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N APRIL 4, 1968, just hours before person. Our suffering fellow citizens, he Martin Luther King Jr. was said, “are not statistics; they are human killed in Memphis, Tenn., beings…each with a right to lead a life of America Robert F. Kennedy’s presiden- dignity and purpose…men, women and Published by Jesuits of the United States Otial campaign made a stop in Muncie, children, condemned to suffer by our Ind. He wanted to talk to the 9,000 stu- inaction.” dents who had assembled in the gymnasi- The dignity of the person, in Editor in Chief um at Ball State University about the Kennedy’s mind, was both America’s Drew Christiansen, S.J. meaning of life. “What really is our pur- mandate for change and the governing pose in life?” Kennedy asked them before principle of that change. He was a critic Acting Publisher recounting the suffering of children who of Lyndon B. Johnson’s war on poverty, James Martin, S.J. were literally starving in Mississippi. “In believing that it violated the principle of the last analysis, the only excuse, really, subsidiarity, the idea that the dignity of Managing Editor for our existence must be that we are to the individual requires that decisions be Robert C. Collins, S.J. perform some act, do something on made by those most closely affected by behalf of those who are less well off…. them. Top-down government programs Business Manager And I think that you should take this on like Johnson’s could dehumanize people, Lisa Pope as a burden.” Kennedy believed, and, more important, Politicians did not usually talk like distance us psychologically from our per- Editorial Director this. Most campaign stump speeches were sonal moral responsibility for the suffer- Karen Sue Smith (and still are) designed to appease voters ing of others. “We can do this,” he told and not challenge them, let alone the students at Ball State, “not by dele- Online Editor demand that they take up a selfless cause. gating power to a bureaucracy, not by Maurice Timothy Reidy Yet the students connected with sending more money and passing new Kennedy. Perhaps it was his idealism, laws, but by challenging the concern of Associate Editors which seemed to our individu- Joseph A. O’Hare, S.J. mirror their al citizens— George M. Anderson, S.J. own. But you and me.” Dennis M. Linehan, S.J. Kennedy’s ideals Of Many Things His calls were not young, for radical Matt Malone, S.J. and they were certainly not the product change worried conservatives; his belief James T. Keane, S.J. of a fanciful naïveté. in private enterprise made liberals Peter Schineller, S.J. It is a cliché among Robert Kennedy’s squirm. But Kennedy believed that the biographers that he changed dramatically only way forward was to create a new Literary Editor after the assassination of his brother. Yet, political order built on a common moral Patricia A. Kossmann like most clichés, there is some truth in it. imperative and practical reason. “There Following that gruesome day in Novem- is…no separation between the deepest Poetry Editor ber 1963, Robert Kennedy became a man desires of heart and of mind and the James S. Torrens, S.J. in touch with the world’s pains. In con- rational application of human effort to fronting them, he found inspiration and human problems,” he told an audience in Assistant Editor consolation in his Catholic faith. He was South Africa. always the most devout child in his Robert Kennedy was undoubtedly a Francis W. Turnbull, S.J. famously Catholic family; but in his flawed man. Prior to 1963, much of his Design and Production mourning, his faith had taken on greater life was characterized by a relentless and urgency and necessity. In the brief 85 sometimes ethically blind exercise of Stephanie Ratcliffe days of his presidential campaign, power politics. By the time of his death in Advertising Kennedy’s Catholicism and his politics June 1968, much of that had changed, converged, making him what Catholics but some of it had not. It is not clear how Julia Sosa today might call “a faithful citizen.” successfully Kennedy’s politics would Kennedy rarely spoke directly about have translated into governing or how he 106 West 56th Street his faith, but it was evident in his actions, would have responded to some of the New York, NY 10019-3803 including his opposition to the Vietnam major challenges of the 1970s, like legal- Ph: 212-581-4640; Fax: 212-399-3596. War and the death penalty and in his ized abortion or the collapse of the post- E-mail: [email protected]; hesitation to liberalize the nation’s abor- war boom. He was, after all, a politician. [email protected]. tion