Pope Calls Paris Attacks ‘Blasphemy’ the Jubilee More Than Ever.” “Be on Guard,” He Said

OF MANY THINGS 106 West 56th Street New York, NY 10019-3803 first came toAmerica in the spring volume of content we have produced Ph: (212) 581-4640; Fax: (212) 399-3596 of 2003, when Thomas J. Reese, in print and online is staggering. In the Subscriptions: (800) 627-9533 S.J., the 12th editor in chief, offered midst of all that, it might be helpful to www.americamedia.org I facebook.com/americamag me a position as an editorial intern. recall that America exists to provide a twitter.com/americamag One of the most talented Jesuits of his forum for catholic opinion. As another generation, Father Reese is a lifelong of my predecessors, Joseph A. O’Hare, President and Editor in Chief Matt Malone, S.J. student of history and politics. So the S.J., put it in 1975: Executive Editors first thing he did when I arrived was Robert C. Collins, S.J., Maurice Timothy Reidy to school me in what this journal is, as As a journal of opinion, this Managing Editor Kerry Weber well as what it is not, and how our own review seeks, in each issue, Literary Editor Raymond A. Schroth, S.J. history informs how we seek to interpret not only to inform, but also to Senior Editor and Chief Correspondent Kevin Clarke the signs of the times in the present day. interpret. The interpretations— the opinions—of the editors Editor at Large James Martin, S.J. Longtime readers will know that it is Executive Editor, America Films impossible to really understand what can be found in the editorials, Jeremy Zipple, S.J. America does without a sense of that including those shorter “current Poetry Editor Joseph Hoover, S.J. history. For this reason, one of my first comments.” The views in these Associate Editor and Vatican Correspondent Gerard O’Connell acts as editor in chief was to inaugurate unsigned statements reflect not so much a collective statement Associate Editor and Director of Digital a new department called Vantage Point, Strategy Sam Sawyer, S.J. but rather the result of a collective in which we republish articles from our Senior Editor Edward W. Schmidt, S.J. process…that has emerged from archives that give a sense of how an Associate Editors Ashley McKinless, Olga the weekly editorial meeting. Segura, Robert David Sullivan earlier generation approached the same Along with these unsigned Assistant Editors Francis W. Turnbull, S.J., questions we are asking now, albeit in a editorials, individual editors Joseph McAuley different social and political context. also write signed pieces: articles, Art Director Sonja Kodiak Wilder The article by the late Cardinal columns, reviews. These represent Editorial Assistant Zachary Davis Avery Dulles, S.J., in this issue seems Columnists Helen Alvaré, John J. Conley, S.J., the views of the individual…. Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M., James T. Keane, John W. a perfect fit for this month, in which The articles we choose to Martens, Bill McGarvey, Angela Alaimo O’Donnell, the U.S. Catholic bishops are meeting publish, on the other hand, may Margot Patterson, Nathan Schneider to discuss what approach to take to Correspondents John Carr (Washington), An- not represent the viewpoint of thony Egan, S.J., and Russell Pollitt, S.J. (Johannes- the public debate during the 2016 the editors either collectively or burg), Jim McDermott, S.J. (Los Angeles), Timothy presidential contest. Much that Cardinal individually…. Finally, since the Padgett (Miami), Steven Schwankert (Beijing), Dulles wrote more than 20 years David Stewart, S.J. (London), Judith Valente most sensitive opinions in each (Chicago) ago is still relevant and useful, even issue are expressed in the book Moderator, Catholic Book Club if he departs from our current house reviews, it should be clear that Kevin Spinale, S.J. style by using political terminology the reviews do not represent the Editor, The Jesuit Post Michael Rossmann, S.J. to describe his fellow Catholics. Two opinions of the editors. Editorial e-mail [email protected] years ago, America stopped using terms like “liberal” and “conservative” Forty years on, Father O’Hare’s Publisher and Chief Financial Officer Edward G. Spallone Deputy Publisher Rosa M. to describe our fellow Catholics in an ground rules still hold: “A Catholic Del Saz Vice President for Advancement Daniel ecclesial context, mainly because in our journal of opinion should be reasonably Pawlus Advertising Sales Manager Chris Keller catholic in the opinions it is willing to Development Coordinator Kerry Goleski present sociopolitical environment, Business Operations Staff Khairah Walker, such terms tend to do more harm than consider,” he wrote. “Which is not to say Glenda Castro, Katy Zhou, Frankarlos Cruz good. That probably was not the case that catholic means indiscriminate. It Advertising Contact [email protected]; 212-515-0102 Subscription contact/Additional in 1990. That is just one more example does mean, however, that we will publish copies 1-800-627-9533 Reprints: reprints@ of how America seeks to respond to views contrary to our own, as long as americamedia.org our concrete, present realities while we think they deserve the attention of © 2015 America Press Inc. remaining true to what is constant. thoughtful Catholics.” In other words, if This has been a momentous autumn: we’ve done our job right, you should find the papal visit to the United States, the something in every issue that affirms Cover: A photo of John Courtney Murray, S.J., meeting of the Synod of Bishops on your worldview as well as something from the America archives superimposed on a that challenges it. photo of the opening session of the Second Vati- the family in Rome and now the U.S. can Council in St. Peter’s Basilica, Oct. 11, 1962. bishops’ meeting in Baltimore. The sheer MATT MALONE, S.J. CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano. Contents www.americamagazine.org VOL. 213 NO.17, WHOLE NO. 5110 November 30, 2015

ARTICLES 16 THE FIGHT FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM John Courtney Murray’s role in “Dignitatis Humanae” Barry Hudock

COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS

4 Current Comment

5 Editorial Our Brother’s Keeper

6 Reply All

16 9 Signs of the Times

14 Washington Front An Election Out of Focus John Carr

21 Vantage Point The Uneasy Dialogue Avery Dulles

27 Vatican Dispatch A Church of Encounter Gerard O’Connell

28 Faith in Focus Hallway to Heaven Linda Kinnamon

39 The Word Preparing the People of God John W. Martens

BOOKS & CULTURE 21 30 FILM Mercy, Sin and “Star Wars” OF OTHER THINGS The Mystic From Morningside Heights BOOKS What Are We Doing on Earth for Christ’s Sake?; A Biography of the Spirit; Navy Priest POEM To Purgatory

ON THE WEB James Alison and Grant Kaplan assess the legacy of cultural critic René Girard. Plus, learn more about the Joseph A. O’Hare, S.J., Post Graduate Writing Fellowship for graduating college seniors. Full digital highlights on page 37 and at americamagazine.org/webfeatures. 30 CURRENT COMMENT

accused of sexual abuse. Father Karadima has denied any Health Care’s Growing Pains wrongdoing but was nonetheless ordered to a life of “prayer The United States is in the middle of the third open and penance” by the Vatican, which clearly found sufficient enrollment period since the restructuring of the national cause to do so. (One victim accused then-Father Barros of health insurance market under the Affordable Care Act. being present during an incident of abuse.) The anger in Some of the news so far is hopeful. The percentage of the Chile over this case was so intense that a raucous crowd population that is uninsured has been reduced to below 12 showed up to protest at Bishop Barros’s installation Mass. percent, more than 5.5 points down from the rate before But Osorno, said the pope, “has let its head be filled with the A.C.A. mandate went into effect in 2014. what politicians say, judging a bishop without any proof.” On the other hand, insurers in many states are raising The case of Bishop Barros is complex. But there are premiums and increasing deductibles. A number of plans credible accusations involved, and not everyone who opposes are seeing increases north of 20 percent; in a much smaller his installation as bishop is “dumb.” Peter Saunders, a lay number of states, premiums have actually decreased. With member of the papal advisory committee on abuse who the rate of enrollment growth leveling off, insurers are himself is a survivor of abuse, called the pope’s comments a discovering that their risk pools are less healthy and thus “grave error.” Sexual abuse needs to be confronted at every more costly than originally projected. Some of the higher turn in our church. The smart thing to do would be not costs will be offset by increases in the tax credit insurance to dismiss complaints but rather to continue to focus the subsidies provided by the A.C.A., but many people will church’s spotlight on this great sin. still need to shift plans to find something affordable. While it is too soon to declare this the beginning of the dreaded A.C.A. “death spiral,” in which the cost of plans, even Forgive Us Our Debts after subsidies, is high enough to discourage enrollment As the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy approaches, by the healthy (which would drive the costs higher still), many parishes and dioceses are preparing to celebrate it is certainly reason to be concerned. One of the needs it and commemorate this time. Some will sponsor lectures highlights is for better data and more thorough analysis or prayer groups. Jubilee doors will be opened and the of the situation in order to identify and learn from places sacrament of reconciliation will be encouraged. But as Pope where the program is functioning more smoothly. Francis reminded us in the formal document announcing The A.C.A. has significantly improved the availability the jubilee, the Year of Mercy is not simply a time of of health insurance, but it clearly needs to be adjusted in prayerful meditation. It is a reminder of God’s mercy, and the light of experience. An imperfect law ought to be the it calls us outside of ourselves; it calls us to action. The starting point for reasonable political argument toward pope wrote: “Jesus introduces us to these works of mercy practical reforms. The difficulty in doing so should not in his preaching so that we can know whether or not we discourage us from working on health care but rather are living as his disciples. Let us rediscover these corporal encourage us to ask more from our legislators. works of mercy…. And let us not forget the spiritual works of mercy.” Smart Oversight The Italian bishops’ conference has taken this message to The new movie “Spotlight,” focusing on The Boston Globe’s heart in a creative way. They have pledged to help pay the coverage of sexual abuse by members of the Catholic clergy utility bills of needy families in Rome and, if possible, other in Boston, reminds us of the need to be vigilant about abuse large Italian cities, throughout the year. The Rev. Paolo in the church—and indeed anywhere. And the Catholic Gentili, director of the Italian bishops’ conference’s Office Church has made great strides in combating abuse. That is for the Pastoral Care of the Family, said that the church why Pope Francis’ comments about the alleged cover-up by has “always given, but is now called to give something the recently installed bishop of the Diocese of Osorno, in even more concrete, to forgive debts, to give oxygen to the Chile, were disheartening. “Please, don’t lose your calm,” Pope families.” This effort to forgive debt as an act of mercy is a Francis said in October to a group of pilgrims at the Vatican reminder both of the true needs in our society and of our in remarks that later became public. “Osorno is suffering, yes, power to meet those needs with God’s help and a willing but for being dumb.” community. Dioceses, parishes and individuals are called to Bishop Juan Barros had been a protégé of the Rev. think deliberately about how to live this year of mercy so Fernando Karadima, a charismatic priest who has been that its effects will last far beyond the jubilee.

4 America November 30, 2015 EDITORIAL Our Brother’s Keeper he release of a new and shocking report concerning dream. Universal health care, the impact of economic change on vulnerable citi- higher minimum wages and aid Tzens could not have come at a better time. It comes to education could do a lot to in the wake of the papal visit and before an election year, help, but it would not cure exis- when both the American people and leaders of the church tential despair. Another Times are examining their economic and moral priorities. Pope contributor, Richard A. Friedman, blames doctors who en- Francis has challenged both the church and Congress to di- able addiction: “An opioid overdose epidemic is at the heart rect their energies toward serving the weak and the poor. of this rise in white middle age mortality” (Nov. 8). These A team of economists—Anne Case, a professor of drugs were intended for cancer pain; but now primary care economics at Princeton University, and Angus Deaton, her physicians who lack appropriate training and are egged on husband, also a Princeton economist and a Nobel Prize- by aggressive marketers use them for purposes other than winner—have published “Rising Morbidity and Mortality those intended. in Midlife Among White Non-Hispanic Americans in the The website nakedcaptalism.com, which offers “fearless 21st Century” about white Americans, ages 45 to 54, who commentary on finance, economics, politics and power,” has died between 1999 and 2013. To the researchers’ astonish- accumulated several hundred letters that expose the pain af- ment, the death rate among these men and women rose dra- flicting this population. One writes, “But in the end, it sucks matically, while the rate for other demographic groups in the to be discarded by society like a piece of trash.” Another, United States and their European counterparts remained flooded by alcohol and pain, clutches the gun that “makes the same. suicide much simpler.” Another describes himself as a “good This increase has been attributed to drug and alco- person who got crushed by this so-called ‘society’ and saw no hol poisoning, suicide and chronic liver diseases. Although other way out.” They rarely mention religion. One ex-banker, these maladies struck others as well, members of this group devastated by his “failure,” nurtures a collection of painkillers are marked by a lack of education; they either dropped out to do their job as his “shove off ” date approaches. of high school or did not pursue a college degree. These In the Book of Genesis, Adam asks Cain where his findings are disturbing because, in recent years, job-relat- brother, Abel, is. Cain replies, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” ed illnesses followed by inadequate medical response have But until society acknowledges these stories—until we help ravaged this age group. Many of their contemporaries have people recover the “narratives of their lives”—we are not even thrived, but since the 1990s physical and mental health is- in a position to ask Cain’s question. The presidential candi- sues and the struggle for daily survival among this battered- dates’ debates have mostly shied away from the inequality by-life minority have taken their toll. As Mr. Deaton told issue, apart from promising to cut taxes for the wealthy. The Washington Post, “Half a million people are dead who Other advanced countries, which provide a much bet- should not be dead.” These figures are “about 40 times the ter safety net for people in economic hardship, have not seen Ebola stats. You’re getting up there with H.I.V./AIDS.” He an increasing mortality. We should learn from them. Drugs describes these victims as white Americans who have “lost that can be abused must be prudently prescribed. Colleges the narrative of their lives.” and universities could reconsider their recruitment strate- Other countries, particularly in Europe, survived eco- gies and reach out to non-elite populations. nomic changes because of strong social safety nets. In con- Media agencies that can sponsor investigative report- trast, jobs in manufacturing and construction in the United ing have a special responsibility to shine light on those dark States have all but vanished; the less-educated unemployed corners where the poor and sick huddle. Perhaps we need lack the resources that would allow them to have the lives another Michael Harrington, whose The Other America they imagined. (1962) introduced John F. Kennedy and then Lyndon B. Paul Krugman, another Nobel Prize-winning econo- Johnson to the “invisible poor.” Finally, church leaders could mist, writing in The New York Times on Nov. 9, sees that redirect their influence and resources—in synods, diocesan “despair appears to be spreading across Middle America” publications, church-owned television networks and parish- with troubling consequences for society as the wound- es—to rescuing our dying brothers and sisters. That is our ed cannot deal with the failure for them of the American obligation as “keepers.”

