JESUIT EDUCATION OF MANY THINGS

mere half mile from the spot born in this place during a disturbingly 106 West 56th Street New York, NY 10019-3803 where Our Lord was born, nine similar period of occupation and Ph: 212-581-4640; Fax: 212-399-3596 children are born each day at destitution. It also made good sense for Subscriptions: 1-800-627-9533 A www.americamagazine.org Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem. us to visit the hospital. For the previous facebook.com/americamag Though it offers a full range of health six days, led by America’s editor at twitter.com/americamag care services, the hospital specializes large, James Martin, S.J., we had toured in prenatal care and delivery. At the the major sites associated with Jesus of President and Editor in Chief Matt Malone, S.J. invitation of Pope John Paul II, the Nazareth, from the shores of Galilee to Executive Editors medical facility has been supported and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Robert C. Collins, S.J., Maurice Timothy Reidy administered since 1990 by the Knights site of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Managing Editor Kerry Weber of Malta and houses a maternity ward But when the risen Lord appeared to Literary Editor Raymond A. Schroth, S.J. with 63 beds and the latest in Western Mary Magdalene and his disciples, he did Senior Editor and Chief Correspondent medical technology. Thanks to the not simply announce his triumph: he also Kevin Clarke generosity of its benefactors, it’s hard commissioned them to make disciples Editor at Large James Martin, S.J. to discern any difference between Holy and to serve the least among us. In that Executive Editor, America Films Jeremy Zipple, S.J. Family Hospital in Bethlehem and sense, the visit to Holy Family Hospital Poetry Editor Joseph Hoover, S.J. Children’s Hospital in Boston. Since gave our pilgrims a glimpse of one of Associate Editor and Vatican Correspondent its opening, the dedicated team at Holy the ways that Christians are meeting the Gerard O’Connell Family has delivered more than 55,000 Lord’s mandate in our own time. Senior Editor Edward W. Schmidt, S.J. babies, without regard for their parents’ It is almost impossible to put into Engagement and Community Editor ability to pay or for their religious words what one feels during such a Elizabeth Tenety or national affiliations. The church’s pilgrimage. “Awe-inspiring” is one word. Associate Editors Ashley McKinless, Olga Segura Assistant Editors Francis W. Turnbull, S.J., commitment to a consistent ethic of “Humbling” is another. But after some Joseph McAuley human life is clearly and daily evident in initial reflection, I’ve settled on “hopeful.” Art Director Sonja Kodiak Wilder their work. I am hopeful, not because I think we Columnists Helen Alvaré, John J. Conley, S.J., I visited the hospital this month have solved our problems or because Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M., James T. Keane, John W. Martens, Bill McGarvey, Angela Alaimo O’Donnell, during America’s eight-day pilgrimage there appears to be less injustice in the Margot Patterson, Nathan Schneider, Robert David to the Holy Land. Bethlehem, as you world. Far from it, I fear. I am hopeful Sullivan likely know, is located in the Palestinian because this pilgrimage allowed me to Correspondents John Carr (Washington), An- thony Egan, S.J., and Russell Pollitt, S.J. (Johannes- Territory, on one side of a gargantuan meet Jesus once again, this time in the burg), Jim McDermott, S.J. (Los Angeles), Timothy wall that separates the Israelis from land of his birth and ministry, the land Padgett (Miami), Steven Schwankert (Beijing), Palestinians and, in a very real way, that biblical scholars like to call the fifth David Stewart, S.J. (London), Judith Valente (Chi- cago), Mary Ann Walsh, R.S.M. (U.S. Church) the first world from the third world. Gospel. I encountered anew the one we Moderator, Catholic Book Club Life in Bethlehem is dramatically call in Mass our “blessed hope.” Whatever Kevin Spinale, S.J. different from life in downtown happens, he has already won the ultimate Editor, The Jesuit Post Jerusalem, just a 15-minute car ride battle between good and evil. Michael Rossmann, S.J. Editorial e-mail away. Unemployment rates are stuck That gives me the hope I need to [email protected] in the upper 20s, and daily wages for redouble my efforts on behalf of the Palestinians are less than half of those kingdom of God. It’s the same hope the Publisher and Chief Financial Officer Edward of their Israeli counterparts. These two good men and women of Holy Family Spallone. Deputy Publisher Rosa Del Saz. Vice economic realities have converged to Hospital show in their work, the same President/Advancement Daniel Pawlus. Devel- opment Coordinator Kerry Goleski. Operations produce a myriad of social problems for hope that allows us to believe in faith Staff Chris Keller, Glenda Castro. Advertising Bethlehem’s residents, including a lack that we will one day sing with joy and contact [email protected]; 212-515-0102. of access to good, affordable health care. with new meaning the words of one of Subscription contact/Additional copies [email protected]; So Holy Family Hospital, which has the our favorite hymns: In that little town 1-800-627-9533 only available medical care for high risk of Bethlehem, “God imparts to human pregnancies in the area, is saving lives hearts/ The blessings of His heaven./ © 2015 America Press, Inc. daily. No ear may hear His coming,/ But in It makes sense that this Christian this world of sin,/ Where meek souls will Cover: Pope Francis places a biretta on new Cardinal John Dew of Wellington, New Zealand, work should shine in the midst of such receive him still,/ The dear Christ enters during the consistory on Feb. 14. CNS photo/ poverty and struggle. After all, Jesus was in.” MATT MALONE, S.J. Paul Haring Contents www.americamagazine.org VOL. 212 NO. 16, WHOLE NO. 5089 May 11, 2015

JESUIT EDUCATION 14 THE CARDINALS’ APPEAL Perspectives from the periphery Jim McDermott 21 COMPANY MEN On preserving the unique identity of Jesuit universities William J. Byron 26 GETTING PERSONAL The philosophy of W. Norris Clarke, S.J. David C. Paternostro

COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS

4 Current Comment 14 5 Editorial The Student Debt Crisis 6 Reply All 8 Signs of the Times 12 Column New Monasticisms Nathan Schneider 18 (Un)Conventional Wisdom In My Backyard Robert David Sullivan 31 Vatican Dispatch Progress With China? Gerard O’Connell 33 Faith in Focus Vocation Crisis Kristin Grady Gilger 35 Generation Faith An Irish-American Dream Hanna May 21 47 The Word What Time It Is John W. Martens BOOKS & CULTURE

37 THEATER “Everything That Rises Must Converge” POETRY From Nothing OF OTHER THINGS Of Machines and Men BOOKS Walte r Lippmann; Only One Thing Can Save Us; The Mockingbird Next Door

ON THE WEB Kevin Spinale, S.J., leads a discussion of “Killing Jesus,” by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, and Brother Joe Hoover, S.J., right, reads his favorite recent poetry on “America This Week.” Full digital highlights on page 39 and at americamagazine.org/webfeatures. 37 CURRENT COMMENT

and Judaism. Recently, graves at a Christian cemetery in A Humanitarian Disaster northern Israel were desecrated, and Jewish extremists, Conflict in Iraq, Syria and Yemen and violence and poverty who have carried out similar acts in the past, are in African states are propelling an unprecedented flight to suspected. Israeli government officials rightly condemned Europe. The most desperate are attempting to escape by the vandalism. Religious extremism strives to achieve sea from the chaos of Libya, where they are prey to Islamic ideological dominance over the other. If violence can State assassins and criminal human trafficking gangs. After obtain that objective, it will be used. By employing its vast the deaths of hundreds in two horrific incidents in April, diplomatic network, the Vatican hopes to raise awareness it is clear that Europe’s maritime capacity, too focused on and combat religious intolerance. It is a critical issue of our treating the crisis like a border control problem and not the time, which tears at the fabric of civil society as well as of humanitarian disaster it has become, must be rapidly and religion, and it must be addressed. dramatically scaled up. As America’s editorial “A U.N. for Religion?” (3/9) The crisis offers the European Union the opportunity stated, the Vatican is uniquely situated to provide a forum to review and rationalize its asylum policies with the aim for conflict resolution and possible reconciliation. The great of establishing a reasonable and comprehensive plan for unknown is whether it can succeed in this endeavor. In immigrant and refugee resettlement continentwide. The order for society and religion to thrive, it must succeed. fiscal and social burden for new operations should be fairly distributed among all member states. Pope Francis wisely warned in Strasbourg last Lessons From Ebola November that any coherent E.U. response must include It is clear now that the world was not ready for the Ebola provisions to protect migrants not only on the high seas outbreak that began in December 2013. After ravaging but in communities of resettlement, where they may be parts of West Africa for more than a year and a half, targets of labor exploitation or the source of resentment. the highly infectious disease has left 10,000 dead in Unfortunately, no matter how Europe responds, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia and has infected an tragedies on the Mediterranean will continue as long as additional 25,000. As the outbreak began to spread, many the complex of conflict persists in Syria and Iraq. Finding considered the World Health Organization the group best a diplomatic solution to the violence that is tearing ancient suited to respond. But in a recent statement its directors communities apart should diminish the dangerous exodus acknowledged that they, too, were caught unprepared, across the sea. That is partly why a successful conclusion adding that the world remains vulnerable should another to negotiations with Iran over its nuclear development major outbreak occur. program remains a geopolitical imperative. An Iran that W.H.O. leaders expressed a desire to create new can be better integrated into the international community measures that could help prevent such catastrophic could play a pivotal role in bringing to an end these brutal situations. They promised to devote more resources conflicts across the Middle East. to studying diseases with outbreak potential and acknowledged the need to create a reserve group of staff members for crises, provide greater oversight of member Vatican vs. Violence countries and use new organizational systems in the field. With the aim of encouraging respect for “true spiritual The leaders highlighted the importance of building values,” the Vatican is planning a diplomatic offensive trust. Much of the chaos caused by Ebola was due to a lack against religious violence grounded in frank and open of trust between affected communities and health workers. dialogue with Muslim leaders and teachers. In an interview Strong relationships between communities and health in April with the newspaper The Australian, Archbishop workers can be key to rapid and more orderly responses to Paul Gallagher, the Holy See’s secretary for relations with emergency situations. The W.H.O. might consider asking states, discussed the importance of religious engagement aid organizations already on the ground for guidance in in negotiating global peace and noted “the situation of their efforts to build relationships in potential outbreak the Christians in the Middle East is most precarious and areas. Organizations like Catholic Relief Services often distressing.” have a deep understanding of both the big picture and the The larger issue of religious extremism, which is challenges that individuals face. They could provide the not confined to Islam, also needs to be addressed. This context needed to prepare for and, we hope, prevent future virulent strain infects all religions, including Christianity outbreaks.

4 America May 11, 2015 EDITORIAL The Student Debt Crisis n 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Higher Loan Refinancing Act. Under Education Act. Part of Johnson’s Great Society agenda, this proposal, students would be Ithe legislation was created as a way to lessen the economic given the opportunity to refinance divide between poor and rich American families by providing their debt at current government- better financial support and resources for lower-income subsidized rates (less than 4 students seeking higher education. Fifty years later, however, percent). Senator Warren added with rising tuition costs and a rapid increase in student loan that these lowered rates “would burdens discouraging working- and middle-class college be paid for via higher taxes on top aspirations, that divide threatens to become unbridgeable. earners.” Congress initially rejected Warren’s plan in 2014; the The current federal student loan debt is over $800 senator hopes to push it through this year. billion. As of 2012, the average loan balance for borrowers of Loan relief is a good first step, but better financial all age groups is $24,301. The skyrocketing cost of tuition, information should also be provided for students so they which has risen far in excess of the rate of inflation, is a major understand the implications of the agreements they are contributor to the uptick in borrowing. making as college freshmen. Universities and colleges with Research shows that upon graduation, many huge endowments could also consider following the Stanford borrowers—who make up 60 percent of the graduating University model; the university now offers free tuition for class nationwide—are struggling to make timely payments. families making less than $125,000. While not all schools can Recent graduates, who often lack the lucrative job offers afford to be so generous, it is incumbent on administrators and competitive salaries obtained by their predecessors, everywhere to look for creative and prudent ways to contain have very few options if they cannot make their payments. the cost of a degree. Once the deferment period ends—usually six months after Catholic colleges also have a special responsibility to graduation—borrowers must begin making payments offer affordable education for low-income students. Patricia immediately. Many recent graduates can make only minimum McGuire, president of Trinity Washington, explained payments while interest accrues; most outstanding student in an interview with America that although her school’s loans have interest rates of nearly 7 percent or higher. Unless a endowment is only $14 million, Trinity is able to provide its borrower meets specific requirements, like economic hardship students with $10 million worth of tuition discounts. She or a high credit score rating, there is little to no consumer says that particular attention is given to so-called Dreamers, protection available. Unlike mortgage and car payments, undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as student loans cannot be refinanced. children. Millennials have been hit the hardest. Burdened by Many students opt out of attending college because they student debt, millennials are putting off large purchases, like cannot afford tuition costs and fees; others do not see a four- houses and cars. An article in The Atlantic last October states year degree as a significant reason to overburden themselves that home ownership among millennials has reached a 19- with student loans. But the competitive global economy of the year low. A recent study by the Pew Research Center also finds future will demand some level of post-secondary education, that Generation X-ers (now in their 30s and 40s) who have and study after study has documented the importance of a outstanding loans are likewise affected by the lingering weight four-year degree to long-term wealth creation. Young people of student debt. Those who took out college loans have less in the United States should not be hamstrung from the start of wealth than their parents had at the same age, which makes it their working lives because they are trapped by unreasonable more difficult for them to save for retirement, investments or debt. their children. The decision to pursue higher education should pay What is being done to address the problem? In 2013, dividends for all members of U.S. society, not merely the banks Congress passed the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty or the government. As Pope Francis urged on Palm Sunday in Act, which allows students who took out loans in the his message for World Youth Day, we must encourage our 2013-14 school year to pay an interest rate of 3.86 percent youth “to be revolutionaries” and “to go against the tide.” on their loans. Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of What better way than through education, preferably one Masssachusetts, proposed the Bank on Students Emergency they can afford?