laws. It was obvious in his trip to Yet in the 40 years since his death, while Web site: www.americamagazine.org. Delano, Calif., where he attended a Mass other Catholic politicians have embraced Customer Service: 1-800-627-9533. with Cesar Chavez that ended the labor the church’s concern for the poor and its © 2008 America Press, Inc. leader’s long fast for workers’ rights. consistent ethic of life, few have come as Above all, it was present in speeches like close as Robert Kennedy did in his last the one at Ball State, in which he would campaign to appreciating the truly radical begin with a plea for his audience to rec- nature of our Christian call in the mod- Cover art “Eucharist,” by Julie ognize the inherent dignity of the human ern world. Matt Malone, S.J. Lonneman, www.thespiritsource.com. www.americamagazine.org Vol. 198 No. 18, Whole No. 4817 May 26–June 2, 2008 Articles 10 Return to Our Roots Robert F. Taft 10 Western Catholics can learn from the East, but should look mostly to their own tradition. A New Roman Missal Paul Turner 14 What can we expect from a new translation? More Than Words Judith M. Kubicki 17 The many symbols of the liturgy Ireland’s Jewish Patron Saint 20 Thomas G. Casey A Bloomsday summons to the Irish people Current Comment 4 20 Report Meeting Development Goals 5 Signs of the Times 6 Life in the 00s 8 Lessons of Bittergate Terry Golway Faith in Focus 23 A Church to Hope In John McGinty Bookings 26 Imagining Jesus Bill McGarvey 26 Book Reviews 28 We Would Have Played for Nothing; Reappraisals Poem 30 After Loss John Savant Letters 34 The Word 37 Like a House Built on Rock; Surprising Dinner Companions Daniel J. Harrington This week @ Msgr. Thomas J. Shelley talks about his new history of the Archdiocese of New York. Plus, from the archives, Robert F. Taft, S.J., on “Mass Without the America Connects Consecration?” All at americamagazine.org. Current Comment resent a broad consensus, given the number and variety of Israel at 60 Muslim scholars who signed it or who have subsequently Jews and their friends everywhere marked the 60th endorsed it. Father Troll also praised the beauty of the anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel on May form and content of the letter, but cautioned that dialogue 7. Israel has become a home to Jews from Europe, the for- requires study, criticism and a desire to learn and inform. mer Soviet Union, the Middle East and Africa. There they Noting that dialogue can take place only where both find dignity, identity, freedom and, in many cases, prosper- Christians and Muslims are free to practice their faith, he ity. In four wars Israel has triumphed over its enemies. added, “That is why I ask my Muslim friends to do what Despite the costs of a vast security establishment, it has they can to defend religious freedom.” built a vibrant economy, and its alliance with the United Father Troll praised those in many parts of the world States is unshaken. Zionism may be the most successful who are engaged in serious dialogue and cooperative pro- nationalist movement of the 20th century. jects. This Christian-Muslim dialogue, he added, will be a Israel, however, has yet to answer the question of its long-term effort, requiring good will, prayer and much founding: Can it be both a Jewish state and a democratic patience. one? While the young nation is routinely called “the only working democracy in the Middle East,” it is not a liberal democracy in the Western sense, in which minority rights are honored. Arab Israelis, a fifth of the population, are The Commencement Season treated as second-class citizens. Since a landmark official At thousands of college and university campuses across study five years ago, there has been no improvement in the the United States this month, a familiar ritual will be re- systematic discrimination against them. enacted. Graduates will be saluted, congratulated, warned More worrisome still is the growing desire of the and exhorted by commencement speakers, paid and Israeli public to reduce the number of Arabs in their unpaid, who have been selected for their achievements, midst. A decade ago proposals for “transfer,” that is, expul- prominence or even notoriety. Television personalities sion, of the Arab population, were regarded as morally seem to be in fashion in this current graduation season; repugnant. Recent polls indicate it is favored by a majority Tim Russert and Chris Matthews are said to be competing of Israeli Jews. As history moves ahead, the test of Israeli in the number of honorary doctorates they have collected maturity will be whether it fully integrates the Arab for such services.