November 30, 2015 America 5 REPLY ALL not you like the Catholic Church’s po- with out being poisoned by them, sition on contraception matters great- so long as they are in your house Puerto Rico’s Problems ly—for two reasons. The first is that or purse only, and not in your Re “Help for Puerto Rico,” (Current “Humanae Vitae” has been divisive and heart. It is the Christian’s privi- Comment, 11/9): The government is largely ignored by Catholics. The sec- lege to be rich in material things, solution to Puerto Rico’s problems in ond is that by flatly condemning con- and poor in attachment to them, the 1950s was to provide generous tax traception, the church has forfeited its thereby having the use of riches in incentives for the pharmaceutical in- opportunity to make statements more this world and the merit of pover- dustry to manufacture on the island. nuanced and truthful. ty in the next. But government incentives can be ca- Church teaching focuses on the costs pricious, and they very frequently come and disadvantages of contraception The middle class does not have the to an unhappy end. Wait until they without talking about the costs and dis- moral freedom that arises from giv- stop paying investment bankers to drive advantages of not using contraception. ing up worldly goods. Instead, our use Teslas. This is dishonest. Failing to discuss the of riches must we weighed on a moral A “U.N. solution” to the current issue of power in the matter of contra- scale. We will always have the power to crisis would be highly unlikely to sur- ception is also dishonest. And dishon- do good with the wealth that is given to vive challenge by creditors in the U.S. esty destroys one’s credibility, whether a us. courts. If the people of Puerto Rico person or an institution is speaking. MR. AND MRS. HERBERT ELY want a solution, they should look to the LISA WEBER Online Comment examples of Chile and Singapore. Online Comment JOHN WALTON Abraham’s Call Online Comment Artificial and Fraudulent Re “Violence Continues Over Sacred “Humanae Vitae” is actually very nu- Sites” (11/2): It is a common error, but Starved Spirits anced, no matter how many deplore it. I was dismayed to find it inAmerica — Robert David Sullivan raises some In rejecting artificial contraception as the misinterpretation of Abraham’s important points in “Defining Needy” contrary to human dignity, it points call concerning his son Isaac (Gn 22: (11/9). Candidates (well, Democratic out that it is an artifice, as in “a scheme 2-5). By omitting just a few words, one candidates) offer competing proposals or artifice to defraud,” making what ap- changes the meaning and marvelous for college tuition assistance, debt re- pears to be a total offering of self any- significance of Abraham’s relation- lief, etc. But where are the competitive thing but that. Nothing good can come ship with God. He was not called to proposals, including radically different from fraud or deception. sacrifice his son but to offer him as a models, to address school systems with FRED CLOSE sacrifice. He was aware of the differ- 40 percent dropout rates and graduates Online Comment ence, hence the words to his servants, who lack basic literacy skills, producing “We will worship and then come Poisonous Attachments our national illiteracy rate of 14 per- back to you.” Being perfect, God does Stephanie Pacheco (“Gospel for a cent? not change his mind. He was testing Middle Class,” 11/9) is correct in writ- The connections between illiteracy Abraham’s faith, and at the same time ing that “worldly goods are not dis- and unemployment, incarceration and Abraham had the temerity to test God. missed” in the Gospel; the correct ques- chronic dependence on public assis- So he raised the knife, unaware of how tion is our attitude towards them. For tance are well documented. How do we God would react but confident that he me the other Francis (Francis de Sales) assure that more of our children take would not allow the sacrifice. That is provides a helpful perspective when he that first step out of neediness, and be- what makes it such a compelling story. writes in his come literate? Introduction to the Devout JOHN A. BUTLER about apothecaries (pharmacists): Potomac, Md. As Pope Paul VI wrote in Life “Populorum Progressio,” “Lack of edu- There is a wide difference be- Stopping Suicide cation is as serious as lack of food; the tween having poison and being Thanks to Richard G. Malloy, S.J., for illiterate is a starved spirit” (No. 35). JOSEPH J. DUNN JR. poisoned. All apothecaries have “Still Seeking Hope” (10/5), which Online Comment poisons ready for special uses, but will surely help educate others and they are not consequently poi- diminish the stigma associated with Contraception and Dishonesty soned, because the poison is only death by suicide. As a mother who has I disagree with Helen Alvaré (“The in their shop, not in themselves; lost an adult child to suicide, a pas- Federal Mystique,” 11/9). Whether or and so you may possess riches tor and a suicide prevention activist,

6 America November 30, 2015 I know that the author walks on holy ground when he shares his story and STATUS UPDATE calls to communion with him. JUSTINE DANIEL YEARGIN thus makes it possible for others to On America’s blog The Good Word share theirs and move forward. John W. Martens responded to the But I do take issue, strongly, with current debate about Communion for What came to my mind was that it Father Malloy’s assertion that “there the divorced and remarried by provid- seems one can interpret Jesus’ words is nothing anyone could have done to ing a scriptural analysis of the question however you want. I would say that stop” someone who decides to die by (“Jesus’ Teaching on Marriage and giving up, destroying a family, is the suicide. It is difficult for those of us Divorce,” 11/2). Readers weigh in. devil’s new way of winning; divorce who have lost someone in this way and remarriage should not be easy. to discover that, had we known and It seems to me that what is at question JAMIE FORD understood more, there are things we here is not the sanctity of marriage but could have done—but the same is true the treatment of those who have been “We do not want a church that will of death due to physical injury or ill- wronged.... I for one think we should move with the world. We want a ness. We may not know enough at the wrap our arms around them and re- church that will move the world”—G. time, but as research develops and ed- flect God’s love and mercy as a church K. Chesterton. ucation continues, we find that there is and not stand in the way of who God JULIE FITZGERALD lots we can learn and much we can do to change the trajectory of suicidal ide- disgraced and symbolically stripped of very little money, although it does re- ation, so that numbers of deaths and his office as archbishop of Seattle. All of quire an incredible amount of work the tremendous suffering that follows this reminds us that today, as in Jesus’ and determination. Through the public are reduced. There is no comfort, and day, institutional bureaucracy within library system, the government makes potential great harm, in the claim that the church will often act to thwart legit- education accessible to all. Google, suicides are inevitable. imate prophets in our time. Coursera and the like make it possible MARY CRAIG THOMAS SEVERIN to gain knowledge without cost. And Online Comment Connellsville, Pa. traveling abroad, interacting with new and different people and experiencing Education’s Purpose things outside one’s comfort zone can Silenced in Seattle Re “Why Educate” (Editorial, 9/28): happen equally well with or without a “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the Defining education as having a college university stamp of approval. prophets” (Mt. 23:37). I couldn’t help degree is dubious at best, and when Education and institutions of higher but think of Jesus’ lament upon read- considered in the context of being education should not be conflated to be ing “Activist in the Chancery,” by John a good person with a good soul, the the same thing. Continuously educating A. Coleman, S.J. (10/5), a review of definition should be rejected outright. oneself is a responsible part of being in A Still and Quiet Conscience, by John Since the days of Abraham Lincoln, it this world. A. McCoy. In reference to Archbishop has been possible to get an education DAVID RYAN Raymond Hunthausen of Seattle, outside of universities while spending Online Comment Father Coleman quotes Msgr. Michael Ryan, who said, “The American hierar- chy has produced very few great men. He is one of them.” The fact is that Archbishop Hunthausen was targeted by the Vatican for the great “sin” of being antiwar and for opposing the buildup of nuclear weapons, especially the Trident submarine, during the Reagan administration. He even went so far as to attend a public protest against nuclear buildup and withheld his taxes, giving them to charity, as a way of protesting the buildup of our nuclear arsenal. For this outrageous and blatant “Jenkins, did we get that new 3-D copier yet?” Christian activism, he was ultimately BOB ECKSTEIN CARTOON:

November 30, 2015 America 7 8 America November 30, 2015 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

TERRORISM of Mercy: “This is…no time to give up the Jubilee, or to be afraid. We need Pope Calls Paris Attacks ‘Blasphemy’ the Jubilee more than ever.” “Be on guard,” he said. “These mur- Says Dialogue Must Continue derers, possessed by a senseless hatred, are called ‘terrorists’ precisely NOUS SOMMES TOUS FRANÇAIS. People gather in Republique square in Paris on Nov. 14 to remember victims of the terror attacks. because they want to spread terror. If we let ourselves be frightened, they will have already reached their first ob- jective.” In the aftermath of the attacks, President François Hollande vowed to “be un- forgiving with the barbar- ians from Daesh.” By Nov. 15 France had begun bombing raids on the self-proclaimed capital of ISIS, Raqqa in Syria. In the days after the attack, news of small reprisal gestures against Syrian refugees in Europe began to surface, and the Internet became cloudy with ugly calls for retaliation against Muslims and celebrations of the mayhem in Paris among Daesh sympathizers. Thomas Rosica, C.S.B., the sing God’s name to try to justify violence and murder is “blasphemy,” Pope Holy See’s English language attaché, Francis said on Nov. 15, speaking about the terrorist attacks in Paris. warned against using the events in U“Such barbarity leaves us dismayed and we ask ourselves how the human Paris to interrupt Muslim-Christian heart can plan and carry out such horrible events,” the pope said after reciting the dialogue: “The life of every human be- Angelus prayer with visitors in St. Peter’s Square. ing is sacred, both for Christians and The attacks in Paris on Nov. 13—carried out, the French government said, by for Muslims,” he said. three teams of Islamic State terrorists—caused the deaths of 132 people and left “There is plenty of scope for us to more than 350 wounded. The attacks, Pope Francis said, were an “unspeakable act together in the service of funda- affront to the dignity of the human person.” mental moral values. The lessons of “The path of violence and hatred cannot resolve the problems of humanity and the past must help us to avoid repeat- using the name of God to justify this path is blasphemy,” he said. ing the same mistakes. We must seek The archbishop of Paris, Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, issued a statement con- paths of reconciliation and learn to live demning the assault on his city, praising first responders and urging unity. “Faced with respect for each other’s identity.” with the violence of men, may we receive the grace of a firm heart, without hatred,” After meeting with Pope Francis he said. “May the moderation, temperance and control that has been shown so on Nov. 14 in Rome at an event com- far be confirmed in the weeks and months to come; let no one indulge in panic or memorating the 35th anniversary of hatred. We ask that grace be the artisan of peace. We need never despair of peace the Jesuit Refugee Service, its interna- if we build on justice.” tional director, Thomas Smolich, S.J., In Rome, Federico Lombardi, S.J., told Vatican Radio, commenting on sugges- joined his prayers with the pope’s for tions that the violence might interrupt the beginning of the church’s Jubilee Year the victims and survivors. He added,

November 30, 2015 America 9 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