May 11, 2015 America 5 REPLY ALL compassion and an unselfish desire the roles of women in the first-century to make things better. Our better na- church, which is extremely offensive, F.D.R.’s Legacy tures are altruistic, until someone tries since we come to church to hear God’s In “The Taxman Cometh” (4/13), to explain human love and its response word, but hear only parts of it. Joseph Dunn writes that President in other, self-interest terms. May God If Catholics consistently hear at Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “massive ex- bless the generous and make them church that only the existence and periment with redistribution failed happy in their sharing. discipleship of men is of significance, to work as planned.” On the contrary, MIKE EVANS it will affect how they see themselves F.D.R.’s experiment exceeded expecta- Online Comment and persons of the opposite gender. tions. Beginning in 1933, nearly three My Changed Heart Furthermore, it is also important in million 18-year-old men went to work Re “Lord, Have Mercy,” by Jeanne journalism. America was exemplary in the Civilian Conservation Corps. Bishop (4/6): I read Ms. Bishop’s for decades in using only inclusive lan- In the 60 years prior to F.D.R.’s book, Change of Heart: Justice, Mercy, guage but recently has become rather presidency, 16 economic downturns and Making Peace With My Sister’s negligent in adhering to it. Maybe we occurred with unemployment ranging Killer, in one sitting. In 1980 I lost my should all be quiet for a while and lis- from 12 percent to 25 percent. After sister Patricia to her husband, who ten to what God may be calling us to F.D.R.’s last term, unemployment has took his own life. I felt pity for him, be and to do. never once reached 12 percent. Median ELISABETH TETLOW especially because he hurt so many Online Comment income increased over 60 percent people in the last act of his life. After during the “housing, highways and reading her book, I see that I can do Choosing Ignorance high tax” economy. Median income more. I can pray for him and ask God Re the responses to “No White Man has otherwise typically declined in the to show mercy to him. With God Is Innocent,” by Nathan Schneider “low tax economy.” The percentage in- there is no time, so my prayer now can (3/23): It seems there is a horrifying crease in median income with Clinton’s be seen by God from all eternity and misunderstanding of what racism is. tax increase was nearly double that of it can still help. Again, Ms. Bishop, It is not simply white-hooded men. Reagan’s tax cut. thank you for your amazing book and Accepting a black president, having Mr. Dunn writes, “The limitations witness. black friends, hiring black men and of an economy based on housing, PAUL FERRIS women, living next door to a productive highways and high taxes were becom- Online Comment African-American family—these do ing apparent by the late 1950s.” The Talk the Talk not disprove the existence of racism. second President Bush perhaps made This is why no white person is inno- apparent the limitations of an econo- Re “A Space for Women” (Editorial, 3/30): America did well in focusing cent. Understand “racism” first; then see my based on tax cuts: the recent Great the systemic, out-of-sight out-of-mind Recession was the ninth worst eco- on the Voices of Faith gathering at the Vatican on International Women’s racism that is prevalent in America nomic contraction since 1856. but is oftentimes beyond a white per- CHUCK KOTLARZ Day. On that Sunday, a woman, Kerry Online Comment Robinson, the executive director of son’s knowledge. It is my ignorance of the National Leadership Roundtable this truth that leaves me guilty, not by Charity Instinct on Church Management, was invited choice but simply by birth. If I choose Re “Metaphysics and Money,” by Gary by the archbishop of New Delhi to to remain ignorant of this truth, that is Anderson (4/13): Quibbling about preach at the liturgy in a small parish where the problem lies. BEA STOUT POLLARD motivations for charitable response is inside the Vatican—probably a first, at Online Comment far beneath a search for true holiness. least in this millennium. We give help, support and friendship The editor’s proposals are help- Death, Naturally to the poor and unfortunate precisely ful. However, on the first, attention In “On Dying Well” (3/16), Jessica because they are poor and unfortunate to language, things have been moving Keating writes: “Suffering unto death and we wish to share and help them to backward in recent years. After en- can be penetrated and transfigured be restored and uplifted. Watch any abling inclusive language in the liturgy by the mystery of love. This transfig- child instinctively share with someone for more than three decades, the new uration occurs in hidden intimacies. he or she sees as deprived. No righ- Roman Missal took it away and sub- Choosing to die early forecloses such teous thinking, no judging, no weigh- stituted impossibly sexist language. In possibilities.” As a hospice chaplain, ing, no bargaining with God, just addition, the Lectionary omits texts on I’m often struck by how these trans-

6 America May 11, 2015 figurations unfold slowly over time. As nothing to do and without any fu- Ms. Guillory has seemingly present- loved ones face the reality of death, re- ture”? Do we not spend an enormous ed a grotesque meal, but to me it un- lationships slowly open up in ways that amount on recreation, health care and doubtedly signifies the Eucharist. The invite greater love, healing and reconcili- education for prisoners? None of this Passover lamb (kosher killed) must be ation, sometimes after years of distance. obviates the fact that all lives are worth completely consumed (Ex 12:9). The Early on, family members may be living. But to attack a problem effec- wilderness of Coal Canyon (a very filled with fear and trembling at the tively, we need to tackle the real cause: remote place) draws us to make the prospect of losing their loved one. Over family breakdown. Passover connection even further. In time, they dig deep to find an inner ROBERT C. PALITO our gut reaction to the poem, we can strength and resiliency that sustains Woodhaven, N.Y. feel like those at the end of St. John’s them through the struggle. Those who discourse on the bread of life: “These Revisiting ‘Coal Canyon’ are dying may dig in their heels and teachings are hard; who can accept I have seen only two responses to Stella hold on tightly to life, not ready to let go. them?” (Jn 6:60). But a little bit of time Jeng Guillory’s poem, “They Build a Little by little, they begin to loosen their and faith and wrangling, and all of a Hogan in Coal Canyon, Arizona” (3/2), hold as they slowly open to the mystery sudden you realize what some may call and neither assessment has been com- of dying. They are often moved by their “disgusting” is perhaps the most im- plimentary (Reply All, 3/30). Allow me awareness of God’s love permeating it portant thing the world ever received. I to ask readers to give it another look. all and sometimes speak of the nearness think there is a lot in this little poem, Like Scripture, art sometimes requires of God. The process is profound, as is maybe even the Infinite. a type of anagogic vision, a lifting of the the grace that flows through it. This is KEN NOVAK veil, in a sense. Online Comment but a glimpse of the dignity to be found in the natural dying process. NANCY SMALL STATUS UPDATE Worcester, Mass. On April 16, the Congregation for the tributed. God bless these dedicated women and the pope who sought Family Breakdown Doctrine of the Faith and the Leadership this reconciliation! In “A Cry of Hope” (3/9), a review Conference of Women Religious issued a joint statement announcing an amicable PAT GRAY MAHON of Robert Ferguson’s Inferno, Frank Hermann, S.J., speaks of a “punitive end to the Vatican’s investigation of this group, which represents the majority of Have they agreed to fall into line with impulse” seizing our society as one Catholic doctrine and moral teaching cause of the high prison population in women’s religious orders in the United States. Readers responded to the news. now? I’m not sure that those calling the United States. Does he really think this a “witch hunt” were paying much that most Americans enjoy punish- Historians say that President attention to the complaints against ing people? Or are they concerned for Johnson should have “declared victo- the L.C.W.R. by the Congregation their safety? ry” and pulled out of a war that never for the Doctrine of the Faith. This Curiously, no mention is made of should have started. Somebody here was a matter of orthodoxy and reli- the family’s breakdown—talk about followed that lesson of history. gious obedience to the magisterium a glaring omission. In The New York ROBERT P. LYNCH of the church, and there were serious Times Ross Douthat writes: “In a sub- issues being reported. stantially poorer American past with a Thankfully this “witch hunt” is over! Since the C.D.F. has ruled there is much thinner safety net, lower-income To me, this was some men in the no issue remaining, let us hope and Americans found a way to cultivate church trying to dominate and shut pray that they persevere in the faith of monogamy, fidelity, sobriety and thrift down the voices and works that the church, rather than act against her. to an extent that they have not in our women religious have always con- ADAM DOLAN richer, higher-spending present” (“For Poorer and Richer,” 3/15). In Coming Apart, Charles Murray has a message Letters to the editor may be sent to America’s editorial for affluent whites: “preach what you office (address on page 2) or letters@americamedia. practice” (family, stability, work, educa- org. America will also consider the following for print tion, thrift). publication: comments posted below articles on America’s Web site (americamedia.org) and posts on Is it true that “society’s punitive Twitter and public Facebook pages. All correspondence impulse confines people in cages with may be edited for length.

May 11, 2015 America 7 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

SAN FRANCISCO What Does Mercy Demand? Two Views of Church Leadership ational attention was drawn to the Archdiocese of San Francisco in mid-April after a group of about 100 area Catholics placed a full-page Nadvertisement in The San Francisco Chronicle criticizing the leadership of Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone and asking Pope Francis to remove him. Among those watching events unfold in the city by the bay is Vivian Dudro, a book editor with Ignatius Press and a 20-year resident of San Francisco. “As some- one who has...raised kids here, nothing surprises me,” she said. Even so, she criti- cized the Chronicle ad, noting “in every single paragraph there were misstatements.” Dudro acknowledges that a major issue of contention in the archdiocese is the archbishop’s proposed changes to the archdiocesan teachers’ contracts, which in- clude a list of moral teachings faculty staff must “affirm and believe.” But, she surmis- es: “Let’s be honest, the reason why this is such an issue is San Francisco is the mec- ca for the homosexual-rights movement. And the church here has had issues with trying to proclaim its message in a city with a lot of people who reject that message.” RALLYING THE FAITHFUL. Tom Brady Sr., an insurance executive who was among those who added their Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco speaks to a crowd signature to the Chronicle ad (and also the father of New England Patriots quar- gathered for the fourth annual rosary terback Tom Brady), points out that the signees have all offered decades of service rally last October. to the church. He sees comments like Dudro’s as an attempt to minimize their reason- and a misrepresentation of the spirit nel for your peace. To be a nurturer, to able concerns. “The Catholic Church of the Archbishop.” According to the foster the spiritual health of all the flock means a ton to me,” he explained. “I’ve statement, “The greatest misrepresenta- that you have been entrusted with. The been involved in it my whole life. And tion of all is that the signers presume to pope says that we’re supposed to get what I see going on here is virtually ev- speak for ‘the Catholic Community of down and smell like the sheep.” ery constituency being disenfranchised. San Francisco.’ They do not.” Dudro sees it differently. “I love the Whether it’s girls and women or gays In response to the advertisement, a pope’s metaphor of the field hospital. and lesbians or high schools or the new group, “San Francisco Catholics” But I have a metaphor of my own: parishes.... The teachers are all shook will be holding a family picnic in sup- we’re the salvaging operation in a junk- up. The parents are all shook up. The port of Archbishop Cordileone on yard. Our purpose is the reclamation priests are depressed.” May 16. of human beings.” Asked about whether he and his “As the Archbishop is saying, he’s not JIM McDERMOTT, S.J. fellow signees had considered smaller creating a division,” she said. “A division or less public steps, Brady said: “We’ve already exists. There are people both in- CUBA written letters to the papal nuncio. We side the church and outside the church get no response. And the archbish- that do not agree with the church’s mor- op continues to disrupt and stir up al teaching. So what’s the church sup- The Francis Bump Catholics. If you keep getting ignored, posed to do?” he president of the Latin what are you going to do?” In some ways, the conflict between American bishops’ conference A statement released by the arch- these two points of view might be sum- Tcalled Pope Francis’ planned diocese called the allegations in the marized in the ways a church of mer- visit to Cuba an opportunity for the advertisement “a misrepresentation of cy is differently imagined. Brady says church to play a larger role in a country Catholic teaching, a misrepresentation the role of an archbishop is like “in the experiencing reforms and re-embracing of the nature of the teacher contract, prayer of St. Francis, it’s to be a chan- institutionalized religion.

8 America May 11, 2015 Pope Benedict XVI visited in 2012. Aires, Argentina, at the Fifth General The visit comes as Cuba and the Conference of the Bishops of Latin United States work to re-establish America and the Caribbean in diplomatic relations and build stron- Aparecida, Brazil, in 2007. The doc- ger economic ties. Pope Francis played ument appealed to Catholics on the a role in the reconciliation. He urged continent to make missions a priori- both sides to start talking, and the ty and came partly in response to the Vatican hosted secret talks between precipitous decline in the Catholic U.S. and Cuban officials. population of many countries. The coming trip will be another “What Aparecida proposed was to opportunity “to promote this opening go out for [people], that we don’t stay between the United States and Cuban satisfied attending to those that have governments,” Archbishop Aguiar come [to church], rather that we be said, adding that the church has long willing to go for those who are distant been concerned about the state and or those that have fallen away or those fate of Cuba. that are indifferent, but continue be- Cuba is considered one of the least ing Catholic,” Archbishop Aguiar said. Catholic countries in Latin America “It’s a gigantic challenge because our and the Caribbean, with just 27 percent mentality, particularly clerical, isn’t of the population professing the faith, made for this.” according to a survey by Univision and By visiting three of the poorer Fusion. The small number of professed countries on the continent, the pope Catholics is a consequence of a policy of is continuing his policy of putting secularism imposed by the Communist peripheral places at the center of “Whether we want to accept it or leadership after the 1959 revolution. church life, said Archbishop Aguiar. not, Cuba is undergoing a transforma- The Cuban church is small, but it has “These are three countries that don’t tion. In this transformation, the institu- been regaining ground since St. John count much in the Latin American tion with the highest expectations from Paul II visited in 1998 and restrictions outlook,” he said. “They’re small with Cuba society to provide a response is on religion were loosened. many problems, historically difficult the Catholic Church,” said Archbishop “Cuban society, regrettably, lost its constitutions, particularly Bolivia and Carlos Aguiar Retes of Tlalnepantla, religiosity. It was beaten back into an in- Paraguay. When the pope says, ‘Go to Mexico, president of the Latin dividual religiosity” expressed in forms the periphery,’ he also means going to American bishops’ conference, known like Santeria, Archbishop Aguiar said. peripheral countries.” by its Spanish acronym CELAM. “If the Cuban Catholic Church “The church continues being an en- is supported, is accompanied RESTORATION? At prayer tity with a presence across the island, at this time, when there is this in Havana on April 22. The with small groups, but it’s there,” said transformation of the Cuban so- Vatican has announced that Pope Francis will visit Cuba the archbishop, whose archdiocese ciety, the Catholic Church could in September. covers the northern suburbs of Mexico regain its significant presence.” City. Pope Francis has also an- Federico Lombardi, S.J., the Vatican nounced plans to visit three spokesman, has confirmed that South American coun- Pope Francis will travel to Cuba in tries—Ecuador, Bolivia and September, visiting the island prior to Paraguay—in July. his three-city tour of the United States The trips reinforce the vi- on Sept. 22–27. This will be the second sion outlined in a document time in less than four years that a pon- edited by the pope when he tiff will travel to the Caribbean country. was archbishop of Buenos

May 11, 2015 America 9 SIGNS OF THE TIMES Audit Released on Abuse Compliance NEWS BRIEFS The U.S. bishops on April 17 released Stefanie Tiefenbacher, 87, of an annual audit tracking the church’s the Missionary Sisters of the response to the abuse of children by Precious Blood, was robbed members of the clergy. During the and murdered in her bedroom 2014 audit year (July 1, 2013, through in the small town of Ixopo, June 30, 2014), 37 allegations of abuse near Durban, South Africa. were current and 620 were made by • An appearance by Sister adults who had been abused in the Jeannine Gramick, censured past. Of the current allegations, all for positions on homosexual- Earthquake in Kathmandu were reported to civil authorities, who ity and same-sex marriage, at found six substantiated, 11 unsub- a Catholic church in Charlotte, N.C., has been canceled • After an stantiated and 12 unable to be proven. Italian prosecutor revealed on April 24 that the Vatican had been Eight other cases were still being inves- an intended target of terrorists in 2010, Vatican Secretary of State tigated. “While substantive progress Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that the “pope is calm,” and that securi- has been made, it should not be con- ty officials felt “proper” fear but “not an exaggerated preoccupation cluded that the sexual abuse of minors with the issue.” • It was announced on April 21 that Pope Francis is a problem of the past,” Francesco C. had accepted the resignation of Bishop Robert Finn of the dio- Cesareo, Ph.D., Chair of the National cese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., the first Catholic prelate to be Review Board for the Protection of convicted for not reporting a priest who posed a danger to children. Children and Young People, wrote in • “Rescue is the first priority,” said the Rev. Pius Perumana, director a letter introducing the report. “The of Caritas Nepal, as humanitarian agencies responded to an earth- fact that there were six substantiated quake, 7.8 on the Richter scale, that struck Kathmandu, Nepal’s cap- cases of abuse of current minors in this ital city, on April 25. year’s audit is indicative of the fact that there are still instances where dioceses fall short.” Cesareo warned that insti- tutional complacency was “something to Obama on April 20. Nominate nications coordinator for J.R.S., told that bishops need to guard against.” someone, they implored. “The Islamic Vatican Radio that J.R.S. was hop- State’s murderous reach has extend- ing for something “much stronger” to ed beyond Iraq and Syria,” the letter emerge from E.U. emergency discus- Envoy for Christians reads, asking Obama to “swiftly” find a sions—a resettlement plan with a great- Beheadings, enslavement, kidnappings candidate for the envoy job. “Doing so er focus on saving peoples’ lives as well and rape plague minority religious would signal to beleaguered commu- as tackling the migrant crisis at its roots. communities across the Middle East, nities in the Middle East, and beyond, Instead, he said, E.U. representatives and it is time for President Obama that America stands with them.” agreed “on a raft of measures” aimed to fill a job created to address their at “hiding the problem.” Noting that plight, a group of prominent evan- J.R.S. ‘Disappointed’ British Prime Minister David Cameron gelicals, scholars and other religious had pledged ships, helicopters and oth- leaders told the White House. In the By E.U. Response er resources but at the same time said seven months since Congress created The Jesuit Refugee Service expressed his government was not prepared to ac- a “special envoy for religious minori- disappointment on April 24 with the cept any more asylum seekers in Britain, ties in the Middle East and South measures announced by the European Stapleton said, “What’s happening is a Central Asia,” the extreme violence Union to respond to the accelerating shirking of responsibilities” rather than against these groups has only escalat- migrant crisis in the Mediterranean, “a sharing of responsibilities” for dealing ed, the religious leaders, gathered by describing the outcome after meetings with the migrant crisis. the Washington-based International in Brussels as “a lost opportunity.” James Religious Freedom Roundtable, wrote Stapleton, the international commu- From CNS, RNS and other sources.

