Of Many Things n one long wall of my office Accordingly, Father Hunt soon returned 106 West 56th Street in New York, arranged in to his duties as literary editor. In New York, NY 10019-3803 Ph: 212-581-4640; Fax: 212-399-3596 1984 he was named editor in chief. Otwo rows, are the portraits Subscriptions: 1-800-627-9533 of of my predecessors, 13 in all since In 1987 he was among 16 Catholic www.americamagazine.org 1909. Among them are some of the journalists invited to attend Pope John facebook.com/americamag most accomplished churchmen in U.S. Paul II’s meeting in September 1987 twitter.com/americamag history, a daily reminder that I stand with leaders of the entertainment and President and Editor in Chief on the shoulders of giants. The third communication industry in Los Angeles. Matt Malone, S.J. portrait from the right, on the bottom George Hunt, S.J., retired from Executive Editors row, is that of George W. Hunt, S.J., America in 1998, at the conclusion of Robert C. Collins, S.J., Maurice Timothy Reidy the 11th editor in chief. A native of the magazine’s most prosperous year Managing Editor Kerry Weber Yonkers, N.Y., Father Hunt entered to date. He remains the longest serving Literary Editor Raymond A. Schroth, S.J. the Society of Jesus in 1954 and was editor in chief. Later that year, he was Senior Editor and Chief Correspondent ordained a priest in 1967. He earned named director of the Archbishop Kevin Clarke a theology degree from Yale Divinity Hughes Institute for Religion and Editor at Large James Martin, S.J. Poetry Editor Joseph Hoover, S.J. School in 1970, later remarking that Culture at Fordham University. Father Associate Editor and Vatican Correspondent his decision to study Kierkegaard with Hunt died in 2011 at the age of 74. Gerard O’Connell

Professor Paul Holmer was “the best His legacy, however, is still growing. Engagement and Community Editor and most fruitful decision in my entire America and the Saint Thomas More Elizabeth Tenety academic life,” for it set the stage for a Center and Chapel at Yale University Associate Editor Ashley McKinless lifelong study of the literary arts. announced last month that we will Assistant Editors Francis W. Turnbull, S.J., Olga Segura, Joseph McAuley After completing a Ph.D. at Syracuse award an annual prize in Father Hunt’s Art Director Sonja Kodiak Wilder University, Father Hunt joined the staff name. Through the generosity of Mr. Columnists Helen Alvaré, John J. Conley, S.J., of America in 1981 as the review’s Vincent, The George W. Hunt Prize Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M., James T. Keane, John W. literary editor, a position, he said, will recognize a writer under the age of Martens, Bill McGarvey, Angela Alaimo O’Don- nell, Margot Patterson, Nathan Schneider that provided “the ideal situation to 45 whose work embodies the qualities Correspondents read more widely and deeply.” Father that Father Hunt valued most: rigor, John Carr (Washington), Anthony Egan, S.J. Hunt’s voracious appetite for the order and discipline of thought, as well (Johannesburg), Jim McDermott, S.J. (Los Angeles), Timothy Padgett (Miami), Steven written word afforded him a deeply as honesty, sympathy and optimism. Schwankert (Beijing), David Stewart, S.J. (London), sophisticated knowledge of a broad The selection committee will consider Judith Valente (Chicago), Mary Ann Walsh, R.S.M. range of literary and cultural topics. writers and works in a variety of genres, (U.S. Church) Moderator, Catholic Book Club “Over the years,” his longtime friend including journalism, fiction, poetry, Kevin Spinale, S.J. and former commissioner of Major drama, music, memoir, biography, Editorial e-mail League Baseball Fay Vincent wrote in history and art criticism. The recipient [email protected] 2011, “George demonstrated to me that will receive a $25,000 award. Details Publisher and Chief Financial Officer he knew more than just about anyone can be found at americamagazine.org/ Edward Spallone alive about football and baseball, jazz, huntprize. Deputy Publisher the movies, modern fiction—especially In addition to his columns and Rosa Del Saz Vice President/Advancement Cheever and Updike—the Civil War, reviews in America, Father Hunt Daniel Pawlus political history, Winston Churchill, was the author of book-length works Development Coordinator Irish history, Tammany Hall and of biography and literary criticism, Kerry Goleski “Boss”Tweed, military history— including: John Cheever: The Hobgoblin Operations Staff especially World War II—and the list Company of Love and John Updike Chris Keller, Glenda Castro Advertising contact could go on and on.” and the Three Great Secret Things: Sex, [email protected]; 212-515-0102

In 1983 Father Hunt took a leave Religion, and Art. Father Hunt’s editorial Subscription contact/Additional copies of absence to be a visiting lecturer at style was, in his own words, both [email protected]; Georgetown University. During his time “welcoming and honest; its sensibility 1-800-627-9533 there, he came to appreciate “the work sympathetic; its viewpoint optimistic.” © 2014 America Press, Inc. of America all the more, in that a writer These are the same exacting standards had contact with 50,000 people per for future recipients of the prize that Cover: A member loyal to the Islamic State in week, a number impossible to duplicate now bears his name. Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) waves an ISIL flag in after a lifetime in the classroom.” Matt Malone, S.J. Raqqa, June 29, 2014. Reuters/Stringer Contents www.americamagazine.org Vol. 211 No. 16, Whole No. 5070 November 24, 2014

articles 17 Endangered Indonesia Can this unique Islamic culture survive an era of absolutism? David Pinault 23 rEvisionist Islam The origins of a modern nightmare in Iraq and Syria Patrick J. Ryan 26 Closer to Communion What the patriarchates mean for today’s church John R. Quinn 17 COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS 4 Current Comment 5 editorial Learning the News 6 Reply All 9 Signs of the Times 14 Washington Front Midterm Malaise John Carr 29 Vatican Dispatch Good Stewards Gerard O’Connell 30 Faith in Focus Finding Forgiveness Camille D’Arienzo 39 the Word Daily Distractions John W. Martens 26 BOOKS & CULTURE

32 Theater “The Last Ship” and “The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-Time” of other things Avoiding Absolutism BOOKS What They Wished For; On the Left Bank of the Tiber poem Settler’s Gravestones, Millersburg, Ohio

ON THE WEB Nathan Schneider offers a video reflection on what he learned from Occupy Wall Street, and Christopher Bellito reviews an exhibit on the Crusader Bible. Full digital highlights on page 13 and at americamagazine.org/ webfeatures. 32 CURRENT COMMENT

to global nuclear disarmament, a quest the church has Unlocking Washington endorsed since 1963. With U.S. and Russian treaties leading With a solid majority in the Senate, gains in the House the way, the world seemed to be making progress in reducing and gubernatorial victories in even the bluest of states, its suicidal stockpile of atomic weapons. The United Republicans appeared ready to sound a conciliatory tone States should remain set on that goal, and should likewise after the midterm elections. At a press conference on persist in efforts to curtail the further proliferation of these Nov. 5, one of the previous night’s biggest winners, Mitch weapons. That includes the recent and unjustifiably maligned McConnell, who is expected to become Senate majority diplomatic overture toward Iran. leader, told reporters: “When the American people choose The United States can perhaps be most persuasive by divided government, I don’t think it means they don’t want example. Spending $36 billion more each year to enhance us to do anything.... We ought to start with the view that its nuclear force is not leadership; it is a pandering to fear maybe there are some things we can agree on.” and political special interests. Nuclear disarmament remains As the governing party, the Republicans can no longer as imperative an ambition today as when activists, horrified simply pursue the path of greatest resistance to President by the specter of global nuclear war, first proposed it. This Obama; they will need concrete legislative victories to keep enormous commitment of U.S. resources to retrofitting and their hold on Congress and in hope of putting a Republican refining U.S. weapons of mass destruction is a moral and in the White House in 2016. And while the president might geopolitical step backward. be tempted to repay once-obstructionist lawmakers in kind with the veto pen, the challenges this country faces call for creative compromises. Mr. Obama could, for example, Death and Dignity approve the Keystone pipeline project but pair it with new The death on Nov. 1 of Brittany Maynard, who was resources toward developing sustainable energy to point the diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer earlier this year, has country in the right direction on climate change. Corporate revived debate around the right-to-die movement in the tax reform and creating jobs by investing in this country’s United States. The 29-year-old California woman moved crumbling infrastructure are both areas where there are to Oregon in order to obtain the fatal dose of medication, opportunities for bipartisan cooperation which she took to end her life, surrounded by family and When Gallup asked Americans what they wanted from loved ones, on the date she chose and publicized in an their new Congress, the largest share, one third, responded interview with People magazine in October. that its first priority should be to fix itself. After the two least Such suffering is hard to contemplate, but her decision— productive sessions of Congress in modern U.S. history, it is and the widespread public support she received—raises time for Washington to get back to work. serious concerns about the spiritual state and direction of our society. While offering prayers for all those afflicted by Reviving Disarmament debilitating illnesses, we must not forget that the path taken At another time, there might have seemed something by Ms. Maynard involves significant issues of a philosophical quaintly anachronistic about a Congressional Budget Office and religious nature—not just medical ones—that must be report that the United States was preparing to spend $355 countered with an alternative vision. billion over the next 10 years “modernizing” its nuclear Above all else, a fundamental question needs to be arsenal instead of selectively decommissioning it. These days, considered, a sorrowful mystery the church has always with the sights of President Vladimir Putin’s henchmen dealt with, since the time when Jesus himself underwent unsubtly set on the borders of Europe, some may argue that the agony of the cross. Can any meaning or purpose come such modernization is justifiable. from suffering and death? Christ’s answer, and the church’s It should be more critically assessed, however, as answer, is yes. For Christians, a prescription providing a wasteful and counterproductive. Any step “forward” on lethal cocktail of medications will never bestow dignity on nuclear weapons is sure to provoke countermeasures from death—just as pain, losing rational faculties or becoming other global nuclear powers. As Bishop Richard E. Pates utterly dependent on the care of others will never strip away of Des Moines, Iowa, the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ a person’s fundamental dignity. As Archbishop Alexander K. Committee on International Justice and Peace, noted in a Sample of Portland has pointed out, instead of “hastening letter in October to Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, the death,” we ought to use our final days to “help us to prepare modernization proposals undermine the U.S. commitment for our eternal destiny.”

