THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC WEEKLY MARCH 26, 2012 $3.50 OF MANY THINGS s Rick Santorum right about John scientist William Galston quoted PUBLISHED BY JESUITS OF THE UNITED STATES F. Kennedy? Arthur Schlesinger: “Kennedy’s religion The Republican presidential was humane rather than doctrinal. He I PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER candidate was widely criticized for his was a Catholic as Franklin Roosevelt JOHN P. S CHLEGEL , S.J. unscripted remark that after reading was an Episcopalian....” Kennedy was Kennedy’s famous 1960 speech on reli - not publicly Catholic in the way EDITOR IN CHIEF gion and politics, he “almost threw up.” Santorum is publicly Catholic. In fact, Drew Christiansen, S.J. Santorum objected to what he took to in his public approach to his faith, EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT be Kennedy’s argument that religion is Kennedy is closer to Mitt Romney than MANAGING EDITOR a private matter and should not influ - any contemporary Catholic politician. Robert C. Collins, S.J. ence political decisions. Galston argued that Kennedy was in EDITORIAL DIRECTOR For many in the media, Kennedy’s favor of a kind of “triple separation.” Karen Sue Smith stand on church and state has become, The first separation, between church ONLINE EDITOR well, an article of faith. The New York and state, is largely uncontroversial Maurice Timothy Reidy Times called Santorum’s response to today, though it is often conflated with LITERARY EDITOR Kennedy’s “remarkable” speech to the the second—between religion and poli - Raymond A. Schroth, S.J. Houston Ministerial Association “one tics. The third separation concerned POETRY EDITOR of the lowest points of modern day democracy and God. James S. Torrens, S.J. electoral politics.” Was Kennedy arguing that religion ASSOCIATE EDITORS Yet there was one man who knew had no place in the public sphere? Kevin Clarke that Kennedy’s thoughts on religion and Kennedy called his faith a “private Kerry Weber politics would be controversial, and in affair” and said it did not influence his CONTRIBUTING EDITOR fact, could cause gastro-intestinal dis - public views. “There is no indication James Martin, S.J. tress. That man was Kennedy himself. that JFK regarded the church as having ART DIRECTOR “It is hard for a Harvard man to any rightful authority over his public Stephanie Ratcliffe answer questions on theology,” Kennedy conduct,” Galston said. ASSISTANT EDITOR quipped following a controversial 1959 Another panelist, the ethicist Shaun Francis W. Turnbull, S.J. interview with Look magazine. “I imag - Casey, found a clearer connection BUSINESS DEPARTMENT ine my answers will cause heartburn at between Kennedy’s faith and his public CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Fordham and B.C.” office. Casey cited the question and Lisa Pope In that interview, Kennedy sought to answer session following the Houston distance his role as a public servant talk. “The exchanges there…helped 106 West 56th Street from his private identity as a Catholic. knock down the argument that some - New York, NY 10019-3803 His speech drew sharp criticism, and as how Kennedy was declaring his Ph: 212-581-4640; Fax: 212-399-3596 a result he was better prepared for his Catholicism to be purely private, and E-mail: [email protected]; September 1960 speech in Houston. hence irrelevant,” Casey said. Kennedy [email protected] Commonweal’s John Cogley and John mentioned more than once that his Web site: www.americamagazine.org. Courtney Murray, S.J., tutored him views represented “the great majority of Customer Service: 1-800-627-9533 before the talk. American Catholics.” © 2012 America Press, Inc. The legacy and content of the So 50 years later ambiguity persists. Houston speech is still pored over in Santorum’s remarks, though crude, Catholic circles, notably at a sympo - were a visceral display of a debate that sium at Fordham University in 2008 in remains unsettled. At the Fordham advance of the 50th anniversary of the gathering, the Rev. J. Bryan Hehir speech. A review of the transcript of explained why, on the question of reli - that event reveals why Kennedy’s gion and politics, a delicate hand is remarks generate strong responses from required: “Religion has a place in the readers like Senator Santorum. larger political argument, but it is not Part of what rankles Kennedy’s crit - the totality of the argument, and how ics, surely, is what appears to be a less you define it and articulate it then than enthusiastic embrace of the becomes crucial.” Catholic faith. At Fordham, the social MAURICE TIMOTHY REIDY Cover: Shutterstock.com/nmedia CONTENTS www.americamagazine.org Vol. 206 No. 10, WHole No. 4966 MARCH 26, 2012

ARTICLES 13 CLIMATE FOR CHANGE What the church can do about global warming Elizabeth Groppe

17 ENGAGING THE SPIRITUALS The secular challenge to the New Evangelization Drew Christiansen

COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS 4 Current Comment 13 5 Editorial Democracy and Stability 6 Signs of the Times

9 Column Time to Cool Down Thomas Massaro 29 Letters

31 The Word Darkness and Faith Peter Feldmeier

BOOKS & CULTURE 17 21 NEW MEDIA Praying in the Internet age BOOKS Thornton Wilder and Amos Wilder; Secularism and Freedom of Conscience

ON THE WEB ON THE WEB A podcast remembering the Christian Pakistani minister Shahbaz Bhatti , right, one year after his murder. Plus, Rev. Terrance W. Klein reviews the TV show “Smash” and addi - tional video reflections for Lent . All at americamagazine.org. 21 CURRENT COMMENT

tives…) earn less than male plumbers (nurses, execu - Government’s Task tives…). The dollar difference often stings. A comparison In our March 5 editorial “Policy, Not Liberty,” we comment - of the 2010 median earnings of workers in full-time man - ed on the objections of the U.S. Conference of Catholic agement, professional and related occupations shows that Bishops to President Obama’s accommodation on the health the men received $1,256 a week, the women $923. Over a insurance mandate. We identified, by way of example, “the year, the women got $17,316 less. Women, it is often needs of self-insured institutions” as an obvious problem explained, (1) experience more career “interruptions” than needing correction. In the weeks since that editorial men do—time off for pregnancies and child/elder care, (2) appeared, the bishops have raised anew serious issues that work part time more often, (3) cluster in low-paying jobs need attention. A key issue, which we regret we failed to and (4) have fewer mentors. Prejudice is seldom noted as identify in that editorial, is the narrowness of the underlying an obstacle in the hiring, pay and promotion of women. Department of Health and Human Services regulation Wage parity requires changed attitudes and policies. maintaining a limited definition of religious institutions, a Women ought not be penalized for giving birth or provid - formula to which the bishops, as well as America in an ear - ing care. Uniform family care policies could equalize the lier editorial (“Taking Liberties,” 2/15), objected. load for men and women. And mentoring both male and This is not an issue for the United States alone. female workers would help. Justice is always the best way Archbishop Silvio Tomasi, representing the Holy See, to achieve equal opportunity. observed when speaking to the U.N. Human Rights Council on March 1 on the issue of religious liberty world - Televangelism wide: “The task of government is not to define For thoughtful conversation about religion, television is often religion...but to confer upon faith communities a juridical the last place to look. Discussions about religious topics often personality so they can function peacefully within a legal devolve into debates between two extremes or, worse, into framework.” The church cannot function peacefully in the shouting matches. But once in a while television reveals its United States under the current regulatory framework. potential as an important tool for the New Evangelization. The existing regulation demands reworking. Two recent appearances made Catholics watch, and There are conflicting reports about how seriously the watch carefully. M. Cathleen Kaveny, a professor of law two sides are engaged with one another at this time. We and theology at Notre Dame, appeared on “The Daily hope that in the weeks ahead, as the bishops and the Show With Jon Stewart,” to explicate issues surrounding administration attempt to resolve their differences over the the bishops’ opposition to insurance companies covering H.H.S. mandate, the legal definition of religious institu - contraception in employee health plans. Professor Kaveny tions will take a top priority. We trust that, with good faith patiently and clearly explained the role of the bishops as efforts, this potentially explosive issue will be defused, and teachers, pointed out the wide scope of the church’s social we support the bishops in that effort. teaching and even touched upon some of the more subtle topics in moral theology, like “cooperation with evil.” At the Women at Work close of the interview, she summed up why she stays in the It is particularly worth noting now, during Women’s church: “Because every human being matters.” History Month, that the sluggish U.S. economy has led A few days later, Diarmuid Martin, the archbishop of many young women to pursue higher education. In fact, in Dublin, was interviewed on “60 Minutes” about sexual 2010 and 2011 the number of women between the ages of abuse in Ireland, which the archbishop has worked tireless - 18 and 24 in college or university rose by 130,000, com - ly to combat. Toward the end of the segment, the archbish - pared with just 53,000 for men that age. Will a record op told of hearing of the rape (the right word) of an 8- number of college-educated women finally close the male- year-old boy by a priest. To get a sense of the age of the female pay gap? child, he visited a nearby Catholic school and asked to see Wage parity has proved an elusive goal, even though the the 8-year-old students. As Archbishop Martin recalled education gap between men and women has shrunk seeing their youthful innocence, he wept. It was an open, markedly since President John F. Kennedy signed the honest and welcome picture of a compassionate man trying Equal Pay Act in 1963. That year women earned 59 cents to address sin. Both Professor Kaveny and Archbishop for every dollar men earned. Pay gaps by gender still char - Martin brought the Gospel into people’s living rooms by acterize all occupations; female plumbers (nurses, execu - saying yes when the television producer called.