10 America May 11, 2015 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

DISPATCH | JOHANNESBURG er countries and a strong tradition of labor militancy and the results are quite Xenophobia in South Africa devastating. Because South African la- bor is unreliable, there is less demand to n a chilling reprise of the events has emerged. Even after massive state increase skilled jobs or increase wages. of 2008, South Africa in April expenditure, secondary education has Where workers are needed, employers Iendured a resurgence of anti-im- been hampered not by apartheid but will look for the most skilled and reli- migrant violence. Sparked by a de- by faults in how education reform has able ones; and they are not to be found mand from the Zulu king Goodwill been implemented. Despite large in- here. Skilled workers from other parts Zwelithini that foreign- born Africans jections of cash, the majority of mainly of Africa are therefore in demand. “pack up and go home,” the attacks black schools have not produced the Similarly, there is a very low level of on individuals and businesses quickly desired results: a skilled workforce. what one might call an enterprise cul- spread from Durban to other major Short-sighted education policies and ture. While immigrants, following the cities. Events such as the killing of a schools that seem to be held hostage historical pattern everywhere, start up Mozambican immigrant in Alexandra by powerful teachers’ unions (strongly small businesses regularly—and work Township in Johannesburg made very hard to maintain and grow world headlines. them—local South Africans, The dominant rationale of the The default position with some notable exceptions, do xenophobes is that immigrant seems to be an not. The default position seems workers— mainly from the rest of rather to be an expectation that Africa, but also some shop-owners expectation that government will provide— if not from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh government will provide. well-paying sinecures, then wel- and China—are “stealing” jobs fare. from South Africans. A closer ex- Which it does, if not within un- amination reveals a slightly more com- tied to the ruling party) have weak- derperforming state bureaucracies plex picture. ened education. then through welfare—which current- South Africa is a country with a skills Post-school technical training is ly supports 16 million people. But this shortage—from skilled labor such as available, but there are very few people does not end resentment against work- artisans, builders and carpenters, to in apprenticeships, particularly young ing foreigners, particularly those who the professions (notably engineering, black men, who represent the majority start businesses that succeed. Nothing medicine and education). Twenty-one of the unemployed and are the major fails like success. years into democracy, this cannot be perpetrators of xenophobic violence. A psychologist might infer that the seen as simply the practice of white Partly this is because of inadequate relative success of these immigrants job reservation that has barred blacks grounding in school. presses a nerve in the psyche—a sense from entry into the higher skilled labor The other aspect seems to be lack of failure—and, combined with a men- market. The demands of the economy of interest or a sense that learning a tality of entitlement, generates the vi- had started to undermine that practice trade or skill is beneath one’s digni- olent, xenophobic responses we have as far back as the 1980s, and training ty. Everyone aspires to be a success in seen. quotas in technical and tertiary educa- South Africa, dreaming of a house in Current attempts to stop xeno- tion after 1994 had started to redress the suburbs, a smart car and fashion- phobia by appeals to morality will not the imbalance. State programs of re- able clothes. There is a strong sense change this. What is needed, apart dress, economic empowerment and of entitlement, but without the sense from radical upgrading of education, affirmative action have further assisted that upward mobility is the result of is an initiative to challenge entitlement this process. personal initiative and hard work. and generate a new attitude on work In 20 years a new middle class, Above all, perhaps, the problem that emphasizes productivity, effort and sometimes called the Black Diamonds, comes down to money: trades and enterprise—in short, a revival of that skilled labor are simply not as well paid classic understanding of the dignity of ANTHONY EGAN, S.J., is America’s as professions. Combine this with low work that is central to Catholic social Johannesburg correspondent. productivity compared with many oth- thought. ANTHONY EGAN

May 11, 2015 America 11 NATHAN SCHNEIDER New Monasticisms utside a drugstore in the Port script from the Quran and Tibetan Thirty blocks uptown, Karen Authority Bus Terminal, prayer flags. There is a hand-copied Gargamelli has been chipping away OBernice McCann found a quotation from Martin Luther King Jr. cracked paint in a run-down, six-sto- woman sitting among a cluster of bags. that reads, “If today’s church does not ry townhouse with her boyfriend, her The woman’s hands had deep gashes recapture the sacrificial spirit of the mother, Catholic Workers, a team of cut by the cold New York City winter. early church, it will lose its authentici- Dominican Volunteers and some Jesuit McCann applied ointment to them, ty.” The passage continues: “Every day I scholastics. By day, Gargamelli, 33, is a massaged them gently and bandaged meet young people whose disappoint- lawyer who helps low-income people the wounds. She is a grandmother, ment with the church has turned into facing foreclosure and eviction. Now and the woman was old enough to outright disgust.” she has found a home of her own. be one too. All along they talked. Bucko and McCann grew up Despite not sensing the call to vowed McCann told the woman how beau- Catholic. Visit New York’s Catholic religious life, she confesses a calling to be tiful she was, which is what she tells Worker houses with a foundress. This might all the street people she meets on these McCann, and she can in- Setting aside seem grandiose were Monday-night rounds in and around troduce you to the old-tim- she not both tempera- Port Authority. They smile and em- ers. The beginnings of The space for mentally humble and brace her and tell her their news. A New Monasticism were in contempla- resolutely practical. For handful of younger friends watch and meetings at St. Benedict’s years she has been writ- follow her, giving out their sandwich- Monastery, a Trappist com- tion in the ing proposals, forming es and snacks—more timidly, most- munity in Colorado, under middle of boards and meeting with ly learning from the master, mostly the guidance of Thomas diocesan officials. At last transfixed by her affection. Keating, O.C.S.O. Yet Midtown she found a priest with A couple of hours before heading Bucko has also been received Manhattan a building he needed to to Port Authority, the group, which into the Episcopal Church; rent, a former convent calls itself the HAB Community, he counts among his spiritual compa- with a solemn chapel and rooms that gathers a few blocks away, at the of- triots a Sufi master and eco-feminist are tiny even for New York. Starting fice of an organization for homeless nuns. Many of the L.G.B.T. youth he this summer, Dominican Volunteers and at-risk youth. HAB’s convener works with were driven to the streets by will fill some of them; others will is Adam Bucko, a 39-year-old Polish religion-inspired bigotry. He seeks a ca- house lay community members and emigre with dreadlocks as long as he is tholicism more universal than what the homeless guests. They will call them- tall tied neatly behind his head. These Catholic Church normally practices. selves Benincasa Community, after the Monday-night meetings are a kind of At a time when religious orders are surname of St. Catherine of Siena, a testing ground for the ideas described seeing few or no new postulants, when Dominican tertiary who lived not in a in his recent book with Rory McEntee, monasteries and convents are becoming convent but in her family’s home. The New Monasticism: An Interspiritual nursing homes, Bucko is setting aside On the first day of cleaning, Manifesto for Contemplative Living. new space for contemplation and works Gargamelli and her crew received a vis- After tea and a few yoga poses, he of mercy in the middle of Midtown it from Genevieve Whitmore, a mem- leads meditation and prayer on the Manhattan. Experiments like this ful- ber of the Sisters of Charity who lived floor in a small chapel. The candle-lit fill Thomas Merton’s prophecy that the in the building a decade earlier. Sister altar there includes a dark-skinned monasteries of the future will be not Whitmore remembers praying, as she Madonna-and-child icon, Arabic big, medieval abbeys but small commu- moved out, that new life would come nities scattered wherever the world is in to the place. The interval had left the need. As they appear, they chart out dif- house partly in ruin. “But you know,” NATHAN SCHNEIDER is the author of Thank You, Anarchy and God in Proof. Website: ferent routes between the legacies be- she said, “ten years is not a lot in God’s TheRowBoat.com; Twitter: @nathanairplane. hind them and the world before them. time.”

12 America May 11, 2015

The Cardinals’ Appeal Perspectives from the periphery BY JIM McDERMOTT n February Pope Francis installed 20 new cardi- ing for peace and reconcil- nals. In keeping with the pope’s interest in mov- iation amid the violence of ing the church “to the peripheries,” these new drug cartels, government cardinals hail from all over the world, many from forces and private militias, places we rarely hear mentioned in the U.S. press. calls for “a meeting that IMost are pastors who have worked with populations on is not self-enclosed, but the margins—migrants, where the pastors really religious or cultural mi- carry with them the sensus norities, displaced peo- fidelium, the sense that the ples, indigenous groups, Holy Spirit gives the the economically disad- church to respond to the vantaged or people in serious pastoral prob- danger. lems—while being faith- But they share other ful to the doctrine, sensi- experiences that have tive to the needs that real gone less reported as families live with.” well, experiences that may have As much as Pope made them attractive to Pope Francis’ choices have Francis. Ten have been president been interpreted as em- or vice president of their bishops’ phasizing the “global- conferences, another president of a ness” of the church, the conference of religious orders; and selections clearly also almost all served in these roles at the mean to be apostolic, same time that Pope Francis, then to accomplish imme- Cardinal Bergoglio, was head of the diate good. They draw Argentine bishops’ conference. world attention to cri- They are men who can be expect- ses like the violence in Clockwise from top: ed to bring new, perhaps surprising Manuel Macario do Mexico, the plight of perspectives to the meeting of the Nascimento Clemente, migrants in Europe, Synod of Bishops on the family John Dew, Peter the threat that climate Nguyen Van Nhon, Jose next October in Rome. Cardinal Lacunza Maestrojuán, Soane Mafi, Berhaneyesus Souraphiel, change poses to the Edoardo Menichelli, 75, hails from Daniel Sturla Berhouet, and Francesco Montenegro peoples of the Pacific, the Archdiocese of Ancona-Osimo, the horror of human a central Italian land of rolling hills, vineyards and san- trafficking in Africa and Asia. dy beaches on the Adriatic Sea. He told America that he So it is in Vietnam, where the church has long struggled to hopes, following the synod, the church will appreciate that build trust with the Vietnamese government; in Myanmar, “every person is a gift from God, no matter their sexual in- where Cardinal Charles Bo has been very involved in ef- clinations. Heterosexuals, gays, everybody has a lot to offer. forts to protect Muslim minorities from persecution; and We have to rediscover this in the Gospel and in our every- in Mexico, which the Vatican pointed out in January is the day mission.” most dangerous place in the world to be a priest. Being made Likewise, Cardinal Alberto Suárez Inda, 75 (Morelia, cardinal will help these men gain a hearing (and perhaps Mexico), who has spent decades in southwest Mexico work- even protect them). In the month prior to their installation, America reached JIM McDERMOTT, S.J., a screenwriter, is America’s Los Angeles corre- spondent. Twitter: @PopCulturPriest. out to the new cardinals for their thoughts on the church

14 America May 11, 2015 NEW VOICES. Pope Francis leads a consistory at which he created 20 new cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Feb. 14.

today. Seventeen found the time in the hectic weeks before as his first trip outside Rome. He came here and he said that their installation to respond. The full text of their responses in this land poverty and providence can walk together.... I’m can be found on America Media’s website (americamagazine. happy for these people of Agrigento and Lampedusa, as it org); but some selections follow below. They offer a glimpse recognizes their efforts.” of the minds and hearts of these new church leaders. Cardinal Luigi De Magistris, 88 (retired head of the Apostolic Pentitentiary): “I’m honored to be named cardi- On Being Named Cardinal nal. My whole life was about serving the church, and I tried Cardinal Menichelli: “I was writing the homily for the next to do my best, like many others who aren’t now cardinals but Mass and I heard noise from the outside, like children loved the church like me or more. And I received so much screaming.... The noise came from the nuns that work at love and so many spiritual and moral gifts. I can’t thank God my house. They had received the news Pope Francis made enough.” me a cardinal and they came to tell me, shouting: ‘The Pope named you a cardinal!’ Hopes for the Church Today “‘Really?’ I was very surprised. Then I told them: ‘Okay! Cardinal John Dew, 66 (Wellington, New Zealand): “That it Now you better go and cook lunch!’” be seen to be involved in the lives of those who are struggling Cardinal Francesco Montenegro, 68 (Agrigento, Sicily): “I for one reason or another; that the church be seen to be of- understood this is a kind of award for the land of Agrigento fering hope and support.” and the people of Lampedusa Island, where the migrants Cardinal Peter Nguyen Van Nhon, 76 (Hanoi, Vietnam): reach Europe from Africa. Pope Francis chose Lampedusa “I hope the church reflects the face of God who is meek, HARING CNS PHOTO: PAUL

May 11, 2015 America 15 goodness, full of mercy through our mission of love and service.” Cardinal Arlindo Gomes Furtado, 65 (Santiago de Capo Verde, Cape Verde): “I hope that the church fights against all forms of violence and destruction of human dignity, as Pope John Paul II called for during his visit to Cape Verde 25 years ago.” Cardinal Montenegro: “I want the church to learn from people who have nothing, to walk with those who are miserable. I was born in a poor family; I had very difficult times. But I learned a lot. Without this, the church is going nowhere.” Cardinal Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, C.M., 66 (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia): “My hope for the church is Clockwise from that it continues to become credible not only to its flock top: Ricardo Blázquez and those it serves, but also to the whole world which is Pérez, Arlindo expecting so much from the Catholic Church.” Gomes Furtado, Cardinal Soane Patita Paini Mafi, 53 (Tonga): “That Charles Bo the church becomes a humble church, but filled with the fire of the Spirit.... A church whose members are moved with passion to share and spread the good news of their faith-filled experiences in their daily lives, so that others would realize their own.” The newly named cardinals