4 America November 24, 2014 EDITORIAL Learning the News

onsumers of the news can be forgiven for feeling diverse viewpoints; in fact, critics overwhelmed by the array of choices they face. We say, they allow users to create their Ccan watch any number of cable channels at any time of own echo chambers and filter out day, and we tailor our social media feeds to get the latest news what they do not agree with. For from a multitude of sources. But what are those sources, and the student generation, it narrows are they trustworthy? How can today’s consumers, especially the vision required for real news but not only young people, learn to distinguish between appreciation. opinion journalism and objective reporting? Can they tell The news literacy movement offers several remedies. the difference between paid sponsorships and independent One is the traditional honors seminar. Selected faculty journalism? How can we help them to read a variety of news members teach a full-semester course for motivated students, and opinion, not just what their friends recommend or what who plunge into the media pond, read widely and discuss a Facebook algorithm determines is best? At a time when a collection of the leading newspapers, opinion magazines marketing, media and news are slowly converging and readers and books. They systematically follow TV newscasts with are insidiously absorbed into this trend as simultaneously distinct angles or leanings, compare and contrast the whole consumer and product, how can we teach the news reading family of political websites and view films like “All the skills that are essential to responsible citizenship? President’s Men” or the documentary “Page One.” With these questions in mind, 115 educators, news Another option is to cultivate analytical skills by media practitioners and digital and print literacy proponents incorporating diverse media sources into courses like history, met in Chicago for a News Literacy Summit in September. literature and the social sciences. Still another is to employ the The event was sponsored by the Robert R. McCormick professional News Literacy Project digital curriculum, a five- Foundation and other foundations, leading newspapers day program of narrated videos that includes a live webinar and the Poynter Institute, a journalism research center. The and chat with a prominent journalist. Add to this a three- participants asked what are the “core competencies of news week, teacher-led classroom unit. More than 3,700 students literacy,” the skills needed to produce and understand the have experienced this curriculum during the past year. news? Over the last few years this experiment has received Founded in 2008 by Alan C. Miller, a former Los sympathetic attention from the Columbia Journalism Angeles Times reporter, the News Literacy Project is going Review and “PBS NewsHour.” To succeed, however, it will national. It invites middle and high schools to give students need the support of social media sites, especially Facebook, tools to distinguish fact from fiction, understand the First which exercise great control over what their users see. The Amendment and the standards for journalistic integrity lessons the project teachers impart are basic and should be and exercise civility while engaging in public debates. The widely embraced: Don’t believe a report that has no source project also encourages the development of student media and be skeptical about a report with only one source. and brings retired journalists into the classroom to help The ultimate goal of the News Literacy movement is students master print, radio, television and digital media to recapture the imagination and ensure the integrity of the so that these will become not distracting toys but tools for next generation of readers. Young people have an amazing intellectual development and critical thinking. ability to toggle among various sources of information, The obstacles to news literacy are many. They spring but some guidance is needed. The best way to do that is in part from our new digital culture, which has brought a to teach students the rules of basic literary and historical variety of challenges along with many obvious benefits. research, where they must dig deep into the library as well Seventy-three percent of adults now participate in social as the Internet and bring forth a well-written, convincing media, and 30 percent of adults in the United States get news report on a disputed social or political problem and publish from Facebook—selected and distributed not by editors but it in a newspaper, magazine, film, radio documentary, public by a mathematical formula that predicts what users might forum or an online article. The student will be a different want to read. Social media companies seek to attract and young man or woman when he or she presents his research. hold more and more of their users’ time. They promise That is what education—and literacy—are all about.

November 24 , 2014 America 5 REPLY ALL as compared to prior periods. Bishop vailing culture and momentum on the McElroy cites a startling statistic: the other side, I can appreciate that. But I Market Measures 85 wealthiest people in the world own am sure that the entrepreneurs around “Market Assumptions” (11/3), by more than the poorest 3.5 billion. But the world who continue to heed God’s Bishop Robert W. McElroy, is a here is an equally startling statistic. call to participate in the ongoing co-cre- thoughtful, well-reasoned and in- Between 1990 and 2010, the percent- ation of this world, who dream for their spired explanation of Pope Francis’ age of the world’s population in abject markets to be even freer, would appre- statements on income inequality and poverty was cut in half as 700 million ciate more than an occasional acknowl- how some cultural assumptions in the people climbed above the extreme pov- edgement squeezed between critiques United States make a full appreciation erty line. of the market. of his critique and challenge difficult. We do not have to choose between John O’Neil I find the article’s focus for meaningful less income inequality and higher ab- Online Comment change, however, simplistic, confusing solute standards for all, most import- Modern Lepers and off target. ant the poorest. But how to achieve “Listening to Ebola” (Editorial, 10/27), Pope Francis and many if not all of both is a very complex question. Over- is a thoughtful article that supports sol- his modern predecessors focus on a simplified statements and policies that idarity rather than fear. I must admit, relative measure—inequality of wealth rely on them do not help; they confuse. as a former public health emergency between the rich (or ultra-rich) and the If Pope Francis feels that he needs to preparedness professional and current poor—to the near exclusion of an abso- put his voice behind the inequality professor, that I have been disturbed by lute measure, the state of the poor today side of this argument to offset the pre- the fear mongering and lack of compas- sion expressed by many people of faith. Status Update I expect members of Congress to pump the people up and neglect the common In his New York Times column, “The ing match that masquerades as argu- good, as that has become the norm, but Pope and the Precipice” (10/25), Ross ment we have become all too used to I did not expect it from priests and oth- Douthat suggests that the trajectory of in the United States. er people in the church. Ebola victims the Synod on the Family could “sow Tim Callahan are the modern day lepers. Today it confusion among the church’s ortho- would appear the Gospel instructions dox adherents” and lead “eventually Mr. Douthat’s article was indeed about caring for the sick and the poor to real schism.” On America’s blog, In disturbing, drawing lines within only apply if the sick are not contagious All Things, the church historian John the church that serve only to alarm. and the poor are not people of color. O’Malley, S.J., responds, arguing, Father O’Malley’s point about the Roberta Lavin “Sometimes change is required pre- teaching magisterium is well taken: Online Comment cisely in order to remain faithful to the if these are truly bishops acting in tradition” (10/29). Readers weigh in. concert with the bishop of Rome, Common Values then who is anyone (on either side Re “Commons Sense,” by Nathan Schneider (10/20): It’s the “tragedy of I agree with Father O’Malley that of these unhelpfully demarcated the market” that leads to over-exploita- Mr. Douthat’s insinuation about “lines”) to question their authority? tion of resources beyond their carry- having another living pope feeds That would seem to me to be an ing capacity. Markets know no limits, the fire of schism. But I applaud ironic point of heterodoxy! Mike Pollastri especially when the state promotes an Mr. Douthat’s strong argument, impersonal market order of individuals as he voiced the concern of many We must remember what “church” and economic growth at all costs. By Catholics, who might even consider is. It is not an institution. It is a liv- contrast, intact, self-provisioning com- themselves “middle of the road” with ing, breathing collection of human munities develop committed relation- respect to their views, Catholics beings chosen by Jesus (one hopes) ships among people and with nature. who did not like the drum beat of to be his bride. Do brides stop grow- In his latest book, “change whether you like it or not” The Zero Marginal ing? If you just answered no, then Jeremy Rifkin demon- coming from the synod followers Cost Society, would it not be reasonable to believe strates how the Internet is blowing of Cardinal Kasper et al. A well- that for the Catholic Church to re- apart private property and proprietary constructed argument and debate is main alive, it too must change? business models because collaborative needed in our church, not the shout- Nancy Gardner commons are often more efficient and

6 America November 24, 2014 innovative in generating new value. which are also felt by many others who (10/27), by Gerard O’Connell, is a That is why most software companies have gone through a Catholic annul- very real one indeed. Put simply, many build business models around open ment and which are feared by many Catholics are far better and more source software, why drug companies contemplating the annulment process. broadly educated than they were 50 do more research via open collaborative Name Withheld by Request years ago, and not surprisingly they ex- networks and why more firms look to pect similar levels of education among social participation with “prosumers” as Funding Formation those who lead them. Just as an exercise, the way to build their brands. “Everyone’s Vocation” (9/29), by I recently checked (admittedly through Incentives for betterment do not Russell Shaw, is an excellent take on the Wikipedia) the educational formation come only or even primarily through essential role of well-formed Catholic of about 25 of our American bishops. markets. Belonging to a community of adults in achieving the mission of the With perhaps one exception, all had peers and shared ideals is a tremendous church. In my 30 years in catechetical experience only of a Catholic education catalyst of value creation. ministry, I have participated in the chal- that was probably rigorist (rather than David Bollier lenge of forming Catholic adults to un- rigorous), and most had gone on to get Online Comment derstand this role. Ph.D.’s in canon law. After Vatican II there was a period Where are the scholars of history, lit- A Painful Process of excitement for promoting adult faith erature or physics and so forth? Where My compliments to Mary Ann formation. But the effort for adult faith is any evidence of engagement with the Walsh, R.S.M., for her comments in formation has never received the on- outside world and broadness of vision, “Revisiting Remarriage” (10/6). Nine going commitment of personnel and of the sort one would expect of a gradu- years ago I wrote anonymously about resources required to provide a com- ate of, say, the University of Michigan or my experience of the annulment pro- prehensive and practical approach to Stanford or the University of Chicago? cess in these pages (“The Anguish of adult faith formation in our parishes. Of course, Cardinal Bernard Law is Annulment,” 2/28/05). Are church leaders willing to encour- a Harvard man. But so was Cardinal I commend her focus on streamlin- age, form and empower Catholic adults Avery Dulles, S.J. ing the annulment process, eliminating to participate in the decision-making Nicholas Clifford Online Comment fees for annulment, deleting the need processes at all levels of church life? To for witnesses while taking the appli- achieve this requires an authentic pro- Lay Voices cants’ word on their experiences and cess of dialogue involving listening to “Looking for the New Shepherd” encouraging the use of the internal one another, being willing to address (9/22), by Judith Valente, proves that forum for annulment, which would honest questions and being open to the history of St. Ambrose, a layman enable “individuals convinced that their considering new and challenging ap- successfully elevated to bishop of Milan, first marriage was not sacramental to proaches. lives on in Chicago. It also lives on in approach Communion according to It is sad to observe that in recent smaller places such as Greensburg, Pa., their own well-formed conscience.” years there has been a significant reduc- where we modern-day Ambrosians I would add one more suggestion: tion in the commitment of money and energetically solicited broad written in- Eliminate the use of diocesan tribu- personnel directed specifically to adult put from our laity about the qualities nals. Give each pastor the ability and faith formation in many parish and di- we knew we needed in our next bish- responsibility to declare an annulment. ocesan budgets. This does not bode well op. What an adventure as we learned Allow him the ability to reach that de- for achieving the vision that Mr. Shaw to voice diocesan needs respectfully, cision after meeting with his parish- so clearly and vibrantly presented. with positives (e.g., “simple life, small ioner and listening to the case she or James J. DeBoy Jr. house”) and with prayers to the Spirit he presents. After all, pastors have the Catonsville, Md. to shout or whisper our needs to the ability to forgive the most grievous of good St. Pope John. Readers can see for sins, something far more consequential Schooling Seminarians themselves at www.greensburgsnext- than determining whether a person en- I am far from an expert on seminary bishop.org. tered a marriage without fully under- education, but it is my sense that the B. M. Brown standing its sacramental implications. problem outlined in “Rough Diamonds” Greensburg, Pa. These approaches to annulment would alleviate the turmoil and pain Letters to the editor may be sent to America’s editorial office (address on page 2) or letters@ americamagazine.org. America will also consider the following for print publication: that were felt by my wife and me and comments posted below articles on America’s Web site (americamagazine.org) and posts our children in the annulment process, on Twitter and public Facebook pages. All correspondence may be edited for length.