“We would want to make sure that in Iraq, in other parts of the world. “We have to acknowledge those what happened last night is not glo- “They are coming to escape what emotions so we’re not paralyzed or balized to say, ‘This is all of Islam; this has unfortunately come to Europe.” overwhelmed by it,” he said. is all the Muslim faith.’ These are peo- The refugees, he said, merely want Acknowledging the issues sur- ple within a group of people who are to realize “the same freedom of living rounding race is important for the doing evil things for reasons that don’t that we hope to enjoy here in Europe.” church “because our faith gives us no make a lot of sense to us.” J.R.S., and particularly J.R.S. France, other choice,” Father Massingale said. Father Smolich said, “I think it’s he said, has worked to welcome and “Reality gives us no other choice. We very important to realize that people integrate new arrivals to Europe, a must deal with the signs of the times.” who are coming to Europe right now… process even more important now in While the church now is a mix of 60 are fleeing the same situations. They the light of the suffering in Paris and percent white and 40 percent Latino, have left barrel bombs in Aleppo; they potential reactions to it “so we can tru- African-American and other ethnic have left random attacks in Damascus, ly build one human family.” groups, census figures indicate that by 2043 white will no longer be the majority race in the United States, he U.S. CHURCH said. Those statistics have “wide-rang- ing implications” for the church’s for- Breaking Silence on Racism mation and evangelization “seismic shift in SEEKING HEALING. Father Bryan Massingale, author of programs. demographics” in Racial Justice and the Catholic Church, speaks “The landscape of both the both society and the at a gathering in the Archdiocese church and society is being A of New Orleans. U.S. Catholic Church in the significantly and dramatically coming decades will create a altered,” Father Massingale church that is far less white, said. “If we are going to be the Rev. Bryan Massingale Catholic, our future can only told an audience in New be a brown one. The church is Orleans on Nov. 6. The browning. It’s inexorable.” church will be unprepared The massacre of nine to deal with that reality, he African-American worshipers continued, unless it address- in a Charleston, S.C., church es “the ongoing struggle for is just the most recent re- racial equality.” minder of the racial divide in Father Massingale made America, he said, adding that the comments in an address to priests, Massingale said. “We don’t dare say there is other “subtle racism” exposed seminarians and other officials of the anything because we don’t want to say when anonymous comments are post- Archdiocese of New Orleans. The au- something wrong or make someone ed online in response to news stories thor of Racial Justice and the Catholic upset. We don’t want to go there. Most involving race and ethnicity. Church and a professor of ethics and of all, as priests, we want to be liked. “Racism is a soul sickness,” he said, theology at Marquette University in Your parish is your family. You don’t “a profound warping of the human Milwaukee, Father Massingale said the want to alienate people. So, you’d rath- spirit that enables us to create or toler- church must become “a proactive agent er keep silent than run that risk.” ate callousness or indifference toward for racial justice” if it is to “remain vi- Just as the topic of sexuality is sen- each other. Racism is a soul sickness able and relevant in the 21st century.” sitive, discussions about race “become that says some lives are worth less than He said the issues of racism and ra- emotional and visceral.” In his years others and some are beyond our con- cial justice are not spoken of frequent- of teaching a course on racial justice cern. We are called to lament, to grieve, ly by priests because the topics are so at Marquette, Father Massingale said to mourn, to be aware because that’s sensitive. it was not uncommon for “students’ what leads to racial conversion.” “When we get together, there eyes to glaze over. They can’t take any Catholics can confront the sin of is a tendency for silence,” Father more in.” racism in a pastoral way by first recog-

10 America November 30, 2015 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

nizing their own “fears, blindness and need for education, growth and heal- NEWS BRIEFS ing,” he said. “But there can’t be fire in The former Creighton University presi- the pew if there’s ice in the pulpit.” dent and former president and publisher of America, John P. Schlegel, S.J., died on Nov. 15 in Omaha, Neb., of pancreatic cancer at Help for Abuse Victims the age of 72. • “Time is of the essence” to get The U.S. church still stands ready to humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine as help the victims of sexual abuse by winter sets in, a group of Ukrainian religious members of the Catholic clergy, ac- leaders said in an appeal to President Obama cording to Bishop Edward J. Burns of on Nov. 9. • The Eucharist is not just a reward John Schlegel, S.J. Juneau, Alaska, chairman of the U.S. for the good but also strength for the weak bishops’ Committee on Child and and nourishment for those who hunger for Youth Protection. “Victims of abuse love, forgiveness and mercy, Pope Francis said in a message to par- have helped us see the errors of the ticipants of the National Eucharistic Congress in Mumbai, India, past,” Bishop Burns said on Nov. 10. on Nov. 12-15. • On Nov. 6 Patriarch Louis Sako of Baghdad, of “It’s important that we assist them in the Chaldean Catholic Church, called upon Iraq’s President Fuad the healing process.” He added: “We ex- Masum to veto a law that would force some Christian children to press our gratitude for the way they’ve convert to Islam. • Darren Posey, country representative for Catholic called us to look at ourselves, and see Relief Services in Burundi, said on Nov. 9 that “outright conflict” that there is a need to change, to be con- could still be avoided if the East African country’s rulers heed church trite, and to assist in the healing pro- appeals for dialogue and compromise. • A federal bankruptcy court cess. It’s important that we continue to in Wisconsin approved the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s plan of re- work together in order to be sure that organization, calling for $21 million to be paid to 355 survivors of there is a safe environment within the sexual abuse. church, and that we never grow lax in assuring that all our children are safe.” The subject of sexual abuse by mem- children who are U.S. citizens or legal from where Tyshawn was lured into bers of the clergy is being brought into residents of this country from depor- an alley and shot in the head and the the headlines again with the release of tation. The order had expanded a 2012 back on the afternoon of Nov. 2. The the new movie “Spotlight,” which deals program known as Deferred Action Rev. Michael Pfleger told the congre- with the Boston Globe’s investigation for Childhood Arrivals and creates gation that it’s not true that Tyshawn into abuse by Catholic priests in the the Deferred Action for Parents of was in the wrong place at the wrong Archdiocese of Boston. Americans and Lawful Permanent time. “Tyshawn was on his way to play Residents. Earlier this year, 19 faith- basketball in the park near his grand- based organizations filed a friend of mother’s house,” the priest said. “Our Deferred Deportation the court brief advocating for people children have the right to walk down To Supreme Court seeking relief from deportation. “The our streets. Our children have the right United States has a legal interest and to play in the park. Our children have The Obama administration will seek a moral duty to preserve the unity of the right to sit on their porches. Our a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court families,” said Bill Kelly, S.J., secretary children have the right to be safe wher- after a federal appeals court struck for social and international ministries ever they are in the city of Chicago. down the president’s program to pro- at the Jesuit Conference. The murderer, the executioner, the tect more than four million immigrants assassin was in the wrong place at the from deportation. The ruling on Nov. wrong time.” As of Nov. 11, there were 9 upheld a Texas-based federal judge’s A Death in Chicago 428 murders reported in Chicago in injunction against President Obama’s A funeral service was held at St. 2015. Eight of them occurred between executive order to protect immigrants Sabina Church on the South Side of Tyshawn’s death and his funeral. who came to the United States as Chicago for 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee children or the immigrant parents of on Nov. 10. The church is about a mile From CNS, RNS and other sources.

November 30, 2015 America 11 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

DISPATCH | BEIJING side of the Chinese leadership complex Zhongnanhai, French President China’s ‘Teflon President’ Jacques Hollande followed a few days later. While he visited Beijing most- ou heard it here first: I predict 70th anniversary of the end of World ly to discuss climate change, he went China’s President Xi Jinping War II in early September, complete back to France with a $22 billion deal Ywill be Time magazine’s with large-scale military parade. for nuclear waste recycling. Person of the Year. Certainly some will Xi rode that wave of pomp and cir- Only a leader with Xi’s confidence argue for German Chancellor Angela cumstance to the United States, where and strength could undertake his Merkel because of her response to he met President Barack Obama. The next meeting: with Taiwan Republic the European refugee crisis. Russia’s meeting demonstrated part of what of China President Ma Ying-jeou Vladimir Putin’s moves on Syria has become Xi’s style: concrete com- in Singapore on Nov. 7. It’s the first and general annoyance of the United mercial results delivered from coun- time since 1949 that leaders from States will mean he’ll also receive some tries with which China has otherwise the two sides met. Ma, representing consideration. complicated, if not difficult, relations. the Kuomintang, currently Taiwan’s But it’s not Xi’s oft-cited similar- Although military relations between ruling party and the nationalist force ity to Mao Zedong that will put that “lost” China in ’49, subscribes him on the cover. It’s his politi- to the “One China Principle”—that cal resemblance to the late U.S. Xi’s likeness to Reagan there is only one China which in- President Ronald Reagan. Xi’s is neither physical cludes Taiwan. He has enjoyed a likeness to Reagan is neither phys- friendly and productive relationship ical nor stylistic. nor stylistic. with the People’s Republic, reduc- The Teflon coating he seems ing military tensions and resuming to be accruing is not a result of direct flights. The two agreed to dodging scandals, as Reagan did in the the two countries have become tense refer to each other as “Mister” rath- 1980s. Instead, Xi has moved from since the visit due to China’s expan- er than “President.” Although both strength to strength in 2015, despite an sion of a disputed island in the South sides have worked hard to minimize increasing number of challenges both China Sea, China bought $38 billion expectations, it’s a boost for Ma and domestic and international, maintain- worth of Boeing aircraft during the the K.M.T., who have fared poorly in ing a firm line on China’s world view visit, providing each leader with evi- recent elections and may still lose the and demand to be treated as a super- dence that the U.S./China trade rela- presidency in January. power. Xi is increasingly resistant to tionship was on track and benefitting All of this comes as Xi brushed off criticism and grows more confident in workers on both sides of the Pacific. a $2 trillion drop in China’s stock mar- executing his policy goals, including Most surprising was Xi’s trip to the kets during the summer and a slowing fighting corruption, enforcing China’s United Kingdom in October, where economy. Nor did he flinch as the U.S. territorial claims in the South China Prime Minister David Cameron treat- Navy began patrols within 12 miles of Sea and keeping the public calm as the ed the Chinese leader as if he were Chinese-expanded islands in the South country faces its first long-term eco- visiting royalty. Cameron was later China Sea. In late October, China’s nomic slowdown in over 30 years. criticized for his supplicant’s posture government approved its 13th Five- This autumn Xi met most of the throughout the visit, intent on po- Year Plan, a central economic blueprint world’s most important leaders, either sitioning the United Kingdom as a for 2016-2021, which included a move traveling abroad or welcoming them to worthy trade partner and tourist desti- designed to alter the nation’s workforce Beijing. Xi hosted Putin, along with nation. The two sides signed business while maintaining social stability: giv- South Korean President Park Geun- deals worth about £40 billion ($60.2 ing all of China’s couples the opportu- hye, during China’s celebration of the billion). nity to have two children after 35 years Xi returned to Beijing, where he of the one-child policy. STEVEN SCHWANKERT, author of Poseidon: met Germany’s Merkel. She was For Xi, it all seems another day at China’s Secret Salvage of Britain’s Lost able to fly home with an order for 30 the office. As it would, for the person Submarine (Hong Kong University Press), is America’s Beijing correspondent. Airbus jets, worth €17 billion ($18.57 of the year. Twitter: @greatwriteshark. billion). As if a queue had formed out- STEVEN SCHWANKERT

12 America November 30, 2015 November 30, 2015 America 13 WASHINGTON FRONT An Election Out of Focus mong Republicans, the sum- main debate stage. The records of tal to the dignity of the person.” mer of Trump has become Governors Jeb Bush and John Kasich Robert Putnam in Our Kids draws Athe fall of the outsiders, with as conservative and creative reformers a statistical and human picture of com- Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson seem irrelevant and may be counter- munities, families and children with- leading the way. Senator Ted Cruz, productive. out the income, dignity and supports who attacks the Senate, and Senator Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley, that come with decent employment Marco Rubio, who won’t show up in with a liberal record on the death at decent wages. A new study reports the Senate, are positioning themselves penalty, gun control, the Dream Act that life expectancy continues to lag as outsiders and a new generation if and same-sex marriage, barely reg- for people of color. the frontrunners falter. Trump has isters among Democrats. In a na- For the first time, however, death doubled down on blaming immigrants tion that elected Governors Jimmy rates are rising for middle-aged white and “stupid politicians” and “low ener- Carter, Ronald Reagan, Americans who lack gy” leaders for what he calls Crippled Bill Clinton and George W. Where is education and other as- America. Dr. Carson offers not energy, Bush, executive experience sets. Addiction, suicide, but biography and now blames report- is more a liability than a the talk of other health problems ers for trying to undermine his appeal qualification, so the gover- and hopelessness are with questions about his youth, West nors are fading. poverty, destroying the lives of Point and pyramids. What is missing from work and people who have lost On the Democratic side, Joseph this campaign is serious their place in our econ- Biden “ran out of time” and Senator discussion of work, workers workers omy and communities. Bernie Sanders may be running out of and people without work. in the Where is the focus room as Hillary Clinton moves to the The nation needs a real on poverty, work and left. She seems to be running for who focus on overcoming per- campaign? workers in the cam- she could be—namely, the first female vasive poverty, and work is paign? At a time of president—more than for what she the neglected center of that identity politics in pro- has done. Senator Sanders does not discussion. Mitt Romney said that if gressive circles, could Democrats focus run on what he has achieved, but on he were elected, unemployment would on the crucial identity of people as his lonely witness on key issues, giving come down to 6 percent. workers and what happens when that away the email issue and questions Official unemployment has now is lost? of judgment and truthfulness that it fallen to 5 percent, and President The Republican Party sometimes symbolizes. Obama deserves credit for slow but talks about life and family. Could its What are disappearing in this steady job growth. But labor force par- candidates focus on how the lack of campaign are governors, leaders who ticipation is at a 38-year low, with some work destroys both? have passed budgets, chosen judg- retired or in school, and many have In this coming election year, we es and run a state. Gov. Rick Perry given up looking for work. Millions should echo the prayer and plea of and Gov. Scott Walker are already more are working part-time though Pope Francis “for more politicians who out despite achievements that made they need and want full-time work. are genuinely disturbed by the state of conservatives love them and liberals This is an economy that leaves mil- society...the lives of the poor!… It is hate them. Governors Chris Christie lions out and many behind. In the vital that government leaders...work to and Bobby Jindal and former Gov. Catholic tradition, work is not just a ensure that all citizens have dignified Mike Huckabee can’t even get on the way to make a living; it is an expres- work.” sion of our dignity, a contribution to It also wouldn’t hurt to listen to the common good. Pope Francis has governors who have actually had to JOHN CARR is director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at said, “We were created with a vocation lead and choose, not just to vote and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. to work” and that “work is fundamen- talk. JOHN CARR