A Key Message From the Church can be expected to bring new, Cardinal Nhon: “Good News of peace, full of joy and perhaps surprising perspectives hope.” Cardinal José Luis Lacunza Maestrojuán, O.A.R., to the Synod of Bishops 70 (David, Panama): “We know that the world hopes and asks for the presence and the word of the church on in October. many cultural, economic, social, political and environ- mental issues. And we cannot fail, but...our fundamen- Gospel is not an ideology or a philosophy, but a way of life.” tal word and our key witness is to make present the good news: God loves us.” What Have They Learned? Cardinal Dew: “I have no doubt that the church should Cardinal Daniel Fernando Sturla Berhoet, S.D.B., 55 be offering a message of hope to those who struggle with (Montevideo, Uruguay): “That the most important things life.” are simple. That the church is called to be transparent and Cardinal Dominique François Mamberti, 62 (head of the close.” Apostolic Signatura): “The church in her pastors, of course, Cardinal Lacunza: “About God, to look to him as Father. but most especially in the millions and millions of everyday It is the great lesson of simple and humble people: confide in Catholics—parents, workers, professionals, students, the him, cling to him. young and the old—must show forth in the world that holi- “About the church: that in her we have room for every- ness and fidelity to the Gospel is possible.” one and we all have something to contribute. Also here the Cardinal Ricardo Blázquez Pérez, 72 (Valladolid, Spain): simple and humble teach us to bring everything we are and “The Gospel must be spread by the presence and the signs have.” offered by Christians. So the embrace of the leper in the sto- Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, S.D.B., 66 (Yangon, ry of St. Francis of Assisi finds a version in our days in the Myanmar): “God is never tired of forgiving us and accepting embrace of Pope Francis with a man who had a skin disease us.” that disfigured his face. This hug is a parable of what the Cardinal Menichelli: “We are all brothers; we have one church should offer today.” Father. Races and colors are visible to our eyes, but to be Cardinal José de Jesús Pimiento Rodríguez, 96 (retired human is something invisible, and this is what we have to Archbishop of Manizales, Colombia): “To insist that the find in one another, like a family. “

16 America May 11, 2015 Cardinal Montenegro: “That a Christian person can’t stay discovered the immensity of God’s love.” on a side of the road watching others walking; the Christian person has to walk with others. We have to fight.” Hopes for the Synod Cardinal Blázquez: “I want the church to be like an alarm Images of Encouragement clock that allows humanity to discover or rediscover the fun- Cardinal Mafi: “In the early days of my life, during my school damental meaning of marriage and the family.” years, I was always moved whenever I recalled the fact that Cardinal Sturla: “My hope is that the fathers of the synod Jesus had ‘dared’ to call his followers ‘his friends.” This image listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit and that this be their of a ‘friend’ seemed to have remained with me and defined only goal.” my own spirituality in many ways.” Cardinal Clemente: “That the expected focus on chal- Cardinal Manuel José Macário do Nascimento Clemente, lenging situations, which will increase for sure, will not over- 66 (Lisbon, Portugal): “Jesus, on a boat, facing a windstorm, shadow the beauty and truth of the Christian proposal.” peaceful and able to continue through that challenge.” Cardinal Bo: “We do not hope that the synod would Cardinal Suárez: “The image of God that the first books change the doctrines nor the fundamental principles of the of the Bible give us, especially Exodus and Deuteronomy: a church. But I do hope that there will be more pastoral and God who cares and is concerned for his people, who hears intensive care for families, a deeper sympathetic pastoral ap- the cry of his people. He is a father who educates and takes proach toward families, especially those in irregular unions.” the hand of the little one through the walk across the des- Cardinal Furtado: “At the end of the many debates that ert, protecting them so that their feet do not swell nor their certainly will be, it is my hope that Mother Church heads clothes wear away.” to her sons and daughters living with some sort of failure in Cardinal Júlio Duarte Langa, 87 (retired Bishop of Xai- life as spouses and as family, with optimism, with practical Xai, Mozambique): “I think that all Scripture, and particu- incentives and welcoming gestures to enable these members larly the Son, shows us the Father and good shepherd who to feel included in the life and activity of the church—in fact cares for his flock and asks mercy especially for the lost to feel the church is a big family and a welcoming home. I sheep. He supports and encourages me in my vocation, as believe that this is in fact the greatest pastoral challenge we does the young Carmelite Thérèse of the Child Jesus, who must face.” A

May 11, 2015 America 17 (UN)CONVENTIONAL WISDOM In My Backyard he first warm days of spring a small cross that contrasts with the Many of these public policy chang- had me leaping out of bed at 7 unadorned roofs around it. es are to the good. Few of us would Ta.m., woken not by birds but Sacred Hearts has seen a lot of want to go back to the consensus view by the sound of a Caterpillar machine changes in its neighborhood, some that urban areas are in irreversible clawing down a building across the natural and some the result of urban decline, necessitating the government street. The structure was built about planning fads that held sway in Boston to do all it can to help decent people 30 years ago, an upgrade for a locally or Washington, D.C. When the cur- avoid “bad neighborhoods.” The tone owned supermarket in my small city. rent city hall was built, tagged with the of American politics is not elevated After a super-supermarket went up more grandiose “Government Center,” when candidates can profit by appeal- a block away, the building became a the car was king, and a new bypass ing to suburban fears of city residents health club for a few years, then an road allowed residents to speed past (a strategy that is often a not-even- empty fortress. It is to be replaced by downtown on the way to veiled appeal to racism). a couple of low-rise apartment build- the malls. Rental housing Still, what’s good ings. was associated with big This down- for the city at large No doubt most of my neighbors cities and urban decay, so isn’t always a benefit are happy that the mean-looking box single-family houses were town area to the individuals who and its sullen parking lot are finally be- wedged into the rocky out- has been were there during the ing replaced. But the improvement to lying neighborhoods while toughest times. Case the neighborhood is sure to accelerate the center of town grew constantly in point: Jewelers’ Row already-rising rents, as well as boost emptier of residents—even ‘redeveloped’ in Philadelphia, one of prices for houses within walking dis- as it filled up with parking the last places in big- tance of a gentrifying downtown. Civic lots and garages. in my city America where, improvement always has its victims. Now the center is chang- lifetime. as the Philadelphia In Malden, Mass., where I grew ing. New apartments are Inquirer’s Inga Saffron up and now live again, there are also going up, with ever-higher writes, “stuff gets made.” plans to tear down the city hall, a rents justified by nearby public trans- Saffron writes that this two-block 40-year-old building hated for its flat, portation (now back in vogue). The in- district, which has been around since Brutalist style. Forty years! Even the dependently owned clothing and fur- 1852, is at risk of extinction, its land most humble church is designed with niture stores have not come back, but coveted by condo developers looking a far longer lifespan in mind. Indeed, now there are restaurants and specialty to take advantage of Philly’s down- the only real survivors in this down- groceries, mostly owned by Asian and town revival. The artisans of Jewelers’ town area, which has been constantly Middle Eastern immigrants. Changes Row remind me of the businesses “redeveloped” in my lifetime, are the to federal immigration law made that were in my neighborhood long 19th-century brown sandstone public during the 1960s have, decades later, before gentrification seemed possible, library and three churches (Catholic, revitalized the downtown. The state’s including a stationery store, a portrait Baptist and Congregationalist). 1993 educational reform law may also photographer and a typewriter repair Sacred Hearts Church—where Mass deserve credit, by somewhat alleviat- shop. was first celebrated in 1892, in the ing the huge differences in spending The teardown outside my bedroom basement because the ground floor among public school districts. School window has me excited for the future wasn’t finished yet—still rises above enrollment here is up after a long de- of my neighborhood. But I’ll say a its Main Street neighbors, topped by cline; immigrants and other families prayer for any parishioners of Sacred may not be as willing to spend any cost Hearts who may find themselves

ROBERT DAVID SULLIVAN is a freelance writ- for a house in a “respectable” suburb priced out of the homes they kept in er and editor living in the Boston area. Twitter: in order to avoid sending their kids to good shape when nobody else wanted @RobertDSullivan. city schools. them. ROBERT DAVID SULLIVAN

18 America May 11, 2015

20 America May 11, 2015 Company Men On preserving the unique identity of Jesuit universities BY WILLIAM J. BYRON

he Jesuits in American higher education have bership in the Jesuit community associated with the institu- lost the principle of assignment. In its place, the tion to which he has been attracted and is now missioned. principle of attraction has been at work since the The provincial can no longer assign a man to teach a spe- 1970s. Previously, the superior of a Jesuit prov- cific subject or hold a staff position at a specific Jesuit college Tince would, after appropriate consultation, assign one of his or university. In the old days, the educational institution and men to a given college or university faculty or administration the sponsoring religious community were one corporation. in that province, and the receiving institution would welcome The president of the college or university was also the rec- the man to its ranks. This was the principle of assignment. tor of the Jesuit community. And the governing board of Operative now is a two-way principle of attraction. The the institution was composed primarily, if not exclusively, of credentialed and qualified Jesuit follows his attraction to a Jesuits. In the 1940s and 1950s separate incorporation began given vacancy at a particular college or university; or the in- to occur, and the community at a given institution was led stitution, for its part, works to attract a Jesuit to consider by a religious superior who was appointed by the provincial working there. The provincial then assigns the man to mem- and distinct from the president. Boards gradually opened up to having laypeople as members and as chairpersons; and the board, not the provincial, appointed the president. The WILLIAM J. BYRON, S.J., a former president of the University of Scranton, The Catholic University of America and Loyola University New Jesuits no longer “owned” the university; the board, no lon- Orleans, has been a Maryland Province Jesuit since 1950. ger exclusively Jesuit, set policy, oversaw hiring decisions and

Georgetown University

May 11, 2015 America 21 for all practical purposes “owned” the institution. want to pursue ministries in the academic world, although “We gave it all away,” some Jesuits still lament. Others say, I hope that Jesuit provincials and formation directors will “We have finally arrived in the mainstream of U.S. higher encourage movement in that direction. education.” In cases where a young layman of generosity and talent As this transition has taken place, another change—a might be attracted by the example of Jesuits at work on cultural shift, really—has occurred. It is typically described Jesuit campuses, it seems reasonable to ask why he would as a decline in vocations; some call it a vocation crisis. There want to become a Jesuit if the Jesuit order could not assign are fewer Jesuits in the ranks these days, and the prospects him to work in a Jesuit institution. Just as West Point and for growth are not positive. Annapolis might lose their appeal if, upon graduation, those On the 28 Jesuit college and university campuses, mean- who enroll there have no guarantee of assignment to an ac- while, offices of “mission and identity” have opened up to tive Army or Navy unit, a potential candidate for admission protect and preserve the Jesuit identity of the institutions. to the Society of Jesus who wants to work in Jesuit higher Campus ministry is prospering. The Spiritual Exercises of education might have second thoughts if the Society were St. Ignatius are touching the lives of lay faculty members, ad- unable to assign him to work in a Jesuit school. ministrators and students in new and creative ways. Courses There may, however, be a way around this dilemma. in Jesuit history and Ignatian spirituality enjoy a prominent Perhaps we can create on every Jesuit college and universi- place in the curriculum. Off-campus service opportunities ty campus a group of Jesuits—say four or five in number, abound for students. And many would say that the institu- with the rector of the local Jesuit community as their lead- tions are now more Jesuit than they have ever been. er. These Jesuits could work as retreat directors, chaplains, In the year after Pope Francis’ election, the Society of moderators, non-tenure track teachers, coaches or counsel- Jesus saw a significant increase in men inquiring about the lors and could work together as a band of brothers whose possibility of joining the order. Yet even if there were to be a presence and professional services help to set the institu- dramatic rise in the number of young men choosing to join tion clearly apart from other schools. This could be a place the Society of Jesus in the United States, the institutions to which Jesuits could easily be assigned and from which still have to be concerned about the preservation of their Jesuits might eventually cross over to join the institution’s Jesuit mission and identity. Not all the new recruits will own tenure-track faculty or professional staff. It is not so wild a dream when you quietly consider it. Those in key positions throughout the institution, most of them not Jesuits—faculty, staff, administration and trust- ees—would have to want to see it happen. Budgetary pro- visions would have to be made so that the institution could pay these Jesuits for their services. Rectors of Jesuit com- munities would have to become effective team leaders. That, in fact, might be the best word to describe it: a team. The rector would become a broker between those with power to hire within the institution and Jesuits already on or to be recruited for the team and who are available for service. Space would have to be provided in university-owned stu- dent unions or campus centers, or “on corridor,” as we used to say referring to service as dormitory counselors. The team would have to be visible and easily identifiable as Jesuit. Again, not so wild a dream presuming that the Jesuits and their lay colleagues want to make it happen. If this happens, the question of Jesuit identity would pretty much take care of itself, and the admissions offices of these schools would have something additional, if not unique, to pitch when they compete in the tightening race for new students. This could prove to be a picture of the future of American Jesuit colleges and universities. It could also be a partial re- sponse to the challenge the order faces as it deals with di- minishing Jesuit manpower in the United States. A

22 America May 11, 2015 May 11, 2015 America 23

Getting Personal The philosophy of W. Norris Clarke, S.J. BY DAVID C. PATERNOSTRO

hen I arrived at Fordham University in the fall of 2007, W. Norris Clarke, S.J., was reaching the end of more than 50 years of teaching there, where he was a great Wlight in the study of Thomas Aquinas. In particular, Father Clarke focused his attention on what is known as personal- ist Thomism, a school of philosophy that took the Thomist tradition and grafted onto it new insights about the human person and the relational dimension of all being. Right up through his last day in the classroom, young Jesuits studying philosophy at Fordham flocked to his course. After Father Clarke’s death in June 2008 at the age of 93, a blog post on America’s website noted that both the oldest and the youngest Jesuits in the house of studies lo- cated just off the Fordham campus had taken classes with Father Clarke, “despite the six decades that separated the two.” Whatever differences these Jesuits (a group not known for mildness or uniformity of opinion) may have had, there was a common admiration for his intellect and pedagogy. He W. Norris Clarke, S.J. completed his last class in December 2007, six months be- fore his death. shows Father Clarke’s great talent for explaining nearly any Father Clarke had an enthusiasm for the exploration of philosophical concept with the lightness of a grandfather reality that was infectious. He was a man who looked at recounting stories at the fireside without any loss of rigor.) the world with the wonder of a child and always wanted to Anything that helps us see the whole is to be preferred, and know more about it, convinced that this desire was not a anything that keeps us in an insular state, seeing and caring vain one. Father Clarke’s approach to the world is one worth only about our immediate concerns and opinions, dismiss- considering. His posited that all things were “substance in ing all others, is to be rejected, he said. But he also had great relation” and said that, for a person, stories are the vehicle balance in his thought, always desiring to know the particu- for relations. These ideas allow us opportunities to consider lars without losing sight of their relation to the whole. Like reality both as it is and as it could be. Aquinas, he would draw upon any thinker he could to get a better view of life. Seeing the Whole Father Clarke’s enthusiasm for getting a better view led In 2001, Father Clarke published The One and the Many, a to his eclectic style of philosophy and his signature project, book on metaphysics that alone would be enough to secure the “creative retrieval” (as he termed it) of Aquinas’s thought, his reputation as a philosopher; and in March 2007 he put with particular help from personalism. A tracing of Father out a new edition of The Philosophical Approach to God. In Clarke’s own influences shows a remarkable diversity. After The One and the Many, he noted that a good metaphysician his beginnings in Thomism, he was heavily influenced by needed both a diving suit and a set of wings—the diving suit Étienne Gilson’s historical study of Aquinas, especially to explore the particulars of reality with as much detail and Gilson’s idea that what Aquinas saw at the heart of each depth as needed and the wings to soar as high as needed thing is an act of being rather than simply its essence. From to be able to see how everything adds up. (This image also here, he delved into the work of Joseph Maréchal, S.J., and then ideas of phenomenology, especially as articulated by DAVID C. PATERNOSTRO, S.J., is a Jesuit scholastic studying at the thinkers like Martin Buber. Jesuit School of Theology, Santa Clara University, in California. With this wide range of influences, Father Clarke was