4 America March 26, 2012 EDITORIAL Democracy and Stability ladimir Putin has been re-elected to the Russian 2011 elections. Morocco’s King presidency. While there were irregularities in the Mohammed VI instituted limited V election, support from the vast Russian hinter - democratic reforms by royal decree, land would have delivered “the strongman” an outright vic - and they were approved by popular tory in any case. The country is enjoying unprecedented referendum last July. prosperity, and it remembers too well the chaos of the Compared with Russia, Egypt and Syria, Tunisia and Yeltsin years and the pains of moving “cold turkey” from Morocco are small, more compact countries with fewer communism to the free market only to see the oligarchs political crosscurrents, which makes it easier for them to steal state enterprises and natural resources for their per - achieve political consensus. In addition, the legitimacy of sonal enrichment. The people chose Putin and stability over the transition seems to ease the move to democracy. For more decisive democratic change. years, the oppressed Renaissance Party was the opposition After a year of uprising and harsh repression, the Syrian in exile with broad internal support. In Morocco King opposition has not yet drawn large parts of the country to Mohammed’s standing, as well as his agile efforts to get join its protests against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad. ahead of the Arab Spring, gave the transition some legiti - For the business class, Assad’s liberalization has been a boon. macy. Elsewhere the move to democracy will go more slow - For minorities like the Alawites and Christians, Assad’s rule ly and face more difficulties. represents protection from religious oppression. The Arab The arrest and trial of American activists in Egypt Spring has not flourished in Syria in part, at least, because illustrate how U.S. efforts to promote democracy are facing stability serves the interests of many and the outlook for any setbacks. Democracy and human rights activists, as well as other future in Syria is unclear, or even worse, chaotic. foreign nongovernmental organizations, need to fall back For generations, liberal internationalists criticized and reassess their vulnerabilities and their untried opportu - U.S. foreign policy for favoring stability over democracy. nities. New ways need to be found to link promoters of Over time that changed in democracy’s favor: in Latin democracy to local activists. Education, broadly speaking, America and East Asia, and following the collapse of the provides a proven way to promote change. Post-9/11 immi - Soviet Union in Eastern Europe. The National Endowment gration barriers have made it difficult for students to pursue for Democracy, a federally funded agency that is part of the higher education in the United States. Educators should State Department, and other nongovernmental organiza - work with the Department of Homeland Security to make tions associated with the two major U.S. political parties the United States once again the favored destination of for - played an important role in transitions in Ukraine, Georgia, eign students. Cultural exchanges should also be expanded. Slovakia, Serbia and elsewhere. To that end, the Office of Public Diplomacy and Public President Obama’s speech to the Muslim world in Affairs, formerly the U.S. Information Agency, ought to be Cairo in 2009 and his selective support for the Arab Spring cut free from the restraints of the State Department’s short- seem to have extended that policy still further. The admin - term agenda and allowed to build up, over the long term, istration also seems for now to have defused a dispute over knowledge of the United States at the grass-roots level the arrest and trial of U.S. democracy workers in Egypt. But among foreign populations. presented with the opportunity to bring popular democrat - Trade is also vital to the democratic agenda. China ic movements to power, citizens in a number of countries, has proven that free trade does not always lead to democra - like Russia, now seem to be opting for stability. Outsiders cy, and Russia shows how strong government can distort should not complain too loudly when insiders, who have business development. But in many cases, improved known suffering, choose the status quo. They also have the economies will give countries in transition greater opportu - most to lose when a political transition results in years of nity for political change. The development of an indepen - disorder followed by renewed oppression. dent business sector can create domestic leverage for change. There are some counterexamples, of course. Tunisia, Increased trade and professional exchanges also stimulate the birthplace of the Arab Spring, has made the smoothest familiarity among countries, leading to greater openness to transition to democracy, with the moderate Muslim experiment. Stability does not have to be the enemy of Renaissance (Ennahda) Party winning a plurality in the democracy. It can sometimes be its friend.

March 26, 2012 America 5 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

SYRIA CRISIS A Syrian boy and other refugees who fled violence in Syria find temporary shelter in a Caritas Lebanon Shelters school in the Wadi Khaled area of northern Families Fleeing Violence Lebanon on March 7. ven as former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan rushed to Damascus to meet Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad on March 10 Ein a futile effort to achieve a ceasefire, church aid workers were scrambling to find housing for hundreds of Syrian refugees fleeing the increasing violence. About 200 families made their way to the border town of Qaa in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon on March 5 and were strug - gling in the region’s near-freezing temperatures. The Rev. Simon Faddoul, president of Caritas Lebanon, said that “women and children and the elderly are coming out in the cold with noth - ing but the clothes on their backs.” The United Nations reported that as many as 2,000 Syrians crossed into Lebanon on March 5 and 6 to escape violence that has claimed hundreds of lives as President al-Assad continues a brutal crackdown on resistance to his regime. Father Faddoul said most of the refugees arrived on foot from areas near the besieged city of Homs. “They are leaving the young men behind in Syria to guard their houses” from attack, Father Faddoul said. “These are people fleeing from war, their homes under bombardment.” Before the lat - est surge, about 100 families had fled to Lebanon and were receiving assis - tance from Caritas, the priest said. Father Faddoul estimated that about 40 of the newly arrived families were Christian; the rest were Muslim. East Welfare Association, said his Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, should “This has nothing to do with reli - agency was monitoring the situation of the already tense situation grow worse. gion. Whenever there is suffering, we Christians in Syria. “Right now,” he “Our offices in Jordan and Beirut are have to be there with them and to help said, “there are thousands of people expecting the worst if the country goes them,” he said. Father Faddoul said the who are displaced. Among them are into wide civil war or the Assad gov - availability of adequate housing in the Christians, but that has been because ernment falls,” he said. poverty-stricken town of Qaa is limit - of the conflict, not because of direct ed. About 35 refugees are currently attacks on them.” Many fear that as the crammed into small rooms, but uprising among Syria’s primarily Caritas is collaborating with municipal Sunni majority persists, minority A CHANGING CHURCH officials to locate homes that three or groups, like the politically powerful four families could share. Alawites and the nation’s Christian Reaching Across Caritas Lebanon has had a regular communities, could become targets for Generational presence in the Bekaa Valley, coordi - sectarian reprisals. nating programs in agriculture to “Christians are stuck between a Divides address the region’s poverty. “Now we rock and a hard place,” Hetu said. he adult face of the Catholic have so many [new] concerns—how to “They cannot show approval of the Church in the United States find shelters, especially if the situation Assad government, but they have to be Thas changed markedly over [in Syria] drags on,” Faddoul said. “We careful, because they can’t be seen to be the last 25 years. Demographic data hope the situation doesn’t deteriorate supporting the rebels, either.” show the U.S. church is younger and further,” he added. Mr. Hetu said his agency was more ethnically diverse, though In Ottawa, Ontario, Carl Hetu, preparing for a possible massive influx increasingly Latino. “That the national director of the Catholic Near of Syrian refugees to neighboring Catholic Church crosses all lines of

6 America March 26, 2012 the church’s tectonic shift. In 1987 the Campaign for Human Development, two oldest generations, known as pre- spoke of the young being threatened by Vatican II (born before 1941) and a “consumerist” understanding of com - Vatican II (born between 1941 and munion. “We see the church as a prod - 1960), made up more than three- uct or service that we can select to ‘pur - quarters of Catholics. By 2011, those chase,’ use and discard at will,” he said. generations had shrunk to 43 percent. Members of the post-Vatican II The current majority (at 57 percent), cohort spoke of a “middle child” syn - according to data gathered in the drome. “There is a lot of attention American Catholic Laity Survey, is given to the millennials for their new made up of the two youngest adult energy and needs,” said Kevin Ahern, a groups: the Post-Vatican II generation doctoral candidate in theological (born between 1961 and 1978) and ethics at Boston College. “There is also the millennial generation (born still a lot of attention on the Vatican II between 1979 and 1987). generation, who lead the church now. Reviewing the data, Sister Johnson But what about those of us in suggested that within the church there between?” remain fertile possibilities for cross- Members of the pre-Vatican II generational ministry, prayer, service group wanted to know from the oth - and decision-making. She also said ers: What is your dream for the that the geographical migration of church? What are you willing to do to some Catholics away from the see it through, and how can we help? Northeast and upper Midwest to the That offer appeared to draw the gener - South and West explains why parish - ations in the room closer together. es and schools are being closed and “The energy of the young, together gender, race, social class and genera - merged in the former areas and newly with the wisdom of the older leaders, tion is a gift, a strength,” said Mary built in the latter two regions. That could really vitalize a lot of our Johnson, a Sister of Notre Dame de migration also contributes to “regional exhausted church leaders and pro - Namur and professor of sociology and differences in optimism and despair,” grams,” said Dee Bernhardt, a pastoral religious studies at Emmanuel College said Sister Johnson. associate and director of campus min - in Boston. Some conference attendees noted istry for St. Augustine University “Do church organizations reflect that structures to foster the cross-gen - Parish in Platteville, Wis. these demographic changes?” Sister erational church are not Johnson asked during her keynote yet in place and worried address at the Catholic Common that the generations do Ground Initiative’s annual Bernardin not have enough Conference, titled “Ecclesial opportunities to get to Communion in Light of Generational know each other. Diversity.” Sister Johnson was speaking Younger members to an ethnically diverse mix of student expressed a yearning to leaders, professors, theologians and be mentored and “to other professionals, mostly under age share the podium” of 50, an audience that indeed reflected leadership, rather than some of these changes. The event was being relegated merely held this year on March 2 to 4 at to youth activities. Mundelein Seminary near Chicago. Dylan Corbett, a The face of the church is younger and more ethnically diverse. Mico Gorres, 14, left, and Brenna Zsebedics, Sister Johnson presented new millennial who works 16, belong to a youth group at St. Martin of Tours demographic findings that illustrate for the U.S. bishops’ Church in Gaithersburg, Md.