14 America November 30, 2015

The Fight for Religious Freedom John Courtney Murray’s role in ‘Dignitatis Humanae’ BY BARRY HUDOCK

ebate on the issue of religious freedom posed the draft, had invited the world’s bishops to provide during the Second Vatican Council’s third their mailing addresses in Rome during the next session session had been tumultuous. As the final in order to receive advice on how to vote. And Cardinal session opened on September 14, 1965, Giuseppe Siri had written directly to the pope complaining two opposing and irreconcilable “sides” were that, if promulgated, the new document would “especially Dlined up against one another. The traditionalist side, led by benefit religious indifferentism.” Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, was a powerful minority who The Canadian bishops, who had paid special attention to argued the state was obligated, through its officials, to wor- Father Murray’s work, prepared a sequence of interventions ship God according to the Catholic religion. Reformers, fol- in favor of the schema. And less than two weeks before the lowing the thought of John Courtney Murray, S.J., argued session’s opening, the Yugoslavian bishops published a joint the church could and should support religious freedom in pastoral letter declaring their support for religious freedom. secular states. Both sides saw the question as a matter of During this same period, Murray carried on a respect- speaking the truth about God and the church and morali- ful correspondence with the Cardinal Michael Browne of ty; for these men, the stakes could not be higher. All knew Ireland, a leader of the opposition to the document. Murray that the matter would be decided definitively in the weeks explained the text and defended its importance. But know- ahead. Indeed, they had been preparing intensely for the ing how unlikely it would be to win the cardinal’s agreement, debate almost from the moment the previous year’s session he added: had closed. There is an old folk-ballad among us about a boy who Battle Stations was treed by a bear.... The refrain runs thus: “O Lord, On Jan. 9, 1965, the John Courtney Murray, S.J., published if you can’t help me, for heaven’s sake don’t help the an article in America. “This Matter of Religious Freedom,” bear.” It comes to mind as an expression of my hope in that received much comment and was soon translated and this matter: if your Eminence does not find it possible, published in Italian and German periodicals. A few months in conscience, to come out in favor of the schema, I later, L’Osservatore Romano published an article by the hope that you will not find it necessary, in conscience, prominent French theologian Charles Boyer, S.J., of the to come out against it! Gregorian University, that defended the classical approach that Murray questioned. As he had the previous fall, Murray worked with the The new religious freedom text, which the bishops had American bishops to prepare a set of coordinated interven- received in June, had been closely scrutinized by supporters tions for session four covering all the important points. and opponents alike. Cardinal Joseph Ritter of St. Louis, Mo., had written a letter to the entire American episcopate Bishops’ Voices, Murray’s Thoughts calling for support of the schema. Meanwhile the Coetus On Sept. 15, debate on the new text began. Bishop Émile Internationalis Patrum, a bishops’ interest group that op- Joseph de Smedt of Belgium presented an introductory report, again prepared with extensive consultation with BARRY HUDOCK is the author of Faith Meets World: The Gift and Murray. The first council father to speak was Cardinal Challenge of Catholic Social Teaching and The Eucharistic Prayer: Francis Spellman, who offered strong support through an A User’s Guide. He is a publisher of Liturgical Press and lives with his intervention that Murray had prepared. Cardinals Cushing family in central Minnesota. This article is an edited excerpt from the author’s latest book, Struggle, Condemnation, Vindication: John and Ritter followed with their support. Over the next sev- Courtney Murray’s Journey Toward Vatican II (Liturgical Press). eral hours, American bishop after American bishop offered

16 America November 30, 2015 interventions that clearly reflected Murray’s thinking. One bishop commented, “The voices are the voices of the United States bishops; but the thoughts are the thoughts of John Courtney Murray!” The day included several opposition voices. The in- fluential Cardinal Ernesto Ruffini repeated the classical approach that the state was obligated, through its officials, to worship God according to the Catholic religion. He noted the great benefits that Catholicism brings to society, offering chastity as his first example of such benefits. Cardinal Siri warned of religious indifferentism and suggested again that the religious freedom schema contradicted the teaching of several popes. On the second day, Cardinal Lorenz Jaeger spoke in the name of 150 bishops in favor of the draft. He offered impressive responses to many of the opponents’ criticisms. The third day included several noteworthy interventions. Cardinal Franjo Seper (a future head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) offered his strong support. Cardinal John Heenan criticized the thesis-hypothesis approach, noting that it was ab- surd to speak of truth or error having rights, since only persons have rights. He said the traditional approach was inconsistent: The church cannot appeal to “the rights of truth” when Catholics are in the majority and use this to suppress the freedom of non-Cath- olics, but when Catholics are in the minority, demand freedom for Catholics. The Cardinal Modrego y Casaus of Spain said the HEADY DAYS. Pope Paul VI is carried on the “sedia gestatoria,” a schema “certainly contradicts...the explicit teaching of ceremonial throne, during the closing liturgy of the Second Vatican the Roman pontiffs up to and including John XXIII.” Council in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Dec. 8, 1965. Another Spaniard, Velasco, said it “perverts the doctrine taught for centuries by the magisterium of the church.” and how they should cast their votes.” Some thought that if Cardinal Ottaviani maintained that the teachings of the a vote had been called, many hundreds would vote against schema were “for the most part contrary to common teach- it, and one rumor suggested that 1,000 were ready to reject ing” and called for a revision that would bring it “in accord it. Pope Paul VI, who had made no secret of the fact that he with the earlier teaching of the Catholic Church.” wanted the declaration, told Cardinal Leo Joseph Suenens Speaking on behalf of “all of the observers of the coun- that he had been very impressed with the arguments of the cil,” Bishop Charles Maloney, auxiliary bishop of Louisville, opposition leaders. offered strong support for the schema. He noted wryly that the council fathers who were wrong about this issue had “a Bogged Down right to speak because of their dignity as persons, not be- Monday, Sept. 20, the fourth day of debate, included a re- cause of the truth or falsity of their statements.” markable series of interventions in favor of the document. By the end of Friday the direction the debate was taking Cardinal Josef Beran took his place before the fathers. was still unclear. It was by no means certain that the schema During the 1940s, he had been imprisoned by the Nazis would be accepted. Msgr. Albert Prignon, who was pres- in the concentration camps atTheresienstadt and Dachau. ent as a theological expert, later wrote in his journal of this After four years of freedom, during which he had been day, “Chance meetings with bishops and theologians in St. named archbishop of Prague, Beran was imprisoned in 1949 Peter’s showed that minds were wavering. Several bishops by the Communist regime and remained so until 1963.

CNS PHOTO/GIANCARLO GIULIANI, CATHOLIC PRESS PHOTO CNS PHOTO/GIANCARLO GIULIANI, CATHOLIC said openly that they did not know what they ought to think Since his release, he had been forbidden by his government

November 30, 2015 America 17 from exercising his ministry. As he stood on the floor of the to indicate by a standing vote whether they thought it was council, he had just moved to Rome, in exchange for conces- time to close discussion. Nearly all the fathers stood. Bishop sions from his government for more freedom for the church, de Smedt offered a summary and closing remarks, and then and had been named a cardinal by Paul VI. the fathers were asked to vote on whether the current text Standing for the first time before his brother bishops, should be taken as the basis for a definitive declaration after who knew well the suffering he had endured for his fidelity, further amendments, to be subsequently approved by the Beran reminded them of the burning of the Czech priest council. The voting resulted in 1,997 in favor, 224 against Jan Hus in the 15th century and the forced conversions of and 1 invalid. When the tally was announced, the bishops Czech Protestants in the 17th century. These events, he said, responded with applause in the hall. The next morning’s “left a certain wound hiding in the hearts of the people” and London Times called the vote “a great event in the history of damaged the church’s credibility. He called on the church Catholicism and in the history of freedom.” to repent and said that “the principle of religious freedom Sept. 22 brought a few more interventions, as was per- and freedom of conscience must be set forth clearly and without any restriction flowing from opportunistic considerations.” A decade earlier Murray Following Cardinal Beran, Cardinal Joseph Cardijn stood before the bishops. had been forbidden, under He was the founder of the Young Christian Vatican pressure, to write or Workers, a movement that then had nearly 2,000,000 members in almost 70 countries. publish his work. Pope Paul VI had named him a cardinal in the recent consistory alongside Cardinal Beran. Cardinal Cardijn, too, spoke in favor of the schema. mitted by council rules. One was from Archbishop Karol As if that were not enough, the next speaker was Cardinal Wojtyla, who spoke in favor of the document in the name Stefan Wyszynski, archbishop of Warsaw, who also had suf- of the bishops of Poland, saying that religious freedom was fered imprisonment under the Communists. He too sup- in harmony with both human reason and divine revela- ported the schema. tion. The Italian theological expert Msgr. Pietro Pavan later Despite these dramatic statements, there still was a great wrote: “Thus ended a debate that was perhaps the most vio- deal of disarray on the issue. Several interventions were high- lent ever to have taken place in the aula. It had been rich in ly negative. Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre bitterly condemned dramatic moments.” the schema, saying that the principle of religious freedom “is not one conceived...by the church.” The sharp conflict even Champagne, Friends, Smiles generated some apathy among some council fathers. Many The Secretariat for Christian Unity’s subcommission re- Protestant observers began to sense that the schema might ceived another 201 written interventions after the debate not succeed. The historian Gilles Routhier has written, “The and set to work on final revisions. On Sept. 30, Paul VI told debate seemed to have bogged down, and no one could find Bishop de Smedt, “This is a major document. It establishes a way ending it.” The next morning’s headline in The New the attitude of the church for several centuries. The world is York Herald Tribune read, “Vatican Council Near Crisis waiting for it.” Over Religious Liberty Issue.” For a while, John Courtney Murray, S.J., played a central On Tuesday morning, Pope Paul VI (just a month away role in the revision work. His fellow expert Yves Congar, from his historic visit to the headquarters of the United O.P., described him as “very much overloaded with respon- Nations) summoned the council leadership to his apart- sibility for various matters.” But on Oct. 5, he was rushed ment to say he thought it was time for a preliminary vote. to the hospital with a collapsed lung. When Father Congar As the morning’s interventions began, Cardinal Enrico visited him two days later, Father Murray, with oxygen tubes Dante, whose face was familiar because of his longtime role in each nostril, tried to provide feedback on the current as papal master of ceremonies, suggested that the schema text. Father Congar—who had had his disagreements with sounded like echoes of the French Revolution. Cardinal Father Murray—found the ideas important enough that he Charles Journet, a noted theologian trusted by the more tra- immediately passed them on to secretariat officials. Congar ditional fathers, spoke in favor of the schema; this went a wrote that evening: long way toward reassuring some who felt uneasy. At 10:30 a.m., after four interventions, Cardinal Gregory Thus Fr. Murray was ill, and seriously so, at the mo-

Peter Agagianian took to the podium and asked the fathers ment when a text was being finalized which had been, S.J. PHOTO: AMERICA ARCHIVES MURRAY, JOHN COURTNEY

18 America November 30, 2015 to a great extent, his work. He himself told me that he is taking this mystically, in the sense of the cross, and that he is perhaps more useful to the text in bed and powerless, than up and active.

In Father Murray’s absence, the revisions to the document brought a shift in tone, adding emphasis to revelation and theology, including a preface on revelation written by Father Congar. Father Murray’s more constitutional and legal approach, however, was not eliminated. Also added to assuage fears of indifferentism was a more explicit acknowledgement that the Catholic Church is the true church founded by Christ. (When this was made public, The New York Herald Tribune headline read, “Council Revision Makes It a Duty of All to Be Catholic.”) The text was accepted by the sub- committee on Oct. 9 and distributed to the council fathers on Oct. 22. The Coetus immediately sent around papers intended to demonstrate that the document contradicted the Bible and church teaching. Bishop de Smedt introduced the text to the council fathers on Oct. 25. Two days of voting on its various parts followed. The secretariat then received more than 4,000 pe- titions for amendments and met again on Nov. 8 and 9, with Father Murray again present (though Father Congar wrote in his journal: “He spoke in a voice that seemed like that of a ghost, and as though it came from the other side of the veil”). The team made final revisions, mostly insignificant, and the final text was distributed on Nov. 17, with voting scheduled for two days later. On Nov. 18, Murray was invited to concelebrate mass with Pope Paul VI in St. Peter’s, along with several others representing the theological experts. This was remarkable, considering that exactly a decade earlier Murray had been forbidden, under Vatican pressure, to write or publish his work. A friend later wrote, “In private, the event was celebrated with champagne, friends, smiles—and toasts that were really prayers for the future of a beloved Church in a kind of turmoil that its servant could only wish to prove holy.” On Nov. 19, the council fathers voted first on various parts of the document—each vote strongly in favor—and finally on the whole text. The latter vote was 1,954 in favor, 249 against and 13 invalid. On Dec. 7, 1965, in the final public session, the formal vote on the “Declaration on Religious Freedom” (“Dignitatis Humanae”) was 2,308 in favor, 70 against and 8 invalid. On that day, Pope Paul VI formally proclaimed it (along with the “Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests,” the “Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity” and the “Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World”) as a document of the council. The Second Vatican Council’s closing ceremonies took place the following day. A

November 30, 2015 America 19

VANTAGE POINT: 1990 The Uneasy Dialogue Catholicism and American culture BY AVERY DULLES

CATHOLIC APPEAL. Actors dressed for a Nativity scene are pictured during a prayer gathering in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 3, 2013.