November 24 , 2014 America 7 8 America November 24, 2014 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Mexico the students, urging them to live their faith in these tragic moments without National Turmoil as Citizens, Church succumbing to violence. “We encour- age you to continue to look ahead,” the Demand Action on Missing Students bishops said. “Have hope because hope Noche de los Muertos. Demonstrators demanded justice for 43 missing pushes to keep fighting, to continue to students in Mexico City on Nov. 8. The sign reads “Ayotzinapa, state terrorism” live with dignity, to continue working for a better world.” The bishops com- mitted themselves to supporting these latest grieving families as they have al- ready supported “thousands of families who in recent years have experienced situations like yours, such as kidnap- pings, extortions, forced displacement and death of a member of family.” In a previous letter released on Oct. 2, the bishops noted, “We are amazed and concerned about the way the po- lice behaved in this case.... We urge the authorities to fully clarify the pain- ful events that happened because the truth is the path to justice and recon- ciliation.” The mystery of the missing students has galvanized critics of the nation’s in- effective response to rampant drug-re- lated violence or its outright collusion with drug gangs to commit or cover

Photo: REU T ERS/Edga r d G a rr ido up acts of violence. Thousands across he Mexican government delayed investigations into the enforced disap- Mexico participated in the Ecumenical pearances of 43 students in Iguala, Guerrero State, and the killing of 22 Day of Solidarity, 43 hours of prayer Tpeople in Tlatlaya, Mexico State, the New York-based Human Rights and fasting for the 43 “disappeared” Watch alleged in a report released on Nov. 7. In the Tlatlaya case, state prosecutors students, that culminated on Nov. 6. sought to cover up military wrongdoing by coercing false testimony from witnesses. Organizers described the effort as “a Years of brutality during the war on drugs have numbed many Mexicans to the way to feed our hope against apathy, nation’s ongoing violence, but these recent incidents have rocked Mexican society, fear, death and impunity.” provoking protests around the country among citizens, especially young people, On Oct. 29 Mexico’s attorney gen- who appear finally fed up with government incompetence, corruption or, worse, eral reported that the identities of bod- collusion with drug cartels. ies found in Cocula, 30 minutes away “These are the worst atrocities we’ve seen in Mexico in years, but they are hardly from Iguala, were still under investi- isolated incidents,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights gation, but witnesses told police that a Watch. “Instead, these killings and forced disappearances reflect a much broader group of armed men had thrown the pattern of abuse and are largely the consequence of the longstanding failure of bodies into a landfill. Dozens of bodies Mexican authorities to address the problem.” have turned up in 12 mass graves so far The rights group charges that in the Iguala case, officials waited 10 days after the discovered as investigators sought to students disappeared before opening an investigation. In the Tlatlaya case, it took resolve the fate of the students. Since the attorney general’s office three months to intervene. 2006, the United Nations estimates On Nov. 3 the Catholic bishops of Acapulco released a letter to the families of that more than 106,000 have died in

November 24 , 2014 America 9 SIGNS OF THE TIMES mostly drug-trade related violence. In fire on three buses carrying about 90 were trying to give the parish time to 2012, according to Mexico’s nation- students on Sept. 26, wounding more accept it,” she said. al statistics institute, just 1.8 percent than 15. During that incident and a In Port Chester, a Westchester of registered homicides resulted in a subsequent attack, six were killed. County village of 29,000 people, four criminal sentence. The municipal police ordered stu- parishes established to serve various In the Tlatlaya episode, military dents to exit a third bus, beat them and immigrant communities will merge personnel killed 22 people inside forced them at gunpoint to lie down into one, with two worship sites. Harry an empty warehouse on June 30. on the side of the road, witnesses told Florentine, a lifelong parishioner of Accounts from witnesses said that at Human Rights Watch. The policemen Our Lady of Mercy, which tradition- least 12 of them were extrajudicially then forced the students into at least ally served Irish-Americans, said the executed. three police cars and drove away with merger “has the possibility of creating In the Iguala attack, approximately them, the last time the 43 were seen a stronger multiethnic, multicultural 30 municipal police officers opened alive. church community in Port Chester. Instead of having the divisions we now see, there would be more unity.” new York At St. Roch on Staten Island, Mary Lou Sanginari, a lifelong parishioner, Parishioners Face Plan With Tears, said, “I’m devastated. I think it’s a dis- Anger; 31 Churches to Close grace to the Catholic Church. We’ll do anything to keep this church open. My irst there was dead silence and two sites for scheduled Masses. St. daughter’s an attorney. I’m going to see then there were tears. Ursula is one of at least 31 churches if she can draw up some papers and F That is how the Rev. Robert that will be open only for occasional start a petition.” St. Roch is slated to be J. Verrigni described the reaction of Masses and celebrations. merged, and its church will not be used parishioners at St. Ursula in Mount Father Verrigni, the parish adminis- for scheduled Masses. Vernon, N.Y., to the announcement on trator, said that longtime parishioners Sanginari was one of several people Nov. 2 that their parish would merge were most upset, but children in the who said they may go to a non-Catho- with another and cease to celebrate religious education programs also ap- lic church if their church closes. weekly Masses after Aug. 1, 2015. The proached him to ask where they would Eileen Mulcahy, director of the par- Archdiocese of New York will merge receive their first Eucharist and confir- ish planning office for the Archdiocese 112 of its parishes into 55. Twenty- mation. “I told everyone, ‘Right now, of New York, said other dioceses found four of the merged parishes will use this is the way the church is going and many of the people who left after the we have to trust God’s will mergers later returned. “People are an- for the future,’” he said. gry in the moment, but it’s short term,” St. Ursula is one of she said. “This process is not one of six parishes in Mount abandoning people. The people are the Vernon. After the mergers ones we’re focusing on.” are complete, there will be St. John in the Bronx is the receiv- three. ing parish for a merger with Visitation. “Part of me is just emp- The Rev. Michael Kerrigan, the St. ty,” said Maria Paulercio, a John administrator, said, “It’s easier for parishioner at St. Ursula us, but we can understand the sense of for 55 years. “Tears start- sadness and if the roles were reversed, ed rolling from my eyes we’d be sad, too.” A letter to the parish- when we heard. I feel it ioners from Cardinal Timothy Dolan was a done deal from the asked receiving parishes to recognize Fond farewell. Mark Hallinan, S.J., greets beginning of the process. mergers “not as ‘them’ having to fit into parishioners at St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Staten Island on Nov. 2, one of more than 30 The cardinal knew what ‘your’ parish, but as two parishes com- churches that will close by August 2015. would happen, but they ing together, in the Lord’s name, to be-

10 America November 24, 2014 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

come a new worshipping family.” Mark Hallinan, S.J., is pastor of two NEWS BRIEFS Staten Island parishes that will merge A parish twinning-style relationship between St. into one. His parishioners are predom- Lawrence Parish in Tampa, Fla., and a small Catholic inantly Mexican immigrants, some of community in Cuba’s Pinar del Rio province has whom lack legal status. He said the resulted in official permission for the construction hardest part of the announcement is of the first new Catholic church to be erected in that “these people have had the expe- Cuba in nearly six decades. • In a lecture on Nov. rience of not being cared for. I wanted 6 in Manchester, England, Archbishop Ignatius to make sure that they understand the Kaigama of Jos, Nigeria, said his government could Gerard W. archdiocese is not abandoning them.” defeat Boko Haram Islamist militants if it could Hughes, S.J. muster the same political will it found to fight Ebola. • Pope Francis said on Nov. 5 that the church’s marriage annulment Refugee Census in Erbil process should be shorter, less burdensome and perhaps even free According to data collected in October of charge. • Gerard W. Hughes, a British Jesuit writer on spiritual- by the Chaldean Diocese of Erbil, ity who entered the Society of Jesus in 1942 and believed that God there are more than 10,000 Christian “really is in all peoples and in all things, a loving and compassionate families who have found refuge in the presence,” passed away on Nov. 4. • The U.S. Court of Appeals for the suburbs of Erbil and other parts of Sixth Circuit ruled on Nov. 6 to uphold the rights of states to decide Iraqi Kurdistan after fleeing Mosul that marriage may be restricted only to heterosexual couples after and the cities of the Nineveh Plain be- four other federal courts had said such bans were unconstitutional. fore the advance of Islamic State mil- • The Vatican announced on Nov. 8 that U.S. Cardinal Raymond itants. The local church wishes to use L. Burke, 66, formerly prefect of the Apostolic Signature, will now the refugee census to create a database serve as cardinal patron of the Knights and Dames of Malta. to monitor and update the distribu- tion of family units in the different 5. Condemning the brutal killing of esan priests who have substantiated areas and calibrate the distribution of Shahzad Masih and his pregnant wife, allegations against them of sexual aid. According to the data gathered so Shama Bibi, in their mid-20s, the com- misconduct with minors. The doc- far (online at ankawa.com), more than mission pointed out that the killing of uments are posted on the archdioc- 6,300 of the 10,353 households sur- the couple at the hands of a mob was esan website, www.archchicago.org. veyed come from the area of Qaraqosh, based on a “false accusation of blasphe- All the records pertain to incidents while 1,154 families previously lived my.” Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz that took place years or decades ago. in Mosul. The majority of the dis- Sharif described the incident as “an Fourteen of the 36 priests have died, placed—7,850 families—have found unacceptable crime” in a statement and none of them are in ministry in the refuge in Ankawa, a predominantly on Nov. 6. “A responsible state cannot Archdiocese of Chicago. The archdio- Christian suburb of Erbil. tolerate mob rule and public lynching cese released similar records pertain- with impunity,” he said. “I have directed ing to 30 other priests in January. “As Protest After Christian the Punjab [Province] chief minister we said in January, we are committed to show no mercy, and the law should to transparency with the people we Couple Murdered take its course to punish those who are serve,” Cardinal Francis E. George said Catholic leaders in Pakistan protested responsible for this act,” he told local in a statement. “We cannot change the the beating and burning on Nov. 4 of media. The couple had three children. past but we hope we can rebuild trust a young Christian couple accused of through honest and open dialogue. desecrating the Quran. “The govern- Chicago Abuse Child abuse is a crime and a sin. The ment has absolutely failed to protect its Archdiocese of Chicago is concerned citizens’ right to life,” said the National Documents Released first and foremost with bringing heal- Commission for Justice and Peace The Archdiocese of Chicago on Nov. ing to abuse victims.” of the Catholic Bishops Conference 6 released approximately 15,000 pages of Pakistan in a statement on Nov. of documents related to 36 archdioc- From CNS, RNS and other sources.

