17 AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell AP Photo/Rebecca

Not your usual church steeples: the biogas plant at

Münsterschwarzach Abbey Schlegelmilch Renardo by Photo GOODNEWS: A 1,200-year-old abbey in Germany goes carbon-negative The Münsterschwarzach Abbey in Bavaria is not only Europe’s first carbon-neutral monastery; it has actually been carbon negative—that is, its activities have had the net effect of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere— National Guard members at a for nearly 20 years now. migration checkpoint on the highway north of Comitan, The monks have their own biogas plant, fed by corn Chiapas State, on June 15 and agricultural waste from the Benedictines’ own fields. It produces more than enough electricity for the abbey’s 100 brothers and about 300 employees. President Enrique Peña Nieto’s leadership, a staggering “We’ve been living here for a millennium, and we want 300,000 criminal cases were not even investigated. to lay the groundwork for brothers to live here for anoth- “The real problem in Mexico is that we just don’t er millennium as well,” said Christoph Gerhard, O.S.B. He have a policy to deal with crime,” Ms. Morera said. “The is the monastery’s cellarer, the Benedictine equivalent of judicial system is very weak, and this government isn’t chief executive officer. investing in it.” Everything at the abbey—residences, a goldsmith, bak- Francisco Rivas of the Citizens’ National Observa- ery, printing house—is supplied with energy flowing not only tory, a human rights group, agrees. “Member states of from the biogas plant but also from its own solar panels and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and De- windmills installed in the northern flatlands of Germany. velopment have on average three policemen per 10,000 “We monks are supposed to see the holiness in every- citizens. Mexico only has 1.2, but in reality we need four day things, in the tools of the workshop as well as the tools or five to really deal with the problem. The National of the altar,” said Father Christoph. “One of the most im- Guard won’t fix this,” he said. portant tools of modern times is energy, so we’re actually In fact, the López Obrador administration may ex- encouraged [by the Rule of Benedict] to switch to renew- acerbate the problem. It plans deep budget cuts to mu- able power sources.” nicipal and state governments, according to Ms. More- So is this way of life a model for the rest of society? ra. The president has argued that Mexican political “You simply cannot just think election to election,” says elites have lived far too lavishly, but observers say the Father Christoph. “We monks think in decades, centuries.” cuts may make the crime problem worse. “I know that I will live here in 30 years; that’s a different kind of motivation. Our society still has to learn this. Jan-Albert Hootsen, Mexico City correspondent. If you want to care for the environment, if you want to Twitter: @jahootsen. cherish the integrity of creation, you have to broaden your horizon,” Father Christoph says. “Think bigger.” For more international reporting, Renardo Schlegelmilch contributes from Cologne, Germany. visit americamagazine.org/dispatches. Twitter: @RenardoJoachim.

16 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 17 iStock

18 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 19 iStock A COMPLEX

TRAUMA By R. W. Dellinger Understanding the wounded psyches of gang members

For an hour on a recent Tuesday afternoon, a Dodge face they could find, but now they are connected to gangs Journey S.U.V. crisscrossed the territories of Tiny as a kind of minor league. If somebody in a crew stood Boys, Big Hazard, State Street, Gage Maravilla, White out, especially if they had done enough violent work for Fence and other local gangs in Boyle Heights, a dense the gang, they just might be invited to join. neighborhood east of downtown Los Angeles. Johnny The initiation is not pretty. New members have to be Torres, the driver, has been a paid gang intervention “jumped in,” usually a 13-second beating at the hands of a worker in the area for more than a dozen years, and a couple of card-carrying members. In Mr. Torres’s day, the volunteer interventionist for 10 years before that. neophyte would be punched and kicked until some tired He pointed out how compact and dense the area re- gang member relented, saying, “Hey, that’s enough.” ally was. One side of a street could belong to one gang, the But there was a big exception to the crew-gang street other to another. He explained the difference between relationship. In the early 1990s, KAM, or “Krazy Ass relatively new tagging “crews” and established gangs that Mexicans,” did the unheard-of in Boyle Heights. go back generations. The crews began in the 1980s in Los “They started out as a simple tagging crew that no- Angeles as small, haphazard groups who just wanted to body thought anything about,” Mr. Torres said, slowing lay down graffiti on walls, signs and any other clean sur- the S.U.V. down a notch. “But right where we are now,

18 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 19 Victor Alemán Victor

Johnny Torres, who used to be a member of a gang, has worked in gang intervention in Los Angeles for more than 20 years. two old established gangs, Ficket Street and Vicky’s Town, into what was then called Ramona Village on Jan. 2, tried to pressure the crew to join their gangs. But the non- 1941. This afternoon, kids were running around, trying descript group fought back. Amazingly, KAM eventual- to keep on the grass and off the hardpan of their small, ly pushed out both steadfast gangs, taking over the whole sun-bleached front yards. We passed a woman sitting on neighborhood—something Boyle Heights had never expe- her front steps, watching a little boy and girl throwing a rienced before.” beach ball back and forth. But mostly folks were staying Today, they are one of the most aggressive gangs on inside on the hot July day. the Eastside of Los Angeles. The violence never really The Dodge Journey was just nudging along, the driver died down. KAM has had to continually defend its turf keeping one hand on the steering wheel, glancing around from older gangs like Big Hazard, State Street and Gage at his old stomping grounds, what is now called Roma- Maravilla, but the Krazy Ass Mexicans held their ground. na Gardens. Mr. Torres had worked in gang intervention “They’re surrounded by enemies, but they maintain for the City of Los Angeles’s Gang Reduction and Youth their territory. And they have a huge territory. The big guys Development program, working mostly with Big Hazard didn’t anticipate they’d fight back. But that’s what they did. bangers for more than a decade. The gang was one of the They were—and still are—well-structured and smart,” said oldest in L.A. and connected to the Mexican Mafia inside Mr. Torres, sitting back behind the wheel. California’s prisons. One of their major enterprises was He was shaking his head and smiling a little, too. “It’s selling drugs—PCP in the 1970s, and currently pharma- amazing to imagine the minds of these young KAM people,” ceuticals like Xanax. he said. “Imagine what it would have been like if they would Pulling over to a curb, Mr. Torres observed, “You put have put their efforts toward something positive. I mean, to dope and guns and self-hate in the same place, and we get orchestrate what they did, they had to have the strategy of what we get.” a four star general. And [most are only] 13 to 18 years old. It’s amazing. The gangs kept thinking they would easily be MINISTERING TO GANGS able to strongarm the tagging crews. But they were wrong.” Around 10 years ago, Stan Bosch, a Trinitarian priest, We had crossed over the San Bernardino Freeway encouraged Johnny Torres to become a paid G.R.Y.D. and were approaching what looked like a separate city, gang intervention worker. Ever since he became familiar with more than 100 two-story, pinkish-brown buildings with gangs as pastor of Our Lady of Victory and Sagrado scattered across 32 acres. The first six families moved Corazon Catholic churches in Compton, Calif., even

20 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 21 before he earned his Ph.D. in psychotherapy, Father Bosch “I resisted for a long time,” he said. “But then I couldn’t, believed he had figured out why they bang. because everybody belonged to some gang where I lived. And “I’m more and more convinced that the root is ‘com- I was harassed by the cops, who thought I was a gang member plex trauma,’ which is different from even the Post Trau- even though I wasn’t. I’d also be harassed by other gangs that matic Stress Disorder that so many veterans of wars come weren’t from the area. And so eventually I started to believe home with. It’s more developmental. From the womb to the I might as well submit and become part of the gang. And I grave, people in the inner city are being traumatized. Lis- started believing what they believed: ‘This is all I am. I can’t be tening to screams, beatings and sirens. There is more and something greater.’ You know, I just accepted that lie.” more evidence that a fetus is harmed. The hormonal struc- That mindset stuck with him until he was 24. ture. The emotional structure. The entire development can “It was October of 1994,” Mr. Torres recalled. “And a be altered,” Father Bosch said. great person, an elder within the Native American tradi- “It really influences one’s development,” he said. “And tion, took an interest in me and gave me some beautiful the symptomology that comes out of that is dissociated teachings. He gave me a divine truth that just really put me states and depersonalization: ‘It wasn’t me! I don’t take re- on my journey of changing my life.” sponsibility for my life.’ And there’s lack of impulse control.” The elder told him, “When do we honor our ances- In hundreds of hours of therapy with “tag-bangers” tors? When do we re-establish our positions as caregivers and gang members, Father Bosch learned about a condi- of this earth again? When do we stop being lost in our own tion called alexithymia, which is often characterized by self-pity and self-hate and fight to regain our spirit and our failures of emotional awareness, social attachment and in- mind back again? Or will it be up to the little children to terpersonal relating. The youths and young adults he was fight and fend for themselves? Will they have to fight the working with could not use words to describe their ongoing good fight? Because the generation of their parents were troubled feelings. Instead, they acted out, in many cases vi- too weak to fight for them and their people?” olently. Those words sent him on a path of finding his true “So, the therapeutic healing process for me is allowing self, Mr. Torres said. He wanted to “defend the lives of our people to create a space between their perception, their children and preserve the scred lives of our youth—especially emotions and their actions. And simply to reflect on what’s the youth that seem neglected and forgotten.” going on inside—and find words for those affective states,” Once, he went to a funeral of a close friend with his he said, shooing away his golden retriever Noah from biting mother. His friend had committed suicide while she was a visitor’s camera bag. He was training the young, nipping eight months pregnant. It hit the whole community, in- canine to be his next therapy dog. cluding him, hard. Nobody he knew had ever committed “I find group therapy is more powerful than individ- suicide, never mind a friend who was pregnant. ual,” Father Bosch went on. “If somebody starts talking “You’re not growing old with any of your friends,” his about what they feel, it might get others to share their feel- mother told him at the time. It was true. His gangbanging ings, too. I had warring gang members in the same groups in circle of homeboys kept getting killed or going to prison on Long Beach and Compton. They said, ‘You know, we can’t a regular basis. ever talk to each other outside of this group. But here it’s After trying a variety of jobs and volunteering to medi- sacred because it’s confidential. And we trust you.’” ate local gang disturbances, Mr. Torres wound up working for Soledad Enrichment Action at its alternate school site A LONG ROAD in South Los Angeles for teenagers who had been expelled Johnny Torres said being able to really trust somebody was from their junior highs or high schools. First, he was an out- a big step in leaving his own gangbanging life. The 47-year- door security guard trying to keep rival gang members from old man grew up in East L.A. When he was a kid, there fighting in the schoolyard, and also a teaching assistant in were no tag-banging crews, and most of the guys in his classrooms. After a year, Father Bosch, the program’s men- neighborhood were violently “jumped into” gangs before tal health director, encouraged him to apply to G.R.Y.D., the they reached 14. But so much of his own adolescence was City of Los Angeles’s newest antigang effort. He got the job, taken up creating all kinds of graphic art, he did not get working in the Ramona Gardens area of Boyle Heights. Af- around to joining the local gang until the ripe old age of 17 ter a few other assignments, he wound up as program coor- in 1988. dinator for the entire region.