26 America May 11, 2015 able to put Aquinas into conversation with a large swath of not exist as a trinity without it. Receptivity is not weakness; the contemporary world, allowing each to balance the other. it enables us to enter into communion with other beings, in Aquinas provides a “unified center” not always held by con- imitation of the Trinity. temporary philosophers, while phenomenology described This communitarian and relational dimension in Father the structure of the relations and how beings manifest them- Clarke’s thought is critical to us today. For thinkers like selves to one another, to which Aquinas is not very atten- Aquinas, philosophy was a group project of sorts, where one tive. To this end, Father Clarke was comfortable discussing thinker should be able to draw upon and take into account the best of what has come before. Beginning with Descartes, philosophy engaged in a “turn to the subject”—the ground- ing of philosophy and human wisdom overall in the individ- ual. This individual dimension has permeated all aspects of our thinking. Alasdair MacIntyre points out in After Virtue Receptivity is not that most modern conceptions of justice, on both the left and the right, treat humans as isolated strangers and not weakness—it enables persons in communion. In a talk given to community servants in Los Angeles, us to enter into Greg Boyle, S.J., observed that the goal of service is to make it so that “there is no ‘us’ and ‘them’—just ‘us.’” Looking at our communion with other society today, we see too many instances of “us” and “them,” some of which have resulted in tragedy. There is antagonism beings, in imitation of between members of opposing political views, between members of various races, between members of various so- the Holy cial classes, between government and its servants on the one Trinity. hand and the general public on the other. Bonds of com- munion have been severed—a severance that Chapter 3 of Genesis reminds us accompanied the Fall itself. Yet Father Clarke acknowledges the good developments that have arisen from the turn to the subject, like increased re- philosophy with multiple schools of thought and took them spect for individual conscience. His commitment to drawing seriously. Like Aquinas, Clarke would make every effort to upon every possible source to explore reality enables him to present the arguments of interlocutors and treated them as find the strengths of both premodern and modern thought, if they too were searching for perennial truth, rather than as and so avoid their weaknesses. Because of this, he is able to thinkers who were wrong, foolish, deceitful or some combi- put forward the understanding that relations cannot be un- nation of the three. derstood without an underlying individual to have these rela- tions and the knowledge that any individual is understood to Being in Relation necessarily have bonds of relation with other beings. At the heart of this retrieval of Aquinas is the idea that The recovery of the necessity of relations is one key ele- there is a distinct, existing being underlying every relation. ment in combating the injustices of society. There are myriad Existence is an action. We are not simply static, atomic be- factors involved in systematic discrimination and antago- ings with no particular connection to one another. In The nism, some of which only grace may overcome. But we may One and the Many, he provides a helpful thought experi- say that discrimination or unlawful force against another is ment to demonstrate his point: Consider a being with no made more difficult if one is aware of and experiences bonds relations—it does not act upon anything else in existence, of community with that person. nor is it acted upon. Now distinguish it from something that does not exist. Telling Our Stories Far from being a sign of weakness, the interrelatedness Father Clarke noted in Person and Being that part and parcel of beings is a positive perfection on their part. Receptivity of being human is “to reveal, manifest, express ourselves to to another being’s manifestation is something that we must other persons, to make manifest who we are, what we believe cultivate—as parents who have tried to instill the habit of in, stand for, etc., in a word, ‘our story.’” The story of each saying (and meaning) “Thank you” into their children can person is what gives us our identities and enables us to relate attest. I recall Father Clarke asserting that even the members as persons to others. To be a person is to be a storyteller, and of the Trinity possess this receptivity, and that they could to be a storyteller is to be one who can manifest one’s life

May 11, 2015 America 27 and values in a coherent way to others, thereby entering into be. Father Clarke was a metaphysician who prized looking relationships with them. at things more than ideas. In his mind, any look at human Looking over our stories, we see that the network of re- consciousness or thinking that did not also look at the world lationships each being generates exists not just in the pres- in which the human dwells is badly lopsided. ent but across time. Where I am, what I do now and what In his writing, Father Clarke’s excitement over exploring I may yet do are bound up with the stories and actions of reality is palpable on every page. This excitement impelled people and groups who came into being and ceased to be on him to make use of every source available. It also led him earth long before I was born. The bonds of relationship that to wonder at reality, marveling at everything creation is and Father Clarke has discussed are far more vast and strong could be. This should be our own attitude as well. As we than we might even imagine. look more and more at creation, perhaps seeing things about There are good and bad elements in my individual story it we have not seen before, we also see the journey of creation that I did not cause. But I stand upon these elements and and how we may participate in God’s bringing creation to make them a part of myself (to an extent, I cannot do other- perfection. wise), so I must claim responsibility for them, be it through In a festschrift for Father Clarke in 1998, Gerald McCool, gratitude or contrition. St. John Paul II, a personalist Thomist S.J., called him “an alert and independent Thomist.” That is with whose philosophy Father Clarke strongly identified, perhaps the most apt description for him. He did not see had a sense of this when he repented on behalf of the whole Thomism as a series of propositions to be memorized and church for various injustices committed over its history. defended, but as a way to explore the whole cosmos. Along his way of exploration, he found other vantage points to help Norris Clarke’s Legacy him see reality, and he disdained none of them. He was thus Father Clarke’s writings have not only a topical value but a able to recover and further develop insights of Aquinas on perennial, timeless one. In using ideas he has presented, we the nature of being and how all beings are inextricably bound are able to bring about a way of thinking that has lasting up in relation with other beings and with “the great chain of value. First and foremost, he shows us how to look at real- being.” By internalizing the structure of relationships Father ity. Reconciliation and salvation are ultimately a matter of Norris Clarke observed, we can then examine the divisions creation becoming what it ought to be, what God wills it to in our world—and begin to heal them. A

28 America May 11, 2015 Nourish Your Soul, Body and Spirit Attend a retreat. Encourage a loved one to participate in a retreat. Give a donation to a retreat house.

CHRIST THE KING RETREAT HOUSE AND CONFERENCE CENTER 500 Brookford Road Syracuse, NY 13224 Phone: (315) 446-2680 Email: [email protected]; website: www.ctkretreat.com Offering private, directed and preached silent retreats in a peaceful, contemplative setting for clergy, religious and laypersons of all denominations. Directed retreats: July 10-19. Come for a weekend or 3, 5 or 7 days. July 12-19: Summer Institute on Spiritual Direction. June 28- July 3. “Bringing the Good Work to Completion,” with Simeon Gallagher, O.F.M.Cap. Aug. 9-14: “Discipleship and Women,” with Anthony Gittins, C.SS.P. June 22-26: Priests’ retreat, “Having the Mind of Christ,” with Simeon Gallagher, O.F.M.Cap. Experienced directors, deli- cious food, picturesque walking paths. See www.ctkretreat.com for information.

IGNATIAN SPIRITUALITY INSTITUTE P.O. Box 670852 Dallas, TX 75367 Phone: (940) 268-8788 Website: Ignatianinstitute.org Summer 2015 workshops in Ignatian Spirituality. July 26-30: “Practicum: Preaching the Exercises.” This practicum is a four-day workshop providing instruction and formation for planning and giving preached retreats, days of reflection, parish missions or talks on Ignatian spirituality to faith organizations. The practicum will offer instruction and one-to-one men- toring. July 30-Aug 2: “Experiences: Giving and Guiding the Exercises.” This workshop retreat is for those who hand on Ignatian spirituality in the exercises in everyday life, prayer programs or other ignatian retreats. Visit ignatianinstitute.org to register for these and other retreats!

IGNATIUS HOUSE JESUIT RETREAT CENTER 6700 Riverside Dr. NW. Atlanta, Georgia 30328 Phone: (404) 255-0503 Website: www.ignatiushouse.org Ignatius House is Located on 20-plus acres on the Chattahoochee River and has been pro- viding a beautiful sacred space to facilitate an encounter with God since 1960. Many indoor and outdoor spaces invite one to a sacred place of quiet and peace. Reflect near the waterfall and be refreshed as you walk along winding paths through the woods. We offer private rooms with private baths. Close to the airport and easy access to MARTA. Ignatian retreats offered are all silent: Weekends, 5- and 8-day private directed, and a 30-day retreat, May 2015. Special guest director Aug. 28–30: Paula D’Arcy, “Stirring the Waters: Finding the Place of Quiet.”

JESUIT SPIRITUAL CENTER AT MILFORD 5361 South Milford Road, Milford, OH 45150 Phone: (513) 248-3500; email: [email protected]; Website: www.jesuitspiritualcenter.com The Jesuit Spiritual Center at Milford invites you to visit our 37 beautiful acres in south- west Ohio, 30 minutes east of Cincinnati. We provide an oasis of solitude and renewal for people of all walks of life. Come and participate in a variety of retreats, including conference, contemplative, personally directed, topical and youth. Our retreats are individualized, allowing you in silence to pray, journal, read, walk and find peace. Enjoy some quiet time in the tradition of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.

May 11, 2015 America 29 SACRED HEART JESUIT RETREAT HOUSE 4801 North Highway 67, P.O. Box 185 Sedalia, CO 80135 Phone: (303) 688-4198 ext. 122 Nationwide: (866) 930-1181 ext. 122 Reservations email: [email protected] Website: www.sacredheartretreat.org Sacred Heart Jesuit Retreat House is a Colorado oasis of peace and beauty, welcoming those who seek to deepen their relationship with God and dedicated to retreats and spiritual direction in the tradition of St. Ignatius Loyola. Ideally situated on 280 acres in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the retreat house is surrounded by spectacular natural beauty and panoramic vistas. The quiet, peaceful atmo- sphere provides the perfect setting for solitude, reflection and prayer. Silent retreats, including directed, private, preached and the 30-day Spiritual Exercises are available year-round for clergy, religious and lay persons. Convenient airport shuttle transportation is available. Summer 2015 program for individually directed silent retreats: May 11–20; June 8–July 9 (30-day Spiritual Exercises); June 8–17; June 19–28; June 30–July 9; Aug. 10–19. Contact: Reservations Coordinator, Sacred Heart Jesuit Retreat House, Box 185, Sedalia, CO 80135.

SAN ALFONSO RETREAT HOUSE 755 Ocean Ave Long Branch, NJ 07740 Phone: (732) 222-2731 www.sanalfonsoretreats.org; Facebook: alfonsoretreats; Twitter: @alfonsoretreats San Alfonso Retreat House and Conference Center, a ministry of the Redemptorist fathers and brothers, is situated on eight acres on the New Jersey coast, providing a setting of great natural beauty to meditate and pray, reflect and study, and to be still and listen. We have preached retreats and days/evenings of recollection offered by the San Alfonso preaching team, as well as directed/private retreats and special study weeks and conferences that are held throughout the year. San Alfonso offers 150 guest rooms, two chapels, a prayer garden, a conference hall, reading and meeting rooms, a gift shop and an ocean-view dining room.

SAN DAMIANO RETREAT 710 Highland Drive Danville, CA 94526 Phone: (925) 837-9141, ext. 303 Email: [email protected]; Website: www.sandamiano.org Located 35 miles east of San Francisco, San Damiano is a Franciscan retreat center that features a peaceful environment for rest and renewal. Conference and meeting room space is available mid-week for religious, nonprofit and secular groups. San Damiano also offers private retreats, with or without spiritual direction. This summer we are offering back-to- back silent contemplative retreats for those desiring a week-long retreat experience. The 5-day silent will be presented by Dan Riley, O.F.M., July 26–31. Following this retreat will be a silent weekend with Dan Manger, O.S.B.Cam., July 31–Aug. 2. You may attend one or both retreats. Check out our website for pictures and more information.

SPIRITUAL MINISTRY CENTER 4822 Del Mar Avenue, San Diego, CA 92107 Phone (619) 224-9444; Fax (619) 224-1082 Email: [email protected]; www.spiritmin.org Religious of the Sacred Heart offer year-round directed and private retreats, including the 30-day Spiritual Exercises and self-directed sabbaticals. We are one and one-half blocks from the ocean in comfortable townhouses with large private rooms and baths. Our silent house in naturally beautiful environs invites relaxation and prayer.

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30 America May 11, 2015 VATICAN DISPATCH Progress With China? s an accord between the Holy See ship with Vietnam, Father Lombardi in Rome at a date yet to be agreed on. and China on the horizon? China cited this as a good example of how re- While several issues have to be resolved, Iwatchers are asking this question lations can develop positively through everyone recognizes that at the heart of following a flurry of interviews, arti- dialogue. He recalled that Vietnam’s the dialogue is the disputed question cles and comments in the Chinese and top leaders visited the pope and the of the appointment of bishops and Italian media in early 2015. Holy See has a nonresident represen- who has the final say. For the Catholic The interest began when Vatican tative who visits the church and civil Church, that is the pope’s prerogative. Insider interviewed some Chinese authorities there. The nomination of bishops is a bishops who encouraged the Holy See Afterward, Phoenix TV broadcast pressing pastoral problem for the to reach agreement with China on the a 22-minute discussion program with church in China today, with some 10.5 appointment of bishops. The inter- four panelists on March 11, quot- million members spread over 138 di- views provoked mixed reactions. ing some of Father Lombardi’s com- oceses (the Vatican’s count) or 97 di- Next, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, sec- ments, and a two-minute oceses (Beijing’s figure). retary of state, responding to report- news report. Surprisingly, ‘The only (Statistics for 2014 are ers on March 11 about Sino-Vatican the discussion gave con- from the Holy Spirit relations, confirmed that “contacts are siderable attention to the way Study Centre, Hong underway” and “there’s the will to dia- Vietnamese model for forward is Kong.) logue, a dialogue that has its rhythms bishops’ appointments as a These dioceses are and times and we hope can bring some reference point for a Sino- to talk governed by 59 state-rec- result.” He downplayed speculation Vatican solution. Under to one ognized (so-called open) that an accord is imminent, saying, its accord with Vietnam, bishops and 42 “under- “There’s nothing new of importance!” the Holy See presents one another.’ ground” bishops. Many He emphasized, “The only way for- candidate’s name to Hanoi, are very old. Some 40 di- ward is to talk to one another, to find which can approve or reject it. If it oceses are without a pastor. a meeting point, to try to understand rejects, the Holy See presents anoth- If the Holy See and China fail to each other and find solutions to exist- er name, and so on until agreement is reach an agreement on bishops’ ap- ing problems.” He expressed his belief reached. The Phoenix TV discussion, pointments, this could have serious that “the dialogue between the Holy however, presented a reverse model, consequences. China might then de- See and China could have enormous whereby the government presents a cide to appoint bishops independently, benefits for world peace.” candidate’s name to the Holy See. This without papal approval—say 10 or 15 Earlier, Federico Lombardi, S.J., is significantly different. or more. This would make them illegit- director of the Holy See’s press of- Contrary to media reports, Father imate. There are eight illegitimate bish- fice, was interviewed by Hong Kong’s Lombardi told me that when speak- ops in the “open” church community to- Phoenix TV (which has close ties to ing about Vietnam with Phoenix TV, day. If that number were to reach 20 or Beijing) for a Chinese language pro- he made no mention of the appoint- more, this would become a schismatic gram on Sino-Vatican relations. He ment of bishops, much less suggest the church, a Vatican source told me. confirmed Pope Francis’ high esteem Vietnam-Holy See accord as a possible That would be tragic for the main- for China and its people, and his will- model for China; nor did he use the land church. But it would be bad for ingness to meet President Xi Jinping word model. “I was not transmitting a China too; it would disprove its claim in Beijing or Rome. message. I had no mandate to say any- that it respects religious freedom and Asked about the Vatican’s relation- thing specific about the development would affect negatively its internation- of Sino-Vatican relations,” he stated. al image. Both sides, therefore, have a GERARD O’CONNELL is America’s Rome A Holy See delegation met its vested interest in reaching a mutually correspondent. America’s Vatican coverage is sponsored in part by the Jesuit communities of Chinese counterpart in Beijing in June acceptable, even if not ideal, accord. the United States. Twitter: @gerryorome. 2014, and a return meeting is to be held GERARD O’CONNELL