March 26, 2012 America 7 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Mandate Standoff? In a strongly worded letter to his fel - NEWS BRIEFS low bishops, released on March 2, On March 5 St. Francis Xavier Church in Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New Henryville, Ind., became the main aid center York charged that White House offi - for local victims of a devastating chain of tor - cials failed to consider the U.S. bish - nadoes that left 39 dead in five states. • After ops’ concerns that the federal mandate 22 years of service to the Maryknoll Society, governing employer coverage of con - Marie Dennis resigned in January to devote traception and sterilization violated herself to Pax Christi International, which she Indiana storm response principles of religious freedom. An serves as co-president. • Legalization of same- invitation from the White House to sex marriage could obscure the “real meaning” of marriage for gen - “work out the wrinkles” regarding the erations to come, the bishops of England and Wales told parish - mandate failed to reach an agreement, ioners in a letter read at Masses on the weekend of March 11. • Vice and the effort “seems to be stalled,” he President Joe Biden prayed at the Basilica of Our Lady of said. Cardinal Dolan, president of the Guadalupe in Mexico City on March 5, remembering how his moth - U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, er “impressed upon her children, grandchildren and great-grandchil - complained that during a recent meet - dren that they must seek the intercession of the Blessed Mother.” ing with White House officials, • Catholics have a duty to bring faith-inspired convictions to poli - U.S.C.C.B. staff members were told tics and can never allow politics to trump principles articulated by that “broader concerns of religious the bishops, said Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York during a freedom” are “off the table.” A White speech on March 3. • The Vatican’s official Web site suffered an House source denied that appraisal attack by the computer hacker coalition “Anonymous,” which cut off and complained that some bishops access by users for several hours on March 7. and U.S.C.C.B. staff members seemed more “interested in the politics of this thing” than in a negotiated end to the standoff. and families who struggle to live in dig - March 1, “Approximately 70 percent nity in difficult economic times,” they of the world’s population lives in U.S. Budget Priorities added. “The moral measure of this countries with high restrictions on budget debate is not which party wins religious beliefs and practices, and In a letter to Congress on March 6, or which powerful interests prevail,” religious minorities pay the highest Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton, they wrote, “but rather how those who price.” He added that rising restric - Calif., and Bishop Richard Pates of are jobless, hungry, homeless or poor tions on religion affect more than 2.2 Des Moines, Iowa, supported moves to are treated. Their voices are too often billion people. Archbishop Tomasi strengthen programs that help the missing in these debates, but they have denounced “intolerance that leads to poor and vulnerable at home and the most compelling moral claim on violence and to the killing of many abroad. The two U.S. bishops, who our consciences and our common innocent people...simply because of lead the justice and peace efforts of the resources.” their religious convictions.” The inter - U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, national community must work, he advised Congress to base federal bud - said, “to sustain mutual tolerance and get decisions on whether they protect Attacks on Christians respect of human rights and a greater human life and dignity, whether they Archbishop Silvio M. Tomasi, the equality among citizens of different put the needs of the hungry, the home - Holy See’s permanent observer to religions...to achieve a healthy democ - less and the unemployed first and U.N. offices in Geneva, told the U.N. racy, where the public role of religion whether they reflect the shared Human Rights Council that attacks and the distinction between religious responsibility of government and on Christians in Africa, the Middle and temporal spheres are recognized.” other institutions to promote the com - East and Asia more than tripled mon good of all. Especially “workers between 2003 and 2010. He said on From CNS and other sources.

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AllAll over the world, brave U.S. Airmen defend our country. CatholicCa Air Force chaplains support them wherever they go, pprovidingro Airmen religious observance, pastoral care and aadvicedv to leadership. Are you called to serve in this unique mimministry? Visit us on the web to learn more about becoming a cchaplainha in the United States Air Force Chaplain Corps. THOMAS MASSARO

Time to Cool Down lympia Snowe, explaining her wrong path. I am addressing not the harsh rhetoric? Because members of decision last month to retire outcome of the policy debate, but the our religious community who might Ofrom the Senate, cited politi - regrettable style of our recent engage - seem like fierce opponents today are cal “polarization and ‘my way or the ment of this issue. going to be with us long after the flame highway’ ideologies” as prominent rea - One option would be to keep ratch - of today’s controversy eventually set - sons for her departure. After 33 years eting up the inflammatory rhetoric. tles down. Whatever policy outcomes in Washington, Snowe, a Republican Portray those with divergent opinions unfold this year or next or further from Maine, found herself one of the as insolent enemies who must be down the line, those of us lucky few moderates left in Congress. Her defeated in a pitched battle. Take no enough to be given a longer span of life laudable pragmatic streak had been prisoners; make no concessions. We by our Creator will find ourselves frustrated far too often by the hyper- were on this path already before Rush sharing the Eucharist (and much else) partisanship that glows white hot Limbaugh used his broad - with thousands of those these days, from the halls of Congress cast on Feb. 29 to attack We must with whom we are not to church life. Sandra Fluke, a currently seeing eye to Something inside me envies Georgetown University law trade the eye. Should our future Senator Snowe. Her retirement student and vocal supporter culture sharing of the bread of affords her an honorable exit strategy of broader contraception salvation be compro - to escape an overheated situation. The coverage, in the most scur - warrior mised by our current Catholic community in the United rilous of ways. By then, the failure to share a mod - States enjoys no such luxury. The con - echo chamber of vitupera - agenda for icum of civility? Let us troversy stemming from new regula - tion was in full operation. one of not give such power to tions that mandate contraception cov - Bloviating media pundits present disagreements erage for employees even of religiously are the most obvious diplomacy. that it will be impossi - affiliated institutions appears bottom - offenders, but my unscien - ble to forge a decent less. You need not have scrolled tific sampling of Web posts reveals modus vivendi afterward. through blogs, trolled Web sites and lamentable excess coming from all This advice may strike some as digested media coverage as much as I points of the political compass and all indulging in an overly milquetoast have in recent weeks to know the bitter segments of the Catholic community. approach to important issues that resist landscape. Tempers have flared and A superior option would be to compromise. There are many matters angry words have been exchanged, tar - trade the culture warrior agenda for of conscience for which a hard struggle geted at those with variant opinions, one of diplomacy. Turn away from is justified. But to advocate civility in questioning their good will, their pru - invectives, jeremiads, hyperbole and discourse is not to urge capitulation. dence, even their intelligence. hurtful name-calling. De-escalate the Regrettably, election years like this I have no novel opinion or particu - overblown rhetoric that paints oppo - one have usually shed more heat than lar expertise to share on the divisive nents with the brush of idiocy, poor light on complex church-state issues. topic of whether Catholic institutions judgment or willful deception. The 2012 campaign trail is proving should accept the Obama administra - Exercise the kind of magnanimity that once again to be a crucible of inflam - tion’s compromise on conscience refuses to demonize anyone. Invite matory rhetoric and repeated appeals clause provisions. I wish simply to others into civil conversations that to our fears about religion in public relate my fear that we as a religious emphasize mutual respect and a will - life, not of nuanced analysis. When community are choosing to walk the ingness to listen, even when that religion becomes a wedge issue, we proves uncomfortable. have all lost. Maybe Senator Snow was Why is the path of civility and fair- wise to look for the nearest exit. I hope THOMAS MASSARO, S.J., teaches social ethics at the Boston College School of Theology minded patience better? Why is it that Catholics still have a chance to and Ministry, Chestnut Hill, Mass. imperative that we tone down the cool down the rhetoric.

10 America March 26, 2012 March 26, 2012 America 11 Dead fish pile up in Taal Lake, Batangas Province, Philippines, in May 2011. The cause of death was a sudden change in the climate.

12 America March 26, 2012 WHAT THE CHURCH CAN DO ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING Climate For Change

BY ELIZABETH GROPPE

e are here in Panama,” said Naderev Sano, “to tell the world that climate change is a matter of life and death for the Philippines.” Mr. Sano, a member of the Climate Change Commission of the Philippines, was speaking at an October 2011 meeting in Panama City ‘inW preparation for the U.N. conference on climate change that convened in Durban, South Africa, the following month. “Millions of Filipinos are already suffering, yet we are only seeing initial cli - mate change impacts,” Mr. Sano said. “Progress must be made in the climate treaty negotiations.” An archipelago of more than 7,000 islands, the Philippines is regularly battered by typhoons that many believe are growing in intensity because of climate change. A December storm, Typhoon Washi, left more than 1,200 dead and thousands homeless. Although Catholics may not think of climate stabilization as a pro-life issue, it is increasingly clear that protecting the sanctity of life entails not only working to end abortion and the death penalty but also acting to conserve the earth’s cli - mate and biosphere. The world’s most prestigious scientific bodies are in agree - ment that global warming is caused primarily by human beings and that its effects on our environment and economy will be far-reaching. In the short term, climate change will bring an increase in extreme weather events that threaten human populations and agricultural production. In the long term, it may be that the very viability of human civilization is at stake. The climate is changing because of the greenhouse effect: heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere retain the emitted heat radiation reflected when the sun’s rays

o touch the earth’s surface. Were it not for some level of atmospheric greenhouse R t S

A gases, the planet would be too cold to support life as we know it. But our burn - C e d k i R e / S

R ELIZABETH GROPPE is associate professor of theology at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. e t

U DANIEL R. DILEO, e a graduate student in the M.T.S. program R

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o at Boston College, also contributed to this article. t o H p