November 24 , 2014 America 11 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

dispatch | Los angeles rects it throughout the state via the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, Of Droughts and Dreams provides potable water for 25 million people. It is the largest project of its f you have been paying any atten- any other state in the nation. It is the kind in the entire world. tion to California news lately, you’ve country’s leading producer of avocados, Much of it consists of canals built Iheard about the state’s devastating broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, grapes, on fault lines. The system’s water is three-year drought: counties worth of onions, peppers, spinach and walnuts, held back by peat levees constructed farms decimated, whole towns without among other things. But faced in recent in the 1850s. Come a major earth- water and government officials propos- years with fierce competition from oth- quake—which many seismologists be- ing emergency legislation. This year has er countries, some California farmers lieve is inevitable—much or all of this been thus far the driest year California have turned away from annual yield system could very well collapse. This has known since it began keeping track crops toward higher profit nut trees would render the entire supply inac- 163 years ago. Eighty-two percent of that require far more water. Today, a cessible for as much as three years and the state faces extreme or excep- probably draw salt water from San tional drought conditions. To Francisco Bay into the system. look at satellite photos is to see California’s farmers Even today, with the levees the lush greens of 2002 turned a mostly intact, the system is able burnt outback red. have retold the story of to provide at best 60 percent of But while it is clear that politicians destroying the water it promises. (This year California is in crisis, the solu- it delivered to Southern California tions are not always the tales most their livelihoods. only 5 percent of what was expect- told. Take the situation of farm- ed.) Bob Muir, spokesperson for ers. Since Edward Mulholland the Metropolitan Water District in the 1910s first bought water-rich staggering 10 percent of the state’s total consortium, which helps provide wa- land some 250 miles to the northeast water usage goes just to grow almonds. ter to 19 million people in southern of Los Angeles to ensure the city would In other places, farmers have California, says, “The Delta is the West always have water, California’s farmers stopped growing crops altogether and Coast version of the Chesapeake Bay have told and retold the story of politi- instead sell their groundwater to their or Florida Everglades; it’s in a state of cians destroying their livelihoods. peers at 10 times the normal price. environmental collapse.” Some of those claims have a basis in “Groundwater mining” is an estimat- Governor Jerry Brown’s administra- fact. In the decades after the purchase ed $60 billion industry, and it is for tion is currently working on a $25 bil- of the Owens Valley property, much the moment completely unregulated. lion bill to fix the system by rerouting of that fertile farmland dried up. The A single farm can legally diminish the water around and under the delta. The remains of the Owens Lake is today flow of a river that runs through other plan has been debated for almost 10 one of the greatest sources of particu- properties. years. Even if it is passed soon, it won’t lates (a k a dust) in the United States. Similarly, while improving urban be completed until 2026. At a time when other towns in the re- conservation seems key to the state’s Sean Dempsey, S.J., who is complet- gion lack drinking water, the state has future, in point of fact Los Angeles to- ing a doctorate in urban history at the had to dump into the lakebed each year day uses less water per capita than al- University of Pennsylvania, notes that the equivalent of water for 400,000 most any other American city of over Los Angeles was built on the premise households simply to ensure a livable one million. And Los Angeles and San that human ingenuity could master air quality. Francisco are among the lowest per any obstacle to create a land that was Yet today some farmers are also capita water users in the state. “mythologically exceptional, the reali- exacerbating the state’s problems. The state’s most pressing issue is zation of the American dream.” California produces more food than instead the shocking fragility of a Today, in California that human major water source. The California ingenuity is taxed more than ever. But Jim McDermott, S.J., a screenwriter, is America’s Los Angeles correspondent. Twitter: State Water Project, which collects our greatest obstacle may very well be @PopCulturPriest. water in Northern California and di- ourselves. Jim McDermott

12 America November 24, 2014 from our blogs Americans to Washington: Do Something, and Leave Us Alone Robert David Sullivan Election Los Angeles: A Tale of THE LIVING WORD Two Catholics, Jim McDermott, S.J. A video reflection from Nathan Schneider on Steady Steadman Named LCWR what he learned about the Bible from Occupy Wall Director, Mary Ann Walsh, R.S.M. Street. what you are reading Is a Precipice Yawning? John W. ART O’Malley, S.J., Responds to Ross Douthat, John O’Malley, S.J. Christopher Bellito reviews an exhibit of the Crusader Bible at the Morgan Library and The Role of an Archbishop: An Inter- Museum in New York. view with Cardinal Francis George Mary Ann Walsh, R.S.M. Room for Forgiveness, Caring and PODCAST Starting Over in the Church Joseph Lingan, S.J., talks about National Vocation Mary Ann Walsh, R.S.M. Awareness Week on “America This Week” Pope Francis and the Devil on SiriusXM. Elizabeth Tenety

“Surely, we are all sinners, and none of us ‘deserves’ the Eucharist. The fact that we get to receive it anyway is simply one example of God’s innumerable gifts to us. ” — Steven Krause on Is a Precipice Yawning

November 24 , 2014 America 13 WASHINGTON FRONT Midterm Malaise n the day after the midterm istration where “reproductive rights” they can govern and those who would elections, pundits who mis- seem to be a higher priority than vot- shut down government if they don’t Ojudged the Republican wave ing rights or immigrant rights, not to get their way. The 2016 campaign is confidently explained what it meant, mention conscience rights. underway. Will Jeb Bush or Ted Cruz Democrats played blame games and President Obama is isolated, de- lead on immigration? Who sets the Republicans debated whether cooper- monized by Republicans and criticized agenda: Paul Ryan or Rand Paul? The ation or confrontation is the best way by Democrats. He needs to rediscover corporate wing or the Tea Party wing? forward. The sweeping Republican vic- his voice and passion and decide what According to exit polls, Catholics tory was shaped by history, geography he will fight for and what will be his voted again for the winning party and demography. History teaches that legacy. He needs to turn away from (54 percent Republican to 45 per- in a president’s sixth year his party suf- culture wars and focus on those who cent Democratic), but there were fers significant losses. Geography was have been left behind with- big differences among crucial since many key contests were out work, without hope This was not Hispanic and white in Republican states where President and without a champion. Catholics and between Obama is very unpopular. Demography President Obama should a vote for those who attend Mass was decisive since the electorate was be their champion and chal- weekly (55 percent smaller, older, whiter and richer than in lenge the nation and the Republicans Republican to 43 per- presidential elections. Congress to end the silence but against cent Democratic) and Other factors were at work. Voters and break the stalemate that those who do not (49 were deeply frustrated, many con- leave a fifth of our children the president percent Republican to vinced the country is on the wrong growing up poor. He should and his 50 percent Democratic). path, Washington is broken and the call on Congress to make This was a dispiriting administration lacks competence. poverty a bipartisan priori- party. campaign for Catholics Most ominous for President Obama ty and to work together to who share the priorities was not the anger of Republicans and overcome the economic and family fac- of Pope Francis. In today’s poll-tested, conservatives, but disappointment and tors that leave people poor, undermine focus-grouped, micro-targeted cam- lack of enthusiasm among African- mobility and reduce opportunity. paigns, issues of human life, human Americans, Latinos and young people, It used to be Republicans who re- dignity and common good get lost in who voted in far fewer numbers than lied on culture war issues to distract attempts to tear down opponents or needed for Democrats to win. voters, but now some G.O.P. candi- turn out the base. This was not a vote for Republicans dates say quietly they are pro-life but Polls indicate a lack of confidence but against the president and his par- then publicly say they won’t challenge in all political leaders. No party or ty. Republicans could not stop talking the status quo. Republicans, who ob- politician inspires trust. There is, how- about Obama, and many Democrats structed Obama from the outset, ben- ever, one example of a very different only raised his name to point out efited from the gridlock they created. kind of leader with high ratings who their differences. A president who They pledged to repeal Obamacare, is rebuilding trust. Pope Francis in- offered “hope and change” was trying knowing that will not happen, and sists leadership is service, acts hum- to lead at a time of fear and gridlock. offer no alternative. Republican ads bly, speaks clearly, seeks advice, builds Recycled charges of a “war on women” demonized immigrants, turning flee- bridges and reaches out to those who not only did not work, but damaged ing immigrant children and fears of are poor and vulnerable. These are not Democrats. This is a party and admin- Ebola into wedge issues. The message Washington’s ways or priorities. But to Hispanics seems to be, “We wish they might offer a better path forward you weren’t here, but since you are, for those who lead a divided, dispirited John Carr is director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at please vote for us.” The battle has be- nation in difficult times. Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. gun between those who want to show John Carr

14 America November 24, 2014

16 America November 24, 2014 Can this unique Islamic culture survive an era of absolutism? Photo: REU T ERS/ D a rre n Whit es id e Endangered Indonesia By David Pinault

y host paused with his hand on the lid as we stood before the long wooden box. “Are you ready,” he asked, “to see the ‘shawl’ of Mbah Jarik?” What awaited me in that container was a glimpse of Indonesia’s ancient THE HARD LINE. Members Muslim traditions—traditions that are syncretistic, animist-tinged, tol- of Islamic groups, including erant of other faiths and very much under attack today by puritanically the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), protest against Mminded Islamists. incoming Jakarta governor Mbah Jarik (the name means “Grandma Sarong” in Javanese) is the penunggu (literally Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, an ethnic Chinese Christian, in the “watchman” or, more generally, the “resident guardian spirit”) of a neighborhood called Jakarta on Sept. 24, 2014. Kampong Candi Badut in the east Javanese city of Malang. The “shawl,” I knew, was an an- imal that had been captured in the woods on the edge of the kampong: an area known for its freshwater spring, steep forested ravine, thick bamboo groves and numerous snakes that emerge at night to hunt for prey.

David Pinault is the director of the interdisciplinary program in Arabic, Islamic and Middle Eastern studies at Santa Clara University. His latest book is the novel Museum of Seraphs in Torment.