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32 America May 11, 2015 FAITH IN FOCUS Vocation Crisis A mother comes to terms with her son’s priesthood. BY KRISTIN GRADY GILGER

y children claim it is often hard to get my Mattention. I am apt to wander in and out of conversa- tions. I’m often late and easily distracted. I can spend too much time working and not enough time with my family. But when it comes to the big things, when my chil- dren are lost or hurt or heading for trouble, I am relentless. I am a finely tuned gyroscope. There is no way they can escape me. Once, when my eldest daugh- ter was trekking across Europe with a college friend and failed to call home on schedule, I tracked her down using the only scrap of information I had: she was in a certain town in Italy. I called every hostel within 20 miles, insisting on speaking to someone in English, until I landed on the right place. When at 2 a.m. the weary hostel manager handed my daughter the phone, she did not even act sur- prised. “I’m fine, Mom,” she told moments and ask all the right ques- When Patrick told my husband me. “I don’t know why you’re so wor- tions and listen very, very carefully to and me that he wanted to convert to ried.” the answers, our children will make all Catholicism and join the Society of The answer, of course, is obvious the right choices in life, the kinds of Jesus, we were incredulous. And the to everyone except the children who choices we would make for them if we more we learned about the Jesuits, the are being worried over. We worry be- could. more incredulous we became. As a cause we are mothers. And we think This is, of course, delusional think- Catholic priest, he would take vows of that if we can be there at all the right ing. There is no such thing as the right poverty, chastity and obedience—vows choice for us. There is only the right that are about as countercultural as choice for them. These are the lessons you can get in 21st-century America. KRISTIN GRADY GILGER is associate dean of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism I have learned from all three of my And even then, he would wait a decade and Mass Communication at Arizona State children, but most especially from my or more before he would be ordained a University. She has recently completed a memoir son, who made a choice 10 years ago priest and be allowed to do the things about her experience growing up Catholic and how her son’s journey to priesthood has brought that I am only beginning to under- priests aspire to do: say Mass and ad- her family back to the Catholic Church. stand. minister the other sacraments. BOB ECKSTEIN ART:

May 11, 2015 America 33 He would study—endlessly, it in such a special way,” he told me gently. Karen Sullivan, the mother of seemed—and the reward for all his Something inside of me shifted when Patrick’s good friend Jeff, told me she is degrees might be nothing more than he said those words: It was the first time more than happy that her son has de- grinding work in a prison or parish, a I had considered whether God had any- cided to become a priest. She says she school or soup kitchen. He would live thing to do with it. cannot explain it, but she “just knew” in a succession of Jesuit communities, Patrick, of course, would say that that this is what Jeff was destined to and these would be the only families he God had everything to do with it. He do. She has concerns, of course: Will would ever know outside of the one he would say God has a way of influencing Jeff be sent someplace far away and was born into, because, as long as he was the course of our lives in the most or- dangerous? Will he be able to come a Jesuit, he would never be allowed to dinary ways and through the most un- home for Christmas? And did I know marry or have children of his own. He likely people. If the way we raised him anything about the white gloves? would do the work he was told to do, led him to be open to a different kind of I was nodding right along with and when he grew too old to work he life, led him in some way to God, why her with her until she brought up the would go to a Jesuit retirement home, would I assume it was the consequence gloves. This was perhaps the one thing where he would live out his days pray- of chance? I had not yet worried about. Karen ing with other old men. Why would any My son has been stretched in just explained that she had heard mothers 20-year-old in his right mind choose a about every way imaginable since be- of priests have the right to be buried life like that? coming a Jesuit. He is no longer the wearing white lace gloves but no one safe, middle-class young man he was had been able to verify it for her. I Under Who’s Influence? when he entered the novitiate in St. promised to look into it. I am not foolish enough to have ever Paul, Minn. He has been sent into one Patrick had never heard of such thought I could dictate what my son of the nation’s worst public housing a tradition and neither had Jeff, so I would do or become, or even what he projects in Chicago, to a remote parish turned to Google. A search of “white would believe. No parents get to decide in India and to a women’s prison near gloves,” “Catholic funeral” and “moth- those things for their children, but that San Francisco. He has taught high- ers of priests” eventually turned up surely does not prevent many of us from school students on a reservation in an article by Msgr. Charles Pope, trying. One mother I know keeps using South Dakota and has baptized babies, the pastor of a Catholic church in the word “betrayal” to describe her son’s counseled couples and blessed the dying Washington, D.C. According to the decision to write and perform music in- as a pastor in Nebraska. article, it used to be church tradition to stead of going to medical school as she When I listen to my son tell stories wrap a priest’s hands with a manuter- did. The Mormon parents of a friend about his life as a priest, when I have gium (Latin for hand towel) after his pray incessantly that their daughter will the chance to witness him minister to hands were anointed with sacred oil return to the religion that gives their others, I feel reassured that he is both during his ordination ceremony. The family identity and meaning. Like me, needed and loved. And I am no longer purpose was ultimately practical—to these parents wonder how what they as concerned about him being alone. In prevent excess oil from dripping onto did—and who they are—influenced fact, he is far less alone than almost any- vestments or the floor. their children, or whether they had any one I know. He even, on occasion, goes Traditionally, the manutergium was influence at all. on vacation. given to the priest’s mother, who kept I had been spending a lot of time it in a safe place until she died, at which thinking about this notion of influence Worth the Worry point it was placed in her hands as her when a friend suggested another reason This does not mean, however, I have body lay in the casket. The belief was for my son’s choice. We were having cof- nothing left to worry about. When that when she arrived at the gates of fee at an outdoor cafe, and I was telling I talk to other mothers whose sons heaven she would be escorted direct- him that my son, against all reason, had have chosen the priesthood, I ask ly to the Lord. The Lord would say to decided to become a Catholic priest. about their views of the church, what the woman: “I have given you life; what “We didn’t even raise him Catholic!” I their experiences were like growing have you given to me?” said, my voice rising. I expected curi- up Catholic and whether they were And she would hand him the ma- osity and maybe even a little sympathy surprised when their sons decided to nutergium and say, “I have given you my about the wayward things children will become priests. But what I am really son as a priest.” At this, she would be do, but instead he said something that interested in is whether they share my granted entry into paradise. A reward, made me sit back hard in my chair. unease about long hours, a nomadic you might say, for all those years of “God has his hands on your family life and old age. worry. A

34 America May 11, 2015 GENERATION FAITH An Irish-American Dream Lessons on education from my immigrant parents BY HANNA MAY tend to blame some of my less de- sirable attributes—my too-big feet, Imy sad excuse for an immune sys- tem—on genetics, that unique combi- nation of traits I received from my par- ents. While in some regards it seems to me I wet my toes in the shallow end of the gene pool, I did make off with some of their more positive qualities (my mom’s thick head of hair; my father’s sense of humor). And getting to know my parents as a young adult has only made me more aware of some of the outstanding qualities I would be lucky to grow into. Above all, I hope one day to live up to their work ethic. My parents were born in the 1960s in Belfast, Northern Ireland, at the height of “The Troubles,” a period of political and ethno-nationalist conflict that spanned decades. Belfast was divided between Catholic nationalists, who wanted Northern Ireland to be independent from British rule and under the government of the Republic of Ireland to the south, and Protestant unionists, who wanted Northern Ireland to remain under the My parents witnessed several atroc- ments. There were years of grueling control of the United Kingdom. My ities, lost family members and best work and long hours away from home. parents lived in a small Catholic neigh- friends to the extreme sectarian vio- My parents believed, however, that borhood surrounded by Protestant lence and had little choice but to be- education was “the great equalizer,” so unionists and faced persecution daily. come involved in Catholic nationalist my father enrolled in college and every Both they and their families were fired counter-vigilante groups. When my penny he and my mother earned was from jobs, trapped in poor-quality father’s life was threatened during his directed toward his tuition. Eventually schools and made to live in unsafe and night shift at the local grocery store, it he earned his bachelor’s degree from unclean state-controlled housing. Car was the last straw. Once they turned 18 Fordham University. My parents lived bombings and sniper shootings were a years old, my mother and he left Belfast the American Dream. They never had part of their everyday life. for the United States. When they came the opportunities that I have had, and to New York they had nothing. They yet they were still able to succeed. This slept on couches and took menial jobs. is why I feel it is my responsibility to HANNA MAY will enter Wellesley College in Massachusetts in September, where she plans to My father washed dishes and bused take full advantage of the gifts they study biology. tables, and my mother cleaned apart- have given me. SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/AMERICA COMPOSITE ART:

May 11, 2015 America 35 ‘Just a Student’ social justice that have influenced both in the medical field fueled my desire to My parents were adamant about my at- my educational and career decisions. work in obstetrics and gynecology for tending a Jesuit high school. They knew My parents went to school to get Doctors Without Borders. I want to that this would not only provide me a job, to get ahead and to make a bet- provide women in poorer parts of the with the gift of unbounded knowledge ter life for their family. I am fortunate world with proper health services. As but would form me into a well-rounded enough to get to go school to find out much as I want to do this to satisfy my woman for others. what I love to do and explore ways I own dreams and help others, I want to As I prepare to start college in can serve others by doing it. But like succeed that much more to make my September, I find myself looking back my parents, I believe that education can parents proud. with overwhelming gratitude on my still be a great equalizer. In the African My parents have given me much Jesuit experience at Loyola School country of Chad, for example, girls are more than a mixed bag of genes. They in New York. Because of my parents’ more likely to die of childbirth than have inspired me with stories from hard work, these past four years I was they are to graduate from high school; Northern Ireland and their immigrant allowed to be a student, and just a stu- I want to use my education to change experience about overcoming hard dent—a luxury my parents were never that. times with even harder work. They afforded. The academics have been rig- Last summer I participated in an have provided me with a one-of-a-kind orous; my classmates have become life- internship program run by the chief of education that has opened countless long friends; and I have had opportuni- neurosurgery at New York’s renowned doors. And most important, they have ties my parents could not have dreamed Mount Sinai Hospital. I spent the en- given me a strong foundation in faith. of at my age. I have traveled to Eastern tire month of July working 10-hour It is with the deep Catholic faith that Europe and participated in service trips days, five days a week, observing sur- is intrinsic to my family life that I will to West Virginia and Camden, N.J. geries ranging from brain tumor remov- begin my college journey this fall, hon- And my experiences in and out of the al to complete resectioning of parts of ored and inspired to do all things for classroom have exposed me to issues of the brain. This remarkable opportunity the greater glory of God. A

36 America May 11, 2015 The cast of “Everything That Rises Must Converge”

Books & Culture THEATER | ANGELA ALAIMO O’DONNELL time and circumstance, the story tran- scends her limitations and imagines RACE AND GRACE a variety of perspectives on race—an issue that has torn families, neighbor- A classic by Flannery O’Connor comes to life. hoods, cities and our country itself apart from its very beginnings and, as ne recent Saturday night, asking ourselves the same question: 54 events of the past year have demon- in the grand space of the years after it was written, what does strated, continues to do so. While the OCathedral of St. John the this story have to say to us now, in this story addresses the painful division be- Divine in Manhattan, a small troupe moment, about race in America? tween blacks and whites, it also holds of actors performed a dramatic en- Karin Coonrod, artistic director of out the possibility for unity, in both the actment of Flannery O’Connor’s the Compagnia de’ Colombari theater here and the hereafter. story, “Everything That Rises Must company, selected O’Connor’s story The main characters are a mother Converge.” The audience gathered in on account of its “quicksilver dialogue and son who hold profoundly different the hushed space of the church sanc- which begs to be spoken aloud and attitudes toward people of color. Julian tuary seemed as wary as I. The story, played out on a stage.” But Coonrod (played by Christopher McLinden) written by a white Southerner in 1961 was also moved by “the prophetic is an educated young man with pro- at the height of the civil rights move- gaze of the writer.” In fact, the script gressive ideas. Barely able to tolerate ment, dares to address racial hatred for the production is simply the text his mother’s racism, her pride in her and prejudice in all its ugliness. We of O’Connor’s story, spoken word for patrician past and her nostalgia for were a varied audience that night— word by the various actors, their varied the days of slavery, he suffers from a white and black, old and young, male voices drawing the audience from one martyr complex, imagining himself and female—attesting to our enlight- line to the next. a modern-day St. Sebastian. Julian,

PHOTO: PAULA COUR. PHOTO: PAULA ened times. And I suspect we were all Mired as O’Connor was in her own however, is no saint. Though his moth-