20 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 21 The therapeutic healing process is allowing and you could just run away. But if you did, you would get caught, because the police station is down the street.” people to create a space The 24-year-old met Mr. Torres when he was just 13 because of G.R.Y.D. He remembered the gang intervention between their perception, worker telling him that if his art improved, he could get paid for it and maybe even get a steady gig in advertising. their emotions and their That was something far beyond what he had ever imagined. Then at Camp Tagger—a weekend mountain art retreat actions. And simply to Mr. Torres helps organize—he learned about the history of graffiti, the laws covering it and what you would be charged reflect on what’s going with for doing it. Several famous muralists also showed up at the camp and introduced themselves. on inside. “Just recently I slowed down, because I have a baby girl,” Mr. Meza said. “My daughter’s three months old. Her name is Layla. So I have to think about the consequences Late last year, he created a similar program for the Coun- for her if I get caught and go to jail again. I’ve calmed down. ty of Los Angeles. Since then, he has been focused on divert- Before I just thought about myself. I didn’t care what I did. ing juveniles and young adults from becoming ensnared in I could steal. I could do all kinds of stupid stuff. Now I have city, county and state justice and correctional systems. to think about, you know, another human being.”

STILL TAG-BANGING THE FATHER WOUND Joseph Meza, a former client of Mr. Torres from when he Father Bosch said another way to get inside the heads was working for G.R.Y.D., admitted still belonging to a tag- of gang members was to look at the early childhood loss banging crew. But he insisted they were way more artistic they had suffered—a simple insight that worked time than the average tang-bang crew, with font styles and their and time again. Often the father was missing from the overall meticulousness. They did not just go out on the family. This “father wound” took its toll. He believed street, scribble down some graffiti and take off. Instead, if a therapist could get to this trauma and pain, healing they carefully planned out what they did, and where and could happen. when they did it. He steeped all of Soledad Enrichment Action’s inter- “You can say I’m a tag-banger,” he told me. “But I’m vention workers in a kinder, more personable way of deal- more of a graphic artist, honestly. I’m very hood-smart and ing with their clients, a 180-degree shift from the popular streetwise. I look gangster-wise, but I never really got into intervention tactics of the 1950s and ’60s, when at-risk it, although I came close. Real close! I’m more careful now. teenagers were taken into the worst ward of a prison in I was hanging out with a bunch of other guys from different hopes they would be “scared straight.” gangs. It was just the crowd I was hanging with that got me Father Bosch said Angelenos have a hard time under- into a lot of trouble.” standing the concept of “payback.” On top of that, given that Mr. Meza said that in his teenage years he was in and most East L.A. and Boyle Heights Hispanic gang members out of juvenile hall, probation camps and placements in had Catholic backgrounds, the priest blames the church for foster care. In fact, he was 16 years old and in detention not getting across Jesus’ message of reconciliation. Instead, when his father was deported back to Mexico eight years his young clients had been mentored by violent gangs. ago, and he has not seen him since. His mother was not “I believe a longing to belong is ultimately the issue,” around much either. Father Bosch said. “With the taggers writing on the walls, “I went through all the juvenile stuff,” he said. “They I’ve had fellas who say, ‘I want them to see me up there. I actually gave me a year and nine months in [California’s] want to be recognized, especially by my homies.’” Youth Authority for my crime. But I ended up doing sev- That, in part, helps explain why members often strug- en months in placement. Boys Republic in Chino Hills, [a gle to leave the gang. private, nonprofit school and treatment community for “‘I give my blood. They’re my homies. It’s for life’ is how troubled youths], was like a big farm. It was pretty open, they put it,” he explained. “But when there’s a glimmer of

22 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 23 hope is when fellas start to have their own babies. And they say, ‘Do I want this for my child?’ Or when they just get sick and tired of being sick and tired. Or the pain gets so deep

that they have a spiritual transformation while locked up.” Alemán Victor After a moment, however, he added in a more down- beat voice, “Once you’re in it, it’s kind of hard to really leave that life. But we keep trying as interventionists. And sometimes they do put all that behind them.”

A MOTHER’S NIGHTMARE Kathy Wooten’s sons did not. On Jan. 27, 2008, her oldest son, Brandon, 26, was shot and killed at a party in Florence, south of Los Angeles. She knew he belonged to Grape Street, a notorious gang. After his death, the retaliation took more young lives. And 52 days later, on March 19, her second oldest son, Keyuan, 24—home on spring break from the University of Nebraska—went roller skating in Cerritos in Orange County, south of Los Angeles. Members of a rival gang shot him. He died at Long Beach Memorial Hospital later that evening. The Rev. Stan Bosch, a Trinitarian priest and a “As a result of that, of course, my life will never be the psychotherapist, believes same,” she said from behind a desk at S.E.A.’s South Los those who join gangs are Angeles site, a few doors away from Father Bosch’s office. often traumatized at an “And now I’m raising Keyuan’s 15-year-old son. And that’s early age, even in the womb. Father Bosch is how I got into the intervention and victims’ advocate work seen here with Noah, a that I do. My life is my work, and my work is my life. I’m on golden retriever he was call 24/7.” training to be a therapy dog. On the other side of the converted classroom, the case manager Barbara Gell was behind another desk. The But there was only so much inner-city parents could 53-year-old woman also lost a son to gang violence. It hap- do to protect their children. At some point, their children pened 20 years ago, but she still felt an emptiness in her life. made up their own minds. And the call of the streets was Both mothers harbored feelings of guilt they said hard to resist. would not go away. “When you’re young, you’re bulletproof in your brain,” “I could have done something differently to keep my quipped Ms. Gell. son from getting killed. I could have made my son get back Her co-worker’s expression changed: “They never in the car and go home,” said Ms. Gell. “It took me about imagine it’s going to happen to them.” three years to get over a lot of the guilt I had. But it’s still There was more talk about the sons they had lost, and not all gone.” how their sons were basically good human beings. Then Ms. Wooten was nodding across the room. “And I could Ms. Wooten sat up in her chair. “I do what I do because I have told my eldest son not to go to that party because I was don’t want their lives to be in vain,” she said. Ms. Gell nod- just with him,” she said. “I could have just said ‘No!’ And it ded. “And I don’t want people to think, ‘They were just old was on my mind to say it. But I didn’t.” gang members.’ Because they were more than that.” “And that’s where the guilt came from,” said Ms. Gell, who also knew her son was gangbanging. “Because I knew R. W. Dellinger is the features editor for Angelus something was going to be wrong. I’m telling his dad, right, News of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. ‘I don’t think we should leave him here,’ dropping him off at a friend’s house with a lot of guys all outside. And he was like, ‘Oh, no. He’ll be all right.’”

22 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 23 WHEN PROFESSIONAL CATHOLICS

BURN OUT By Kaya Oakes iStock

24 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 25 Working for the church sometimes makes it hard WHEN to believe in it. Midway through 2018, I was packing to give a talk to a group of Catholics. Glanc- ing at my phone, I saw what lay ahead: PROFESSIONAL delayed flights through four cities, an arrival long after midnight, jet lag, a meet-and-greet, the talk with a Q. and A. afterwards, and a 4 a.m. wake-up call the CATHOLICS next day to make my way home. Then I would have to get up and teach three classes back-to-back and scramble to meet several writing deadlines. I nearly BURN OUT By Kaya Oakes threw my phone across the room.

24 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 25 Pope Francis greets guests during a special pre-Christmas meeting with Vatican employees and their families on Dec. 21.