n the decade after Vatican II in- have said on journeys to Asia and Hecker and Archbishop John Ireland culturation became a buzzword. Africa that the Catholic Church in to Americanize the church in the 19th Although popes have used the those continents ought not to be a century proved abortive, perhaps the word only with caution, they slavish copy of the European church. time had now come for a new and I As a consequence American Catholics more sober effort. Would not such began to conclude that Catholicism in Americanization, far from undermin- CARDINAL AVERY DULLES, S.J., was the this country should develop its own ing authentic Catholicism, serve to so- McGinley Professor of Religion and Society at Fordham University in New York City from distinctive traits. In the past it had lidify and strengthen it? This question 1988 until his death in 2008. He was the au- been a mosaic of importations from is being asked in many places at the thor of 27 books and 800 articles and reviews. various “Old World” nations—Ireland, present time.... This essay is a shortened version of an article that appeared in the Jan. 27, 1990, issue of Germany, France, Poland, Italy and Our analysis must begin with a

America. others. Even if the efforts of Isaac brief discussion of the nature of the CNS PHOTO/JASON REED, REUTERS

November 30, 2015 America 21 American culture into which the The common faith of the founding fa- philanthropy, no less arduous than Catholic faith might be inserted. This thers was no longer that of the Pilgrims their previous self-enrichment. culture is extremely diverse. Catholics but that of Christians profoundly in- 4. In the 20th century still another in the United States come not only fluenced by the deistic religion of “na- major shift has occurred. A new mass from the various Western European ture and of nature’s God.” The religion culture, largely determined by tech- countries already named, but some are of reason was, however, understood nological advances, is superimposing American Indians, some are African with clearly Christian overtones, as itself on the three layers already exam- Americans, some are ined. The whole syndrome Vietnamese or Filipinos, of contemporary culture is and very many are Spanish- The culture that the church faces well described by the term speaking people from “consumerism.” Each in- the Caribbean or Latin today cannot be understood dividual is seen primarily America. Thus we cannot as a consumer, and heavy easily find a common de- as that of the previous consumption is viewed as nominator. three centuries. the key to social well-be- Even the white, Anglo- ing. Wealth becomes a Saxon, Protestant culture function of sales, which are that has played a preponderant part can be seen from the Declaration of increased to the extent that people can in shaping the habits of the nation is Independence. There and in other doc- be induced to buy new goods. To pro- not all of a piece. It has gone through uments God was depicted as creator vide such inducement business spon- a number of major shifts in the centu- and ruler of all.... The law favored cer- sors a gigantic advertising industry, ries since the first settlers came to New tain generically Christian institutions, which in turn supports and dominates England and Virginia. Four major stag- such as monogamous, indissoluble journalism and mass communications. es may here be pointed out: marriage. Commitment to these tradi- Advertising is funneled into programs 1. The Puritanism of Congrega- tional religious and moral values gave that have the widest popular appeal. tionalist New England, which underlies a transcendent basis to the claim that Nearly everything, from sports to ed- much of our history, was anything but the country should be free and inde- ucation and religion, succeeds to the liberal. The Pilgrims looked upon the pendent. extent that it can arouse interest and New World as a promised land where 3. Certain elements in the Lockean provide entertainment. The desire for the covenant people could build the philosophy of the founding fathers dis- pleasure, comfort, humor and excite- City of God. The culture of 17th-cen- posed the nation for a major incursion ment is continually escalated. The tra- tury Massachusetts was bound by a of individualistic utilitarian philosophy ditional work ethic becomes tributary rigorous code of belief and morality in the 19th century. The common good to, and is to some extent undermined founded upon the Bible as read in the was reconceived as the net result of a by, the quest for affluence and sensory Calvinist tradition. The church domi- balancing of contrary interests. The gratification. While the entertainment nated civil society in Boston as firmly pursuit of private gain by individuals industries and business grow ever as it had done in Calvin’s Geneva. and groups was seen as contributing, more fiercely competitive, alcoholism, This Calvinist heritage has been, in the long run, to the prosperity of drug abuse and obsessive sex prolifer- for the most part, cast off. And yet it all. The Puritan moralism of the 17th ate in large sectors of the consumerist remains a living memory. It fueled century, and the cult of civic virtue in society. many 19th-century exhortations about the 18th century, now yielded to a sys- This fourth layer of culture has not the “Manifest Destiny” of the United tem in which material wealth became totally displaced the previous three, States, and it continues to reappear in the dominant value. The role of the but it threatens to modify them pro- Thanksgiving Day proclamations, in government was seen as that of an ar- foundly. The culture that the church campaign oratory and in anniversa- biter, laying down the conditions under faces today cannot be understood as ry celebrations of the Declaration of which competition could be fairly con- that of the previous three centuries, Independence or the Constitution.... ducted. At its worst, this new mentali- though some elements of the earlier 2. By the time that the United States ty spawned a kind of social Darwinism. American heritage still survive. received its foundational documents The great capitalists amassed fortunes (the Declaration of Independence, the for themselves, but, having done so, Catholic Strategies Today Constitution and the Bill of Rights), they were driven by their residu- In the Catholic literature on American the Enlightenment was in full swing. al Puritan conscience to a pursuit of culture published in the past 20 years

22 America November 30, 2015 or so, it is possible to detect four major something to learn from the American Intent upon maintaining civility in strategies. For short they may be called experiment of ordered liberty. Liberal the orders of law and politics, they traditionalism, neo-conservatism, lib- Catholics and neo-conservatives alike neglect the urgency of renewing the eralism and prophetic radicalism. insist that the Vatican II “Declaration faith-commitment and devotional life Traditionalism is the posture of on Religious Freedom” is due in part to of contemporary Americans. They those Catholics who are highly criti- the influence of the American system. could be understood as holding that cal of what they find in the dominant Further influences of this kind might some kind of generalized civil religion American culture, and who wish to re- be beneficial to world Catholicism. suffices and that personal commit- store the more centralized and author- The radicals also have some valid ment to a specific religious tradition is itarian Catholicism of the years before points to make. The church, like sec- a purely private matter, even a matter World War II.... The neo-conservative ular society, is continually tempted to of personal taste.... strategy rejects as unrealistic Liberal Catholicism, with the restorationism of the pa- its enthusiasm for participa- leoconservatives.... Not sat- Americanist Catholics easily tory democratic models, runs isfied to concentrate on what the risk of introducing into the Catholic tradition can forget the New Testament the church the ideologies and contribute to the American ex- interest groups that com- periment, Catholic liberals are warnings against personal pete for power in civil society. primarily intent on showing ambition and partisanship. Americanist Catholics easi- how Americanism can help to ly forget the New Testament modernize the church. They warnings against personal am- propose to reform Catholicism along settle for mediocrity. To the extent that bition and partisanship. In their zeal the lines of participatory democracy.... it has adopted the values and attitudes for updating, the liberals too easily as- While calling for the total conversion of middle-class America, the church sume that Catholicism can and should of church and society, radical Catholics deserves to be admonished by pro- do away with its traditional structures, seek to legitimate their positions by in- phetic reformers. Repentance needs to its reverence for the sacred, its docility voking historical precedents, both reli- be preached to those within the house- to authority and its esteem for sacri- gious and civil.... hold of God. fice, prayer and contemplation. None of the four strategies, I sub- Just as all four of the strategies have Finally the Catholic radicals, with mit, is simply wrong. The realities their strengths, so too, taken in isola- their strident apocalyptic denuncia- of American Catholicism and of tion, they have weaknesses. Catholic tions, cannot hope to play more than American culture are complex and ma- traditionalism is on the whole too re- a marginal role in Catholicism, which ny-faceted. American life has aspects gressive. It looks nostalgically back to is and must remain an essentially in- that we can praise with the neo-con- a past that can hardly be recovered. carnational faith.... Sectarian militancy servatives and the liberals, and other In its typically American expressions, lacks the broad popular appeal needed aspects that we must deplore with the moreover, traditionalism offers little for it to be effective in such a large and traditionalists and the radicals. guidance to Catholics who live amid traditional institution. Regarding the church, I would hold the secular realities of our day. While The most fundamental question with the traditionalists and neo-con- adhering to the strictest canons of or- raised by the preceding discussion is servatives that it is basically healthy thodoxy in their beliefs and personal whether the church in this country and that we should let it shape our morality, many affluent Catholic tradi- should become more countercultur- convictions and values. The first loy- tionalists want the church to say noth- al, as the traditionalists and radicals alty of the Catholic should be to the ing about politics, economics, business would wish, or more accommodation- church as the Body of Christ. But or professional life. They effectively di- ist, as the liberals and some neo-con- the liberals are correct in holding that vorce their religious convictions from servatives propose. The tide since the the church stands in reciprocal re- their day-to-day activities. Second Vatican Council has been run- lations with secular culture. Roman The neo-conservatives, with their ning heavily toward accommodation- Catholicism, as it has come down to patriotic attachment to the American ism. Middle-aged adults constitute us, has been significantly shaped by the heritage, are inclined to minimize the the last generation of Catholics raised social institutions of medieval and ear- extent to which the tradition of pub- with a strong sense of Catholic identi- ly modern Europe, and this very fact lic virtue has been eroded by the quest ty. Most younger Catholics look upon suggests that the church might have for private pleasure and material gain. themselves first of all as Americans

24 America November 30, 2015 and only secondarily as Catholics. shape the convictions and attitudes sible, in forms that make it intelligible, Their culture has been predominantly of the faithful. Apart from the issue credible, interesting and relevant to the formed by the secular press, films, tele- of abortion, on which they are will- hearers. vision and rock music. Catholicism is ing to risk a measure of unpopularity, Vatican II, in its “Decree on filtered to them through these screens. the bishops increasingly shift their Missionary Activity,” recommended Catholic schools are becoming less nu- attention to social issues, adopting that the younger churches should bor- merous and less distinctively Catholic. agendas that in many ways resemble row “from the customs and traditions Catholic colleges and universities, those of the liberal intelligentsia, nota- of their arts and sciences...all those while in some cases expanding, have bly in their teaching on peace and on things which can contribute to the glo- lost much of their religious character. the economy. They seek to appeal to a ry of their Creator, the revelation of the A certain vague religiosity perdures broad public that includes non-Cath- Savior’s grace or the proper arrange- among the young, but it is that of “com- olics, non-Christians, non-believers.... ment of human life.” Accommodation munal Catholics” not strongly com- becomes a problem only when the mitted to the doctrines and structures In Search of an Authentic Church hard sayings of the Gospel are watered of their church. [T]he middle-class American values down, and when immoral or dehu- Under these circumstances parents that have been accepted by most con- manizing practices are tolerated. and teachers, fearful of being rejected temporary Catholics are not an au- As I have said, there are healthy el- as old-fashioned, are understandably thentic fulfillment of genuine Catholic ements in American society. Liberals reluctant to confront the young with aspirations. In this context the prob- and neo-conservatives have good the challenge of official church teach- lem of accommodation takes on rather grounds for maintaining that the ing, especially in the area of sexuality. concrete implications. There can be no church in this nation will be stronger Religious educators often feel power- question of simply rejecting accommo- to the extent that it builds these ele- less in the face of the sexual revolu- dation as a strategy. It has always been ments into its own life and makes them tion and the passion for affluence that an honored principle of pastoral and available for the universal church. Our possesses their students. Bishops and missionary practice. The Christian mes- American traditions of freedom, per- pastors find it increasingly difficult to sage must be presented, insofar as pos- sonal initiative, open communication

November 30, 2015 America 25 and active participation can undoubt- increase the crisis of identity felt by gelization, in turn, may help to estab- edly be a resource for the renewal of American Catholics. Because of all these lish an atmosphere in which Catholic Catholicism in an age when authori- factors there is reason to believe that the Christianity can be lived out more tarian structures, repression and con- greatest danger facing the church in our faithfully by greater numbers. formity are in general disrepute. country today is that of excessive and in- The neo-conservative program, On the other hand, it can be at least discreet accommodation. Catholics will more outgoing than that of the tradi- equally important to guard against the be well advised to cultivate a measured, tionalists, has its proper place in the dangers of accommodation. To the prudent counterculturalism.... Catholic agenda. Neo-conservatism, if degree that it adjusts to the dominant Pope John Paul II, like Paul VI be- it allows itself to be enriched by the sac- culture, the church has less to say. By fore him, has repeatedly called upon ramental piety and prayerful interiority simply echoing the prevailing opinions Catholics everywhere to evangelize of the traditionalists, has great poten- and values, the church undermines their cultures. He recognizes that faith tial for the evangelization of American the credibility of its claim to present a cannot survive without cultural embod- culture. But these two strategies, even divine message and weakens people’s iment, and that faith can have no home in combination, do not exhaust the motivation for seeking membership. in a culture untouched by the Gospel. possibilities. As I have already indicat- A church that no longer issues a clear To carry out their assignment from ed, the Catholic Church stands to gain call for conversion is only dubiously these popes, Catholics must first of all from a prudent introduction of cer- Christian. Traditional Catholicism has become firmly rooted in their own re- tain American democratic values and convictions and priorities very different ligious tradition. They must, through practices as urged by the liberals. The from those embedded in contemporary their parishes, their families, prayer neo-conservatives do not deny this, and American culture. The more thorough- groups or basic ecclesial communities, traditionalists would be well advised to ly Catholics become inculturated in the find an environment in which they can concede the point. Catholic radicalism, American scene, the more alienated interiorize their religious heritage. In finally, serves as a needed gadfly. Both they become from their religious roots this way they can prepare themselves to church and secular society need to be and the hierarchical authorities. become agents in the evangelization of challenged by the radicals’ call to higher Accommodation, therefore, can the secular culture. Such cultural evan- standards of evangelical perfection. In summary, the four strategies are not reciprocally exclusive. They can and should be pursued concurrently. Although American Catholics can disagree about the extent to which each strategy is appropriate at a given time and place, they should be on guard against mutual hostility and recrimi- nation. Each group should respect the intentions of the others and humbly recognize its own limitations. The in- ternecine struggles between opposed factions are a scandal and a waste of energies that could more profitably be devoted to the common mission of the church as a whole to minister to the salvation of the world. By generous- ly recognizing the diverse gifts of the Holy Spirit, all can help to build up the body of Christ in unity and strength. Traditionalists and radicals, liberals and neo-conservatives, by their joint efforts, can enable the Catholic Church to enter into dynamic and fruitful relations with American culture in its full complexity. A