March 26, 2012 America 13 ing of fossil fuels, our razing of forests and our agricultural feet. At just three feet, half of the rice fields in Bangladesh practices have elevated the atmospheric concentrations of would be submerged. Portions of major coastal cities includ - the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous ing New Orleans, Tampa and Miami would be inundated. oxide. Prior to the industrial revolution, atmospheric carbon Ocean decline. The oceans absorb more than a quarter of dioxide was 280 parts per million. Today it is 391 ppm and the carbon we emit through the combustion of fossil fuels; rising by about two ppm each year. Between 1900 and 2009 they thus become more acidic. This contributes to the the global average surface temperature rose 1.3 degrees decline of the coral reefs that provide habitat for a diverse Fahrenheit. array of sea creatures, including fish that are a source of pro - This increase may appear negligible. But the global cli - tein for nearly one billion people. The warming of ocean mate is a complex reality. A small change in average temper - waters has also been linked to a decline in the population of ature has ripple effects phytoplankton. These on ocean currents, pre - microscopic creatures cipitation patterns and produce oxygen, other climate systems. A A small temperature rise is remove carbon dioxide small temperature rise is from the atmosphere already destabilizing the already destabilizing the energy and form the base of energy balance of the cli - the entire marine food mate and spawning balance of the climate and web. changes adverse to spawning changes adverse to Extreme weather human beings and other events. There has been species. human beings and other a marked increase in The effects of climate floods, droughts and change can be seen in species. other extreme weather many areas, including events related to cli - the following: mate change. The Agriculture. Plants are increase in the intensi - very sensitive to changes in temperature and precipitation ty and duration of hurricanes, for example, has been corre - patterns. Between 1980 and 2008, rising temperatures lated with rising sea surface temperature by Kerry Emanuel, reduced total global wheat production by 5.5 percent. of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. According to a study published by the U.S. National Mass extinctions. Species already suffering from habitat Academy of Sciences, every 1.8 degree Fahrenheit rise in loss in a world dominated by humanity may not be able to average temperature will reduce the global yields of wheat, adapt to a rapidly changing climate. A report published in rice and corn by an additional 10 percent. Some regions will Nature in 2004 concluded that a climate warming in the be affected more severely than others. Rajendra Pachauri, mid-range of current projections will by the year 2050 lead chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate to the extinction of 15 percent to 37 percent of the species Change, projects that as early as 2020 grain yields in some examined in the study. Biodiversity is essential to ecosystem African countries could be reduced by half. resilience. And as St. Thomas Aquinas noted, the rich Water. Around the world, sources of the fresh water nec - diversity of earthly creatures gives humanity a glimpse of essary for life are diminishing. Last May, a working group the beauty and glory of God. commissioned by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences pub - lished a report on the retreat of the world’s mountain Tipping Point glaciers. The water flowing gradually from these majestic ice People who are fortunate enough to live in homes with cen - formations sustains rivers that bring life to valley ecosys - tral heating can quickly adjust their thermostats to raise or tems and human communities. But the European Alps have lower temperature. One might imagine that at some future already lost 50 percent of their glacial mass, and thousands point, we could cease our greenhouse gas emissions and of small glaciers in the Himalayan-Tibetan region are also similarly return the planet to its prior state. The global cli - disintegrating. In Asia alone, over one billion people are in mate, however, cannot be so easily moderated. The carbon danger of losing their primary source of life-giving water. dioxide we have already added to the atmosphere and Rising sea level. Melting glaciers and thermal expansion of oceans will affect the earth for generations. Moreover, the ocean waters are contributing to a rise in sea level already earth’s climate is not a simple mechanical system but a com - documented by scientists. According to one estimate, over plex of many interlocking, nonlinear relationships, including the course of this century we can expect a rise of three to six phenomena known by climate scientists as “positive feed -

14 America March 26, 2012 backs”—processes that take a small change in temperature and amplify it to exponential effect. Consider, for example, the melting Arctic ice caps. These enormous white crests deflect solar radiation back into space, just as white clothing protects people from summer heat. As the ice caps melt, dark seawater that absorbs solar warmth is exposed. This elevates the temperature of the ocean water, which increases the melting of the ice caps, which decreases the polar deflection of solar radiation, and on it goes. This kind of feedback process is also evident in the decline of the world’s forests. Forests absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and play an essential role in regulating global climate. Across the globe, forests are dying back. The underlying cause appears to be stress from rising tempera - tures and altered precipitation patterns. When trees die, they stop the photosynthesis that removes carbon from the atmosphere, and as they decompose they release the carbon they have absorbed. This intensifies global warming, which increases the stress to forests, which kills more trees, which release more carbon and so forth. Another feedback process is at work in Siberia, where an enormous expanse of frozen tundra is beginning to thaw. The tundra holds an estimated 70 billion tons of carbon, much of which would be released as methane, a gas 25 times more powerful in its heat-trapping effect than carbon dioxide. These positive feedbacks are one reason that climate change is progressing more rapidly than first projected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The rate of sea-ice melt in the Arctic, for example, is 30 years ahead of a prediction the I.P.C.C. made in 2007. Using both cur - rent observable reality and data from paleoclimate studies, an international group of scientists has recommended that to preserve a climate hospitable to life, carbon levels must be at no more than 350 ppm. But atmospheric carbon dioxide is already at 391 ppm and rising. If we are to have at least a fighting chance of returning carbon dioxide levels to 350 ppm, an unprece - dented level of global cooperation will be required to trans - form our sprawling fossil-fuel global economy to a network of efficient regional economies powered by noncarbon sources of energy. We must preserve surviving forests and replant denuded lands, replace agricultural practices that release methane and carbon into the atmosphere with prac - tices that restore soils and sequester carbon, and intensify research and development of other means of removing car - bon from the atmosphere. The urgency of the transition to a new form of human civilization cannot be overstated. The warming generated by our own greenhouse gas emissions and accelerated by nonlinear feedback processes is pushing us ever closer to what scientists call “runaway climate change.” This ultimate -

March 26, 2012 America 15 ly could elevate atmospheric greenhouse gases to the level of ed were in developing countries that have contributed least the Cenozoic Era (65 million years B.C.), when the planet to global carbon emissions. was ice-free and Homo sapiens did not exist. “We are inter - In the coming decades, climate change can bring deadly fering,” concludes science writer Fred Pearce, “with the fun - famine, displacement and disease to large sectors of the damental processes that make Earth habitable.” human population and spawn mass extinctions of other A U.N. Human Development Report in 2007-8 con - species. In the long term, the climate could change so radi - cluded: “There is now overwhelming scientific evidence that cally that the earth could no longer support human civiliza - the world is moving towards the point at which irreversible tion. In this sense, caring for the climate and the biosphere ecological catastrophe becomes unavoidable.... There is a is a paramount pro-life issue. window of opportunity for avoiding the most damaging cli - “How long will countless people have to go on dying,” mate change impacts, but that window is closing.” lamented Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga in a homily at a Mass during the U.N. conference in Durban, “before ade - A Climate for Life quate decisions are taken?” The cardinal is president of Unlike abortion and the death penalty, climate change is not Caritas Internationalis and a native of Honduras, where an intentional act that ends the life of another human being. extreme weather events have already decimated the crops, It is the unintented outcome of the industrial and agricul - livestock and homes of many. According to a Caritas tural processes that have accompanied our economic devel - spokesperson, Patrick Nicholson, the agreement in Durban opment. As early as 1979, however, scientists testified to to extend the 1997 Kyoto Protocol falls far short of the Congress about the possible consequences of climate actions that scientists believe are necessary to prevent change, and our inaction is already taking the lives of vul - widespread droughts and the mass migrations of peoples who nerable human beings. In 2009, a study conducted by the will be displaced from regions where food production has col - Global Humanitarian Forum found that climate change was lapsed. already responsible for 300,000 deaths a year, the suffering The failure of the governments represented at Durban to of 325 million people and economic losses of over $100 bil - reach a stronger agreement makes ecclesial action even more lion. Over 90 percent of those persons most severely affect - urgent. The Vatican has installed solar panels on the roof of the Paul VI auditorium and declared the intention to make LATE DELIVERY OF MAGAZINE Vatican City the first carbon-neutral state. In the United States, the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change is sup - ported by the bishops’ conference and other Catholic bod - ies. The coalition is leading multiple initiatives, including the Catholic Climate Covenant, which emphasize the importance of solidarity with those whose lives are threat - ened or diminished by climate change. Participants in this covenant pledge, in the spirit of St. Francis, to educate themselves, pray, change energy-inten - sive patterns of living and lobby for policies that will address the climate crisis. These essential initiatives can be strength - ened by recognizing that climate change is a life issue that merits our attention and inclusion in the annual Respect Are you experiencing problems with the on- Life programs in October and the National Prayer Vigil for time delivery of your issues of America? Life in January. We should also pursue new pro-life initia - tives specific to the climate crisis, like legal action to hold Postal regulations require that there be at least 3 our government accountable for its repeated failure to pro - instances of late or no mail delivery before requesting tect the earth for generations unborn. a publication watch. Our imperiled planet needs the distinctive paschal wit - ness the Catholic community can offer. In an Easter address You should notify your local post office and make a in 2009, Pope Benedict XVI stated that at this time of eco - complaint and/or request a publication watch. You logical and economic crisis, “it is urgent to rediscover may also notify us at 212-581-4640 ext 118 or by grounds for hope.... Christ is looking for men and women email at [email protected] and we who will help him to affirm his victory using his own will contact the USPS. weapons: the weapons of justice and truth, mercy, forgive - ness and love.” A

16 America March 26, 2012 Engaging the Spirituals The secular challenge to the New Evangelization BY DREW CHRISTIANSEN hree events recently awakened me to the sunset. Lewis asks Hathaway why the setting sun is not weighty reality of our secular age and why the enough for him, as it is for Lewis. Hathaway deflects the church’s New Evangelization is both timely and question by asking Lewis about his plans to retire. When crucial. Lewis replies that his retirement will open the way for a pro - TThe first took place one Sunday afternoon as I watched motion for Hathaway, the younger detective responds that “Higher Ground,” Vera Farmiga’s film about an evangelical should Lewis retire, he will leave the police. The viewer woman’s struggle with faith. The reviews I read had praised understands Hathaway may be considering returning to the the film for giving an honest view of contemporary faith. I kept waiting for the moment of revelation to come, but the epiphany that takes place in the last sequence is no reve - lation at all. We are left with Corinne Walker, Ms. Farmiga’s lead character, still aching for God to break into her life. If the reviewers are to be believed, the icon of faith for the peo - ple of our day is a woman beating on her car for God to break the silence. There are hints that “Higher Ground” wants to be about maturing in faith, but the story at best depicts the impossibility of finding a mature faith in the contemporary world. The second event occurred the same evening, as I took in one of my guilty pleasures, an episode of “Inspector Lewis” on PBS’s ministry or taking the junior lectureship in theology offered Masterpiece Mysteries series. In these stories the title char - him in the course of the episode. acter, a world-weary widower, is paired with Detective Yet Hathaway, the image of the mature, educated, even Sergeant James Hathaway, an intellectual former Catholic sophisticated postmodern believer, holds his faith a closely seminarian. Like so much in cinema and on television, this guarded secret. The series requires that he share theological series shows a certain fascination with Catholicism. In an trivia, translate Latin and Greek and insinuate himself into unbelieving world, Catholic rites, Catholic family piety and clerical circles. The most viewers know about him is that he individual Catholic belief are still talismans for a forgotten left the seminary guilty over the orthodox but ultimately world of faith. The murders to be solved that evening took deadly advice he gave a gay friend about coping with his place at an Oxford friary, Saint Gerard’s. During the investi - homosexuality. We see his occasional acts of devotion: he gation, one of the suspects asks Lewis whether he believes. furtively lights a candle, stops to contemplate a Nativity scene Lewis answers he used to, intimating that his faith died with in a chapel. But we have not a hint of what or why Sergeant y l l o his wife in a hit-and-run accident some years before. Hathaway believes. His is a thoroughly private, unspoken / M o C