Public speaking opportunities for Catholic women like want to work for the church because of their strong faith, myself are rare, and I do not take them for granted, but after a close-up look at the church’s flaws can plant the seeds of many years of writing about difficult issues in Catholicism, cynicism that may lead to burnout. Some work closely with ranging from immigration and abuse to homophobia and the clergy for the first time and see that clerics can have sexism, I was having an increasingly difficult time giving “some very human problems,” like anger management, talks about how the church can do better without throwing pornography addiction, sexual abuse or alcoholism. Dr. up my hands and telling the audience they would have to fix Plante also says that because of basic lifestyle differences things themselves. that accompany the vows of celibacy, obedience or poverty, In spite of creeping feelings of cynicism, I was still go- members of the clergy who supervise lay employees may ing to Mass, still Catholic in spite of years of bruising reve- not fully appreciate “what the life of a lay person may be lations about the church and still friends with many other like” when it comes to issues like the financial stresses of Catholics. I was still writing prolifically, juggling multiple child care and responsibility for a mortgage. Dr. Plante said speaking engagements with a full-time job teaching. But I this push and pull between an idealized view of the church was also exhausted, snarky and constantly feeling a sense and what happens when people go to work for it can cre- of impostor syndrome. I soon realized: I was not burned ate circumstances in which lay employees who “feel like out from Catholicism; I was burned out from being a pro- they’ve made a sacrifice in order to work for the church” fessional Catholic. can feel “pretty devastated” when the institutional church This phenomenon is not new. The psychologist Christi- turns out to have deeper problems than they may have na Maslach has studied burnout since the 1980s and wrote imagined. the book Burnout: The Cost of Caring, which focuses on jobs that require a great deal of emotional labor, like those The Roots of Catholic Burnout in education, counseling and health care. Ms. Maslach I am not alone in my Catholic burnout. Over the course of eventually designed a “burnout inventory,” to measure a month, I interviewed a variety of lay Catholics, including how badly an employee has burned out. The qualifiers for theologians, catechists, volunteers, Catholic nonprofit burnout include emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, staff members and church staff who volunteered to talk feelings of incompetence, cynicism and a dwindling sense to me about their own cases of burnout. I chose to focus of professional efficacy. on lay Catholics instead of members of the clergy, not Those who burn out are often highly skilled and spe- because clergy people do not experience burnout—from cially trained. This can include people who work as doctors all evidence, they do so with some frequency—but because and nurses, but it also extends to people whose faith and they often have access to church-funded resources, professional life are intimately combined. For this group, ranging from therapy and spiritual direction to retreats the challenge can be particularly acute, because often the to sabbaticals, which are not always readily available or commitment to faith that compels a person to work for affordable for the rest of us. or on behalf of the church—whether studying and teach- I am using pseudonyms for those I have interviewed, so ing theology, writing about the church or serving in its they could speak more freely. Although they were experi- social services arm—suffers when this work becomes over- encing burnout, they also needed and in many cases want- whelming. A challenging workplace can result in a desire to ed to hold on to their jobs. Ms. Maslach’s research shows distance oneself from those things associated with it, even that burnout is common in fields in which people consider the church itself, thus potentially distancing a person from the work their calling. Perhaps it is unsurprising, then, that the very coping mechanisms or community that could help many people I spoke to are devout Catholics who have will- weather the storm. The church is a global community, but ingly given years of their lives to the church. But loving the after years working for it, it can start to feel like you are church and working for it can be entirely different matters. stuck in one small corner. In secular settings, burnout is often the result of over- Thomas Plante, a professor of psychology at Santa work. The same can be true for Catholic employees. Em- Clara University, has worked for decades with both mem- ployees in both settings might be constrained by tight bers of the clergy and lay Catholics who are suffering from budgets, which leads to more multitasking; and as a result, burnout. Dr. Plante says that for many lay Catholics who employees hired and trained for one job may find them-

26 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 27 selves responsible for several. But the structure of the Church, returning to the Seventh Day Adventist tradition

Catholic Church can add additional layers of complication. in which he was raised. When I asked if things were differ- Media CNS photo/Vatican A top-down, clerical-heavy structure can also be present in ent working in Protestant ministry, he strongly affirmed some Catholic job environments, which can cause lay em- this. In all his years working for the Catholic diocese, he ployees to feel that their voices are not heard or respected. says, “not one of my bosses and my supervisors really asked But burnout is more than a human resources issue, it about my family.” can be a contributing factor to pushing people away from a Developing appropriate work/life boundaries can be faith they once loved. hard for people working in Catholic organizations. Dave, Bob, a convert to Catholicism who worked for a large now in his 30s, who was raised Catholic, worked as the diocese as a youth minister, says that he was at one point principal of a Catholic high school for several years. The asked to overhaul the campus ministries for the entire di- job of principal was at times overwhelming, yet he initial- ocese. In the beginning, Bob says, he was able to make the ly attributed this to “just the cost of the cross.” But he also mission a collaborative effort among the students and lay noted that it felt like “getting the crap kicked out of you” staff he worked with. But he felt that many clergy members every day. The high school was located in a small town, and adopted a paternalistic attitude. Bishops treated priests sometimes he would drive an hour away for groceries to like their children, and priests in turn “started treating avoid running into demanding parents or students during their parishioners as kids.” Bob adds that there was a lack his time off. of connection between clergy and lay employees that man- Dave is now a youth minister for a large diocese, so he ifested itself in unexpected ways. When his daughter need- is out in the field nearly every day, meeting people for men- ed braces on her teeth, he was told it was not covered by the torship and accompaniment and organizing events, and diocesan health plan because her dental problems “were thus spends only a day or two a week in the diocesan office. caused by bad behavior, like thumb sucking,” and that the He enjoys it, but sometimes feels he cannot quite discon- diocese “shouldn’t have to pay for your kids’ bad behavior.” nect from it. The people above him do not always seem to After that incident, Bob soon began to feel a strong understand what his position takes out of him, and he has sense of cynicism, one of the hallmarks of burnout. He had little to no communication with them about this. began avoiding the office and spending most of his time at As a lay minister, Dave says that “being close to Christ the Newman centers he was working with, and eventually is crucial for what I do. If I can’t do that, it’s impossible he took a job in Protestant ministry and left the Catholic to do my job.” But the diocese he works for does not offer

26 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 27 Workers with Catholic Charities in the Developing Diocese of Charleston, S.C., provide supplies to employees at the Federal Correctional appropriate work/ Institution in Williamsburg, S.C. students, direct dissertations, serve on committees and do life boundaries can service work. Lay theology faculty members at Catholic colleges and universities are also sometimes expected to act be hard for people as de facto ministers to students seeking spiritual guidance, maintain a courteous relationship with the religious working in Catholic orders who run their schools, give talks in local churches and develop a relationship with the school’s diocese. They also have to grapple with declining enrollment in religious organizations. studies as a discipline, and with feeling that their voices are time off for a retreat and has no resources for lay employees not always heard in the upper levels at their schools. seeking spiritual direction. The average length of employ- For Deborah, teaching ethics and moral theology and ment of a lay minister in his diocese, according to Dave, is doing public programming in theology at her Catholic about a year and a half. At that point, Dave says, exhausted college have been “very, very deeply” affected by the dis- and demoralized, they burn out and quit. illusionment many young Catholics feel about the church Some organizations seem to accept that burnout is part today, which she frequently sees reflected in her students. of the deal. Amy works for a large Catholic nonprofit. She Among her students, she says, “Catholic social teaching is is from a Catholic family, attended a Catholic college and utterly unknown,” which means she must work to weave lived in an intentional community, where she did volunteer more background about it into her classes. She also works work. After graduating, she hoped to “continue doing work on projects involving faculty members from other depart- that was good for the world,” so when a position opened up ments and thus serves as a kind of theological translator at a homelessness prevention call center, a Catholic non- between her students and fellow faculty members. This profit, it seemed like a good fit. But Amy found that her days might be less of a challenge if she did not feel so discour- were mostly spent at a desk, and that listening to people’s aged by the church herself. experiences of trauma made her “leave work so angry and “Being Catholic and being able to speak about Catho- frustrated and exhausted.” lic things—that’s part of my livelihood,” she says. It is also Her supervisors acknowledged the stress intrinsic part of her identity. Still, Deborah feels anger over sexual to her work, but Amy felt the office had simply accepted abuse by members of the clergy and over what she sees as that “this isn’t a job you can do forever,” since staff turn- church leaders’ failure to take a stand for the marginalized over was so high. For Amy, “it really doesn’t always feel like during the 2016 presidential election, among other issues. our employees get treated as we say we want to treat our She describes her involvement in the church right now as clients,” and while the nonprofit’s mission is about charity “very fraught.” Even after 20 years as a professor, she wor- and compassion, she feels she has not always been treated ries that her employers at her college would not welcome with either. The nonprofit serves large numbers of clients; her “pushing, criticizing and nudging toward the kind of but, Amy says, “we’re putting out numbers at the expense of reform that I think is needed.” Deborah’s burnout is fueled our employees’ well being and health.” Amy acknowledges by the fact that she feels her job requires her to be a booster that this culture of “give, give, give” is an issue at many non- for the church, but she has lost the capacity to do that. profits and social service agencies. Part of her job involves giving presentations about the organization’s good work, Is There a Solution for Burnout? but given the turnover rate of employees at her organiza- At the end of my interviews, I asked each person what he tion and the way she feels she has been treated at the office, or she saw as solutions to the kind of burnout they have she often feels like a fraud. felt. Deborah mentioned she might find hope in convening Catholics who work in different kinds of ministries and Burnout Among Catholic Academics organizations for networking, collaboration and support. Although the life of a college professor may seem cushy She believes this might forge relationships that could from the outside, academics often feel pulled in multiple help prevent burnout. Bob said that “the tradition really directions. On top of teaching classes and grading needs to affirm the gifts of the employees that work for it assignments, they are also required to write, publish, advise and involve them in decision making” in order to avoid