26 America November 30, 2015 VATICAN DISPATCH A Church of Encounter hile countless millions tational, self-referential or judgmental. ing of the Gospel, the proclaiming of across the globe are in- He wants a synodal church, in which the Gospel, but the personal living of it, Wspired by Pope Francis the bishops and faithful people walk and that seems to be what is the most and cheer as he pushes ahead with the together and authority is understood as attractive aspect of this pope, why so reform of the Roman Curia and re- service. many people find him inviting, why so newal of the church, there is a minority There is internal opposition to many people follow him, why so many within the Catholic community who Francis’ ecclesiology. It first surfaced people are coming back to the practice do not like his ecclesiology. They do in July 2013 after he made his famous of the faith. And for reasons known not like his vision of church or the kind comment, “Who am I to judge?” in rela- only to them, there are some who find of church he is building, and they are tion to homosexuals. It gained momen- this somewhat threatening.” showing their dislike in various ways. tum around the assembly in September Cardinal Wuerl is right. A minority This became increasingly clear in 2014 of the Synod of Bishops on the of cardinals, bishops, priests, women connection with the two assemblies family and struck with force at the and men religious and lay Catholics of the Synod of Bishops on the family, assembly in 2015, when, find Francis’ ecclesiology but the signs first appeared soon after among other things, 13 car- “somewhat threatening.” his election. Some cardinals, bishops, dinals—including Cardinal Some Some expressed their priests and laypeople—mainly intel- Timothy Dolan and find Pope opposition at the synod; lectuals and aristocrats—were upset Cardinal Daniel di Nardo others in the Vatican are when he decided to live at Santa Marta, of the United States—sent Francis’ resisting his reform of rather than in the Apostolic Palace. the pope a letter challenging ecclesiology the Roman Curia—as They considered this a desacralizing the integrity of the synod evidenced by the recent or downsizing of the papacy. They and process he had approved. ‘somewhat leaking of confidential others too do not like the vision of the It hardened around the threatening.’ documents regarding church he first presented in the inter- question of whether di- the Holy See’s financ- view in August 2013 with Antonio vorced and civilly remarried es—while more (most- Spadaro S.J., that was published in La Catholics could, under certain circum- ly Curial cardinals) have challenged Civiltà Cattolica, America and other stances, take Communion. It is now his reform of the annulment process. Jesuit publications around the world, clear that this latter question is but one Then there are those, particularly in and that he developed more fully in his element, one might call it a symbol, of economic and political circles, who ob- programmatic exhortation “The Joy of a much broader opposition to Francis’ ject to what Francis said in his encycli- the Gospel” in November 2013. understanding of the church. cal “Laudato Si’.” Francis wants a church that is on Cardinal Donald Wuerl highlight- Francis, who will be 79 in December, mission, reaching out to others and ac- ed this in his interview with America is in good health and appears to enjoy companying them, especially those on (Oct. 18) when, commenting on the extraordinary inner peace. He is pro- the peripheries; a merciful church that opposition to Pope Francis, he said: “I foundly conscious that he was cho- is a field hospital for the many wound- wonder if some of these people who sen by God to lead the church at this ed of this world; a church that builds are speaking, sometimes surreptitious- moment in history, so he is not fazed bridges, not walls. He wants a church ly, sometimes halfway implying, then or deterred by such opposition. He is that is poor and for the poor, one that backing off and then twisting around, I moving forward with determination to rejects careerism; a church that is com- wonder if it is really that they find they reform the Roman Curia and renew the mitted to encounter, inclusion and just don’t like this pope.” church worldwide. He is planning for- reconciliation, not one that is confron- He recalled that the pope “is calling eign trips for 2016 and 2017 and will for a church that, to my mind, is much create new cardinals in June. Above all GERARD O’CONNELL is America’s Rome more in contact with the Gospel, with he is preparing to open the Jubilee Year correspondent. America’s Vatican coverage is sponsored in part by the Jesuit communities of the living out of the Gospel. Not just of Mercy on Dec. 8. the United States. Twitter: @gerryrome. the articulation of the Gospel, the voic- GERARD O’CONNELL

November 30, 2015 America 27 FAITH IN FOCUS Hallway to Heaven Life’s final steps at an in-home hospice BY LINDA KINNAMON

aria and Manuel had enthusiastically by his wife. As long cane. Other grandfathers had them, shrunk. As bodies usually as the house was perfect, she could and at first it seemed more of an ac- Mdo, theirs diminished with proclaim no one could care for him cessory than a necessity. Walking the passing years. Maria stood rod like she did. He, however, admitted down the hall between the bathroom straight, just smaller, while Manuel readily that he needed care as much as or bedroom and living room with a stooped, first over a cane, then a walker. she needed to provide it. cane in one hand and the wall on the His once-tall frame was pulled down Her self-imposed workload would other side was comfortable for a while. by gravity stronger than his spine. The have sapped anyone’s strength. She Then one day his knees gave way, and only evidence of his previous height managed to hide the signs of fatigue there was just nothing in the hallway could be seen when he was stretched well from others, if not from him. to hold onto. Clawing at air, he went out in his blue recliner, as he frequently Manuel knew her face much better down. It happened in a split second was. There he relaxed and napped, than the one he glanced at in the mirror that lasted forever. Manuel anticipated especially during soap operas, his while shaving. He could measure the the crunch of his bones breaking, as he daytime sleeping pill. toll his care was taking on her by the heard Maria scream. As suddenly as it My entry point into the lives of this shadows beneath her eyes and the had started, the downward momen- endearing couple was as Manuel’s in- slightly watered down smile she gave. tum stopped. He heard the thud of home hospice nurse. When Manuel Manuel did not like to see how tired his body hitting the floor. He felt only became my patient, Maria had been his little Maria was, but otherwise it carpet and gratitude. Looking up into his bride for over 50 years, and they wasn’t so bad getting old, even dying. Maria’s fear, his heart pounding, he had just celebrated her 80th birthday. He had always felt he was a simple managed to say, “I’m okay.” Even though she was almost twice my man, and what could be simpler than Maria called hospice for help, not age, I would get breathless watching this? He certainly hadn’t expected to 911. Paramedics had ambulances that her as I sat on their sofa finishing my live on this earth forever. When he could snatch people away from their paperwork. Manuel dozed on and off was healthy, he had gone to Mass every homes. Hospice didn’t. One of the all day, but Maria puttered around Sunday and would have remembered evening nurses checked Manuel out the tiny house without a break. Dust if the priest had mentioned eternity on and determined he had been humbled bunnies feared her. Weeds avoided her earth as an option. He believed in God but not seriously injured. The next day flowerbeds. Throughout her chores, and thought that God returned the when I was back on duty, I stopped in Maria sang the refrain, “We do not favor. Death was just the next part of for a visit. Reassuring Maria was at the need to go to a nursing home.” life. He talked sometimes about what top on my list, closely followed by or- Manuel knew the “we” in her song he had done with his life and always dering a walker for Manuel. With his was really him and loved her even said he wouldn’t really change it. He pride and his joints still aching from more. The idea of a nursing home mentioned heaven sometimes, too, but the fall, he gladly traded the cane for didn’t frighten him, but he told always said he would just have to wait a walker. Like the cane, it sufficed for anyone who would listen that he felt until he got there to check it out. The a while. blessed to be cared for so well and so only thing Manuel feared was the next All too soon, however, pulling his step, the literal next step. weight up from the recliner to his walker became like lifting another man LINDA KINNAMON is a registered nurse The Enemy Within along with himself. It had once been and author. Her memoir, Alchemy of the When his walking became tottering, feather light to give two or three of Afterlife, based on her childhood as an orphan and her adult experiences as a hospice nurse, resembling the gait of their newest the kids a piggyback ride at the same has just been published. great-grandchild, Manuel accepted a time. Now, even though he was a frac-

28 America November 30, 2015 tion of his former weight according to the scales, pulling that weight from the recliner to the walker was like pulling a truck forward with the emergen- cy brake on. Grabbing the walker, he would heave forward, only to fall back into the recliner a few times in failed attempts. While he tried, Maria would be tugging on whatever part of him she could reach, saying, “You’ve got to get up Manuel. I can’t do this for you.” He couldn’t recall Maria saying those words about anything else. She never said she couldn’t do anything. With strength he didn’t know he still had, he would once again stand up. “Manuel,” I asked on one of those rare occasions when Maria was not hovering nearby. “What was more frightening? Fighting in the South Pacific during World War II or walking down your hallway from the bedroom this morning?” Without hesitation, he answered. “This hallway, no doubt about it. You see, in war the enemy is out there,” he said, waving a gnarled finger around in the air. “Now, the enemy is in here.” Down the Hall “I just saw Grandpa Manuel,” he He was patting his chest with his The funeral was simple, just like the said to anyone who would listen. hand, his meaning clear. The enemy was man it celebrated. Mass was held in “Yes, we saw him at the funeral,” or age and cancer and weakness. There the church he and Maria had attend- “Sure, honey,” was the repeated and was no reprieve from any of them. Like ed for years. The pews were filled to condescending reply. a soldier, he struggled to drag one foot capacity with family and friends, the Not easily silenced, he contin- in front of the other, the enemy within crowd resembling that of an Easter ued to try to get the attention of more deadly than any threat posed by a Mass rather than the funeral of an the adults, tugging on anyone with- foreign power. He had to keep walking. octogenarian. After Mass, invited by in reach. At last he caused enough Maria needed him to do it. The fear of the family, I returned back home with disruption to stop the conversation. placement in a nursing home, the loss them. Even with the large family fill- Unwilling to discipline a child after of their perceived independence was ing every space, the small house felt his great-grandfather’s funeral, his everything to her, as it is to most of us. empty without Manuel. In spite of mother simply said, “What is it?” Manuel was past that. His courage was the limited standing room and lack Looking up at each of the grown- born of love for her. of seating, his blue recliner went un- ups, verifying he had our undivided The day the enemy claimed Manuel’s claimed. attention, he pointed one little finger ability to walk, I wrapped Maria in my As we ate and talked and talked down the hall Manuel had brave- arms, while I ordered a hospital bed and ate, the mood lifted. Everyone ly navigated so many times in the and requested around-the-clock hos- had a favorite story to tell about past year. Then he said, “I just saw pice staff. Then I told them both what Manuel. While we laughed and some- Grandpa Manuel in his bedroom, I always tell patients and families. As times cried over the stories, one of the only a minute ago. And he can walk the body gets weaker, the spirit gets youngest great-grandsons demanded all by himself! And he’s smiling!” stronger. Manuel proved this theory by attention. Grabbing first one adult’s No more canes. No more walkers. letting go. He did not want to burden sleeve, then another, he persisted in No more suffering. Manuel was simply

ART: CECILIA RUIZ ART: his Maria. his attempt to be heard. walking in heaven, and smiling. A

November 30, 2015 America 29 Books & Culture

FILM | JIM Mc DERMOTT able to feel the Force and react. The point of this tale is one that all A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH six “Star Wars” films return to again and again: our senses can be a great distrac- Mercy, sin and ‘Star Wars’ tion. The world around us constantly demands our attention. Figuring out am not sure any movie has ever with the upcoming Episode VII “The how to proceed amidst its many de- had a more shocking ending for me Force Awakens.” Within its fanciful mands requires us from time to time to Ithan “The Empire Strikes Back,” stories of wars in distant, long-ago gal- step back and listen instead for what is part two of the original “Star Wars” tril- axies I still find lessons of faith, sin and going on underneath. It is counterintu- ogy. In it, hero Luke Skywalker has his redemption. itive, but it’s true. hand cut off by asthmatic mass mur- Most fans of the original “Star derer Darth Vader, who then says he Eyes Wide Shut Wars” trilogy would just as rather we is Luke’s father. Meanwhile, our other There is a passing moment halfway forgot there had ever been a second. Set hero, Han Solo, is flash frozen in car- through the original “Star Wars” in 30 years earlier, Episodes I through III bonite and spirited away, perhaps for- which Luke is trying to learn how to are a cacophanous mess of C.G.I. and ever. The End. “feel the Force,” the energy that binds tin-eared dialogue. But the movie post- I was ten years old when “Empire” all living things together. And he is er for Episode I has always fascinated came out, and I hated it. How was I having absolutely no luck. Then his me. A little boy with a backpack walks expected to wait three years to find out mentor Ben Kenobi tells him to put away from us through a desert. He ap- what happened? But today “Empire” is down his helmet’s blast shield, which pears totally ordinary, but his shadow is by far my favorite “Star Wars” film. (I’m renders Luke unable to see anything. that of the man he will become Darth middle aged; of course I like things that Not exactly the smartest strategy Vader. conclude in tragedy and loose ends.) when you’re trying to keep from get- How does a person “go bad”? It is But it is the series as a whole that keeps ting shot. Of course it works. With the another fundamental question of the me coming back, and will continue to blast shield down, Luke becomes more “Star Wars” saga. The answer is pretty simple: We become afraid. Yoda offers a sort of mathematical formula: “Fear DESERT RIDE. Daisy Ridley as Rey leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. (below) with the droid BB-8 in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Hate leads to suffering.” But in “Star Wars,” as in life, fear is also unavoidable. All that we can control is our reaction to it. Sin is not being afraid, or angry or desperate; it is what we do as a result of feeling that way. It is how we try and end our discomfort. In “Empire,” Luke repeatedly gives up on training exercises because they are painful. In the prequel trilogy Anakin murders a whole village to try to alle- viate the grief he feels over the death of his mother. Later he goes full Darth because he cannot stand the thought that his wife might die. There are so many insightful defini- tions of sin; many of them circle some