November 24, 2014 America 17 I nodded in response to my host’s invitation, and he re- A CULTURE UNDER THREAT. Masked dancers in trance moved the box’s lid. Coiled inside lay a 10-foot-long python. ritual at a rural penunggu (tree-spirit) shrine, in East Java, Indonesia. My guide expressed enthusiasm over its color, rippling waves of white, black and chocolate brown. “Like the patterns on a shawl,” he explained. As we spoke, the snake suddenly opened its eyes. This was one garment that was very much alive. Ular ini, I was told, adalah hewan peliharaan Mbah Jarik: This snake is Mbah Jarik’s pet. Villagers bring this python offerings of fresh flowers and chickens—the flowers to hon- or the roh or resident spirit with which the animal is asso- ciated (the spirits are nourished as they inhale the flowers’ pleasing fragrance), the meat to satisfy the snake’s more sub- stantive appetites. Several villagers told me of dreams in which they saw Mbah Jarik “wearing her shawl,” appearing to the dreamer with a python draped about her neck. They explained to me that penunggu-penunggu (guardian spirits) like Mbah Jarik typically take up residence in local trees (often banyans) and will protect the locality’s human community as long as hu- mans show her honor by doing no unnecessary violence to the kampong’s river, vegetation or wildlife. (When I asked about the propriety of caging a snake, I was told Mbah Jarik would cause it to escape back into the jungle if it were not treated respectfully.) Pak Warto, the python’s keeper, is also the orang ketua or headman of Kampong Candi Badut. The neighborhood’s population is almost entirely Muslim; but the locality’s most famous monument, Candi Badut, is an eighth-century Hindu temple. Still visible as one tours the site are the re- mains of statuary, like a multi-armed figure of the warrior ed with the Defenders Front have launched campaigns of goddess Durga. intimidation—raiding villages at night, cutting down trees What I found especially intriguing about this site is that associated with penunggu veneration and denouncing wor- it is still very much in use by the Muslims of the local kam- shippers as kafir (infidels) andmusyrik (polytheists). pong. Pak Warto, the village headman, python-minder and These tactics are characteristic of the F.P.I., which began intermediary between the communities of humans and na- in 1998, as President Suharto’s dictatorial regime disinte- ture-spirits, visits this temple to make offerings whenever a grated and Indonesia’s emergent democracy opened up space moment of crisis arises in the kampong. As a local Javanese for long-suppressed Islamist movements. The F.P.I.’s website Catholic priest explained to me when we toured the site to- announces the group’s purpose: Pelayan ummat dan pembela gether, “These villagers know that over a thousand years ago, agama—“service to the community of believers and defense holy people lived and prayed here and left a lingering influ- of the faith.” A flashing headline reads, “Allah is our goal; ence that makes this a special, sacred place.” Muhammad is our model; the Quran is our guiding text”— echoing Article 5 of the Covenant of Hamas, the Gaza- Islamic Defenders based Palestinian group that grew out of Egypt’s Muslim To this day, pre-Islamic temples and sacred forests through- Brotherhood. The F.P.I.’s mission statement concludes, “Jihad out east Java attract worshippers of many faiths. At such is our path of struggle; a martyr’s death is our hope.” sites I have met Javanese Catholics, Hindus and Muslims. For the Islamic Defenders Front, jihad entails a campaign Villagers pray before certain trees, where indwelling spirits to Islamicize Indonesian society. The group first gained na- expedite their petitions to God. tional attention for its vigilante attacks on nightclub cus- But folk customs like these have drawn the anger of the tomers, prostitutes and bancis (transgender people). It won Front Pembela Islam, the Islamic Defenders Front, also further notoriety by protesting a concert by Lady Gaga. known by its Indonesian acronym F.P.I. Militants affiliat- Indonesian fans had purchased over 50,000 advance tickets

18 America November 24, 2014 outdoor prayer service in West Java. But the F.P.I. is not the only Islamist organization active in Indonesia. On a recent visit I stopped by the Javanese village of Tenggulun and the grave of Amrozi Nurhasyim. A mem- ber of the militant group Jemaah Islamiyah, Amrozi (along with his brother Ali Gufron) was executed for his role in the nightclub bombings in Bali in 2002 that killed 202 tourists and Indonesians. Friends had told me Amrozi’s grave has

Photo: david p ina u lt Photo: david become a pilgrimage site for Islamists; and in fact a number of young Muslim men thronged the burial ground when I was there.

Free From ‘Foreign’ Influence One of the young men proved to be Amrozi’s nephew. Conversation with him led to an invitation to visit his family’s home. There I met two of the Bali bombers’ older brothers, Ja‘far al-Shadiq and Hajji Muhammad Chozin. The two brothers are influential in Tenggulun and the surrounding region: besides being Hajj-guides (who lead groups of Indonesian pilgrims annually to Mecca), they also are senior instructors at a local pesantren (Islamic boarding school). I spoke for hours with Hajji Muhammad during a hot, waterless afternoon during Ramadan. He identified himself explicitly as a Wahhabi, claiming proudly that Wahhabism is the Masks and food offerings used in trance rituals at rural only form of Islam that is “free of penunggu any influence from culture” and that comes directly from the sev- for a performance enth-century prophet of Islam in Jakarta scheduled himself. (He did not mention for June 2012, but that Wahhabism has its own threats of violence cultural context and historical by F.P.I. leaders led moment of origin, a moment her to cancel the that came well after the time of show. F.P.I. mem- the prophet Muhammad: the bers thronged the mid-18th century, when the re- capital’s streets with former Ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab be- signs reading, “Allah, gan preaching in central Arabia.) protect me from the Hajji Muhammad Chozin temptation of Satan condemned the folk Islam I Gaga, the accursed!” had been investigating (with its The F.P.I. casts a wide net. Its members also engage in tree-spirits and sacred snakes) because of what he called violence against adherents of the Ahmadiyah, a sect widely its “contamination” by Javanese culture—by pre-Islamic loathed in Muslim countries for its belief that prophecy did Hinduism, Buddhism and animism. Contamination like not end with the death of Muhammad. F.P.I. militants fre- this, he complained, taints all too many Muslim practices quently target Christian churches (sometimes setting them in Java. afire) and warn of the nation’s imminent “Christianization.” Unsure of what kind of response I would get, I asked In 2011 F.P.I. members were sentenced to jail terms of only a his opinion of the Bali bombing, for which his two younger few months after being convicted of stabbing a pastor of the brothers had been executed. He not only admitted their re- Batak Protestant Church and assaulting worshippers at an sponsibility and leadership roles in this act of terrorism, but

November 24, 2014 America 19

expressed pride in their actions. Islamist ideology threatens to destroy the traditional Java he Asked how, as an Islamic scholar and educator, he could loves. justify such violence, he cited the Quranic phrase al-amr Overshadowing Indonesia’s Islamist politics in recent bi’l-ma‘ruf wa-al-nahy ‘an al-munkar (“the promotion of vir- months has been the violent success of the Islamic State. In tue and the prevention of vice,” a phrase that is also used August 2014 members of Jakarta’s National Counterterrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan by Taliban apologists). The Agency met to discuss what local Indonesian news sources phrase recurs frequently in Islamic scripture, sometimes in described as “the growing domestic support for the Islamic the context of God’s granting believers permission to engage State of Iraq and the Levant.” in combat after they have experienced persecution and the rejection of their message. Fighting for the Islamic State Hajji Muhammad emphasized that the “prevention of Dozens of young Indonesian Muslims already have gone to vice” should be accomplished peacefully, if at all possible; vi- Iraq to fight for the Islamic State. In July, as reported by The olence is only a last resort, in the case of repeated rejections Jakarta Post, some 500 adherents of a Javanese group called of Allah’s message, which led him to the 2002 Bali bombings Ansharul Khilafah (“those who help bring about the caliph- engineered by his younger brothers. The nightclubs targeted ate’s victory”) gathered in Malang to pledge their bay‘at (oath in these blasts were sinkholes of vice, and their proprietors of allegiance) to the self-proclaimed the Islamic State caliph had disregarded all warnings, all preachings. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. And what precisely, I asked, had the disco-dancers been Mainstream Islamic organizations in Indonesia have con- guilty of? demned the Islamic State. But the response by the Islamic Mereka berpesta, he replied promptly: “They were partying.” Defenders Front—whose members I encountered in east Such actions, he explained, violated Shariah law and Islamic Java—has been more ambivalent. scripture, which explicitly condemn frivolous behavior. In August 2014 its Indonesian-language website issued a Accompanying me on this visit was a good friend, a young “proclamation concerning ISIS.” Without ever explicitly criti- Javanese Muslim who managed to maintain his courtesy and cizing the Islamic State, the F.P.I. deplored “all forms of sectar- deference to Hajji Muhammad throughout our interview. But ian warfare and violence among fellow Muslims caused by dif- as soon as we left, my friend voiced his bitterness at how this ferences in denominational identity” as well as “the killing or oppression of non-combatant civilians”—atrocities for which the Islamic State has become notorious. But the difference between the Islamic State and Indonesia’s F.P.I. seems tactical rather than ideological. In a “me too” tone that suggests anxiety about losing popularity to a fellow Islamist group, the Islamic Defenders’ website reminds read- ers that “the F.P.I. remains committed to the struggle to estab- lish Islamic Shariah law in the most comprehensive way in Indonesia” and that it also “remains committed to encouraging all Islamic jihad movements throughout the world in resisting all forms of tyranny imposed by the Global Hegemony/New Imperialism, in order to form a worldwide Islamic caliphate in accordance with the exemplary lifestyle of the Prophet” Muhammad. The website’s final suggestion is that Abu Bakr al-Bagh- dadi’s Islamic State troops join with Aiman al-Zawahiri’s Al Qaeda militants in order to “become united and act as broth- ers, in concert with all Muslim holy warriors throughout the world.” The F.P.I.’s activities to date—burning churches, stabbing pastors, persecuting minorities, imposing a Shariah- minded notion of public morals—offer a taste of what caliph- ate life would be like in Indonesia. Given this situation, Indonesia is fortunate in having elect- ed as its new president Joko Widodo, a man who already has demonstrated a commitment to religious pluralism and com- munal harmony. He will have his work cut out for him. A

22 America November 24, 2014 Revisionist Islam The origins of a modern nightmare in Iraq and Syria By Patrick J. Ryan

egel remarks somewhere that all great When was the idea of a caliphate first conceived? Events world-historic facts and personages appear, that occurred on the date Muhammad died—June 8, 632— so to speak, twice,” Karl Marx notes in lie at the root of the great divide between Sunnis and Shiites The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon in the Muslim world to the present day. Muhammad’s ‘H(1852). “He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the sec- son-in-law and first cousin, ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, as well oth- ond time as farce.” Entirely too many protagonists of both er members of Muhammad’s patrilineage, took charge of tragedy and farce have made their appearance lately in the the hasty burial of the prophet, having wrested the corpse Muslim world. In eastern Syria and western Iraq over the away from Muhammad’s distraught youngest wife, ‘A’isha. last few months a violent military force has materialized While the prophet’s blood relatives busied themselves with calling itself the Islamic State, formerly known as ISIS, or the funeral arrangements, two of Muhammad’s senior lieu- the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Currently in its tragic tenants, Abu Bakr (‘A’isha’s father) and ‘Umar, devoted their phase, the farce is yet to come, now that ISIS claims to be attention instead to preventing possible secession from the the Sunni Caliphate, the rule of the Islamic world by the Medina-based Muslim community. Indigenous Medinans caliphs or successors of Muhammad. had grown restive under Meccan domination after the year 622. By the end of the day on which Muhammad died, Patrick J. Ryan, S.J., is the McGinley Professor of Religion and Society Abu Bakr, with the able assistance of ‘Umar, had pacified

at Fordham University in New York City. the Medinans and secured for himself the undefined role of C N S p hoto/R eu t ers via R TV building the Caliphate. Members of a group linked to Islamic State militants published a video on the Internet on Sept. 22 claiming responsibility for the kidnapping of Hervé Gourdel of Nice, France.