28 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 29 CNS photo/courtesy Catholic Charities Catholic CNS photo/courtesy

burnout—in lay ministers particularly. Dave sees burnout Third, both lay employees and clerics need to understand as a spiritual crisis that requires a spiritual solution: “We that when it comes to communications, “your emergency have to do more for the spiritual lives of our lay employees. is not my emergency” and set boundaries around that. Fi- Because, to me, the biggest reason why most people get nally, Dr. Plante says, church work is stressful in general, burnout is just a lack of like a real, solid, spiritual life.” because employees and volunteers are encountering peo- Amy remarks that part of the problem is the way Cath- ple during major life events. All of us need to find ways to olic nonprofit employees in particular see their work. “be gentle with one another, and take care of one another.” “There is a danger in the way we talk about vocation,” she Ultimately, he adds, it is also O.K. to realize that working says, “because when we tie vocation to job, it makes it so for the church is not for everybody, even if it at first seemed that people give so much to their job.” Amy also sees many to be a calling, just like working a dream job in tech, sports people drawn to Catholic nonprofit work as “being set up or entertainment might not turn out to be as ideal as it first for burnout” and says nonprofits should look to secular seemed. models where there is more collaboration and mentoring For some church employees, discovering a solution to of future leaders. burnout is simply a matter of time, communication and ne- Dr. Thomas Plante proposes that, from a psychologi- gotiation. Ann, who works on staff at a parish, found herself cal perspective, burnout requires a series of solutions. Em- in a stressful situation when her priest boss went on sab- ployees need to have “reasonable expectations” of their em- batical. Ann was left juggling “a multitude of funerals” and ployers, especially when it comes to working for members trying to find priests to cover them, talking to the families, of the clergy, and understanding that their employers have planning the liturgies and just doing more and more work “human issues and problems.” He also says that employers that she was not being paid for. She was also in graduate and employees alike need to have reasonable boundaries school, and the stress bled into her family life. When her around work hours and expectations. He says this is in- boss returned, however, he saw the stress she was under. creasingly difficult because of technology, but it needs to be Ann was open with her boss and explained she would talked about more to avoid exploitation and resentment. need some things to change for her to stay at her job. She

28 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 29 CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz CNS photo/Gregory

A union member delivers bottled water to striking teachers near the entrance of a diocesan Catholic school in New York in 2015. The union had authorized rolling one-day strikes to protest what it considered unfair labor practices. Homeboy Industries has asked for two weeks sabbatical to go on a silent retreat, help a little less writing and a lot less public speaking and trav- finding a spiritual director and a conversation about work eling, but that is a privilege afforded by my second career chosen to stand with the boundaries. She received all of these things, and as a result, in academia. Many of my fellow Catholic journalists, and ‘demonized’ so that the has been able to stay at the parish and has begun to also do most of the people I interviewed for this essay cannot af- some freelance writing and leading of retreats. Ann’s expe- ford to be that choosy. But my ability to say no and to turn demonizing will stop; it stands rience might not be commonplace; but it does demonstrate down assignments, honed in hours with a therapist who with the ‘disposable’ so that that with some give and take and open lines of communica- saw evidence of my burnout the moment I walked through the day will come when we stop tion, lay church employees can find ways to achieve a better the door and opened my mouth, always comes with a heap- work/life balance. ing side serving of Catholic guilt. As Sister Frances told my throwing people away. The church might also take a page from worker-owned freshman class in high school, shouldn’t I always be willing collectives, for example, where employees have a greater to do more, give more, to give until I have no more to give? Father Greg Boyle, S.J. sense of self-agency. Even at some corporate jobs, human Perhaps. But perhaps those of us who serve the church in a Founder of Homeboy Industries resources professionals recommend simple changes like professional capacity can do more, and do better, when we adjusted workloads, company-sponsored stress relief have a handle on our mental and physical health. The high Moving lives forward. One print at a time. workshops, mandated vacations and frequent and honest cost of burnout can ultimately be the loss of both. JesuitSwag is America’s partnership with Homeboy Industries, the communication to ameliorate symptoms of burnout. It is largest and most successful gang intervention and rehabilitation unlikely that the Catholic Church would abandon its en- program in the world. Our two ministries have teamed up to support tire structure for the sake of its workers, but it might at and celebrate the Jesuit family and mission with a growing collection Kaya Oakes, a contributing writer for America, teaches least consider deliberately implementing some of these writing at the University of California, Berkeley, of shirts, hoodies and apparel. Each one is hand-printed by formerly strategies if it hopes to hold on to them as employees, and and is the author of The Nones Are Alright. gang-involved individuals in downtown Los Angeles. as Catholics. Show your support today at www.JesuitSwag.com. JESUITSWAG Michael Collopy by Photo For me, the solution to burnout has been mostly to do

30 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 31 Homeboy Industries has chosen to stand with the ‘demonized’ so that the demonizing will stop; it stands with the ‘disposable’ so that the day will come when we stop throwing people away.

Father Greg Boyle, S.J. Founder of Homeboy Industries

Moving lives forward. One print at a time. JesuitSwag is America’s partnership with Homeboy Industries, the largest and most successful gang intervention and rehabilitation program in the world. Our two ministries have teamed up to support and celebrate the Jesuit family and mission with a growing collection of shirts, hoodies and apparel. Each one is hand-printed by formerly gang-involved individuals in downtown Los Angeles.

Show your support today at www.JesuitSwag.com. JESUITSWAG Michael Collopy by Photo

30 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 31 The Lost Ones I grew up in a violent home. The suffering Christ reminds me I am loved.

By Julie Ann Monroe

On the first Wednesday of Easter, 5-year-old Andrew psychiatrist, in which I somehow realized I should not have Freund, known as A.J., was found lying in a shallow grave. said what I did and that it was not acceptable to want to die, He had allegedly been beaten and killed by his parents. and so I shut up. I grew up in a home very much like A.J.’s. Why didn’t that prompt those adults to look into my Like many people raised in that kind of environment, home life? Maybe someone did talk to my mom, and maybe I also married a man who treated me with the disrespect she told them a different version of things. God knows she and violence that I had been accustomed to. I never learned did not tell them of the violence done to her in her child- the script for a different kind of life. I saw on television how hood or the violence done to my sister, my brother and me. other families lived, but our house did not look like “The God knows she could not speak of her alcoholism, because Brady Bunch.” There was no Alice on the sidelines helping even she did not know or understand it herself, not then my mom get through a bad day or a crisis. Our family did anyway. not have any adult on the sidelines who could penetrate the The only thing that came out of those visits to the psy- chaos inside our home. chiatrist was a wooden horse. I would find out many years later that there were peo- The psychiatrist went to Mexico on vacation during the ple who suspected or knew things about our family, but time I was seeing her. She brought me back a wooden horse either they did not try to help us or could not do anything souvenir because she knew I liked horses. It was not often to help us. I have no recollection of a teacher, counselor or that people thought of me or bought me gifts. I never got so social worker who entered our home or pulled me out of much as a birthday card from a grandma or aunt. That was class to ask questions about my life. the stuff that happened in “Brady Bunch” lives. I still have In third grade, I kept telling my teacher that I wanted that horse, and I hang onto it the way I hang onto anything or to die. That got me three complimentary visits to a child anyone who has ever thrown me a crumb of attention.

32 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 33 ••• deepest DNA of A.J.s’ parents, too, and they got lost just the When I heard the news about A.J., I way my mom did. just knew he had lived in the same kind ••• of home I grew up in. My brother, sister A.J. was wrapped in plastic and buried in a rural area, not and I knew that we could have easily died far from my home, during Holy Week, when churches re- there. I also know that if I had stayed in enact the washing of the feet. my previous marriage, surely one of us Easter Sunday would come and go while stuffed rab- could have been killed as well. There are bits were placed on A.J.’s lawn by friends and neighbors in so many things I do not think I could ever hope that the boy would come home. write or talk about. There are so many A.J.’s body would be found three days later. images that stalk and prey and will never At Mass the following Sunday I listen to how the apos- go away. tles recovered after Jesus’ death. I stand before the altar So how do I reconcile? How do I find with the others looking at the lilies in their flower pots. I peace, forgiveness, with my mom, my for- am listening to the rain on the roof, drifting in thoughts. I mer spouse, myself, A.J.’s parents? see Jesus on the crucifix just a few feet away from me, with I do not think I could even begin with- what looked like a bath towel around his waist. But we out God. God also seems to be one of the know he was naked and bleeding. hardest things to talk about or write about. The truth is hard to take. and even the church covers that God, the partner in the greatest of all inti- truth a little. I understand why. They soften the shock of the macies, the greatest of all loves. real crucifixion for children and maybe reduce the trauma I know that I have experienced some for us all, when surely his mother, his aunt, Mary Magdalene kind of passover; there must have been and others saw him as he really was, naked and suffering. some kind of blood on my body’s door that I try to imagine for a moment an actual naked Christ in allowed me to be spared, in some ways. front of me. I imagine how I would probably want to close

iStock Not in all ways though, because I remain my eyes and turn away. Yet those who loved him bore that a victim and a witness to violence and ex- suffering with him as much as they could, while others who treme cruelty. And I imagine that A.J.’s lit- were frightened ran away and hid. tle brother and even their dog were also victims, as well as And then I remember the morning news. The day he witnesses, at times. died, little A.J. had soiled himself. His punishment was to Still, I am also a witness to my mother’s recovery from stand naked in a cold shower for a long time while he was alcoholism and violence, a rediscovery of her truest self. It beaten and then put to bed, naked and wet, where he most is through those eyes I pray to see all human beings. likely died from blunt force trauma. We are born for love, but we get lost along the way. I stand in some kind of solidarity with this little one. As I didn’t always think this way, but when I was little I I think of the horrific final hours of A.J.’s much-too-short heard something in church. I do not remember what I life, I hold the image of the bleeding Christ in my mind. I heard exactly. Maybe there were no words. Maybe it was feel like some kind of half-baked disciple, who believes in a just the feeling of God touching my soul with love. Maybe love I will never understand and a love I’ll never live up to. it was just the sound of God calling me to him. No, not liter- And as the priest lifted up the host in the darkened ally, like the saints; but something happened in me, some- sanctuary, he seemed to be saying that death does not have thing personal, mystical and holy. My spirit was joined to the final word. A.J. and Jesus remind me that love does. something I cannot define or describe but which I call God. There is no other explanation. I am not naïve about life and suffering and death. But Julie Ann Monroe is a writer, poet, musician and mother. She has worked in health care for 38 years and attends I am in solidarity with that child who was beaten by those Resurrection Catholic Church in Woodstock, Ill. She who should have been able to love him well and could not is a member of the Writers Club of Woodstock. for reasons we may never know. My sorrow is deep for the entire family. Anger is too cheap an emotion for me. I know that our deepest DNA is God, and I know that God is the