Later, the murder solved, Lewis and Hathaway share a faith. . k C o

beer while contemplating a natural mystery, a Turneresque The third event came the next morning. A culture report t S R e

during a National Public Radio newscast reviewed a two- t t

DREW CHRISTIANSEN, S.J. , is editor in chief of America . This essay is U H

millennial-old classic, Lucretius’s De Rerum Natura, “On the S

excerpted from a presentation to the priests of Des Moines on the cente - : t R nary of the diocese. Nature of Things,” a first-century essay in cosmology best A

March 26, 2012 America 17 known for its speculation about the atomic nature of mat - ed watchdogs of orthodoxy. He understands, for example, ter. What was the news? That De Rerum Natura is an athe - that many among them would like to discuss “the great ques - istic text. As Stephen Greenblatt writes in his new novel, tions of existence.” He senses “the immortal longings” that The Swerve, in Lucretius “there is no master plan, no divine make them restless, and he perceives their justified antipathy architect, no intelligent design.” Two millennia before to the hypocrisy of lax Christians and how their rejection of Inspector Lewis, Lucretius found the complexity, diversity “the distortions of religion” contributes to the purification of and beauty of nature enough for him. He did not ask, “Is the church. In this he is a son of the Second Vatican Council, that all there is?” This world was enough to delight him. which confessed, “Indeed the Church admits she has greatly Lucretius was the reporter’s stand-in for Richard profited and still profits from the antagonism of those who Dawkins and the scientific naturalists in the creationist- oppose or persecute her” (“Pastoral Constitution on the evolution debate. But in the radio report there was no Church in the Modern World,” No. 44). debate, no philosophers or theologians to comment or put Lucretius in historical context; there was just Mr. Emergence of the Spirituals Greenblatt celebrating his atheistic predecessor. Secular In the last decade a major development in the religious demog - naturalism, it seems, is the currency of the culture. raphy of the United States has been the growth of a segment One, two, three, things fell into place: Ours is a secular of the population whom the pollsters call “the spirituals.” age: an evangelical woman confronting the silence of God, Many people, especially young people, report themselves as Detective Hathaway mute about his faith, atheists celebrat - “spiritual, but not religious.” In general, that means they are ing their idols without apology and without challenge. unchurched, not necessarily formally uninitiated but often dis - These are by no means the only signs of our times, but they affected from the church. Eventually the spirituals may find are signs symptomatic of the culture in which the church themselves in a congregation of their own choosing. Their undertakes the New Evangelization. standard for belonging, however, is not the religious authority of any church as a repository of revelation but rather the satis - Top Priority faction of their own often inarticulate searching. Pope Benedict XVI has made the challenge to secularism a The subjective, unaffiliated character of the spirituals’ major theme of his pontificate and singled it out as the num - choices does not mean they are shallow. Many regularly ber one problem facing the church in the Western world. To carry out disciplined spiritual practices: meditating daily, meet the challenge, he established the Pontifical Council for fasting at special times, serving the hungry in soup kitchens, the New Evangelization and appointed one of the rising stars doing spiritual reading, seeking out spiritual guides. What of the curia, Archbishop Rino Fischella, to head it. they reject is conformity in a rules-bound institution. They In a parallel move, the Pontifical Council for Culture is do not understand why they need to marry in a church moving ahead with a new program for dialogue with secular building rather than under the vault of heaven. They resist thinkers, especially scientists, called The Court of the the reinforcement of ritual distinctions between the ordi - Gentiles, after the outer court of the ancient Temple in nary faithful and the ordained. They want to explore the Jerusalem. “There should be a dialogue,” world of faith and plumb the depths of Pope Benedict said, “with those for whom ON THE WEB the spirit in the company of like-minded religion is something foreign, to whom Rev. Brendan Leahy talks people. They welcome the company of God is unknown yet who do not wish to be about the lay movement Focolare. the officially religious who can help them americamagazine.org/podcast left utterly without God, but rather to draw but balk at rigid orthodoxies, imagined or near to him, even as if to the Unknown.” prescribed in the name of tradition. They Last March in Paris the pope praised a mixed crowd of want to converse with men and women of other denomina - young believers and nonbelievers who had come together in tions, and with those of other faiths, like Muslims and a model court before the cathedral of Notre Dame “to dis - Buddhists, and to learn from them. cuss the great questions of existence.” He continued, “Those I think of St. Francis of Assisi in conversation with the of you who are unbelievers challenge believers in a particu - Sultan Malik al-Kamil. The seekers and the saints find one lar way to live in a way consistent with the faith they profess another; they understand one another; they grow together and [you challenge them] by your rejection of any distortion and spur one another on in the quest for God. of religion which would make it unworthy of man. You who Consider the lay movement Focolare. Its charism of unity are believers,” he went on, “long to tell your friends that the inspires an extraordinary inclusiveness that embraces people treasure dwelling within you is meant to be shared....” of many faiths and no faith at all. All are drawn by the allur - Pope Benedict not only respects unbelievers but also ing power of the movement’s charity. Where the self- appreciates them in ways that should confound self-appoint - appointed inquisitors of the day seek to put distance

18 America March 26, 2012 between Catholics and non-Catholics and even between themselves and some Catholics who are insufficiently ortho - dox by some narrow sectarian standard, Focolare’s genius is to invite everyone to the table, just as Jesus did. The Focolarini are a community that lives Pope Benedict’s maxim in “Deus Caritas Est,” “A Christian knows when it is time to speak of God and when it is better to say nothing and to let love alone speak” (No. 31).

The Mustard Tree Church Pope Benedict XVI, in his book Without Roots (2006), showed appreciation for spiritual kinships beyond formal church structures. Drawing on the parable of the mustard seed (Mt 13:31-32), he argued that the big church (my term), one larger than the organizational boundaries we routinely set for it, is like the great tree grown from the mus - tard seed, in which all the birds of the air find their home. The alliances that then-Cardinal Ratzinger was proposing were ties with Italian secularists who affirmed the Christian roots of Europe and took the side of the church on human life and other social issues. But his capacious image of the big tree is patient of expanding to include Catholics’ engage - ment with “the spirituals” too. Commenting last year on the parable of the two sons, Pope Benedict offered this paraphrase: “Agnostics who are constantly exercised by the question of God, those who long for a pure heart but suffer on account of our sin...are closer to the Kingdom of God than believers whose life of faith is ‘routine’ and who regard the Church merely as an institu - tion, without letting their hearts be touched by faith.” So the New Evangelization is not just about rebutting aggressive European secularists but more about engaging the spirituals among them, even as Catholics are called to a new, fully conscious, self-appropriated faith. The first challenge for U.S. Catholics in the New Evangelization is to engage the spirituals, to befriend them. They are not “low-hanging fruit” for proselytizing nor erring sheep to be brought back to the fold. Those who are serious challenge us as to the degree of our own spiritual discipline. Those who may appear to be no more than spir - itual vagabonds test our willingness and ability to express and share our faith with them. We cannot afford to be mute about what we believe. But spirituals will not be interested in hearing correct answers hedged about with all sorts of protective cautions. Rather, they want to hear us speak from the heart about “the hope that is within [us]” (1 Pt 3:15). Careful answers are the residue of history. The spirituals are not interested in answers to past controversies. They want to know what men and women they respect believe, to learn why they believe it and to discuss with them what difference it makes in their lives and for our common life together. A

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NEW MEDIA | ELIZABETH ELLIOTT on nor, who is 4 years old, has DIGITAL OFFERINGS a tumor. A Facebook post C asks for prayers for a succesf - ful M.R.I. test, which will show if the Praying in the Internet age tumors have grown or remained the same since his last test. After the test his parents posted the following: “Your prayers worked!!! The tumor has not grown or has grown very little!” Every day on Facebook, Twitter and other Web sites, people ask for prayers for their loved ones. Others spread the message on their personal status updates and Twitter feeds. A search for the term “prayer request” on Twitter brings up multiple entries of people seeking prayers through #prayerrequests. What might this turn toward the Web say about our culture? What might it say about our faith? Andrew Alexander, S.J., works with the Online Ministries program of the Collaborative Ministry Office at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. “We offer many online resources to people, and we find that people turn to the Web because they are hungry and this technology brings people to ‘places’ they can easily reach without travel or money,” he told me. “So people come here for comfort, formation, support for their life and vocation. And they ask us to pray for them as well.” While submitting prayers online may be a different form of prayer than in the past, Father Alexander believes that the practice is not as novel as it N e G

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t writer who lives in Manlius, N.Y., o H p shared his own story of responding to Alon Nir prepares prayers for placement in the Western Wall, in his apartment in a prayer request on Facebook. “After Tel Aviv in August 2009. The Israeli university student operates a Twitter feed (twitter.com/thekotel) to which prayers can be sent for placement in the wall, a receiving a request for prayer from holy site in Jerusalem. McAllen, Tex., I suggested to my wife