30 America November 30, 2015 STAR WARS SELFIE. Ukrainian woman poses with a person dressed as Darth Vader.

James Keenan, S.J., calls “a failure to the horrible things that he has done. with his wheezy mechanized breathing bother to love.” For me, the reminder of There is nothing now but an evil that of Vader’s fundamental inhumanity. “Star Wars” is how sin can also be a re- must be eradicated, they say. But Luke But over the course of the original “Star action to desperation. It is the stuff we refuses to go down that road. Indeed, Wars” films we discover that Vader’s are willing to do when we’re trying to not only will he not kill his father, he armor is not a mask as much as it is a stop being in pain. will not believe that Vader cannot be prison. It is the life-support system that brought back into the light. hides the horrific scars of his own ac- ‘I Know There Is Good in You’ Our society tends to think of mercy tions. And that’s the nature of sin: It is Luke’s mentors, Ben Kenobi and Yoda, in sweet terms: a Hallmark card, Jesus a prison that we build for ourselves and are classic wisdom figures—they teach surrounded by lambs and/or children. that, ultimately, we don’t know how to Luke how to do cool stuff like levitate What I love about “Star Wars” is how escape. Indeed, we may not think we objects and fight with laser swords. But it insists that real mercy is an act of deserve to. As Vader tells Luke at the more than that they teach him about radical defiance. It is a choice that goes end of “Return of the Jedi,” “It’s too late being a human being—how acting out against the grain, that doesn’t make a for me, son.” of rage or fear will almost certainly get lot of sense, can even appear gratuitous But the enduring message of “Star you into trouble; that oftentimes the or downright dangerous. And at the Wars,” a fitting insight as we begin the greatest obstacle to doing good is your same time, mercy is the path by which Year of Mercy, is that in fact it is never own refusal to accept that it is possible, the hero becomes his fullest self. In the too late, that there is still good inside and that the monster you most fear is case of Luke, what finally makes him a all of us, no matter what we have done. almost certainly yourself. Jedi Knight is not the battles he wins, We need only close our eyes, close out But as wise as they are presented, but the fact that instead of pursuing his those distractions and take the hand on the most important point of all, cause he chooses to try and save Vader that is extended to us. Kenobi and Yoda are absolutely wrong. from himself. For them, Darth Vader is an enemy When first we encounter the black JIM McDERMOTT, S.J., a screenwriter, is to be destroyed. Their long friendship visage of Darth Vader, it is a mask America’s Los Angeles correspondent. Twitter: CNS PHOTO/TATYANA ZENKOVICH, EPA CNS PHOTO/TATYANA with him has been wiped away by all meant to terrify us, an emblem along @PopCulturPriest.

November 30, 2015 America 31 OF OTHER THINGS | ANGELA ALAIMO O’DONNELL THE MYSTIC FROM MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS t’s hard to imagine a life more tably, his month-long adventure with a re-evaluate not only the life but also the beautiful and strange than that traveling circus and the deep friendship work that lives beyond the artist. Just as Iof Robert Lax. Readers famil- he developed with a family of acro- he was an extraordinary man, Robert iar with Thomas Merton’s The Seven bats, the Cristianis, who would shape Lax was an extraordinary poet. There Storey Mountain will remember Lax as his view of holiness, community, and is nothing conventional or predictable Merton’s friend and fellow convert to beauty for the remainder of his life. We about his poems. Their subjects are Catholicism. The two met as students learn of the gradual pull he felt east- by turns visionary and ordinary, cele- at Columbia University, where both ward, toward Greek culture and the brating the apocalypse of the everyday. underwent a religious transformation Greek islands, where The later poems are (though Lax would not act on his until he eventually settled spare and strange; their after graduation) and remained friends and lived his life in si- Robert stripped down simplic- for the rest of their lives. After Merton lence and meditation Lax’s lived ity engages sound and entered the Trappists, they kept their as a poet, a philosopher sense and sight, inviting friendship alive through the exchange and a spiritual mentor experience the reader to see and of letters—decades’ worth of witty, to pilgrims who came of Catholicism hear the world anew poignant, hilarious correspondence from near and far to and to revel in the won- that reveals the intimacy of their re- make his acquaintance. would prove der of the word. The joy lationship, based in their shared love Among those pil- to be in Lax’s poetry embod- of the written word and their shared grims was young ies his own interior joy journey of faith. Michael McGregor. His unique. and his discovery of it, Nov. 30 is the 100th anniversary of first meeting with Lax almost everywhere, in Robert Lax’s birth, and it seems fitting in 1985 led to a friend- the exterior world. that his centenary is marked by the ship that would flourish There is joy in Lax’s publication of a delightful new biogra- until Lax’s death in the life and joy in Lax’s phy, Pure Act: The Uncommon Life of year 2000. Given the work—and that same Robert Lax, by Michael N. McGregor. length and closeness joy pervades Pure Act. To read McGregor’s book is to learn of that relationship, it Michael McGregor’s that Lax was a searcher and a mystic, comes as no surprise book memorializes the a poet with a profound love of life and that McGregor’s book most memorable of almost instinctive ability to find God in is no ordinary biography. It is a shared men, not only in terms of its content, all things. Growing up in a largely non- narrative—one that faithfully traces which is faithful to fact, but also in practicing Jewish family, Lax was free Lax’s life in all of its fascinating de- terms of its spirit. It is appropriate that to explore the variety of religious tradi- tail—but also one that traces the devel- we celebrate this strange and beauti- tions available to him in New York, and opment of the biographer as he comes ful life in November, the month of All finally found a home in the Catholic to understand this brilliant, complex, Saints. Among the most famous stories Church, though Lax’s lived experience holy man. In a sense, we as readers ac- about Lax is the one Merton recorded in of Catholicism would prove to be like company McGregor on that journey, as The Seven Storey Mountain. Lax queries no one else’s. his path of discovery mirrors our own. Merton, just after his baptism, “What One also learns the wild and won- With him as our narrator and guide, we do you want to be?” Taken off guard, derful trajectory of Lax’s life—his un- move along that road as fellow pilgrims. Merton replies, “I don’t know; I guess happy first job with The New Yorker, I never had the chance to visit Robert what I want is to be a good Catholic.” his brief stint as a film reviewer for Lax on the island of Patmos, but some- But Lax immediately corrects him: Time and an even briefer one as a how, in reading this book, I feel as if I “What you should say is that you want Hollywood screenwriter, and, most no- have. to be a saint!” With these wise words, The occasion of a centenary is a Robert Lax expressed the true vocation ANGELA ALAIMO O’DONNELL is a writer, pro- hopeful enterprise. It gives us the op- of every Catholic as well as the goal he fessor and associate director of the Curran Center for American Catholic Studies at Fordham portunity to look back, but it also in- sought—and arguably achieved—in University. Twitter: @AODonnellAngela. spires us to look forward, inviting us to living out his own, uncommon life.

32 America November 30, 2015 BOOKS | ELIZABETH WEBB POINTS OF FAITH WHAT ARE WE DOING ON evangelical Christians and those EARTH FOR CHRIST’S SAKE? scandalized by the clergy sexual By Richard Leonard, S.J. abuse crisis. Conversations ensue. Paulist Press. 157p $14.95 Many of us can empathize with the anecdotes of talkative travelers, A BIOGRAPHY OF THE SPIRIT and by couching his discussions in By John Haughey this context, Leonard’s text is easy Orbis. 224p $25 to digest—we can imagine we are debating some issues with our own Almost all of us have found ourselves friends or acquaintances (or fellow in a debate over belief, faced with the passengers). With a background in decision to defend our convictions cinema and having written exten- against criticism. The media will of- sively on faith and culture, Leonard ten portray religious disagreements speaks to the reader in a way that as “wars” between the believers and is understandable, humorous and non-believers. In a time when it can joyful—a must-read for those feel like U.S. culture is becoming more wanting a few well-researched de- divided over religion and politics, it fenses of the belief in God. can be appealing to retreat into a safe Leonard’s book is divided into group of like-minded people and rely three parts: a chapter on belief and on the arguments we have been using non-belief, a chapter answering for years to assure ourselves we are in common questions posed to believ- the “right.” ers and a final chapter about some Richard Leonard’s What are We of the church’s greatest role mod- Doing on Earth for Christ’s Sake? and els. Never before have I been so John C. Haughey’s A Biography of the excited to read a Table of Contents. Spirit go beyond defending belief to ex- After telling believers and non-be- ploring whether there should be more lievers in the first chapter to keep to our current understanding of faith their cool and always be respectful, and God—an exploration that can be Leonard gets into some of the most uncomfortable in its uncertainty. Be obvious but pressing debate topics sure to have pen and paper handy for between believers and non-believ- note taking and maybe a dictionary, ers: “Isn’t Religion the Cause of as these authors will not let the reader Most Wars?” “Is the Bible True?” off the hook with simple explanations. and “Why Follow any Religion’s And that is precisely why they are so Moral Code? Why Not Simply important. Follow Your Own Moral Code” to The premise of Leonard’sWhat name just a few of the questions are we doing on Earth for Christ’s Sake? posed. comes from a conversation he had on The common questions about a flight from New York City to Los the belief in God and the church Angeles with a fellow passenger and are just that: common. We have heard especially those regarding the cler- Catholic, Thomas. Leonard says he most of them many times. Admittedly, gy sex abuse scandal and how we can typically encounters one of five types I expected common answers, and I was maintain our faith when some of our of airplane seatmates: those unhappy pleasantly surprised and impressed by leaders have betrayed the trust of the with their Catholic school upbringing, the usefulness of Leonard’s research. church’s followers. This topic deserves those who believe religion is nonsense Some of the tough questions are left more attention than Leonard was able and fantastical, conservative Catholics, with incomplete answers, though, to give it in this text.

November 30, 2015 America 33 For Leonard, it seems love in action greatest examples of love in action: St. made mistakes and came to reflect on is at the heart of belief. If we can sup- Thomas More, Blessed Teresa, Oscar their lives. Reflection allows one “to port our belief in God with sound ar- Romero and Pope Francis, among oth- discern the patterns that lead us to be guments, then what are we doing with ers. All 13 of the witnesses are worth more hopeful, faithful, and loving… that belief? The final third of the book reading. Even the most familiar char- This means constantly assessing the is dedicated to “Witnesses of Faith, acters held something new to be dis- what, and why, of our decisions.” What Hope, and Love”—a series of mini-bi- covered by Leonard’s description of are we doing on Earth for Christ’s ographies on some of the church’s them. Many witnesses had doubts, sake? I’m glad I read Leonard’s book before Haughey’s, as I found it all that much more providential when the passenger next to me on a flight from TO PURGATORY Washington, D.C., to Salt Lake City spied the title A Biography of the Spirit and began talking to me about Catholic We kiss the person we love last thing before doctrine, Catholic school education the coffin is shut and the Holy Spirit. Thanks for the heads-up, Richard. —Jack Gilbert Leonard reminded us that reli- gions evolve and theologians interpret texts in light of contemporary schol- You lean across the coffin’s gunwale to kiss ars’ knowledge. Haughey does just your father before the rower launches into that in his wonderfully image-filled that long, last voyage to purgatory, while we, A Biography of the Spirit. He profiles the Holy Spirit while armed with the survivors, walk and drive onto streets of dailyness, knowledge of physics, biology and neu- having forgotten that around some corner rology of today. The result is an intel- ligent and inspiring book written in we encounter angels disguised as lilies breathing the form of a diary. The brief entries light and color enough to lift this meager yard broken up by date force the reader to of earth above itself, and the eyes well-up pause, even just for a few moments, and reflect. Haughey’s book is certainly not with knowing the sad joy of temporal beauty, a “beach read”—it’s quite the opposite of belief that beneath the skin a soul longs of light and fluffy—but you should for release from the body’s salt into permanence, definitely read it while in the midst of nature. Haughey’s descriptions of both and once more I watch the rosy flesh of your lips the microscopic organisms and un- lightly, as if something could break, brush-touch quantifiable expanses of the universe will enhance your observation of the the blue underflesh of your father’s bloodless world around you. mouth, and then I envision us years hence as I rest Simply put, Haughey sets out to in my coffin and your drawn face inches closer, write a biography of the Holy Spirit with supportive examples from scien- closer, lips quivering, this final physicality fading, fading. tific discoveries. Religion and science should not be opposed or even exclu- GARY METRAS sive. Rather, “both science and religion have much to teach each other. Neither, GARY METRAS is a retired educator whose poems have appeared in Gray’s of course, will learn from one another Sporting Journal, Poetry and other periodicals. His newest book of poems is The if the practitioners don’t believe each Moon in the Pool (Presa Press, 2015). has something important to say.” We cannot ignore scientific breakthroughs; they should inform and inspire theo-