32 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 33 IDEAS IN

The Global Scope of Catholic Horror By Eve Tushnet

Everybody knows the Catholic And yet discussions of Catholic chase and covert courtship. It’s a sunny, Church dominates the world of horror cinema often revolve around cavalier, semi-psychedelic film, alive to religious horror films. The sumptuous the same few films. “Rosemary’s the religious conflicts of its day. Pagan- vestments, the Latin chants, the Baby” is fantastic—but there’s a whole ism is retaking the country as the Vati- millennia-old practices—not to world out there! Here are eight films can feebly opposes reality-TV murder. mention the extremely literal belief in which Catholic horror speaks in The hunted man makes sure to note in a living Devil, who, as Pope Francis less familiar accents, films I have nev- that while he is divorced, his marriage frequently notes, still works in the er seen on other Catholic horror lists. was annulled, so he’s available. One of world today—all seem custom-made “The Tenth Victim” (Italy, 1965). the government slogans for the real- for a genre that evokes rapture and Closer to thriller than horror, this film ity show is “Why Control the Births fear. Catholic faith and practices from the “Dolce Vita” era is a roman- When We Can Increase the Deaths?” offer a striking visual and auditory tic comedy about the love between a The portrayal of sexual conservatism language through which horror films man and his would-be murderer. The married to murderous consumerism is can explore the limits of human hunted (Marcello Mastroianni) and done with the lightest possible touch— endurance, the persistence of mystery the huntress (Ursula Andress) are it’s social critique as soufflé. Both the in a world colonized by science, the competitors on a government-run re- incongruities and the prescience (not realities of death and evil, and the ality-TV show about hunting humans, to mention the fashion) will delight desire for rescue. so the press eagerly follows their public contemporary viewers.

34 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 35 Discussions of Catholic horror cinema often revolve around the same few films. But there’s a whole world out there! Clockwise from top left: “Demon,” “The Devil’s Doorway” and “Seklusyon.”

up in her white bed in an autumnal friends joke that he will no longer wood: lost innocence nestled in the be the rascal they nicknamed “Py- heart of death. ton.” But a new life can’t be built on “Thirst” (South Korea, 2009). an unrepented past. At the wedding, A suicidal priest (Kang-ho Song) a dybbuk—a Jewish spirit of the dead, volunteers to test an experimental which possesses the living—returns medication, which turns him into a to wreak havoc on the celebration vampire. This violent film uses the and expose the town’s complicity in protagonist’s consecration to intensi- Nazi persecution of the Jews. “De- fy vampire films’ themes of sexual sin mon” is stormy, melancholy; like the (in this case, an affair between a priest dybbuk, the film is not confident that and a married woman) and sacrilege. anyone will listen. All vampire films retain hints of an “Neither Heaven Nor Earth” evil reverse Eucharist (drinking blood (France, 2015). French soldiers fight- gives eternal life). “Thirst” adds dese- ing in Afghanistan stumble upon cration of holy orders and of confes- an unintelligible, deadly force that sion. “Thirst” is graphic and nihilist, seems to lie hidden, like their Afghan but in its desecrations it reveals what opponents, in the land itself. As sol- the church holds sacred. diers disappear and fear mounts, the “The House at the End of captain (Jérémie Renier) calls in an Time” (Venezuela, 2013). A woman army chaplain, a sharp-tongued Af- (Ruddy Rodriguez) returning from ro-French priest (Steve Tientcheu), prison must serve a kind of house who laughs at the idea that Christian- arrest—but her home warps time, ity exists to bring comfort. “You think IMDB/Ciaran Freeman IMDB/Ciaran returning her to the past, where she God is a teddy bear you hold at night?” tries to understand what really hap- he scoffs, before reading to the sol- “Valerie and Her Week of pened the night her husband died and diers from the Book of Job. “Heaven” Wonders” (Czechoslovakia, 1970): her son disappeared. Her one com- is about the defeat of all attempts— a sun-soaked fable of corruption— panion in this struggle is the priest including Islamic and Catholic at- including sexual corruption within (Guillermo Garcia) who begins vis- tempts—to cope with the unknown. the church. Valerie (Jaroslava Schal- iting her after her release. His steady What lives in the mountains is not lerová), a girl who has just reached presence brings her strength, but the God, but “Heaven” suggests that God menarche, discovers that the adults climax reveals his own connection to is more like it than we might prefer. around her, including her long-lost her imprisonment. This is a satisfy- “Seklusyon” (Philippines, father, the bishop, are vampires. ing film for lovers of justified, emo- 2016). In the late ’40s, would-be The local beehive, a wooden statue tionally resonant plot twists—and the priests head to a remote monastery of Adam and Eve in which the bees rare horror film in which the priest is for a time of seclusion and testing. dwell in their groins, suggests both not a symbol of the supernatural, but They are joined by a little girl, Anghe- the weirdness of this haunting film a counselor and friend. la (Rhed Bustamante), who can heal and its insistence that adulthood is “Demon” (Poland, 2015). Mar- people. The priests battle demonic a fall from innocence. “Valerie” is riage starts a new life, almost creating visions; Anghela comforts them. But staccato and disturbing, with imag- a new person from the “two become her reassurances become disturb- es of incest and of sexual abuse by one flesh.” As Pyotr (Itay Tiran) pre- ing—she offers only comfort, encour- clergy. It ends with Valerie curled pares for his Catholic wedding, his aging sin rather than rebuking it. Is

34 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 35 Anghela a saint? A victim? Some- thing horrific? In this plainspoken, Thanks a Lot, Shakespeare, for the Starling beautifully shot film, full of striking imagery of light and darkness, the By Jonathan Greenhause most disturbing shot shows the smile on the face of a newly ordained priest. The window, single-paned to preserve not heat but historical significance, “The Devil’s Doorway” (Ireland, presses down upon the simple plank preventing it from shutting; 2018): a found-footage film set in 1960 & in that humble rectangular board, in a Magdalene laundry—a reforma- there’s a hole through which reasoning escapes, a metallic tory for outcast women. Two priests, accordion-like tube stretching from the dryer’s back end to the hole where summoned to investigate a purport- the starling enters, where it places twig after twig ed miracle, discover horrific cruel- to construct a metaphor for impracticality ty toward the inmates—and, in the catacombs beneath the reformatory, & absurdity, a snapshot of modern life, of our climatic uncertainty, evidence of both human and super- like building a home on the rim of a smoldering caldera, natural evil. This harrowing film, an- its flimsy walls trembling. In 1890, 60 starlings were released in Central Park chored by Lalor Roddy’s performance by the American Acclimatization Society as an old priest-skeptic, was inspired because Shakespeare mentioned them in Henry IV, Part I, wrote “Nay, by real abuses in Catholic institutions. I’ll have a starling shall be taught to speak And yet the miracle that sets its plot in nothing but Mortimer, and give it to him to keep his anger still in motion.” motion offers Christian hope even to those whom Christians harmed. By the end of the play, the battle rages on, the Hundred Years’ War Unlike “The Exorcist” or “Rose- still unresolved; now we’ve got over 200 million starlings in North America, mary’s Baby,” many of these films so my wife & I let it stay. We hang wet clothes ferociously criticize the evil done by upon the back of chairs, upon our shower rod, learn to harness solar energy. Catholics in the name of God: “De- We do without these modern conveniences, mon,” “Devil’s Doorway,” “Seklusyon,” teach our 2 sons to appreciate the subtle rumblings “Valerie.” Yet other themes emerge of an egg set to crack, a fledgling poised to press its luck upon the ledge. just as strongly: the power of the sac- raments and the horror of sacrilege (“Demon,” “Seklusyon,” “Thirst”); Jonathan Greenhause was the winner of Aesthetica Magazine’s 2018 Creative Writing Award in Poetry and the 2017 Ledbury Poetry Competition. our inability to control or even un- His poems have recently appeared or are forthcoming in Columbia derstand our fate (“Neither Heaven,” Poetry Review, Moon City Review, New Ohio Review, Redactions, and “Valerie”); the church as necessary Salamander. He was a runner-up in the 2019 Foley Poetry Contest. social critic and friend of the suffering (“Tenth Victim,” “House at the End”). Whether you want breezy murder-comedy or wrenching exploration of national guilt, as movies globalize, Catholic horror becomes even more capable of being all things to all fans.

Eve Tushnet is the author of Gay and Catholic: Accepting My Sexuality, Finding Community, Living My Faith and Amends: A Novel

36 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 37 BFW19 XD AM 6.06.qxp_FINALrev 6/6/19 4:21 PM P

Director of Religious Education and Youth Ministry The Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, New York, N.Y., has an opening for a full-time Pastoral Associate as Director of Religious Education and Youth Ministry. This position organizes and directs the parish's religious education program, develops and implements faith formation programming for the youth of the parish, and collaborates with other ministries of the parish to promote its mission and apostolic priorities.

Degree in theology, divinity, pastoral ministry, or religious education from a Catholic college or university. Minimum of 5 years of experience working in faith formation and/or pastoral ministry.