March 26, 2012 America 21 that we should send a handkerchief people the opportunity to leave prayer Flower…is a very popular, powerful, after we prayed over it. If you recall, the requests and notes of prayers extremely well known and loved saint first-century Christians did something answered by St. Thérèse of Lisieux, of the modern world,” said Zacharias. similar with St. Paul's clothing for the Carmelite saint. Those who leave “She continues to gain popularity and those who were ill or infirm. They prayer requests are assured that they ‘friends’ on all continents! She has an recovered from their sicknesses." will be remembered and prayed for at incredible ‘little way’ of doing small Ford offered to send the handker - Mass and in community prayer by things with great love and interceding chief to Robert, a Native American Carmelites throughout the world. for millions of people—bringing their who makes part of his living from The Society of the Little Flower prayers to God.” “fancy dancing” at pow-wows. He had Web site began taking prayer requests hurt his knees and was in excruciating at its initial launching in 1997. A New Place for Prayer pain, according to Ford. Robert Zacharias said it can be difficult to be Mary Charles Mayer, R.S.M., is the responded, “Send the rag!” “He put it on the receiving end of the Web site. director of the Office of Consecrated on his own knee and prayed. The suf - “It can be very upsetting and emotion - Life for the Archdiocese of St. Louis. fering ended, and he has been able to ally draining when reading people’s Since at least 2005, the archdiocese dance since,” said Ford. “A friend of tragedies, very sad and desperate situa - has maintained a Web site dedicated ours who lived on the Akwesasne tions and the outpouring of their to taking requests. Those who take the reservation was visiting Robert in hearts.” But those who have used the prayer requests are members of several Texas and claimed he was in good spir - Web site seem more than satisfied. religious orders. “We provide them its and his knees were not hurting as “Having a place where they can with the opportunity to post their they were the day before.” Ford added, share their hopes and fears and request publicly for others to see or “I have never done anything like this prayers, and without having to leave have them sent privately to the con - before and was grateful to God for their homes, is very comforting to templative nuns only to pray for their answering his and our prayer in such a them,” Zacharius said. “Friends of St. intentions,” said Sister Mayer. “There manner.” Thérèse also know that she is bringing are eight orders of contemplative nuns their intentions to the heart of God to in St. Louis and Belleville, Ill., who ‘Little Flower in This Hour’ be answered.” pray for people.” Mary Zacharias is the director of Traffic to the site has increased over The prayers on the site show the Internet services for the Society of the the years, jumping from around 500 great variety of suffering people face. Little Flower, based in Darien, Ill. Its requests per month in the early days to “Please pray for my little niece who Web site, littleflower.org, provides 1,000 to 1,200 requests. “The Little had surgery a couple of weeks ago and now she is having difficulty breathing and problems with her heart. Thank you.” “Please pray for a friend who is facing some serious health problems. Thank you.” “Please pray that the underwriter approves my loan modifi - cation. In Jesus’ holy name, please pray that I keep my home, heavenly father.” The community of believers seems to be finding a new place for prayer. “It may build Catholic community to a degree, but for sure it seems to be building a community in cyberspace,” said Sister Mayer. She believes people have turned to the Web for prayers partly because of the anonymity. “The Web provides a level of anonymity for people, a large viewing audience that might also pray for their needs and a level of impersonal contact where peo - ple are safe in communicating their

22 America March 26, 2012 vulnerability or that of another per - and phone calls can now send petitions temporary readers, the name son,” she said. “Some people may also around the world in just a few words Thornton Wilder inevitably brings up just be oriented to using technology with the click of a button. New tech - recollections of countless productions rather than more traditional ways of nologies also provide a voice or an out - of “Our Town,” a play beloved by ama - communicating.” let for those who are afraid to ask loved teur theater companies because of its On a recent trip, I ones for prayers. low-cost, bare-stage presentation and visited the House of ON THE WEB The anonymity of apparently simple, even sentimental Mary in Ephesus, Rev. Terrance W. Klein reviews the Internet sites can message. Professor Wheatley corrects Turkey. There, a television show “Smash.” provide a safe place. this distorted perception of a prolific short distance from americamagazine.org/culture “Where two or novelist and playwright who, in a the chapel, was a wall three are gath - career that lasted over 50 years, with hundreds of tissues and pieces of ered…” takes on new meaning when received three Pulitzer Prizes—for the paper with prayers written for Mary’s hundreds or thousands of people see plays “Our Town” (1938) and “The intercession. It moved me to see how your prayer request and offer their own Skin of Our Teeth” (1942) and the many people requested prayers in this prayer on your behalf. Perhaps posting novel The Bridge at San Luis Rey way and to witness their evident trust prayers on Web sites and Facebook (1927)—and a National Book Award that their prayer would be heard. I allows people who feel that no one is for his novel The Eighth Day (1967). myself left a note on the wall. praying for or with them to be heard. His play “The Matchmaker” (1954) Modern technology may offer became the basis of the Broadway expansive versions of the prayer chain; a musical “Hello, Dolly.” Thornton’s ELIZABETH ELLIOTT is a freelance writer in practice that once relied on physical Omaha, Neb., who majored in music and jour - older brother Amos was equally pro - gatherings and word of mouth, letters nalism at Creighton University. ductive. After serving as a ambulance driver in the First World War, he was ordained a Congregationalist minister, BOOKS | RICHARD A. BLAKE and after finishing his doctorate at Yale, he taught theology and wrote BROTHERS’ KEEPERS extensively at the University of Chicago and at Harvard. The brothers receive equal billing in THORNTON WILDER the title, but not in the book. AND AMOS WILDER Wheatley sets out to present a theo - Writing Religion in Twentieth- logical analysis of Thornton Wilder’s Century America vast and varied output, and he sup - By Christopher J. Wheatley ports his conclusions by citing the Univ. of Notre Dame Press. 232p $29 scholarly essays of Amos and the cor - (paperback) respondence between them. As Wheatley argues, both followed paral - Critics who attempt to explicate reli - lel tracks through the religious land - gious themes in literature that does scape of the 20th century, a journey not feature overtly religious content marked by the horror of war and the must tread very carefully. A scholar Great Depression, which combined to undertaking a theological reading of challenge American optimism, and by Milton’s Paradise Los t or Eliot’s Four the arrival of the historical-critical Quartets walks safely on well-trod study of the Bible, which undermined ground, but undertaking a similar the foundations of traditional analysis of the apparently secular nov - American religious belief. In both els of John Updike or the films of John realms, many of the anchors of the old Ford can be dangerous. An overly cre - order simply vanished. ative interpretation of the texts pre - These virtues abound in this work The New England Puritanism of sents an ever-present risk of distor - by Christopher J. Wheatley, Ordinary their heritage could not withstand the tion. Such a study demands modesty, Professor of English at The Catholic intellectual challenges of the 20th cen - care and rigor. University of America. For many con - tury. Both brothers grew skeptical of

March 26, 2012 America 23 organized religions, in particular what love must find its embodiment anew in work more of an obstacle than a help. they saw as the superstition and each historical setting. In “Our Town” The chapters presume a familiarity authoritarianism of Catholicism. But and “The Skin of Our Teeth” he strug - with the Wilders that may be beyond while Amos took a path toward the gles with the notion of permanence in the capability of the casual reader. In fringes of liberal Protestantism, a rapidly changing world. In Heaven’s his effort to provide a comprehensive Thornton found personal belief alto - My Destination (1935) he questions study of both major and lesser known gether untenable and turned to fiction. American materialism and social texts, he frequently cites characters Wheatley tries to show that these two responsibility in a collapsing economic and incidents from lesser known paths did not really diverge as sharply order. These are theological essays in works without providing much con - as one might think. Thornton reso - literary vesture. text for the less scholarly. As an aca - lutely rejected the title of philosopher Wheatley presents his case in demic, though, Wheatley addresses a or, even more, theologian, but as his scholarly fashion. The abundant doc - readership of peers, and he has served exchanges with Amos reveal, he kept umentation provides an invaluable them quite admirably. alert to the intellectual ideas of his resource for other scholars of time, and these new ideas gave shape American religious history and RICHARD A. BLAKE, S.J. , former executive editor and film reviewer for America , is co- and texture to his work. American literature. Non-scholars director of the film studies program at Boston Examining exactly how these reli - may find the thoroughness of the College. gious and philosophical currents of the time flowed into his plays and novels provides the core of this study. As the young Thornton began to turn away DENNIS O’BRIEN from religion, he concluded that the problem with the churches was their FAITH ENTERS THE PUBLIC SQUARE use of a language that had become so exhausted that it no longer made sense SECULARISM AND FREEDOM Maclure have collaborated to present a in the 20th century. Since he rejected OF CONSCIENCE clear, compelling and common-sense the traditional doctrinal discourse of By Jocelyn Maclure analysis of the vexed issue of church the churches, he explored his ques - And Charles Taylor and state in contemporary politics. tions of morality and ultimate realities Trans. by Jane Marie Todd They commend a “liberal-pluralist” in terms of human interactions and Harvard Univ. Press. 160p $24.95 approach to cultural difference. metaphors. Amos and Thornton The First Amendment of the U.S. investigate the same questions, but Secularism and Freedom of Constitution exempli - their language for posing the questions Conscience is a small book fies the liberal-pluralist and attempting to answer them is rad - with a large thesis, an anal - view of state and ically different. ysis initiated by local issues church: “the Congress Thornton ended his studies and that culminates in a sweep - shall pass no law regard - began his literary career as theologians ing claim about cultural ing the establishment of wrestled with the credibility of a change. In 2007-8 Charles religion, or prohibiting benevolent God in a world that had Taylor served as co-chair the free exercise thereof.” endured the horrors of the Great War. and Jocelyn Maclure as a The amendment rests He wrote of civilizations breaking member of the government on two principles essen - down: Hellenic culture in Woman of of Quebec’s Consultation tial to governance in a Andros (1930), Baroque Catholicism Commission on Accommodation diverse society: the moral equality of and the Enlightenment in The Bridge Practices Related to Cultural individuals and the protection of free - at San Luis Rey (1927) and the classi - Differences. “At the time of the com - dom of conscience. In the authors’ cal heritage of reason in Catholicism mission’s creation, the place of religion view, secular governance is inevitable and the possibility of a wisdom that in the public square and, in particular, and appropriate because there are no surpasses reason in The Cabala of requests for accommodation based rational means for deciding “questions (1926). His reflection on an end to on religion had been prompting public of the ultimate meaning of existence.” religion finds its metaphor in each of debate in Quebec for nearly a year,” the Since ultimate questions are subject to these works. Wheatley maintains that authors write. “the fallibility of human reason,” the Wilder concluded that true Christian In the current work, Taylor and state must be neutral toward belief