November 24, 2014 America 23 caliph (khalifa), successor of God’s messenger or even possi- Deputies for God? bly deputy for God. Thus began the Sunni caliphate, which Later generations of Sunni Muslims, for religious and politi- despite several centuries of eclipse in the second millenni- cal reasons, have agreed to describe all the first four caliphs as um, continued to exist in theory, if not in fact, until the early righteous, but several of the caliphs involved held much more 20th century. critical views of one another. The Sunni caliphate, then, be- Abu Bakr died a natural death two years after his ac- gan as a dream, hard to define, and gradually developed into a clamation as caliph; he was the only one of “the four righ- nightmare. Even the meaning of caliphate was disputed early teous caliphs,” as later Sunni Muslim piety calls them, to on. Were the caliphs, whether virtuous or villainous, deputies die peacefully. ‘Umar ruled in succession to Abu Bakr with for God like Adam, called God’s khalifa in the Quran (2:30)? vigor for 10 years but Or were they merely suc- eventually died at the hand cessors of Muhammad in of an assassin in 644. No Rejecting the Sunni caliphate, his role as head of state, but pattern had been set for not in his role as prophet? the election of a caliph Shiite Muslims hold that men This argument raged in the by the first two caliphs; if directly descended from ‘Ali and dynasty descended from anything, it would seem Mu‘awiya that ruled from that Abu Bakr and ‘Umar Fatima were meant to rule the Damascus between 661 had agreed between them and 750. that the elder should suc- Islamic community as imams from Mu‘awiya restored a cer- ceed the Prophet first tain calm to Syria in the and the younger wait his the time of Muhammad’s death. largest sense of the word: turn. While he was dying, today’s Syria, Lebanon, ‘Umar appointed a consultative committee (shura’) of six Israel, Palestine and Jordan. He ruled this territory fairly older Meccans to pick his successor. It is paradoxical that well over the next two decades, at first relying (until about in the 20th century this gerontocratic committee has been the year 700) on Christian Syrian civil servants like St. John suggested as an Islamic model for democracy, so-called shu- of Damascus, people who knew how to handle the necessary rocracy. paper work. John of Damascus famously criticized the icono- One of the consultants appointed to the committee clasm of the Byzantine emperors of the early eighth century; was ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib; another was a weaker figure named his ability to do so safely owed not a little to the fact that he ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan, a man whose Meccan family was well lived within the borders of the Damascus-based caliphate. connected in the Arab trading communities already plying When Mu‘awiya’s self-indulgent son Yazid succeeded the Syrian trade routes for several generations. At the meet- him in 680 as caliph (an arrangement Mu‘awiya had insisted ing of the consultative committee, ‘Ali would not commit on at the beginning of his reign), Husayn, ‘Ali’s younger son himself to the continuance of policies initiated by Abu Bakr by Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad, led an abortive re- and ‘Umar, so the more pliable ‘Uthman succeeded ‘Umar volt against Yazid that ended with the slaughter of Husayn and ruled the burgeoning Muslim empire from Medina for and his immediate family on the field of Karbala in Iraq. 12 years until his own assassination in 656. Finally, much Shiite Muslims find in the assassination of ‘Ali in 656 and later than he had hoped, ‘Ali was elected caliph to succeed the martyrdom of Husayn in 680 the emotive symbolic cen- ‘Uthman. ter of their version of Islam. Rejecting the Sunni caliphate, Influential relatives of ‘Uthman, and especially his cous- Shiite Muslims hold that men directly descended from ‘Ali in, the governor based in Damascus, Mu‘awiya, were never and Fatima were meant to rule the Islamic community as satisfied that ‘Ali had done enough to prosecute ‘Uthman’s imams from the time of Muhammad’s death. assassins, at least some of whom had cheered the accession Shiites even maintain that Muhammad himself had des- of ‘Ali to the caliphate. One year after his election, ‘Ali and ignated ‘Ali as his heir-apparent some months before the his partisans fought a major battle with the army com- Prophet’s death. The full theory of the Shiite imamate only manded by Mu‘awiya in Syria. ‘Ali’s army splintered into evolved after the death of the 11th in that line around the more and less rigorist Muslims, the latter calling for a ne- year 870; a putative infant 12th imam was supposedly hid- gotiated peace with Mu‘awiya and the former insisting on den away until his partisans could ready the world to receive fighting Mu‘awiya until death. Unable any more to main- him and his rule worthily. Shiite military commanders of- tain his authority in Medina and basically outmaneuvered ten seized power in the territories of the Sunni caliphate on in negotiations with Mu‘awiya, ‘Ali withdrew from Syria to the premise that they represented the 12th imam until he Kufa in Iraq where he in turn was assassinated in 661. should reappear. The Ayatollah Khomeini from 1979, and

24 America November 24, 2014 his less riveting successor, ‘Ali Khamanei, after 1989, are only tan, Selim the Grim, having conquered Egypt, arrogated to the most recent of such self-proclaimed representatives of himself the title of caliph. In the 19th century, this shadow the hidden 12th imam. caliphate took on some flesh for a while as the Ottoman sul- The Umayyad Sunni caliphate begun by Mu‘awiya in tans parried with the Russian czars as respective protectors Damascus drifted from dream into nightmare in the eighth of the Muslim minorities in the Russian empire and the century and was toppled in 750 by insurgents of a lineage Orthodox Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire. descended from ‘Abbas, an uncle of Muhammad, and thus The secularist founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal called the ‘Abbasids. Even though they did not adhere to Atatürk, abolished the Ottoman sultanate in 1922 and the what was developing as the Shiite interpretation of Islamic shadow caliphate in 1924. rule, centered on the lineage descended from ‘Ali and Fatima, The caliphate as mirage has loomed once again on the the ‘Abbasids began by claiming to represent Muhammad’s horizon during the last few months along the borders of family, even if they were not really descendants of ‘Ali and Syria and Iraq. This mirage is not likely to last very long, Fatima or willing to hand over actual power to any of ‘Ali’s but much blood has been shed already and still more will heirs. The black flags of the marauders calling themselves the be shed before the mirage evaporates. Unlike the caliph- Islamic State today—like the black flags flown in Fallujah ates that reigned between the seventh and the 13th centu- more than a decade ago by the Sunni allies of Saddam ries, this new caliphate persecutes and kills non-Muslim Hussein—recall the pretense of the ‘Abbasid rulers to be minorities (Christians, Yazidis) and non-Arab minorities mourning for Muhammad’s family while they were grabbing (Kurds, Turkmen). Sunni Muslims from Syria and Iraq, power for themselves. Power soon corrupted the ‘Abbasid many of them former partisans of Saddam Hussein and caliphs, who developed a taste for luxury in the new capital the secularist Baath party, serve as the principal agents of of the caliphate they had constructed in Iraq, Baghdad. the new Islamic State, rebelling against the domination of Iraq and its historical Sunni capital, Baghdad, by Shiites, Rise of the Sultans and the dominance of Syria and Damascus by the minority More and more reliant as time passed on mercenary non-Ar- ‘Alawites. Saddam Hussein’s government was not notably ab soldiery, by the middle of the ninth century the ‘Abbasid religious in its orientation, but it proved particularly un- caliphs had begun to delegate much power to these army friendly to the Shiite majority in that country. Iraq as we commanders. By the middle of the 11th century military know it has little history before modern times. It was created commanders, supposedly servants of the caliphate, deposed by Winston Churchill in one of his moments of supreme Sunni caliphs as they deemed necessary, and little semblance hubris as colonial secretary, when he drew lines with a ruler remained of the ideal of the caliph either as God’s deputy or on a map of the defunct Ottoman Empire, as he described as a successor to the messenger of God. Increasingly, many of it, “one afternoon in Cairo in 1921.” the military commanders, now called sultans, were not even Arabs or Sunnis, but Persian and Turkic Shiites. The night- An Unrealistic Vision mare of the dominated caliphate had replaced the dream of When I was teaching Islamic studies in Ghana more than caliphal rule on behalf of God or on behalf of God’s messen- 30 years ago, I had to contend with a Muslim colleague to ger. Al-Ravandi, a Persian historian writing about the polit- include in the curriculum the history of Islam after the era ical situation of the Seljuk sultanate in the late 12th century, of the idealized first four caliphs. I fear that many of those when one caliph tried to assert his independence against now traveling from overseas to join up in the struggle for the his military overlord, notes that the sultan’s plenipotentiary Islamic State know very little about the history of Islam and minister took the caliph to task: “The caliphs should busy adhere to the unrealistic ideal vision of the four righteous themselves with sermons and prayers, which serve to protect caliphs. It is reliably reported that not a few of the European worldly monarchs and are the best of deeds and the greatest and American Muslims who have volunteered to join this of activities. They should entrust kingship to the sultans and army of the restored caliphate bought copies of Islam for leave the government of the world to this sultan.” Dummies from Amazon.com before they left for the bat- The Mongol warlord Hulagu Khan, the grandson of tlefront. Such ignorance may be bliss for unhappy Muslims Chingiz (Genghis) Khan and the brother of Kublai Khan, nurtured in the West, but it spells disaster for most of the swept down from Central Asia and conquered Baghdad in people, Muslim and non-Muslim, who live in Syria and Iraq 1258, beheading the last ‘Abbasid caliph. The nightmare of today. It has become increasingly obvious that the major the caliphate ended, and the farce commenced in the shape Western powers, some of them active participants in the de- of a puppet dynasty sponsored by the self-ruling military struction of the past tyrannies in a more secular Iraq and a slaves (Mamluks) who dominated Egypt from the 13th more secular Syria, will now have to return to put down the century on. It was not until 1517 that the Ottoman sul- havoc caused by the dogs of war they have let slip. A

November 24, 2014 America 25 Closer to Communion What the patriarchates mean for today’s church By John R. Quinn

he fact that before the year A.D. 325, synods The Council of Nicaea mentions four sees as having were held everywhere in the church demon- a certain pre-eminence: Rome, Alexandria, Antioch and strates that the bishops realized, as the author Jerusalem, which in the canon is called Aelia. Alexandria is Msgr. Michael Magee put it, that “no bishop was the only one mentioned that has a specific territory identi- Tentitled to exercise his office in isolation from the common fied. Canon 7 makes it clear that the bishop of Jerusalem good of all the Churches, or from his brothers in the epis- did not have “the dignity proper to the metropolitan,” but copacy.” Bishops understood that their judgments and acts it is not clear that the authority of the bishops of Rome were not the private acts of an autocrat. They were the judg- and Antioch extended at that time to a whole civil diocese. ments and acts of a bishop in communion. The monarchical Nevertheless, the reality later known as the patriarchal of- episcopate—in the sense of a single bishop in each church— fice was making its appearance in the case of Alexandria. In had become universal during the second century. And with the case of Rome, the bishop of Rome did exercise authority this development, synods provided a counterweight to ex- in central and southern Italy and the Italian islands. This cesses in the exercise of episcopal authority by an individual was comparable to the authority exercised by the bishops of bishop in his local church. Alexandria and Antioch. The Council of Nicaea, however, shows that there was At this point (the early fourth century), what role did the still a further development underway. A structure that would protos, called the archbishop, play in these groupings com- include more than one metropolitan province was taking prising several provinces? He presided at the regional synods shape. And so we read in Canon 6 of Nicaea I, “The ancient and ordained all the metropolitans. But what principle lay customs of Egypt, Libya and Pentapolis shall be maintained, behind this structural development? according to which the bishop of Alexandria has authori- It was not a drive toward conformity within civil territori- ty over all these places, since a similar custom exists with al boundaries. We know this because Alexandria, which had reference to the bishop of Rome. Similarly in Antioch and authority over several metropolitan provinces, belonged to the other provinces the prerogatives of the churches are to the civil jurisdiction of Antioch. What lay behind this whole be preserved.” Two things should be noted, however: The development was a movement toward ever-increasing unity, Council of Nicaea does not use the term patriarch, which unifying the churches around a center. And the center was de- was only to develop later. And the council did not create the termined not so much by its civil prominence as by the fact patriarchal structure. Rather, it refers to this arrangement of that the center had been the origin of the other churches that several provinces under the authority of a protos as already shared its theology, spirituality and liturgy. Unity and com- an “ancient” custom. munion lay behind the development of these larger groupings. The position of most scholars is that Canon 6 is talking Canon 6 of the Council of Nicaea, then, is a recapitula- about what later was called a patriarchate and not just a large tion and a description of church order. The council did not metropolitan province. The patriarchate consisted of several create or originate that order. It affirms that what would lat- provinces with their metropolitan bishops. It was, therefore, er be called the “patriarchal” ordering of the church was an the prerogative of the bishop of Alexandria to ordain the “ancient” tradition in regard to Alexandria. Msgr. Michael metropolitans of Egypt, Libya and Pentapolis. In this pre- Magee maintains that it was the liturgical and spiritual tra- rogative of ordaining the metropolitans lay the basis for the ditions that gave rise to the patri­arch­ates and that these, title patriarch: the bishop of Alexandria was the father of therefore, belong to the very definition of the patriarchate. the other fathers, the first father. However, other scholars see the origins of the patriarchates also in the recognition that, in larger territories, there had to Most Rev. John R. Quinn, now retired, was archbishop of Oklahoma be a protos (a head or first bishop) to serve the needs of order City and San Francisco. He served as president of the National Conference and communion among the churches. In fact, the first pre- of Catholic Bishops and taught at Santa Clara University, the University rogative of the protos mentioned in the Council of Nicaea is of San Diego and the University of San Francisco. This article is adapted from his book Ever Ancient, Ever New: Structures of Communion in the administrative act of confirming the election of bishops the Church (Paulist Press). in the province.