May 11, 2015 America 37 er (Jaqueline Antaramian) is guilty of black people aboard the bus, and they not only to meet opposition but to seek racial sin, she is devoted to her only succeed only in embarrassing them it out.” All of these varied attitudes and child, having raised him alone and and himself. (African-American char- actions transform this ordinary bus made sacrifices so that he could receive acters in O’Connor’s stories know into a microcosm. As the actors bring an education. For all her flaws, she is white condescension when they see it.) the scene to life, the stage becomes a a good mother—a fact he strangely As for his mother, she is annoyed but mirror and the characters reflections resents. His habit of challenging his impervious to the lesson he wants her of ourselves—flawed people afflicted mother’s outmoded ideas crosses the to learn—until a large black woman by prejudices, angers and fears. No one boundary from self-righteous rhetoric (Ayeje Feamster) boards the bus with is a paragon of virtue, black or white. into a form of sadism one evening en her little boy. The woman is wear- In fact, everyone is behaving badly. route to her exercise class. ing a hideous hat identical to the one There is one exception, however— O’Connor brilliantly sets the story Julian’s mother is wearing, presenting the child of the large black woman. The on a city bus—the iconic space where Julian with the perfect teachable mo- little boy, Carver, played by an adult in Rosa Parks took her stand—and a ment when he might impress on her the stage production (Carlton Terrence space that is newly integrated, a cir- the apparent equality between the two Taylor), is enamored of Julian’s mother cumstance still unfamiliar to whites women. (The floppy purple and green (who loves children, black and white), and blacks in the south. On stage, it is a hats also demonstrate the production sits beside her, attempts to cuddle and space represented only by a few chairs. team’s remarkable attention to the de- initiates a game of peek-a-boo. Their The sparse set allows the audience to tails of O’Connor’s description.) interaction is the only generous human focus on the characters themselves. The bus ride makes for compelling behavior we witness, and its charm While on the bus, Julian conceives drama as each character suffers the un- lends sweetness and humor to this an evil urge to “break her spirit” and comfortable scenario. Julian schemes otherwise purgatorial bus ride. We are undertakes a series of actions designed and dreams. Julian’s mother sits apart, much amused, but Julian and the boy’s to mortify his mother. These consist visibly wounded at his seeming betray- mother, disgusted by this outbreak of mostly of lame attempts at creating al. The large black woman is described amity, seethe with rage and frustration. camaraderie between himself and the as “a giant of a woman. Her face was set Clearly this moment of gratuitous joy cannot last, and comedy soon turns to tragedy. When they all get off the bus at the same stop, Julian’s mother offers From Nothing the boy a penny—a foolish gesture of noblesse oblige—and the boy’s moth- “I am rebegot/ Of absence, darkness, death; things which are not.” er punches the old lady, leaving her —John Donne, “A Nocturnal Upon St. Lucy’s Day” stricken on the sidewalk. On first reading, it might seem that Again and again, from nothingness I’m born. what destroys Julian’s mother is the vi- Each death I witness makes me more my own. olent attack by the large woman, who represents the rage of the whole black I imagine each excess line of mine erased, race, according to Julian. However, each muscle shredded, each bone sheared. it becomes painfully evident in the Eventually, my spine’s long spar will snap, staged performance that it is Julian’s cruelty toward his mother that kills ribs tumbling loose; my face will droop and drop. her. Taking the side of her attacker, he Then I will be reborn—the air will shimmer goads and taunts her until she dies of a stroke. and my molecules, emerging free, will vault. As Julian becomes terribly aware Behind each door I pass, a light will surge. that he has been the instrument of her death, we can see in the actor’s face that his high-minded thinking about ANYA SILVER racial equality evaporates, being the Anya Silver teaches English literature at Mercer College in Macon, Ga. pure abstraction that it was. In choos- ing the idol of an idea over the physical embodiment of love his mother rep-

38 America May 11, 2015 resented, Julian has been living in his Black and white, parent and child, head instead of the real world. Though man and woman, old and young—all the story doesn’t offer any practical gradually blend into a harmonious solutions for racial divisions, it clearly whole, offering us a vision of anoth- demonstrates that one cannot heal the er kind of existence—one wherein sins of slavery, segregation and racism wounds are healed, sins forgiven and by sacrificing one’s mother on the altar hatreds transformed into love. This is of social progress. the foretaste of heaven promised in O’Connor’s story ends with Julian’s the story’s title, a redemptive vision rite of passage into “the world of guilt created by art—the brilliant blend of and sorrow,” but the dramatic perfor- story, drama and song. All have suf- mance offers us something more. The fered but have slowly risen up from cast of eight actors, who have for the the social sin that brought them low, last hour been engaged in conflict, and the many have converged into slowly draw together on the stage and one earthly, heavenly choir. The fact begin to sing the hymn “Be Still My of race, which has served as a source Soul.” Ayeja Feamster’s deep contral- of sorrow in America—from slavery to initiates this song of courage and days through civil rights, from Staten consolation in the face of suffering. Island to Ferguson—becomes “at last” Gradually the others enter into the a gift and a grace. song, whose sound grows stronger with each voice and verse, culminat- ANGELA ALAIMO O’DONNELL is a writer, ing in the powerful final lines, “Be still professor and associate director of the Curran my soul,/ When change and tears are Center for American Catholic Studies at Fordham University. She is the author of a new past,/ All safe and blessed/ We shall biography, Flannery O’Connor: Fiction meet at last.” Fired by Faith.

FROM OUR BLOGS How to Be a Parish: Advice from St. Luke, Francis X. Clooney, S.J. What Is Behind South Africa Xenophobia Attacks? THE LIVING WORD Anthony Egan, S.J. Msgr. John P. Meier speaks on “Unfashionable Chicagoans Remember Cardinal Views of the Parables of Jesus” on May 20 at the Francis George as a Man of American Bible Society in New York. Kindness, Contradictions Judith Valente

PODCAST WHAT YOU ARE READING Poetry editor Brother Joe Hoover, S.J., talks about This I Believe: Created in God’s Image what he looks for in a good poem on “America This Damien Torres-Botello, S.J. Week.” Sisters: Thank You, James Martin, S.J. Confirmation Bias CATHOLIC BOOK CLUB Michael A. Marchal Kevin Spinale, S.J., leads a discussion of “Killing On Speaking Out as a Jesuit Jesus” by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard. James Martin, S.J. Call Him a Saint, Gerard O’Connell

“It is indeed unfortunate, but not unpredictable, that “religious liberty has become a partisan issue.” —Ellen Boegel, Bridging Our Divisions

May 11, 2015 America 39 OF OTHER THINGS | ASHLEY Mc KINLESS OF MACHINES AND MEN ow do you know a human manity. The tech billionaire Elon Musk, through screens and machines, where wrote this? I did, of course. perhaps the closest we have to a real-life our virtual persona can be altered be- HBut what if there were a Nathan, has described A.I. as “poten- yond recognition, we too risk losing chance that I was not a 24-year-old tially more dangerous than nukes.” touch with that which is most human female but a sophisticated algorithm Last December Stephen Hawking in ourselves. that drew from IMDB and reactions warned that the age of the robot gone Finally, there are the unseen, unheard on Twitter to quickly generate a mov- wrong could spell greater inequality, characters that are nonetheless integral ie review on opening night. (We’re not mass unemployment and “the end of to the film’s entire enterprise: the public. there yet, but news organizations are the human race.” But “Ex Machina” is The troves of data generated through increasingly using “robo-journalists” less concerned with a man-versus-ma- Blue Book provide the raw material for to produce less complex stories, from chine doomsday sce- Ava’s “brain,” each query sports results to financial reports.) nario than with what Targeted entered into the search In that case you might look for evi- we are doing to our- engine revealing an- dence of abstract reasoning; a creative selves in the process of ads are one other aspect of human turn of phrase; a well-placed pun; em- this Promethean act of thing; being thought. pathy on the part of the author. You creation. This is hardly sci- would, in a way, perform the Turing Playing God has implicated in ence fiction. Last Test. taken its toll on the creation year Google acquired This is precisely the task set before Nathan. Outside the DeepMind, a cut- Caleb (played by Domhnall Gleeson) lab, he spends his time of an A.I. is ting-edge artificial in- in the new science-fiction thriller “Ex getting drunk and quite another. telligence company. Machina” from the writer/director taking advantage of Most Internet users Alex Garland. The talented young his sole companion, have come to terms computer coder for the Google-esque a silent Japanese ser- with the fact that un- Internet behemoth Blue Book is se- vant. “Isn’t it strange,” fettered access to all the lected to spend a week at the coun- Ava asks him, “to cre- information the world try-sized estate of the company’s re- ate something that has to offer comes at the clusive chief executive officer, Nathan, hates you?” The clos- cost of our privacy and played by Oscar Isaac with an impossi- er Nathan comes to control over personal bly Silicon Valley combination of meg- reaching his goal, the data. But targeted ads alomania and start-up bro chill. There more tenuous and morally ambiguous are one thing; being implicated in the we meet Ava, a super-advanced robot, his control over his creation becomes, creation of an A.I., with no real say over which, when fully dressed, is nearly in- raising the question: Is the possession the final outcome, is quite another. distinguishable from a human, and an of a highly intelligent machine analo- Estimates as to when scientists will extremely beautiful one at that (Alicia gous to owning a very smart phone, a be able to reach true artificial intelli- Vikander). The question is whether well-trained pet—or a slave? gence range from five years to a cou- the same can be said of her mind— Likewise, the deeper Caleb gets into ple of thousand. In the meantime, “Ex whether she possesses true artificial his assignment, the less sure he be- Machina” has raised critical questions intelligence. comes of his own humanity. Ava draws about the morality of this endeavor that “If you’ve created a conscious ma- for him, jokes with him, flirts with him. should be explored not only by the gods chine, that’s not the history of man,” He knows he is being manipulated, but of A.I., but also by us mortals, whose Caleb tells his host. “That’s the history by whom? As he grows more convinced online lives and relationships will make of gods.” of Ava’s ability to think and feel—and up the building blocks of the new Eve. We have all heard about the threats his feelings for her take a very human Whatever good or destruction comes that advanced A.I. could pose to hu- turn—he goes so far as to cut open his from the creation of ever-smarter ma- arm to make sure he is not in fact the chines, we have only ourselves to thank.

ASHLEY McKINLESS is an associate editor of one being tested. In a world where re- Ava may pass as a human. But she can- America. lationships are increasingly mediated not be judged as one.

40 America May 11, 2015 BOOKS | LANCE COMPA President Woodrow Wilson? Justice Felix Frankfurter? Winston Churchill? PROTO-PUNDIT The president of Harvard? The head of J. P. Morgan? General Motors? Well, WALTER LIPPMANN tive writing and everything-in-mod- yes. His interlocutors were a Who’s Public Economist eration approach cemented his role as Who of early and mid-century poli- By Craufurd D. Goodwin a Wise Man relied on by millions of ticians, businessmen, public intellec- Harvard University Press. 424p $35.00 readers for sober policy counsel. tuals and policy makers like Gardner Goodwin strings together telling Ackley, Thurman Arnold, Bernard Walter Lippman was a unique voice in quotes from Lippman’s prodigious Baruch, Adolph Berle, William Borah, American economic and public policy output and adds his own commen- McGeorge Bundy, even the future debates for half the 20th century. His tary to convey the economic history of C.I.A. superspook Richard Bissell. career spanned two world wars, the And those are just some of the A’s and Gilded Age and the Great Depression, B’s. the postwar economic boom and the Goodwin returns often to Lippman’s reckoning of the Vietnam War. In close relationship with John Maynard Walter Lippmann: Public Economist, Keynes. For decades, Lippman chan- Craufurd D. Goodwin mines neled Keynesian policies in his books Lippman’s books and journalism to and columns. He reminded readers provide a comprehensive economic in- and policy makers that the government tellectual history of the time. is not a family that must tighten its Lippman was an undergraduate belt when times are hard but an engine prodigy at Harvard, finishing there that can borrow and spend its way out in 1910. He worked as a researcher of an economic downturn. But he also for the muckraker Lincoln Steffens in knew and sympathized with Friedrich 1911, an aide to Schenectady’s new so- Hayek. He often counterbalanced cialist mayor in 1912, a founder of The his Keynesian thrusts with Austrian New Republic in 1913, an assistant School cautions against collectivism in the War Department in 1917, an and economic concentration. Army intelligence officer in 1918 and Goodwin confirms Lippman’s an advisor to President Wilson at the stance as a committed liberal in the Versailles peace conference in 1919. European sense, favoring free trade Finally he settled into a career in jour- and free markets and decrying any nalism and a 36-year run as the coun- form of concentrated economic pow- try’s most prominent journalist and the mid-20th century. At some points er, no matter how small. He saw spe- newspaper columnist. He was an all- the recounting flags—then Lippman cial interests everywhere, even to the in-one Martin Wolf, Paul Krugman, said this, then Lippman said that. But point of supporting General Douglas Thomas Friedman, David Brooks, most of the time, Goodwin holds the MacArthur’s violent expulsion in 1932 Floyd Norris and (insert your favor- reader’s attention by deftly linking of bonus marchers from Washington. ite pundit here, or reach back to James Lippman’s views to the dramatic devel- Lippman called the World War I vet- Reston or Leonard Silk) until his col- opments of those decades and offering erans a “pressure group.” umn, Today and Tomorrow, ended in his own seasoned opinion as our lead- Goodwin traces Lippman’s exercise 1967 (see Ronald Steele’s definitive ing historian of economic thought. in what social scientists call “framing” 1980 biography for more). Goodwin also engages the reader or “diffusion” of economic concepts Events of that era provoked fierce with policy-wonkish celebrity-watch- into policy recommendations that policy arguments. Lippman positioned ing. Starting at Harvard, Lippman resonated with his millions of weekly himself in the center, the consummate had a gift for befriending and engag- readers. At the same time, Goodwin reasonable man and the champion of ing elite figures in intellectual, busi- shows how Lippman was skeptical of reasonable men (reflecting the time, it ness and policy circles. With whom the very public opinion he wanted to was always “man” and “men”). He saw is he going to hang out next? Post- shape. He feared that people were too his job as promoting progress while presidential Theodore Roosevelt? ill-informed to support policies he ad- restraining excess. His erudition, effec- Pre-presidential Franklin Roosevelt? vocated and too easily pulled by popu-

May 11, 2015 America 41 lists to extremes of left or right. ephemeral influence of here today, formed had he applied those talents Goodwin’s synthesis confirms that gone tomorrow newspaper columns, to the exercise of power in govern- Lippman was truly a man in the mid- even from the most famous columnist ment or business or education. But dle, not wanting to go too far in any of all. His something-for-everyone Lippman was at home as a commen- single policy direction and to be de- urgings mainly solidified views already tator on events, not an actor shaping fined as any kind of -ist or -ian with held by policymakers rather than them. Craufurd D. Goodwin’s skillful an agenda. Responding to charges that changing them. distillation of Lippman’s views informs Lippman disdained democracy and Lippman called for “new men” to be our understanding of this complicated preferred a philosopher king to whom elected and appointed to leadership figure and his times. Readers can draw he would be chief counselor, Goodwin posts, and was mostly disappointed. their own lessons for today. suggests that his real aim was broad He was frustrated because lesser fig- public education—in Lippman’s ures held positions of power and failed LANCE COMPA is a graduate of McQuaid Jesuit High School and Fordham College, and a words, a “search for enlightenment”— to take his advice. One wonders how senior lecturer at Cornell University’s School of that would produce wise leaders using such a talented man might have per- Industrial & Labor Relations in Ithaca, N.Y. reasoned discussion instead of messy politics to shape public policy. The selections gleaned from CLAYTON SINYAI Lippman’s writings show how, when he moved from the center to a side, REDEFINING UNION he soon regressed to his mean. For ex- ample, he supported workers’ right to ONLY ONE THING Be for Labor When It’s Flat on Its Back organize trade unions and the 1935 CAN SAVE US (1991), we met this young Harvard Wagner Act, but only if unions acted Why America Needs a New Kind Law student as he inadvertently stum- tamely. He opposed any form of mili- of Labor Movement bled into the trade union world and, tant action and thought that the right By Thomas Geoghegan well, fell in love. He came to admire lo- to strike should give way to mandato- New Press. 272p. $25.95 cal union officers, organizers and shop ry arbitration, citing the system then stewards who defended their brothers prevailing in Australia. When unions “I write this book for people who will and sisters from both the serious ex- struck for catch-up wages in post- never buy it,” says the labor lawyer ploitation by Fortune 500 companies war inflation, Lippman supported the Thomas Geoghegan in his most recent and the petty injustices of the knuckle- 1947 Taft-Hartley Act and its harsh essay on the American labor movement. headed foreman. Geoghegan’s oeuvre, restrictions on labor. “It’s for people who know from Which Side to Only Lippman finally came down on one little or nothing about— One Thing Can Save Us, side near the end, when he wrote con- or care little or nothing reads like a long letter to sistently against the Vietnam War. But for—labor unions.” his Ivy League friends, even then, he did so on classic nation- Interesting marketing justifying the ways of la- al-interest grounds, not from moral strategy, that! The author bor to people who have opposition or sympathy with the anti- has written a missive to a never been written up war movement. generation of liberal and for taking an unautho- Goodwin guides the reader through left activists who look rized bathroom break. a tour of mid-20th century economic right past labor and count It’s true that progres- arguments that echo today. Lippman’s on increased immigra- sive politicians think views on stimulus versus austerity, reg- tion and new millennial less and less about or- ulation versus deregulation, free trade voting patterns to win ganized labor, perhaps versus tariffs, internationalism versus elections and propel so- because there’s less and nationalism, special interests versus cial change. Geoghegan less organized labor to public interest, partisanship versus finds this posture myopic think about. Sixty years compromise and other policy disputes and maddening, believing firmly that a ago around one-third of private sector provide insights into our contempo- revived labor movement is a must—not workers belonged to a union; today rary versions of these debates. just for the Democratic Party but for fewer than 7 percent do. Energetic and Insights, but not solutions. American democracy itself. creative labor activists have cast about Goodwin’s account suggests the In Which Side Are You On? Trying to in many directions for avenues to re-