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Our nation’s deep divides

By John W. Miller of Sentinel Press courtesy Chris Arnade, by Photo

Dignity rusting towns like Youngstown, Flint the margins of society, and started Seeking Respect in Back Row America and Birmingham. Two generations writing and taking pictures. By Chris Arnade ago, these places were prosperous. A year after beginning his pilgrim- Sentinel Then markets shifted and labor costs age, Arnade was asked to leave his lu- 304p $30 increased. Capitalist economics pre- crative job. He didn’t fight it. After vailed, and jobs went to places where almost two decades on top of the pyra- wages were cheaper. Communities mid, he was bored. crumbled. Poverty followed, with all With money banked, he widened its ugly symptoms: missing teeth, drug his explorations. He drove around the addiction, potholes, rotting porches. country, putting 150,000 miles on his Growing inequality continues to One of the latest entries in the car. He visited both poor black neigh- batter our politics. The lack of genre of exploring American poverty borhoods (like Buffalo’s East Side, Sel- concern on the part of U.S. elites for is Dignity, by Chris Arnade, a 284- ma, Ala., and Milwaukee’s North Side) how the rest of the country lives has page tome that blends coffee-table and impoverished white areas (like fueled populist anger and, in 2016, book photography, reportage and Prestonsburg, Ky., Bristol, Tenn., and the surprising presidential election memoir. Arnade sketches the story of the Ozarks). What they had in com- victory of Donald J. Trump. And all how he went to work as a bond trader mon, he writes, “was that all were poor that might be just the beginning: The for Citibank in New York City, making and rarely considered or talked about rising tide of automation, globalization tons of money and living comfortably beyond being a place of problems.” and privatization threaten to keep the in Brooklyn. It was not enough. In the Arnade’s photographs live up to lower classes in the United States out wake of the financial crisis, a spirit the promise of his book’s title. They of work, making them (angry) wards of earnest curiosity seized him, and are vivid portraits of people doing or- of the wealthy and the state. he started going for long walks in the dinary things: praying in churches and What can be done about this deep poorer parts of the Bronx. He saw, he mosques, gazing at the stars through a divide between majesty and mud? One writes, “just how cloistered and priv- telescope, taking care of pigeons, run- good starting point is reporting about ileged my world was and how narrow ning bingo games, hanging laundry, and earnest engagement with the lives and selfish I was.” He talked to resi- doing backflips in the street, drinking of people in crumbling cities like Bal- dents, making friends with a prosti- a beer at a ballgame, cheering on a car timore, Detroit and Milwaukee and tute and other people struggling on race. In other words: You can be poor

38 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 39 Chris Arnade put 150,000 miles on his car as he traveled the country taking photographs of people and neighborhoods on the margins of society.

and have a life you love. And, yes, dig- that he does not quote Jesus’ explicit are right, of course. Arnade’s work, on nity. The prose, on the other hand, is directive that the kingdom belongs to the other hand, does well in reflecting more uneven, meandering, thin on the poor gives power to the contem- the racial, cultural and religious diver- deep analysis and rich in anecdote, plation. “The tragedy of the streets sity of America’s poorer regions. with some insights worth pondering. means few can delude themselves into One painful, unanswered ques- Arnade is obsessed with the so- thinking they have it under control,” tion, though, cries out from the pic- cial and geographical role played by he writes. “You cannot ignore death tures and prose of Dignity and a lot McDonald’s restaurants, devoting an there, and you cannot ignore human of these other books: What should we entire chapter to them. As he correctly fallibility. It is easier to see that every- do? It is one thing to meet your neigh- notes, the chain offers (in every ham- one is a sinner, everyone is fallible, and bor where she is, without judgment. let) a de facto town square, in many everyone is mortal.” It is as if God’s Shouldn’t we help her, too? Chris places “one of the few places open to presence is so palpable that it doesn’t Arnade admits he doesn’t know the the public that worked.” McDonald’s need to be preached. solution. “We all need to listen to each is where people go to take advantage This caring book is in the line of a other more,” is all he can muster in of free internet, gossip, pray the Bible, long tradition of writers left their lives conclusion. Fair enough. I am not sure get warm or cool, go on a date, meet of comfort to study squalor and de- I can do much better. with their drug counselor or get tu- cline, including Jacob Riis’s How the When I reached Arnade for an in- tored in a foreign language. Other Half Lives (1890), James Agee terview, he was in Buenos Aires, recov- One particularly damaging ele- and Walker Evans’s Now Let Us Praise ering from what he described as burn- ment of American poverty is isola- Famous Men (1941), Barbara Ehren- out from his burnout. The work he had tion in so-called food deserts, Arnade reich’s Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) been doing to document poverty had shows. In Cairo, Ill., you shop at “two Getting By in America (2001), George drained him, he told me. Encountering Dollar Generals and two small con- Packer’s The Great Unwinding (2014), the other is hard, uncomfortable work. venience stores selling a selection of and Matthew Desmond’s Evicted: Pov- “I was a vegetarian atheist, and I just milk, snacks, lotto tickets, frozen pizza, erty and Profit in the American City spent three years eating at McDonald’s liquor, beer, blunts and vape supplies.” (2017). and going to church,” he mused. (Two A vexing problem in these areas is There is also, of course, J. D. years ago, without good vegetarian op- whether to leave for personal opportu- Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy (2016), a rags- tions in the places he was traveling, Ar- nity, an accepted principle of middle- to-riches memoir about growing up in nade started eating meat.) and upper-class life. Arnade himself a small town in Ohio. In Appalachia, “I don’t have any answers,” he said. left a small town to find fortune. But where I live, that book has been criti- “I don’t really have any hope that things now he admires people who stay be- cized for its unabashed patriotism and will get better” in the United States. cause of their “connections, networks, faith in American meritocracy and The work, though, had changed family, congregations, the Little League for its focus on a particular brand of him. He could no longer look at the team, the usuals at the hairdresser, white culture. It even inspired a liter- world the same way. “I’ve become less regulars at the bar, the union hall, the ary counterattack, Appalachian Reck- of a capitalist,” he said. crew at the vape store, the regulars at oning: A Region Responds to ‘Hillbilly the half-price movie night, the guys for Elegy’, edited by Anthony Harkins and John W. Miller is a former staff Tuesday night basketball.” Meredith McCarroll (2019). reporter for The Wall Street Journal and co-director of “Moundsville,” There is grace in Arnade’s subtle “There is not a single ‘truth’ about a documentary about a small West meditations on faith. Not a believer, Appalachia and its people,” Harkins Virginia town in the age of Trump. he finds himself drawn to the spiritu- and McCarroll write in the introduc- al strength and resiliency of people tion to the book, an anthology of es- who suffer and own nothing. The fact says, poems and photographs. They

38 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 39 BOOKS

Religion in the The Ministry of Truth University plines.” But with increasing sensitivi- The Biography of By Nicholas ty to the contextual nature of inquiry, George Orwell’s 1984 Wolterstorff scholars have come to appreciate par- By Dorian Lynskey Yale University Press ticularity—or what Wolterstorff calls Doubleday 192p $25 “character identities” (whether fem- 368p $28.95 inist, Marxist, Latinx or other). Wolterstorff argues that academic institutions are places of intellectu- al disagreement that invite the core ethic he calls “dialogical pluralism.” God and the university Participants from a wide range of Future nightmare or present A senior colleague of mine once commitments (including religious reality? insisted that religion really had ones) “don’t just offer reasons to each Dorian Lynskey attempts to explain no place in a modern university. other but listen to reasons, listen to “what Orwell’s book actually is, how She had enjoyed a long academic them with an open mind.” Indeed, to it came to be written, and how it has career at a Jesuit institution, often Wolterstorff, the very pluralism of shaped the world” in The Ministry appealed to our common “Jesuit different kinds of institutions con- of Truth: The Biography of George values” and indicated she was tributes to the richness of higher ed- Orwell’s 1984. But his discussion of generally happy to be at a place ucation in the United States. Orwell’s life is familiar from many that was mission-driven. But she Personally, I believe our broader biographies. The literary sources became anxious when we would social context and the expectations dif- of his novel are also familiar from speak about any religious vision ferent tribes (religious or otherwise) in- a number of critical studies, and that might ground those values. culcate in their members present more Orwell’s reputation and influence A modern university, she would of a threat to genuine discourse in con- are well known from John Rodden’s insist, had to be “secular.” temporary higher education than the two books. Her concern confirmed a belief long shadow of Weber’s insistence on Orwell would have hated the I have long held: The question of the value-less Wissenschaft. protest of counterculture rock proper place (if any) of religion in a Still, if we can get “religion in the stars (Lynskey’s hobby horse), who university is a version of the ques- university” right, we may better pre- crudely stole Orwell’s ideas about tion about what place religion has pare emerging citizens and leaders to Big Brother in their revolt against in society as a whole. Moreover, the enter the world equipped to encoun- paternal authority. Lynskey under- terms we use when we talk about ter difference in a positive way. “Sec- mines the significance of Orwell’s these things (“religious,” “secular”) ular” and “religious” universities will “influence” on popular culture by are often ill-defined. undoubtedly have distinctive profiles admitting that “Nineteen Eighty- In Religion in the University, and practices, but if they are dedicat- Four has become a vessel into a reworking of a series of lectures ed to “dialogical pluralism,” I doubt which anyone could pour their own given at Yale in 2001, Nicholas they will be as different as my former version of the future” and by quot- Wolterstorff examines a range of colleague suggested. ing Paul Johnson’s observation that assumptions held by academics. since everyone “hijacks the wretch- Asking whether there is a place for Michael C. McCarthy, S.J., is ed man for every conceivable politi- a religious voice in a university like the vice president for mission cal purpose, the net result is almost integration and planning and an Yale, he turns to the influential Max associate professor of theology at exactly nil.” Weber, for whom “meaning, worth, Fordham University, New York. Lynskey denies that Nineteen duty, value and the like do not fall Eighty-Four was influenced by Or- within the scope of academic disci- well’s serious illness. But he contra-