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March 26, 2012 America 25 whether religious, agnostic or atheis - state. For example, in the United deeply held moral conviction whether tic. States constitutional challenges have religious or not? What, after all, is the States that accept moral pluralism been mounted against “in God we difference between “belief” and per - are labeled by the authors as “regimes trust” on coinage as a violation of the sonal preference? Is regime neutrality of secularism.” establishment clause. even possible? Doesn’t a secular regime They are not, for all that, morally Liberal-pluralist polity seeks to make it more difficult for some reli - vacuous; they rest on “constitutive val - “balance” moral equality and freedom gious or moral commitments to be ues”: human dignity, basic human of conscience. Can a Muslim woman expressed? rights and popular sovereignty that all wear a hijab if she is a teacher? Does Maclure and Taylor offer thought - citizens must accept. It makes no dif - the prominence of this religious sym - ful answers to these questions. Why ference whether we accept these con - bol suggest that non-Muslim students do religious beliefs call specially for stitutive values because we are all chil - are second class? If the teacher is not accommodation? Because they are the dren of God, Kantian rational beings allowed to wear the hijab, does that individual’s sincerely held governing or practitioners of Buddhist nonvio - not violate her right to the exercise of moral principles. Sincere belief can be lence. her religious beliefs? The fact that accommodated without adhering to Regimes of secularism differ in France and Germany, facing this issue, any formal religion. Committed paci - practice according to the relative have adopted opposing policies fism absent religious backing has been weight given either to “moral equality” becomes a case in point for the recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court or “freedom of conscience.” Rigid secu - authors, showing the difficulty of as a ground for conscientious objector larism tends to restrict free exercise of applying a once-and-for-all solution to status. Personal preference, on the religion; open secularism gives greater the balance between equality and con - other hand, is rejected for accommo - weight to freedom of conscience. science. It is also a caution against dation because it is peripheral to the Liberal-pluralist governance is based what they label “the fetishism of person’s deepest moral principles. You on open secularism and so is more means,” by which a specific policy or may be excused from work for reli - flexible in its interpretation of separa - practice is elevated to the status of a gious holy days but not to pursue a tion of church and state. Britain, for constitutional demand. personal passion, even one as worthy instance, has an established church but Why should “religious” belief have as playing the piano. in specific law and practice is an open any special claim for accommodation? Regimes of secularism do, in fact, secular regime. A rigid secular regime How far must the state go to accom - make it more difficult for some reli - will be wary of any confusion in the modate special beliefs and practices of gious and moral practices. Countries public mind between religion and the a religious faith or, for that matter, any need a common calendar, and that cal - endar in the West reflects Christian history. Accommodation is therefore limited for holy days in Jewish or Muslim calendars. Perfect “neutrality” is not possible for open secularism. “Perfect” neutrality is an illusion only of a rigid secularism where secularity becomes, as it were, established “civil religion.” American readers familiar with the Constitution’s “separation of church and state” will be comfortable with the authors’ commending liberal-pluralist regimes of secularism. Catholic read - ers, however, may need to ponder the grand historical conclusion that underlies Maclure and Taylor’s justifi - cation of secularism.

The evolution of contemporary democratic societies suggests

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March 26, 2012 America 27 that it is time to reconceptualize the meaning and ends of secular - ism. From the age of Saint Augustine to the modern peri - od, the relationship between the temporal and spiritual powers was foremost, but the challenges of the present era are of a differ - ent nature.

Pius IX’s Syllabus of Errors (1864) expressed the older clash of spiritual and temporal. Error 55: “The church ought to be separated from the state, and the state from the church.” When the Second Vatican Council supported religious liberty, it seems to have accept - ed the contention that “the challenges of the present era are of a different nature” than expressed in the Syllabus . Comfortable as Catholics may be with the political wisdom of “the sepa - ration of state and church,” the funda - mental philosophical claims of Maclure and Taylor should raise seri - POETRY CONTEST ous issues about how Catholicism pre - Poems are being accepted for the sents itself within the age of secular 2012 Foley Poetry Award. modernity—a subject that Taylor has explored at length in his magisterial A Secular Age . If secularism must be Each entrant is asked to submit only one typed, unpublished poem reconceptualized, what should one of 30 lines or fewer that is not under consideration elsewhere. make of the rather common Catholic Include contact information on the same page as the poem. Poems polemic against secularism? The will not be returned. Please do not submit poems by e-mail or fax. authors assert that open secularism Submissions must be postmarked between Jan. 1 and March 31, accepts “the fallibility of human rea - 2012. son,” the assumption that there are no rational means for deciding “questions Poems received outside the designated period will be treated as of the ultimate meaning of existence.” regular poetry submissions, and are not eligible for the prize. Lacking rational means for deciding the ultimate meaning of existence, how The winning poem will be published in the June 4-11 issue of should one understand Catholic America. Three runner-up poems will be published in subse - teaching when it enters the public quent issues. square? Advancing the “truths of faith” in a secular age cannot be as straight - Cash prize $1,000 forward and certain as Catholic pro - nouncements often appear. Unless Send poems to: these problems are addressed, modern Foley Poetry Contest, America, secularism will, on principle, turn a 106 West 56th St., New York, NY 10019 deaf ear to faith. DENNIS O’BRIEN is emeritus president of the University of Rochester, in New York.

28 America March 26, 2012 LETTERS Perhaps that can be interpreted as ual/pedophile scandal. On the lay - charity, a religious function and a com - men/women side, there is the rejection ponent of faith. of traditional teaching on birth con - First Amendment No Detail On the other hand, is a fee-for-ser - trol, divorce, Sunday obligation, pre- Even if the editors of America have no vice hospital really a religious function, marital sex, the Real Presence, abor - problem (“Policy, Not Liberty, 3/5) or is it a secular business operated by a tion and homosexuality. The separa - with paying for abortion-inducing religious organization to extend their tion among Catholics is now wider drugs with funds donated or paid by beliefs and values to others? than that between Luther and Calvin, the faithful, they should jealously Technically, I would argue that run - etc., and Rome during the guard the rights endowed by our cre - ning a fee-for-service hospital is a busi - Reformation. But Christ will always ator and guaranteed by the U.S. ness operated or managed by a church. be with the church, so I am sticking Constitution. The First Amendment As such, every employee’s freedom of with our shepherds. is not a detail. If the federal govern - religion and civil rights are equal in CHARLES SMITH ment can ignore the Constitution in Pauma Valley, Calif. importance to that of the institution. this manner, how far away are we real - Your editorial makes sense. I believe ly from a state-run church? Iraq in a Hard Place the church would lose a legal battle, JOHN J. SMITH When we dropped atomic bombs on Olathe, Kans. were it to continue the fight. JOE D’ANNA Japan, one even targeting the Catholic Los Alamos, N.M. cathedral of Nagasaki, the Catholic Civility Crisis Church in the United States held its It is with great dismay and sadness Sticking With the Shepherds tongue. Peaceniks wondered, “If a mil - that I read the editorial of March 5, I cannot believe the editors think the lion condoms had been dropped over which to me epitomizes the pejorative so-called accommodation solves the Japanese cities, wouldn’t the church definition of the word Jesuitical—that religious liberty problem. An account - have shouted?” is, “practicing casuistry or equivoca - ing sleight of hand changes nothing Conservative Catholics are repeat - tion; using subtle or oversubtle reason - regarding the moral issue. Any other ing a narrowly focused moral outrage ing; crafty, sly.” I can only hope and interpretation is irrational. Thank when they object to the Obama pray that the rationale expressed by God, the bishops quickly recognized administration’s openness to contra - the editorial, in cautioning the bishops’ Obama’s magic trick. ceptives for all women. Where was conference to condone the subterfuge We are living through a serious cri - Catholic justified anger regarding the presented by the so-called accommo - sis involving the Catholic Church. On war with Iraq that has now ended at a dation of the Obama administration’s the clerical side, there is the homosex - cost of 450,000 to 600,000 Iraqis most recent health mandate, does not reflect the official position of the Society of Jesus. Catholic with knowledge of Catholic social teach - CLASSIFIED ing and a degree in religious studies or related field. For the Catholic bishops of this Send résumé and references to: Sr. Clevie nation are taking great risks, speaking Youngblood, R.S.H.M., Marymount School, 1026 Conference Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028, or to boldly with clarity and no equivoca - Eighth annual Summer Institute at Oblate School [email protected]. tion. I never thought of St. Ignatius of Theology: “Give Reasons for Your Hope,” June 18 –20. Keynotes: Michael Paul Gallagher, S.J., Loyola as an apologist for Jesus Christ America classified. Classified advertisements are “Getting in Touch With the Deeper Reasons We but rather as a most devoted disciple. accepted for publication in either the print version of Believe”; Deborah Douglas, “C. S. Lewis and Our America or on our Web site, www.americam - Nor do I believe that he would be Hope of Heaven: The Deepest Thirst Within Us”; agazine.org. Ten-word minimum. Rates are per word Ron Rolheiser, O.M.I., “Give Reasons for Your wooed by the state into conceding the per issue. 1-5 times: $1.50; 6-11 times: $1.28; 12-23 Hope.” Whitley Theological Center, 285 Oblate truth for the sake of what? “Civility”? times: $1.23; 24-41 times: $1.17; 42 times or more: Drive, San Antonio, TX 78216. For more infor - MAUREEN KAVANAUGH $1.12. For an additional $30, your print ad will be mation: www.ost.edu; Ph: (210) 341-1366 ext. St. Louis, Mo. posted on America ’s Web site for one week. The flat 212 (Brenda). rate for a Web-only classified ad is $150 for 30 days. Secular or Sacred? Ads may be submitted by e-mail to: ads@americam - Positions agazine.org; by fax to (928) 222-2107; by postal mail We always get into nebulous areas TEACHER AND SERVICE COORDINATOR. to: Classified Department, America , 106 West 56th when churches and religions want to Marymount School of New York is seeking a reli - St., New York, NY 10019. To post a classified ad extend their reach and influence. Some gious studies teacher to implement our Upper online, go to our home page and click on “Advertising” School social justice curriculum. The position at the top of the page. We do not accept ad copy over churches today, as in the past, provide entails coordination of service trips and activities as the phone. MasterCard and Visa accepted. For more medical care as a service, free of charge. well as retreats. The ideal candidate is a practicing information call: (212) 515-0102.