34 America November 30, 2015 logical exploration. “[St.] Augustine’s hypotheses cannot be tested, though. became a priest in the 1950s, when the belief was that our knowledge of God They are “asserted because they are American church was at peace with it- increases if our knowledge of nature in- needed to complete the understand- self, unified and riding high. creases. And since the natural sciences ing of what is empirically verifiable.” In Navy Priest, Richard Gribble, are learning more and more about na- Haughey argues that perhaps pneuma- C.S.C., gives us John Francis Laboon, ture, we have the opportunity of know- tology can shed some light on this dark Jr. (1921-1988): World War II subma- ing more about nature’s Author.” matter. Together, science and religion riner, Jesuit, educator, chaplain, career Haughey presents the Spirit as the can work toward uncovering truth— Naval officer, retreat master and parish Great Connector. The Spirit helps the same truth. pastor. Laboon was, as one observer us make wholes from parts, It “makes For those who may criticize put it, “a man of peace who entered new meaning about what otherwise Haughey’s theology, he does not have the profession of warriors to keep the wouldn’t have meaning.” Haughey gives all the answers, but he does have some peace.” numerous examples of the intercon- good questions. And, as he says, how Fr. Gribble repeatedly thrusts nectedness of the universe, Earth and can that be displeasing to God? “It can’t Laboon’s life into exhaustive histori- the human body. For example, within displease the One who made us tower cal context. In doing so he gives us not ourselves, the “brain has nine regions builders that new towers of meaning only Laboon’s life, but his times. And in it…connected by 100,000 miles keep getting constructed,” he writes. by extension, he gives us an exercise in of nerve fibers…[and] gray matter is Haughey’s book is exciting! It offers contrast against our own time and the made up of our 86 billion neurons, new insight into the Spirit and nature. lives that populate it. America doesn’t each of which is distinctive, individ- As I can say for all my Jesuit educators, seem capable of making Jake Laboons ualistic…yet does a similar thing.” Haughey teaches more than theology. anymore. Haughey goes into further detail about He offers an interdisciplinary discus- Fr. Gribble takes the reader through how pneumatology can be a source of sion, using our experiences of nature, the story of Pittsburgh, the Great insight for neuroscience—how religion human history and scientific theories Depression and World War II. He and science can learn from each other. to advance the study of the Spirit. tells you more than a non-Navy per- In one entry, Haughey cites Nobel Having written this well-informed bi- son probably wants to know about Prize-winning physicist Steven ography, Haughey certainly has an an- life at the U.S. Naval Academy in the Weinberg in his discussion of aspects swer to “what is he doing on Earth for early 1940s. He walks you through of physics that are today unexplainable, Christ’s sake?” What a lucky passenger the changing role and ultimate tri- and may never be explained. Weinberg whoever will be seated next to him on umph of American Catholicism in the points to two notions: dark matter his next flight. post-World War II years—and into and the expansion of the universe. the post-Vatican II disintegration of Scientists are making wholes from ELIZABETH WEBB, a graduate of Saint Peter’s that triumph. He continues through University in Jersey City, N.J., is a senior intelli- parts—forming hypotheses to explain gence analyst at iJet International in Annapolis, the deepening disillusionment of the what is otherwise unexplainable. The Md. Vietnam years. He wraps up in the 1980s, when Laboon ran afoul of the archbishop of Baltimore because he PETER REICHARD supported his old friend Oliver North from the pulpit. The only thing that remains sol- DEEP CATHOLIC WATERS id through it all is Laboon himself. NAVY PRIEST Pittsburgh in the 1920s and 1930s. And one gets the sense that Laboon The Life of Swimming in deep Catholic waters was such a rock because of the sturdy Captain Jake Laboon, S.J. that have since receded, he and four of Catholic stuff of which he was made. By Richard Gribble, C.S.C. his siblings went on to religious life. Being a good Navy man didn’t hurt ei- The Catholic University of America Press. Laboon was six-and-a-half feet ther. 376p $29.95 tall, a remarkable athlete, a serenely Along the way, Fr. Laboon makes affable, Newmanesque Christian gen- interesting friends, including North, Navy Priest is, in a sense, the story of a tleman. He was a war hero at a time whose life he helped to save in certain type of American who seems to when that still impressed everyone. He Vietnam; the future Sen. Jim Webb, have died with the 20th century. became a Naval officer at a time when recent presidential candidate; and Capt. Jake Laboon, S.J., grew up in it conferred universal respect. And he Adm. Mike Mullen, recent chairman

November 30, 2015 America 35 of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. a rundown of the subjects Laboon took alized that it was there that America One thing you get clear in Navy in high school, the grades he got at the must stem the spread of communism.” Priest is that Jake Laboon was a fine, Naval Academy or the dimensions of In 1969, Laboon lamented the lack of dignified example of humanity. The the vessels on which he support for the soldiers: book contains countless, almost mo- was stationed. “This is what hurts the notonous quotations from Laboon’s In fact, in the early troops so much. … contemporaries to that effect. One going, Fr. Gribble gets most Americans would finds the quotations to be out of pro- so lost in detail, he does consider them fools for portion to anecdotes that actually il- little to communicate being involved” in the lustrate who Laboon was. As a result, to the reader just why war. the reader feels at times that Gribble is he should care about One can easily imag- telling about Laboon, but not showing Jake Laboon. But in ine how Laboon would him. addressing Laboon’s have felt about the There is scarcely a shred of evidence later years, Fr. Gribble Pax Christi protest- in the book that Laboon was anything gives us more to chew ers who disrupted his less than a prince among men. While on. Presumably, this is friend Cardinal John evidently true, this makes his biog- in part because he has O’Connor as O’Connor raphy a challenge. How do you find more extant material to presided over the dramatic tension in the story of a man work with. launching of the U.S.S. about whom no one has a harsh word At war in Vietnam, Laboon stated Laboon in 1993. A protester took over to say? on the one hand that by his presence the podium, saying it was inappropri- Unless the reader is a Navy veter- as chaplain he was not “approving or ate for a warship to be named after a an, some of the warrens Fr. Gribble disapproving” the war—that “I am here priest. explores might be excruciating. Fr. because these young Marines need me.” Here and there, Fr. Gribble squirrels Gribble probably didn’t need to provide On the other hand, he said that “I re- away in the footnotes some compelling details about Laboon. For instance, in footnotes you learn that Padre Pio had prophesied to Jake’s father that Jake would become a priest. You find Laboon in a foxhole with Marines in Vietnam, under heavy fire, calmly lighting a ci- gar. You see a baseball game in which a Marine intentionally ran into Laboon at first base, with Laboon about to slug the Marine before being reminded he was a priest. You watch Laboon yelling at the umpire from the stands during a Navy baseball game because, as Laboon explained, “You have to keep them honest.” You see Laboon telling a Navy woman that their planned service aboard ships would “ruin” the Navy. You also find an admiral compliment- ing Jake by way of a swipe at the Jesuits: “Jesuits are very prone to offer their opinions on many things. Few, however, have the experience to back up those opinions as did Jake.” In its totality, Navy Priest portrays a man who lived for God and country, a humble example to all around him—whether Catholic or not—but

36 America November 30, 2015 one who was not afraid to hold those day, in an indulgent age that prizes self about Fr. Laboon and his legacy, one around him to a high moral standard. ever farther above self-sacrifice. What encounters a coherent way of living As Laboon once put it to a group of a long distance we have come since the that gives the 21st-century reader an officers, “The day you were sworn in as era that gave rise to Jake Laboon. antidote to the current zeitgeist. midshipmen…that was the moment But that’s precisely why Navy Priest you died to yourself.” is worth marinating in for a few hun- PETER REICHARD is a writer and researcher What a foreign notion that seems to- dred pages. Amidst all the superlatives living in New Orleans.

CLASSIFIED campaign.org. For job description, contact Rev. of application, résumé and references to the Search Michael Crosby: (414) 406.1265. Committee electronically at [email protected], or mail to 800 Clapboardtree Street, Westwood, MA Positions PRINCIPAL. Xaverian Brothers High School in 02090. HUMAN THREAD CAMPAIGN MANAGER Westwood, Mass., (www.xbhs.com) educating with community organizing experience to further young men in grades 7-12, is seeking a dynamic Retreats develop and launch a campaign to raise conscious- leader to serve as Principal beginning July 1, 2016. Celebrate Pope Francis’ vision. Inspiring, dynamic ness and empower Catholics to advocate for the Sponsored by the Xaverian Brothers, Xaverian en- parish missions, retreats: “The Joy of the Gospel” plight of garment workers worldwide. Position joys an outstanding reputation. The new Principal and “The Francis Effect: Celebrating the Jubilee of responsible for all campaign activities from the will replace the current Principal, who is retiring Mercy.” Website: www.sabbathretreats.org. pilot (preferably in Archdioceses of Chicago and after 25 years of extraordinary leadership. The Milwaukee) to national scaling phase. Duties in- Principal is appointed by the Headmaster, with the clude planning and implementing action strategies approval of the Board of Trustees. Xaverian seeks WANT YOUR AD HERE? with parish and student leaders, producing public a proven leader, with 3 to 5 years of administrative outreach and educational materials, and utiliz- experience, holding an advanced degree, a relation- Visit americamagazine.org. ing social media platforms to engage, inform and ship builder, a skillful communicator and a prac- Email: [email protected]. drive campaign efforts. Visit www.humanthread- ticing Catholic. Candidates should submit a letter Call 212-515-0102.

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“Telling people who worry that they shouldn’t, just to trust God, can just add a layer of guilt on top of the worries.” —Sandi Sinor, “Anxiety and Sanctity”

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THE WORD Preparing the People of God SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT (C), DEC. 6, 2015 Readings: Bar 5:1-9; Ps 126:1-6; Phil 1:4-11; Lk 3:1-6 “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight”(Lk 3:4)

reparation for the coming of the Israel to “walk safely in the glory of simple in many ways. Paul, like John the Lord is not simply an individu- God” and also allows “all flesh” to see Baptist and Baruch, is speaking to the Pal task, though it incorporates God’s salvation. whole people of God, for “your” is plu- personal holiness and love, but there For John’s public proclamation of ral; it is “the love (agapê) of you all,” and is most prominently an ecclesial di- preparation for the coming of the Lord it is love that must be shown as a body mension, in which the whole people of has not just a corporate dimension for and as individuals. Equally fascinating God await Christ’s parousia so that they the people of God, but a universal di- is how Paul connects self-sacrificial might return home to the Promised mension, in which all humanity is be- love to knowledge (epignô- Land, the kingdom of God. To prepare, ing prepared for the coming sis) and insight (aisthêsis). we wait for what God will do for us of God’s Messiah. When “Knowledge” (epignôsis) of and we act to make God known to the John shouts out, “Prepare this sort is often understood world around us. the way of the Lord,” it is in the Greek sense as knowl- The text of Baruch, set in the return a corporate command, edge of divine things, connect- from the Babylonian exile, presents an imperative verb in ed to intellectual perception, Israel on a pilgrimage home directed by the second person plu- while “insight” (aisthêsis) was un- God. The prophet speaks for God (5:5) ral: “You all prepare the derstood by Stoic philosophers as and says: way of the Lord!” This is not just the work of a prophet spe- PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE Led away on foot by their enemies they cially chosen, but a means by which How is your church community preparing left you: all the people can witness to the glory for the coming of Christ? How does your love overflow more and more with but God will bring them back to you of God’s coming. knowledge and full insight? How might carried high in glory as on royal thrones. It is in the people of God that your community help others prepare for the pilgrimage?

God’s splendor and righteousness DUNNE TAD ART: God shines forth in the people of God, should be seen, that the preparation who, Baruch says, wear “the cloak of for God’s presence is made manifest. arising from experience or the physical justice” and “the mitre that displays the Paul thanks the Philippians for “sharing processes responsible for sense-percep- glory of the eternal name.” in the Gospel from the first day until tion. Love, that is, is not simply emo- John the Baptist presents for us the now” and stresses that there is work the tions running wild but is grounded in task of the people of God in response church must do and that God will per- our knowledge of the truth of God and to the coming of the Messiah and the fect. As with Israel being brought back of the world around us. eschatological pilgrimage. John began by God from exile, Paul says that “the Our work in preparation for the to tell the people to prepare with “a bap- one who began a good work among you coming of God, Paul says, is to in- tism of repentance for the forgiveness will bring it to completion by the day of crease in love as the people of God, “to of sins.” As with Baruch, John presents Jesus Christ.” God will make us ready determine what is best so that in the an image of the mountains and valleys for the eschatological pilgrimage, but day of Christ you [plural] may be pure being made flat and smooth as a sign Paul encourages the Philippians, and and blameless.” And this preparation of Israel’s repentance and moral trans- us, in our own role in this preparation. of love is so that we might direct all formation. This moral leveling allows Paul tells the church that his prayer to their true home, to be ready at the for them is that “your love may overflow coming of Jesus Christ, to join with more and more with knowledge and full them on the pilgrimage to the king- JOHN W. MARTENS is a professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn. insight.” dom of God. Twitter: @BibleJunkies. This is a remarkable prayer, though JOHN W. MARTENS

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