40 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 41 The Ministry of Truth White Fragility dicts himself by stating that Orwell’s to intentionally hurt others. In reality, The Biography of Why It’s So Hard for George Orwell’s 1984 health declined dramatically when White People to Talk racism is a complex, interconnected By Dorian Lynskey he was writing the novel and that About Racism system and social dynamic in which Doubleday Winston Smith “embodies Orwell’s By Robin DiAngelo the people of one race benefit from 368p $28.95 horror at his own physical decay.” Beacon Press maintaining their dominance over all Lynskey unconvincingly tries to re- 192p $16 others. habilitate Orwell’s wife, Sonia. But “Socialized into a deeply internal- she had rejected Orwell when he was ized sense of superiority that we either well, did not visit him at his estate on are unaware of or can never admit to the island of Jura or in his Scottish ourselves, we [white people] become hospital, did not type his manuscript, A structural sin highly fragile in conversations around married him on his deathbed, was White people should not need to be race,” DiAngelo writes. “We consider drinking with friends the night he reminded that racial justice entails a challenge to our racial worldviews died and then became the rich widow more than celebrating the culture as a challenge to our very identities as of a famous writer. and achievements of black people. It good, moral people. Thus we perceive Lynskey does not realize that also requires white people to take up any attempt to connect us to the system Nineteen Eighty-Four is not a night- the work of naming and dismantling of racism as an unsettling and unfair mare vision of the future but a con- the structural sin of racism. Yet as moral offense. The smallest amount crete portrayal of the present and the multicultural educator Robin of racial stress is intolerable.” From the past and that its great originality DiAngelo points out in her recent here, a range of defensive respons- comes more from a synthesis of famil- book, White Fragility: Why It’s So es is triggered. Anger, fear and guilt iar material than from any prophetic Hard for White People to Talk About give way to behaviors like argumenta- or imaginary speculations. Lynskey Racism, many white people fail even tion, silence and withdrawal from the claims that Orwell “did not lose faith to recognize racism for what it really stress-inducing conversations about in the future” and that his novel is not is. Instead, we deal with an effigy, race in order to maintain white equi- “devoid of hope.” But O’Brien defin- one that keeps whites comfortable librium and racial dominance. This itively asserts that in 1984 punish- and racially dominant. is the process DiAngelo identifies as ment, like Hell, is permanent: “a boot DiAngelo is one of the country’s white fragility. stamping on a human face—for ever.” foremost experts in whiteness stud- These responses are common not Winston Smith says, “If there is hope, ies. A scholar, lecturer, consultant and only in the culture at large, but also in it lies in the proles,” but the proles are trainer on issues of social and racial our institutions. Can Catholics recog- so ignorant and oppressed that they justice for over 20 years, DiAngelo nize and acknowledge the white fra- have no will to revolt and (Lynskey holds a doctorate in multicultural ed- gility present in the U.S. church—as concedes) “have immense power but ucation from the University of Wash- evidenced by the 40-year interval be- fail to use it.” ington and gave up tenure to lead ra- tween the U.S. bishops’ pastoral let- Despite its faults, this could be a cial education workshops full time. ters against racism? useful introduction to Orwell’s novel. Using anecdotes from her workshops But readers who already know a lot and reflecting on her own racism, Di- Christine E. McCarthy is a visiting about Orwell do not need it. Angelo, who is white, deftly organizes instructor in Catholic social ethics at White Fragility as a practical tool for Marywood University in Scranton, Pa. those willing to take on their own mis- Jeffrey Meyers has published understandings and ignorance of rac- four books on George Orwell. His latest work is Resurrections: ism. Many whites, she notes, engage Authors, Heroes—and a Spy. with a strawman of racism, seeing it as individual actions taken by bad people

40 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 41 CULTURE

Martyrs at the Metropolitan Opera By Leo J. O’Donovan

As the French Revolution reached their names. She saw in Blanche “the tical depth. He began “working like a the peak of its violence during embodiment of the mortal agony of an madman” on it. “I do not go out. I do Robespierre’s Reign of Terror, era going totally to its ruin.” not see anyone. I do not want to think one of its greatest horrors was the In the fraught postwar years, the of anything else,” he wrote in August desecration of the Carmelite Convent legendary French Dominican Ray- of 1953. “I am crazy about my subject, in Compiègne, in northeastern mond-Leopold Bruckberger and the to the point of believing that I have France. Sixteen members of the cinematographer Phillippe Agostini actually known these women.” For Carmelite community were executed developed a film based on the novella his libretto he had the profound text of as “counterrevolutionaries.” They (adding the character of the Cheva- Bernanos’s play, yet the project was im- were 11 nuns, three lay sisters and two lier de la Force, Blanche’s brother). periled by a dispute over rights to the members of the third order. It is said In 1947, they persuaded Georges Ber- text. Poulenc then suffered a nervous that as the sisters were carted to the nanos to write the dialogue. Though breakdown, triggered also by the death guillotine, the surrounding crowd was the film was never realized, the Ber- of his lover, Lucien Roubert, as he was strangely silent—and that the awful nanos text was staged as a play that writing the final pages of the opera. event may indeed have contributed to premiered in Zurich in 1951 and ran Earlier in his career, Poulenc had the end of the Terror. for 300 consecutive performances in been a member of the progressive The story became more widely Paris the following year. French group Les Six and something known when the German writer Ger- Offered a commission to write a of an enfant terrible. But after the vio- trude von le Fort, a brilliant student ballet for La Scala and the Milanese lent death of a friend in 1936 and a vis- of Ernst Troeltsch and a convert to publisher Ricordi, the French com- it to the sanctuary of Rocamadour that Catholicism, drew on a memoir by a poser Francis Poulenc (1889-1963) same year, he turned to a devout faith. survivor of the executions to publish a chose instead Bernanos’ “Dialogues of The score of Carmélites is entirely novella, The Song at the Scaffold. She the Carmelites.” He had seen the play tonal and draws on a wide range of created the character of Blanche de performed in Paris and now read it musical sources—the composer men- la Force, a young aristocrat haunted straight through one afternoon, trans- tions specifically his debts to Mus- by fear, who seeks peace in the con- fixed, in the Piazza Navona in Rome. sorgsky, Monteverdi, Debussy and vent. The author’s sympathy with her He had found the great theme of his Verdi. In many of the opera’s almost creation is evident in the similarity of life: uniting historical event and mys- recitative scenes, the “dialogues,”

42 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 43 Originally written by Georges Bernanos, the “Dialogues of the Carmelites” was turned into an opera by the French composer Francis Poulenc.

Ken Howard/ Metropolitan Opera Metropolitan Howard/ Ken Poulenc reveals his vaunted In the convent workroom, Blanche dons the convent. Madame Lidoine re- facility at setting musical lines meets the young, guileless but deeply turns, and with the nuns arrested and for the human voice. The effect perceptive Sister Constance (sung like sent to the Conciergerie prison, joins is “quintessentially French,” in an angel by Erin Morley), who startles them in the vow of martyrdom. In the the words of the Metropolitan her by saying that they will both die city Mother Marie longs to join them Opera’s new musical director, young and on the same day. as well but is advised by their chaplain, Yannick Nézet-Séguin (whose The act’s final scene, in the infir- now in hiding, that it is God who decides conducting was like music mary, is harrowing. Madame de Crois- who will be a martyr. itself). There are almost no sy is in agony both physical and spir- The final scene, in the Place de arias—but tender evocations of itual. Mother Marie—the imposing, la Révolution, heightens almost un- mood (the tremulous accom- mellifluous Karen Cargill—urges her bearably the simple grandeur of the paniment to Blanche’s first to turn her thoughts to God. Madame whole opera. To insistent procession- appearance), grand declam- de Croissy replies, “God has become al music, the nuns are gathered at atory scenes (for the Second a shadow.” Counseled by her kind the front of stage left and then slowly Prioress) and sublime settings daughter to consider God, the Prior- begin their walk, one by one, past the of some of Catholicism’s best ess fairly barks, “Why should I consid- silent crowd, up the long bar of the known hymns and prayers, the er God? He should consider me.” Her cross, between two soldiers and into Hail Mary and Ave Verum. final humiliation is to be seen in such the backstage darkness where terrible Returning to the Met for the first ultimate distress by Blanche, whom she thuds sound the fall of the guillotine time since 2013, again with John Dex- has called to her bedside. And then the and the death of each of them. Pou- ter’s powerful staging from 1977, with moment of death itself comes violent- lenc has given them a sublime setting its central, raked cross that can be ei- ly. I have heard the part sung by Régine of the Salve Regina to sing. When Sis- ther revealed or concealed by lighting, Crespin and Dame Felicity Palmer—but ter Constance begins her walk as the the opera is in three acts, with four never to such terrifying effect. youngest and last, she suddenly hears scenes in each. (The opera is present- In her death throes Madame de the voice of Blanche, returning to join ed by the Met with only one intermis- Croissy has a vision of the destruction her fellow martyrs. The two young sion, blurring the effect of the “final of the Carmel, and the next two acts women embrace. Constance disap- scene” in each act.) It opens silently move solemnly, inexorably toward pears into the darkness, and so then with prostrate nuns lying on the illu- that horror. As the nuns mourn her, does Blanche, singing the doxology minated cross and moves then to the Constance suggests to Blanche that from the Veni, Creator Spiritus. library of the Marquis de la Force in “we do not die for ourselves alone, but The stage goes immediate- Paris, where we learn of his anxious we die for each other, or probably even ly black, the opera ends, and you daughter’s resolve to enter the Carmel instead of each other. Who knows?” don’t know what to do. Fall to your in Compiègne. (The role is sung by the Madame Lidoine (the soprano Adri- knees? Applaud? Leave as silent- radiant mezzo-soprano Isabel Leon- anne Pieczonka in a thoroughly au- ly as at the end of a Good Friday ard, who looks in her Carmelite habit thoritative performance) is appointed Liturgy? One thing surely: entreat like an Antonello painting). the new prioress. Blanche’s brother the Met to bring this epochal work In the first scene at the Carmel visits the Carmel but fails to convince back sooner than it has in the past. Blanche, asking to take the name Sis- Blanche to flee with him from the ter Blanche of the Agony of Christ, mounting hysteria in the country. is sharply reproved by the aging and In Act III, with Madame Lidoine ab- Leo J. O’Donovan, S.J., is infirm prioress (Madame de Croissy, sent, Mother Marie suggests to her sis- president emeritus of Georgetown the dramatically extraordinary Karita ters that they take a vow of martyrdom University and director of mission Mattila), that the Carmel is not a the- for the sake of France, and, even though at Jesuit Refugee Service/USA. ater of heroism but a place of prayer. the vote for the vow fails, Blanche aban-