26 America November 24, 2014 A brother’s embrace. Pope Francis greets Metropolitan John of Pergamon, head of the Orthodox delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Closer to Communion Constantinople, at the Vatican on June 29. u l H a r ing C N S p hoto/Pa

The patriarchal ordering of the church has endured in Empire. But in the first millennium, there was a distinct the Eastern Orthodox churches and in six of the Eastern difference between the way the popes exercised authority in Catholic churches, namely the Coptic, Melkite, Syrian, the western half of the Empire and the way they exercised Maronite, Armenian and Chaldean churches. In the Latin it in the eastern half. For instance, the popes appointed the Catholic Church, the only patriarchate has been Rome. bishops of Thessalonica as their vicars in the easternmost There were, in the first-millennium West, great metropoli- part of the western empire but never attempted anything tan churches, like Carthage in Africa or Arles in France. But like that in the eastern patriarchates. This fact is one of the the gathering of several metropolitan churches into a larg- reasons for describing the exercise of authority by the bish- er structure, a patriarchate, did not develop in the Western op of Rome as patriarchal in the western half of the empire, church. The only see functioning as a patriarchate was as distinguished from his exercise of truly papal authority Rome. For many centuries, the pope had the title “Patriarch in matters concerning the whole church, like essential ques- of the West.” But Pope Benedict suppressed that title in tions of doctrine. 2006. While it is not entirely clear why he did this, we do But after the separation between the East and the West— know that both Joseph Ratzinger, as a theology professor, usually placed around the year 1054—the popes exercised and Yves Congar, O.P., had raised serious questions about authority only in the West. Consequently, there was no lon- whether the pope could function in any really effective way ger any basis for a distinction between the patriarchal and as patriarch of the West in the modern world. the papal exercise of authority. The result was that the exer- cise of papal authority in the whole Latin Catholic Church Exercising Papal Authority had the characteristics of patriarchal administration; in the As we have seen, the Council of Nicaea affirmed that the second millennium, this developed into a centralized papal bishop of Rome did have authority extending beyond the monarchy. limits of his province; and over the course of the first mil- With the discovery of the New World in the 15th cen- lennium, this authority of the pope came to be recognized tury and the missionary expansion of the Latin Catholic as extending over the whole western half of the Roman Church in the 16th century and later, the patriarchal kind

November 24, 2014 America 27 of papal government was gradually extended over the world- that both Father Congar and Father Ratzinger included the wide Catholic Church, bringing with it uniformity of litur- administrative dimension in their understanding of the pa- gical language and practice, the choice and appointment of triarchal office. What is to be said, then, regarding their ob- all bishops by the pope and the appointment of papal dele- servations about the need for new patriarchates on the basis gates in all countries where the Catholic Church had been of the fact that the present Latin Catholic Church, which planted. So in practice there was no longer any distinction comprises such a large portion of the globe, is increasingly between the patriarchal and the papal functions of the bish- unmanageable as a single patriarchal division? Both these ops of Rome. theologians saw the weaknesses of what Father Ratzinger While the separation between the East and the West, called “extreme centralization” when such a vast and diverse and the missionary expansion beyond Europe, increasingly territory is involved. blurred the distinction between patriarchal and papal roles It is an administrative problem because it is self-evident of the pope, another development was taking place that that a central authority cannot, in fact, adequately know and served to underline the difference between these roles of the understand such vast and diverse cultures and territories. bishop of Rome. Since the 12th century, when a group of Cardinal Stephen Fumio Hamao of Japan, who had stud- Eastern Christians called Maronites formally reconfirmed ied in Rome and later (after being bishop of Yokohama) their communion with served for some years in Rome, there have been the Roman Curia, point- communities of Eastern The establishment of new ed out in an interview that Catholics who have con- “most people in the Roman tinued to use their tradi- patriarchal structures in the Latin Curia are European- and tional liturgy and language American-minded. They and have continued to have Catholic Church could be a way of cannot understand the a certain autonomy in the solving ‘extreme centralization.’ mentality of East Asia and election of their patriarchs. the Far East.” Having had The number and variety the experience of teach- of such relatively autono­mous churches in communion with ing Latin to the crown prince of Japan, the cardinal said, the See of Peter increased as a result of the efforts of Latin speaking of Rome’s encouraging of the use of Latin, “It is Catholic missionaries to bring groups of Eastern Orthodox impossible for Asians…. That is European-centered. It is Christians into communion with Rome. Others, like the too much!” Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, on their own initiative There is no principle or doctrine of Catholic faith, nor entered into visible communion with Rome. The presence any canonical provision that prevents the establishment of of all these Eastern churches in the Catholic Church shows new patriarchal structures in the Latin Catholic Church clearly that there is indeed a difference between the pope’s along the lines of the Eastern Catholic patriarchal church- exercise of patriarchal authority over the Latin Church, es. Creation of such structures could be a way of solving where he appoints all the bishops and exercises other ad- “extreme centralization.” This would not only promote the ministrative authority, and his exercise of papal authority inculturation of the Gospel but would, as well, open up a over the Eastern Catholic churches in communion with more effective way for evangelization. The bishops of Japan, Rome. This distinction has been made even more explicit for instance, have said for many decades that their inability by the promulgation of the Code of Canons of the Eastern to attract many converts is due to the fact that they are made Churches, in which the relative autonomy of these churches to present Christ with a Western face. is upheld. The Second Vatican Council explicitly noted the link be- It is not surprising, then, that Father Ratzinger would tween the modern episcopal conference and the ancient pa- write, “Unity of faith is the pope’s function; this does not triarchates. How such structures might function in practice prohibit independent administrative agencies like the an- and what safeguards would be necessary to ensure Catholic cient patriarch­ates.” And he went on to say: “The extreme unity not only with Rome but among such different coun- centralization of the Catholic Church is due not simply to tries and cultures themselves could fruitfully be the subject the Petrine office but to its being confused with the patriar- of a carefully prepared deliberative papal synod. This might chal function which the bishop of Rome gradually assumed include not only an examination of the history of patriarchal over the whole of Latin Christianity. Uniformity of church structures in the church, their strengths and weaknesses, but law and liturgy and the appointment of bishops by Rome would necessarily envision how bishops would need to be arose from a close union of these two offices. In the future prepared for such new structures in order to function effec- they should be more clearly distinguished.” It is evident, then, tively in them. A

28 America November 24, 2014 Vatican Dispatch Good Stewards ou know that I am preparing hours with them and delivered an in- most profound sense, is a way of mak- an encyclical on ecology; be spiring speech that is being described ing history, and that is what the grass- ‘Yassured that your concerns as a miniature social encyclical, in roots movements are doing.” will be present in it,” Pope Francis told which he supported their fight for He emphasized the need for agri- 150 representatives of grassroots move- “land, housing and work.” Aware that cultural reform and the right of every ments from 80 countries when he met some criticize him for touching such family to have a home of their own. with them in the Vatican on Oct. 28. issues, he remarked: “It’s strange; but if He denounced the great neglect of As pastor in Buenos Aires, he knew I speak about this, for some the pope is “millions of our brothers and sisters” the potential of such movements, and a Communist. They don’t understand in large cities where “we build towers, when elected pope he invited two that love for the poor is at the heart of malls and businesses, but abandon the of their representatives—from the the Gospel.” parts where the marginalized reside— wastepaper-pickers’ organization (car- “I want to unite my voice with yours the peripheries.” toneros) and the shanty towns—to be in this fight,” he told these He denounced the present at his inauguration ceremony. leaders from different reli- economic system that Convinced that excluded people, gions, cultures and coun- Excluded “needs to plunder nature when organized in grassroots move- tries. He hailed the meeting to sustain a frenetic lev- ments, can be motors of social change, as “a great sign” because they people can el of consumption,” that Francis wants the church to listen to came “in the presence of causes climatic changes them and to explore ways to network God, and of the church” to be motors with negative effects es- and accompany them in their struggles speak about “a reality that is of social pecially on the poor. He for social justice. often silenced. The poor not pointed to rising unem- One year ago, he asked the only suffer injustice, they change. ployment that deprives Pontifical Council for Justice and also fight against it.” people of their dignity Peace, headed by Cardinal Peter He assured them that the and said, “We must put Turkson, in liaison with the Pontifical issues they are concerned about—land, the human person at the center of our Academy for Social Sciences, led by food, housing, work, peace, ecology, ex- whole social and economic system.” Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, to ploitation, oppression, human traffick- Speaking of “peace and ecology,” invite them to the Vatican. ing—will be present in his encyclical Francis said, “There cannot be land, The meeting on Oct. 29-30 on ecology. That encyclical, he revealed housing or work if we don’t have peace, brought together leaders of grassroots on the flight back from Korea, will be “a if we destroy the planet.” These issues movements from all continents, rep- magisterial document” that focuses on cannot be left in the hands of the pol- resenting organizations of increasing- “the essentials that we can affirm with iticians alone; the people and their ly excluded social sectors, including assurance.” It will be published in 2015. organizations must also speak up, he workers in precarious employment He encouraged these leaders to said. conditions, the unemployed, the peas- work together, saying, “Solidarity João Pedro Stédile, a leader of the ants, the landless, indigenous peoples, means to think and act in terms of Sem Terra movement in Brazil, praised those at risk from agricultural specu- the community” and “to fight against Francis’ “great contribution” and his lation, those living in the peripheries, the structural causes of poverty, in- affirming agrarian reform “not only migrants and displaced peoples. equality, unemployment, and [loss of ] as an economic and political problem Pope Francis spent almost two land, housing, social and labor rights.” but also a moral one.” But the most It means “to confront the destructive important thing is the symbolism, he effects of the ‘Empire of Money’”— said: “No pope has ever organized a Gerard O’Connell is America’s Rome namely “forcible displacements, migra- gathering of this kind with the social correspondent. America’s Vatican coverage is sponsored in part by the Jesuit communities of tions, human and drug trafficking, war, movements.” the United States. Twitter: @gerryorome. violence.” Solidarity, “understood in its Gerard O’Connell