42 America May 11, 2015 build the movement, and readers of from the lectionary.) Still, bitter ex- Only One Thing Can Save Us will find a perience has taught union organizers grand tour of the big ideas circulating that minority unions face extraordi- at labor gatherings today. nary obstacles. They have difficulty Many of these ideas involve “mi- forcing employers to the bargaining nority” or “members only” unionism, table, and their activists are vulnerable a sharp break with customary union to retaliation. Employers can usually organizing. Under the conventions of smother an organizing effort by firing the National Labor Relations Act (a k one or two ringleaders, knowing that a the Wagner Act), American workers a Labor Board investigation can take who want a union typically request an months or years, and the penalties at election in their workplace, with all its disposal are trivial. Minority unions eligible employees invited to vote. If will need shelter to survive in this hos- the majority votes yes, the union rep- tile climate, and Geoghegan suggests resents everyone—even those who two places they might seek cover. voted against it. If the majority votes One is the Civil Rights Act. In re- no, no one gets a union—even those cent years, the Century Foundation who want one. fellow Richard Kahlenberg and the In a society as individualistic as labor lawyer Moshe Marvit have cam- ours, I think this system of majority paigned to add union status to the rule has much to recommend it. But Civil Rights Act alongside race, gen- as Geoghegan points out, many see it der and creed. With this amendment, as unfair. Those who voted against the Americans might begin to see the right union resent its claims to represent to organize in a new light, as an expan- them, and unless they live in a so-called sion of the fight for civil rights and “right to work” state that permits them equality. (Martin Luther King Jr., after to opt out individually, they resent pay- all, was a strong union supporter and ing union dues even more. On the oth- was killed while supporting striking er hand, millions of workers tell poll- Memphis sanitation workers.) And as sters and organizers that they want to a practical matter, workers could avail join a union but are denied the right in themselves of the law’s private right of practice because they are a minority in action. A worker fired for union activ- their particular workplace. ism would not have to await a cumber- Members-only unions bypass elec- some Labor Board investigation but tions to offer an escape from this box. could file suit on his own behalf seek- A group of workers, large or small, ing triple damages. forms a union and demands to negoti- The other possible refuge is the one ate with the firm but only on behalf of employed by “members only” unions the union’s members. Is this a practical in continental Europe, where the law way forward? mandates worker representation while The strict language of the N.L.R.A. leaving union membership itself op- protects any group of workers acting tional. Geoghegan especially admires in concert to improve the conditions of the German Works Council system, their work, not just a majority union. under which large enterprises are re- As Geoghegan puts it, “when two or quired to accommodate worker repre- three are gathered together, they have sentation from the shopfloor up to the a lot of rights under the Wagner Act.” corporate board. Trade union mem- (Only One Thing is saturated with bership is voluntary, and the unions Geoghegan’s Catholic sensibility—not are almost akin to political parties that through explicit reference, but through seek election to these seats. (In some prose that repeatedly paraphrases nations, including France and Italy, Scripture passages we know by heart this character is explicit—rival unions

May 11, 2015 America 43 with different political affiliations and but Geoghegan hopes that globaliza- ter with Mills and the quick rapport platforms campaign for these posi- tion might do U.S. workers a favor for they develop. As the visit ends, Alice tions). a change. A large group of Volkswagen encourages Mills to interview a close Geoghegan pins his hopes for the assembly workers in a Tennessee plant family friend, the Methodist minister civil rights approach on a grand po- have signed up with the United Auto Tom Butts. litical bargain with union opponents, Workers, and the German firm (with This visit is the first of successive one that would swap a federal “right a good, hard shove from its domestic improbabilities the author experi- to work” law for the desired civil rights union, IG Metall) is exploring a works ences. The next one occurs the next status. That sounds like a dangerous council-inspired structure to accom- day, in, of all places, a Best Western in gamble for existing labor unions that modate the minority union. Germany’s Monroeville. “The knock,” Mills writes, still protect living wages, health care dynamic manufacturing sector and “came at the appointed time.” and occupational safety for some 16 resilience in the face of the euro cri- The woman opposite her with “the million represented workers—and it is sis have captured the attention of the short white hair, the large glasses, the hard to envision that right-to-work ad- world. Might U.S. firms be inspired by black sneakers fastened with Velcro,” is vocates, who believe they are winning this experiment in the volunteer state? Harper Lee. Then 74, she doesn’t nec- their fight, would take the bait in any essarily resemble the author of a book event. CLAYTON SINYAI is a member of the Catholic which has sold more than 40 million Labor Network and author of Schools of A U.S. law establishing works Democracy: A Political History of the copies. Despite Nelle’s appearance, councils seems even more farfetched, American Labor Movement (Cornell, 2006) “when,” Mills writes, “she was up to mischief or giving a gift, you could see CHRIS BYRD the girl in her.” Lee insists the meeting is a visit, not an interview, and that she WHAT HAPPENED TO NELLE? should call her Nelle, as close family and friends did. THE MOCKINGBIRD triguing, enduring literary mysteries: Why the sisters open up to Mills NEXT DOOR why Harper Lee didn’t write another isn’t precisely clear. According to Butts, Life With Harper Lee book after To Kill a Mockingbird. Mills, Mills’s letter requesting an interview By Marja Mills however, isn’t sanguine about securing “was polite and not wheedling or de- Penguin Press. 278p $27.95 an interview; Lee typi- manding.” The author cally declines interview also speculates that the Go Set a Watchman, Harper Lee’s re- requests. Lees wanted to tell their cently rediscovered first novel, is a best After Mills and her story before Alice died. seller on Amazon, and Marja Mills is photographer Terrence The Lees encouraged likely among those eager to read the arrive at the Lee home Mills after she published reclusive Lee’s first published work in and Terrence waits in an her Tribune piece, and more than 50 years. idling rental car, Mills she becomes better ac- Mills’s interest in Lee’s rediscovered writes, “I felt uneasy quainted with them novel may be keener than most because knocking on the door. during subsequent visits of her unanticipated and improbable But I needed to be able to to Monroeville. When friendship with the novelist, which tell my editors I at least lupus, which causes great Mills recounts in her intriguing memoir tried.” fatigue, compels Mills to The Mockingbird Next Door. Eighty-nine and still go on disability in 2003, After the Chicago Public Library practicing law at her her journey takes its most program One Book, One Chicago se- father, AC’s, firm (the father prefers improbable turn. lects Lee’s beloved To Kill a Mockingbird AC), Lee’s older sister Alice lets Mills In 2004, Mills, with, she insists, the in 2001, the then Chicago Tribune into the sisters’ lives. Lee dedicated To Lees’ blessing, moves into the house journalist is thrilled when her editor Kill a Mockingbird to Alice and AC, next door to them. Nelle hopes Mills assigns her to visit Lee’s hometown of the model for Atticus Finch. Lee says will write a book to correct, in Nelle’s Monroeville, Ala. The trip to the model Alice is “Atticus in a skirt.” Alice died in words, “the forty-year file on Harper for Lee’s beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning November 2014 at 103. She, as Mills Lee.” This “tangle of myths and half novel’s Maycomb allows Mills to try to notes, was her sister’s gatekeeper, which truths,” as Mills writes, include rumors figure out one of our time’s more in- explains the unikelihood of her encoun- she may have received help writing her

44 America May 11, 2015 novel and speculation about her sexual In one of our time’s great literary Why she didn’t, even in this new orientation. Mills successfully refutes coincidences, Capote lived next door context, is the most pertinent question the first claim while judiciously leaving to Nelle when they were children and this memoir explores. Immediately af- questions about Nelle’s sexual orienta- became the model for Dill in her nov- ter To Kill a Mockingbird’s publication, tion open-ended. el. When they lived in Manhattan, Nelle believed there would be another Nelle, however, later publicly dis- Nelle achieved fame with To Kill a book but gradually decided not to write avowed her cooperation with the book. Mockingbird, while Capote’s career it. Mills recounts a late-night conver- Now 88, Nelle suffered a stroke in stalled. sation between Nelle and Butts, while 2007, which may explain why she re- Some of Mills’s more memorable drinking scotch, when Nelle insists the tracted her enthusiasm for the book, passages describe Nelle’s anxiety over pressure and publicity attending To Kill which Mills insists she possessed. two 2005 films detailing Nelle’s efforts a Mockingbird drove her away. And, During her 18 months next door, to help Capote write his nonfiction Nelle says, she had already said what Mills discovers the Lees are eager to novel In Cold Blood. She agreed to help she wanted to say. repudiate Truman Capote’s claim their him because she correctly believed the That assertion will arouse readers’ mother Frances twice tried to drown book would jumpstart his career. She skepticism. young Nelle. Although Frances, con- felt, though, that he envied her Pulitzer Mills, however, does not resolve the cerned about her infant daughter Prize, and she resented his implication outstanding, critical question of Nelle’s Louise’s inability to gain weight, col- that he helped her write her novel. life: why the woman who wanted, in her lapsed mentally, she, Alice recalls, re- Readers will wonder how the dis- words, “to be the Jane Austen of south gained her equilibrium. covery of Go Set a Watchman may alter Alabama,” didn’t write more books af- You couldn’t trust Capote’s version of Mills’s analysis and insights. Written ter her famous novel; and that lack of events, furthermore, because “Truman,” prior to To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set resolution will likely frustrate some as Nelle says, “was a psychopath, honey.” a Watchman shouldn’t be considered readers. The memoir will reward read- Nelle’s complicated relationship with Nelle’s second book. Had Mills known ers more who appreciate the journalist’s Capote will most heighten readers’ cu- about the earlier novel, she would likely implausible friendship with a woman riosity. The outlandish personality, who have used the phrase follow-up instead the world knows as Harper Lee but she failed as an artist because he couldn’t of second book to explore why Nelle knows as Nelle. surmount his addictions, continues to didn’t write another book after To Kill fascinate. a Mockingbird. CHRIS BYRD is a writer in Washington, D.C. CLASSIFIED Translator Luis Baudry-Simón, translator (from English into Spanish): newsletters, articles, essays, websites, pastoral letters, ministry resources, motivational conferences, spirituality materi- al, etc. Contact: [email protected] (815) 694-0713.

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May 11, 2015 America 45 GENERATION FAITH

46 America May 11, 2015 THE WORD

all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that What Time It Is is named, not only in this age but also ASCENSION (B), MAY 17, 2015 in the age to come.” It is because Christ Readings: Acts 1:1–11; Ps 47: 2–9; Eph 1:7–13; Mk 16:15–20 already rules that he is able to guide the church in wisdom and enlighten- “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6) ment, but even more to focus our hope on the kingdom still to come in its full till reeling from the trauma of Christian community had to discover glory. This power is at work even now the crucifixion and then the that God’s saving act temporally dif- in the body of Christ here on earth, the shattering of all earthly expec- ferentiated the enthronement of the S church, allowing it to continue tations by Jesus’ resurrection from the Son of Man from his judg- Jesus’ mission of proclama- dead, the apostles, trying to make sense ment of the world; and it had tion for the salvation of the of the common Jewish beliefs regard- to discover that the Gentiles’ world. ing the Messiah and the apocalyptic share in this same saving act The apostles asked, establishment of God’s kingdom, pose demanded the launching of a “Lord, is this the time a simple question to Jesus prior to his world mission” (Ben F. Meyer, when you will restore the ascension: “Lord, is this the time when The Aims of Jesus). It was in kingdom to Israel?” Jesus’ you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” the experience of living their rejoinder to the apostles, Implicit in this question is a desire lives as faithful disciples of to focus on their own task to understand what comes next. If Jesus that they would come to as church, is not a denial of God’s ways had left them confound- understand how the events of his kingship but the means by ed and confused, yet still elated, could Jesus’ life informed their task as they now grasp the order of the next church. events? Would the plan follow what Jesus’ ascension might be the most PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE they understood the pattern of the misunderstood and overlooked of How does Jesus’ ascension help you coming kingdom of God to be? Not the events remembered during the understand the church’s mission? exactly. For Jesus tells them, “It is not Easter season, from the resurrection for you to know the times or periods to Pentecost. But the story of the as- A. DUNNE TAD ART: that the Father has set by his own au- cension, which is cast in the language which Jesus’ kingship would be made thority.” All they needed to know was of ancient cosmology, with Jesus “going known universally. that they were to be witnesses to the up” to heaven, is about the enthrone- Yes, the kingdom came in a way life and resurrection of Jesus and were ment of Christ as Lord. The Gospel of they never expected. As we reflect to bring their witness to the truth of Mark will describe Jesus as “taken up that “this Jesus, who has been taken Christ to the world, beginning from into heaven and sat down at the right up from you into heaven, will come in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria to the hand of God.” the same way as you saw him go into ends of the earth. Whatever came next The apostles’ previous hope that heaven,” we also wonder, when will would have to be discovered in the Jesus should now restore the kingdom that be? course of faithfully carrying out their to Israel in a physical sense would now Like Peter and the other apostles, mission. be understood as Jesus’ enthronement we have our tasks as witnesses, while It was not that Jesus was not who as the king who rules with authority we await in hope the fullness of the they thought he was—though they over all temporal and spiritual powers. kingdom, knowing that the one who would discover he was more than they Not only was Jesus King of Israel, he promised it will do it. He will fulfill could have imagined, namely God was, indeed, King of the world. our hopes beyond our wildest ex- incarnate—it was that “the earliest The Letter to the Ephesians re- pectations. We do not know when lates that God’s power was at work in or how this will be, but the one who Christ through the resurrection and promised it already reigns, and he will JOHN W. MARTENS is associate professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas, St. when God “seated him at his right do it in ways we have never imagined. Paul, Minn. Twitter: @BibleJunkies. hand in the heavenly places, far above JOHN W. MARTENS

May 11, 2015 America 47