42 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 43 THE WORD | FIFTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (C), JULY 14, 2019

Do This and You Will Live Readings: Dt 30:10-14, Ps 69 or 19, Col 1:15-20, Lk 10:25-37

The problem of righteousness perplexed many in Jesus’ day. Righteousness, in its basic sense, means life as God ‘Go and do likewise.’ (Lk 10:37) intended it to be lived. Humanity had somehow lost its way, so God had chosen Israel to be the model for true human life. God gave Israel instructions for full human flourishing PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE in the Torah, a word often translated as “law” but better understood as “instruction” or “teaching.” Following the Whose compassion has revealed divine love to you? Torah’s precepts could be challenging at times, but the result of fidelity was wisdom on earth and eternal life after Whose burden can you help bear? death. “The souls of the righteous are in the hands of God,” the first-century B.C.E. Book of Wisdom says; “Chastised eternal life. a little, they shall be greatly blessed, because God tried This is the background for the question the scholar of them and found them worthy of himself” (Wis 3:1, 5). The the law poses in today’s Gospel reading. Jesus’ first answer prophecy of Daniel imagines a similar fate: “But the wise is entirely conventional; in a similar account from Mark, shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, and the lawyer agrees with Jesus on all points (Mk 12:28-34). those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars In Luke’s Gospel, however, this interaction occurs on the forever” (Dn 12:3). journey to Jerusalem, which is a time of confrontation and The words of the Torah, however divine their origin, also of deeper, more intensive teaching. Jesus responds to came from an era in Israel’s history very much unlike the the man’s challenge with his own instruction on human one in which Jesus lived. The family farms, small towns righteousness. and national unity that the Torah describes had given way Compassion is the solution to the problem of righ- to imperial systems of plantation agriculture, urbanization teousness. In any given situation, God desires us to bear and ethnic diversity. These disruptions made it difficult each other’s burdens with the same extravagance shown to live out God’s instructions and caused no little anxiety by the good Samaritan. Jesus’ own compassion should also among those who wished to do so. God’s answers no longer not be overlooked. Samaritans had recently driven him directly addressed the questions that Israel faced. from town (Lk 9:51-56), but now he holds up a Samaritan as Creative thinkers solved this problem in two ways. the supreme example of righteousness. His own teaching First, they used ancient ideas to address the new situa- models the compassion he demands of his followers. tions in which they lived. Such solutions were sometimes The world burdens everyone, and grace will draw our also acts of resistance. Rigorous application of ritual puri- attention to many who have collapsed. To follow Christ ty laws, for example, helped preserve Jewish identity from means to lift up our brothers and sisters with an extrava- foreign corrosion and protected many individuals from the gance like the good Samaritan’s and an evenhanded com- demands of foreign overlords, who generally respected lo- passion like Jesus’ own. Thus will Our Lord’s disciples join cal customs. him in eternal life. Another solution was to seek out the deeper meaning Subscribe to “The Word” podcast at of the Torah, the one divine insight that tied it all together. www.americamagazine.org/podcasts. If a single principle of righteousness unified all God’s instructions, then one need only apply it consistently to find

44 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 45 THE WORD | SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (C), JULY 21, 2019

A New Awareness Readings: Gn 18:1-10, Ps 15, Col 1:24-28, Lk 10:38-42

Every good work contains the possibility of an encounter der the desert sun—had announced her pregnancy. Sar- with God. This Sunday’s first reading and Gospel both ah knew what it took to bear a child, and that knowledge illustrate this. closed her mind to the possibility. But Abraham believed In Abraham’s time, visitors were relatively rare, and and suddenly recognized that his mysterious guest was their arrival could be a cause of anxiety for all parties. A pow- more than he had first presumed. erful individual could enslave an unprotected wanderer; an By performing the good work of hospitality, Abraham unscrupulous traveler could plunder an unsuspecting host. glimpsed the face of God. The encounter was unexpected, To control the encounter, ancient cultures turned hospital- but Abraham had the presence of mind to recognize that ity into a highly ritualized affair. Following these rituals al- something new was happening. He could thus recognize lowed both host and guest to demonstrate their good inten- the grace that resulted from the encounter—a deeper relations and to part ways enriched by the encounter. tionship with God, a covenant, a family, a long-awaited heir. Poverty was no barrier to exchange. Abraham’s culture The good work, though certainly laudable on its own, was likely resembled later Near Eastern civilizations, in which only a matrix for a divine encounter. poor guests were welcome if they were good storytell- Although Mary and Martha live in a settled, agrarian ers, if they offered blessings or wisdom or the promise of culture nearly 2,000 years after Abraham and Sarah, they some future gift. Toward this end, Abraham’s guest offers a are clearly heirs to similar traditions of hospitality. Luke, in prophecy, assuring his host that he will return in a year to an effort to teach his community discernment, focuses on find Abraham with a newborn son. the negative example of Martha’s “busy-ness.” This might Who would blame Sarah for her laughter? A man rich distract our attention from Mary’s work of hospitality, only in words—who had spent the morning wandering un- which took the form of sitting with and listening to Jesus. Through that effort, she engaged with the word of God. Who could blame Martha for her frustration? Mary’s She had a sister named way of hospitality was unusual in the ancient world, as many commentators note—so rare, in fact, that Martha Mary, who sat beside the might not even have seen in the situation an opportunity to listen to Jesus. She was aware only of the good and nec- Lord at his feet listening to essary work a guest required. That very work kept her from recognizing the divine presence she was hosting. him speak. (Lk 10:39) A life of discipleship often includes much knowledge and much action. The content of the faith can take a lifetime to learn, and there is much to do once one commits to the PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE path. We must never forget that the learning, the worship, the works of charity and service, praiseworthy though they How have your good works attuned you to God’s might be, are themselves only windows that open onto God’s presence? presence and allow us to encounter his living word anew.

How have your good works helped you hear the Michael Simone, S.J., teaches Scripture at Boston College good news? School of Theology and Ministry.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

44 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JULY 8, 2019 AMERICA | 45 LAST TAKE The Duty of Solidarity We need a new narrative of migration By Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager

In my many years of service to the narrative of migration. the Mediterranean Sea?) The odious Sovereign Order of Malta, currently as If we want to manage the global human trafficking trade is prompted grand chancellor, I have come across and irreversible phenomenon of mi- by poverty and desperation, and mi- countless moving stories. A nurse gration in a sustainable way, the U.N. grants—often minors, often young working for our Italian Relief Corps Global Compact on Refugees is the women—are the foremost victims of a once turned to me in tears and told most effective instrument we have. phenomenon involving over 24 million me about the impossible dilemma No country can act by itself to manage people worldwide. Militarizing borders she faced during a rescue mission: In migration effectively. We believe that will only lead to a militarization of the front of her were at least four people we should minimize the adverse driv- traffickers who seek even more perilous drowning in the Mediterranean Sea, ers and structural factors that compel routes on which to smuggle people. and she knew immediately she could people to leave their country of origin. In our long experience in inte- only save one. Disaster risk reduction and recon- gration projects for migrants in Eu- Migration involves loss. People struction, for example, are integral ropean countries, we have found that who migrate leave behind families, parts of the projects of our worldwide treating people with respect and dig- homes and traditions. There are many humanitarian relief agency. nity will only fuel positive responses. push-and-pull factors that have led We provide socio-medical assis- On the other hand, marginalization 3.4 percent of the global population to tance to persons in need, regardless and discrimination will lead to hostili- move as of 2017 (with a total of 258 of their nationality, ethnicity or re- ty and resentment. We must keep this million international migrants), from ligion. We also support a welcoming in mind when dealing with migration natural disasters caused by climate environment, fostering access to ser- flows if we want to safeguard our com- change to political unrest, wars, human vices like education and health care to munities and prevent the formation of rights violations and limited economic help migrants integrate into their new radicalized cells. opportunities. The world is witnessing communities, taking into consider- Most of all, it is our soul that cries an unprecedented prolongation of doz- ation cultural, linguistic, social and out for pity and compassion. Likewise, it ens of armed conflicts, a dire scenario psychological elements, including will be the souls of our nations, the soul that Pope Francis aptly describes as “a values and traditions. The Order of of Europe, which was built on principles third world war fought piecemeal.” Malta’s diplomatic relations with 108 of peace and coexistence, that will be Any humanitarian action to states is an essential asset in ensuring damaged if we do not urgently replace confront the migration crisis will the effectiveness of our humanitarian the hate-driven narrative of migration be met with great difficulties, and as actions. We believe that international with a more humane perspective based one of the oldest Catholic institutions cooperation and global partnerships on morality and brotherhood. in the world, it is the Order of Mal- for safe, orderly and regular migration ta’s moral responsibility to find new must be strengthened. approaches and methods to respond There are many other logical more effectively to this crisis. It is also reasons to argue against policies in- Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager was admitted to the Sovereign our duty to bring the principles of hu- volving raised walls and sealed bor- Order of Malta in 1976. He was manity and solidarity back into the ders. (How can you possibly seal off elected grand chancellor in 2014.

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