March 26, 2012 America 29 killed, with 2.5 million civilian Return Address Required me for dressing up to celebrate his refugees outside the country and 1.5 Editor’s note: Jim Belna of Claremont, birthday. In any event, I try not to be million within? Calif., responds in kind to the fictional manipulative, unlike certain media- Unemployment there is 50 percent, letter to a bishop from his old pals Mary savvy priests who wouldn’t be caught malnutrition 28 percent, and there are and Joe in Of Many Things, 1/16, by dead in their collars—except when they untold numbers of orphans. Are our Raymond A. Schroth, S.J. get to play “spokesman for the Catholic conservative clerics also “cafeteria Church” on television. Catholics”? Dear Mary and Joe, I’ll also grant you that my diocesan FRANK M CGINTY There are few things in this life more newspaper is not exactly Pulitzer Prize Jenkintown, Pa. pleasurable than hearing from old material, but I have come to believe that friends, and I truly enjoyed your recent the beginning of wisdom for a bishop is Truth Before Dialogue letter. As you have noticed, I am not the to understand just how insignificant his Re “Staying Civil,” by the Most Rev. same man I was 30 years ago—physi - personal opinions are, no matter how Blase Cupich (3/5): Why not admit cally, spiritually or politically. I gather passionately he may hold them. That is that the Obama administration is try - that I have been something of an why I rarely use my column to address ing to force the church to act against embarrassment to you. I won’t say that political controversies anymore. conscience in the areas of abortion, you are wrong, but neither will I apolo - As to our mutual friend Bill Worthy, sterilization and contraception? gize for the road I have traveled. I sup - are theologians immune from criticism? We need a second civil rights move - pose I do owe you an answer to what In case you didn’t get the memo, we are ment, in which people are willing to has happened to me over the past three not in the business of banning books lay down their lives for the defense of decades. anymore. Excuse me for being cynical, real religious liberty instead of search - Let’s start with my “Renaissance but as a tenured professor, Mr. Worthy ing aimlessly for a common ground prince” robes. I wear them proudly and has more job security than I do, and our that clearly does not exist. MARILYN WALLACE, R.S.M. humbly when it is appropriate to the “reprimand” will probably earn him a Omaha, Neb. occasion. I think our Lord will excuse promotion. To answer your question, I don’t know if I am blind to what has hap - To send a letter to the editor we recommend using the link that appears below articles on America ’s Web site, www.americamagazine.org. This allows us to consider your letter for publi - pened to the church. Do you really think cation in both print and online versions of the magazine. Letters may also be sent to America ’s that if we just tweaked our teachings or editorial office (address on page 2) or by e-mail to: [email protected]. They should be brief and include the writer’s name, postal address and daytime phone number. Letters may flexed our political muscle, we could be edited for length and clarity. usher in some new era of peace and jus - tice? I don’t. And with all respect to your WITHOUT GUILE sainted mother, people do change, but it isn’t easy. We get trapped in our cocoons—on college faculties or religious houses or in social circles where we never encounter anyone with a lifestyle or opinion that is different from our own. That is an occu - pational hazard for bishops, but I sus - pect it is a fairly universal challenge. Thank you for your prayers, and always be assured of mine. Love, Bishop Josh N

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30 America March 26, 2012 THE WORD Darkness and Faith PALM SUNDAY OF THE PASSION OF THE LORD (B), APRIL 1, 2012 Readings: Is 50:4-7; Ps 22:8-24; Phil 2:6-11; Mk 14:1-15:47 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mk 15:34)

his week, our holy week, we Spirit, any compassion and self-emptying, witness of absolute faith walk with Jesus from his glo - mercy…have among yourselves the and experience of the cross, then we Trious procession into the city same attitude that is also should rethink the common to his death on the cross, from yours in Christ Jesus” assumption that Jesus always “Hosannah!” to “Crucify him.” (Phil 2:1-5). Then knew exactly what would hap - Lent comes to a climax in begins the hymn, pen to him—that he would die Jerusalem, the city of contradictions: a “who, though he was for our sins and then rise glo - place of worship and idolatry, great in the form of God, riously triumphant a day and a faith and horrific scandal, light and did not regard equali - half later. Of course the post- darkness. In contrast to Jesus’ faithful - ty with God some - Easter church puts such fore - ness we find massive betrayal. thing to be grasped. knowledge on his lips. But if Consider: Judas who sells out the Rather, he emptied Jesus saw all, then Gethsemane Lord; chief priests who fake a trial, himself, taking the makes less sense, as does his disciples who sleep and then run away, form of a slave.” The experience on the cross. If he Peter who denies him, Pilate who con - hymn goes on to show the cross as demns him knowing his innocence, Jesus’ ultimate expression of humili - and soldiers and crowds who mock ty and obedience. The result of such PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE him. Here is an irony: The people self-emptying is that “God greatly • Set aside time to read through one of the reject Jesus and choose Barabbas, exalted him [that]…every tongue Gospel Passion accounts. whose Aramaic name literally means confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” • Consider the costs of discipleship for you. “son of the father.” Opting for the false Usually this hymn is understood e son while rejecting the true Son of the to refer to the Son’s pre-existence • How would you respond to someone who N N U d and the renunciation of his divinity is in spiritual darkness?

Father aptly represents the whole sin - d A t

: ful human condition. so as to enter fully the human con - t R Jesus’ witness of faith in the utter dition, even unto death. It could, how - A darkness of the Passion aligns well ever, be read as highlighting a contrast truly and completely emptied himself, with today’s reading from the Letter to between Adam and Jesus. Adam, born as Paul writes, then he had to trust the Philippians, which extols Christ’s in the form of God (Gn 1:26-27) God radically, especially in the dark - self-emptying unto glory. It is widely wanted to reach out to equality with ness. If he saw the script, then Good believed that Paul is quoting an God by pride and disobedience (Gn Friday amounts to a very bad day, already known hymn to Christ. Paul’s 3:5ff), leading to our fall. Jesus, in con - knowing he would soon be glorified. preface to this hymn is not part of the trast, displays humility and obedience, Seeing Jesus in true darkness and Lectionary selection. This is unfortu - leading to his exaltation and our salva - radical faith makes the cross fully real. nate, because here Paul pleads for us to tion. The most illuminating approach It also guides us in our own times of imitate the Lord. He begins, “If there to the passage brings both interpreta - darkness and loss. Haven’t we also felt is any encouragement in Christ, any tions together. As both new Adam and lost? Derided by friends or colleagues? solace in love, any participation in the pre-existing Son, Jesus emptied him - Felt abandoned by God? So did the self and embraced Adam’s condition of Lord Jesus—and in Jerusalem, no less. slavery and mortality in order to free This week we walk with him there PETER FELDMEIER is the Murray/Bacik Professor of Catholic Studies at the University us from both. during his last days. of Toledo. If we take seriously Jesus’ radical PETER FELDMEIER

March 26, 2012 America 31 VATICAN II 50th Anniversary Celebration Conference “Universal Call to Holiness” Sponsored by Sacred Heart University and Paulist Press April 23-24, 2012 | Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT

Presenters Include

FR. ANTHONY CIORRA DR. JOHN F. HAUGHT Assistant VP of Mission and Catholic Identity Senior Fellow, Science and Religion SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY WOODSTOCK THEOLOGICAL CENTER The Second Vatican Council: A Gateway to To Men and Women of Science Holiness for the Twenty-First Century

DR. R. SCOTT APPLEBY DR. DIANA HAYES Professor of History Professor of Systematic Theology UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY To Rulers To Women

DR. MASSIMO FAGGIOLI FR. MICHAEL HIMES Assistant Professor Professor UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS BOSTON COLLEGE Keynote To Artists

FR. DAVE DWYER, CSP DR. ROBERTO GOIZUETA Director, Busted Halo Margaret O’Brien Flatley Professor of PAULIST YOUNG ADULT MINISTRIES Catholic Theology To Youth BOSTON COLLEGE To the Poor, the Sick, and the Suffering

DR. NANCY A. DALLAVALLE DR. MICHAEL W. HIGGINS Associate Professor of Religious Studies VP of Mission and Catholic Identity FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY To Workers Holiness in the Future; Holiness as Future

The conference is unique in its focus. The umbrella theme for the conference will be the watershed teaching of the council on the “Universal Call to Holiness.” Seven of the eight featured presenters will base their presentation on one of the seven speeches given by several cardinals at the conclusion of the council on December 8, 1965. These speeches are contained in the original Abbott edition of the council documents. The agenda of the conference will not be a critique of the council documents but rather creative ways in which the energy of the council can be marshaled in establishing the agenda and needs of the twenty-first century. The conference will target younger generations in the academic and pastoral communities.

For more information, contact 203-371-7904, or visit www.sacredheart.edu/VIIconference.cfm