November 24 , 2014 America 29 FAITH IN FOCUS Finding Forgiveness One man’s jouney from death row to a new life By Camille D’Arienzo n June 11, 2001, the U.S. prison and, eventually, into my life. In Government executed the 15 years since that introduction, OTimothy McVeigh in the annual visits, occasional phone calls federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, and many letters have brought us to- Ind. Six years earlier, on the morning gether and fashioned our friendship. of April 19, 1995, the ex-Army soldier I first visited David in a penitentiary and security guard had parked a rent- in Allenwood, Pa., and brought along a ed Ryder truck in front of the Alfred friend. As our visit progressed, David P. Murrah Federal Building in down- poured out his town Oklahoma City. Inside that vehi- sorrow for his cle was a bomb. At precisely 9:02 a.m., many crimes. the bomb exploded, killing 168 people I asked David, and injuring several hundred more. who was not At Terre Haute, in the cell adjoining Catholic, if he McVeigh’s was David Paul Hammer, a knew about man sentenced to die for killing a cell- confession. He mate. Both inmates were intelligent. said he did— McVeigh had been an altar boy; David from the mov- was preparing to become a Catholic. ies—and he However, each man held different re- wanted to en- actions to his own crime. McVeigh was gage in a con- not remorseful; David was. versation about forgiveness. I excused I learned of David’s repentance when myself and he and my friend, a laicized he first contacted me in December priest, spent an hour talking. 1998. He was then facing an execution A few months later, when David date of Jan. 14, 1999. His letter, in- had been relocated to the U.S. Federal spired by a story the Associated Press penitentiary in Terre Haute, he was ran describing my opposition to the inspired and encouraged by bi-weekly death penalty, contained this sentence: visits from Sister Rita Clare Gerardot, “I am looking for someone to serve as a a Sister of Providence. One night Christmas cards by David Hammer spiritual guide for the remaining weeks David called to tell me he had decided of my life and to pray for me and for to become a Catholic. “Why?” I asked. shift altar was beautifully prepared. my victim...whom I killed in prison.” He replied, “Because the people in my That day I became David’s godmother. Over the following months I had life who have shown me the greatest Sister Rita Clare was also there, along become aware of the man’s past—his kindness have been Catholics, and I with three other inmates. David was re- miserable childhood, his dependency want to die one of you.” quired to remain in a caged area during on drugs, the crimes that led him to On Oct. 27, 2000, at David’s re- the Mass. The archbishop anointing quest, Archbishop Daniel Buechlein David through the cage’s food slot Camille D’Arienzo, R.S.M., a radio com- came from Indianapolis to confirm was deeply moving, as was David’s mentator and writer based in New York City, is David at a private Mass on death row. reception of his First Eucharist. I felt a member of the Sisters of Mercy of the Institute of the Americas. A Christmas card order form is He wore the vestments appropriate for the truth of “We, being many, are one available from [email protected]. a service in the cathedral. The make- Bread.” Perhaps, above all, David had

30 America November 24, 2014 come to believe in God’s absolute love in Philadelphia. His presence in the and desire to forgive all who repent. courtroom via Skype allowed him to As McVeigh’s execution date ap- observe the proceedings but not to proached, David tried to convince participate in them. McVeigh of that belief. He spoke to David’s excellent attorney had McVeigh of the need to express sor- summoned several of his family mem- row and ask forgiveness of the victims’ bers to testify to the vast changes in families. That did not happen. his character and behavior. Except for After McVeigh’s execution, I trav- his relatives, I was probably the wit- eled from Queens, N.Y., to Terre ness who knew David most intimately, Haute to visit David. His nearest having served as a spiritual guide for neighbor was gone, and he felt sorrow 14 years. I spent several hours on the at having failed to convince McVeigh witness stand over two days, being to express remorse. The reality of the questioned by the defense and prose- possibility of his own death by lethal cution. injection weighed heavily on him. At 56, David is a far cry from the David was depressed. He judged the abused, violent 19-year-old drug ad- whole of his life by his failure to influ- dict who had received a sentence of ence McVeigh and saw himself as use- 1,200 years. Self-educated through less, without purpose. televised courses, conversations and As the end of our visit approached, readings, he now uses his legal skills I had an idea: “David, you do artwork. to help indigent inmates. His volumi- How would you feel about designing nous correspondence includes letters a Christmas card? I’ll provide the text, counseling children already in protec- get it printed and do the marketing. tive custody. He advises them to co- Whatever money we make can go operate with those devoted to helping to help children who are poor and them and to take advantage of the safe at risk.” He perked up and within a harbor David never knew as a boy. month he sent me the first of a doz- The judge listened attentively to all en cards—one each year—that have who spoke for the prosecution and the helped raise approximately $92,000, defense. The attorney invited me and which we have distributed to agencies three other women religious, whose that care for children. The Sisters of agencies have benefitted from the sale Mercy who run residential schools in of David’s cards, to testify. Jamaica, West Indies, have received But David’s impact, particularly his money for woodworking and com- involvement in the cards project, has puter supplies, as well as funding for gone far beyond that courtroom. The their animal husbandry and catering cards have been sent around the world, projects. Agencies from Brooklyn to and many people have been surprised Indianapolis have been recipients of to learn that something of such great the proceeds. Those organizations in- beauty and benefit could come from a clude an agency serving incarcerated harsh place of confinement. or paroled women and their children; At the conclusion of the trial, the an agency serving developmentally judge decided that David would re- challenged adults; an after-school en- ceive life without parole, and he was richment program for children of im- removed from death row. Our testi- migrants and computer training and monies about the benefits of David’s ESL for neighborhood adults; and a art and his determination to help oth- medical missionary. ers, helped to save him from the death During the month of June 2014, penalty. He, in turn, plans to continue David Hammer was afforded a re- to spend his time in prison serving trial in the First U.S. District Court others in whatever way he can. A

November 24 , 2014 America 31 Books & Culture

theater | Rob Weinert-Kendt Oh, I canna be missing, the lads’ll expect me Staying afloat Why else would the good Lord himself resurrect me? Two new productions navigate chaotic times By the time this sermon/song is done—or rather, has segued into an ather Jim O’Brien, an Irish Christ’s tomb empty, then noticing a impromptu rally at the local pub— priest in the northern English “solitary figure in a halo of light” hurry- Father Jim has made this apocryphal Fshipbuilding town of Wallsend, ing away from the grave. Over a grind- mission explicit: He will use church is supposed to preach on the pas- ing sea-shanty waltz, with a haunting building funds to help finance a work- sage about the “salt of the earth” in tune that alternates single repeated er-led reoccupation of the shipyard. Matthew’s Gospel, but he has got notes with leaping arpeggios, she asks There they will construct one final something else on his mind. Setting him: ship, he explains, then sail it around the Scripture aside, he directly ad- the world themselves. Inquires one dresses his flock: working men and Tell me, where are ye going, Lord, worker: “But Father, who’s the ship their families, who yearn for the return and why in such haste?” for? Who’s the client?” Replies Father of meaningful paid employment to “Now, don’t hinder me, woman, Jim (played crisply by Fred Applegate): their all-but-closed-down burgh. I’ve no time to waste “Humanity. Redemption. Grace.” Thus does the title song of Sting’s For they’re launching a boat on the That is “The Last Ship” in a nut- rollicking, uneven new musical The morrow at noon shell: impish yet earnest, free with Last Ship start as a sermon. Father And I have to be there before day- its employment of iconic stories and Jim envisions Mary Magdalene finding break tropes—from the Bible, from classic ag es 32 and 33: joan ma rcus

ALL HANDS ON DECK. The cast of “The Last Ship” Photo s on p

32 America November 24, 2014 musical theatre, from a dozen oth- The brilliant choreographer for “The and director Marianne Elliott, is to er post-industrial-comeback narra- Last Ship,” Steven Hoggett, makes recast the story as a play-within-a-play tives—and sentimental to a fault. In a dance out of everyday gesture and gait, conjured between Christopher and paradox that nearly dooms the show, and vice versa, and he is doing much the his para-educator, Siobhán (Francesca the serviceable, slightly sketchy Faridany), and to stage it book by Brian Yorkey and John within a kind of cell that Logan never makes this dubi- evokes the “Tron”-like work- ous, quixotic shipbuilding ef- ings of Christopher’s mind. fort very credible. However, it An LED grid is projected is undeniably stirring as an or- on three imposing walls ganizing idea and inspires many around the stage, and the a rousing, full-cast song, led by sound design is replete with either the priest or by the town’s beeps, blips, static and feed- other authority figure, the griz- back. But even this too-or- zled but unbowed yard foreman derly space has its share of Jackie Green (Jimmy Nail, a secret compartments, escape native Newcastler to his bones hatches and dangerous blind and a bracing breath of fresh spots. Northern air on Broadway). If the family drama roiling The show makes more sense, around Christopher occa- and is arguably much more sionally takes on a well-worn grown-up, with its other sto- shape—bad parenting and ryline, that of Gideon (Michael infidelity colliding with the Esper), a prodigal son returned Francesca Faridany and Alex Sharp in “The Curious needs and limitations of a to bury his father and settle un- Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” challenging child-turned-ad- finished business with his old olescent—the course it takes girlfriend Meg (Rachel Hunter), but it same trick in another Broadway show is unexpected, surprising and occa- struggles mightily to make this familiar across town, The Curious Incident of sionally intensely suspenseful, as when plot interesting. the Dog in the Night-Time, an import Christopher decides to leave his home What keeps the show afloat, to an from London’s National Theatre. Based in sleepy Wiltshire for the chaos of extent, are the gorgeous, compulsive- on Mark Haddon’s compact, mesmeriz- London. ly listenable songs by Sting, the former ing novel, “Curious Incident” is not a mu- The narrative landscape, in short, Police frontman, who has not only sical, though it has its own immersive, may seem familiar, but our usual maps done his musical-theatre homework otherworldly wavelength as it follows will be no help here; emotional out- (there are clear call-outs to Rodgers & the circuitous path of an autistic teenag- croppings are never quite where we Hammerstein, to Kurt Weill, to “Fiddler er, Christopher (Alexander Sharp), who expect them, and no matter how atten- on the Roof ”) but has reached deep into is trying to uncover the mystery of a pet’s tive we are, we are going to hit a wall. his own craft, and his own Newcastle murder and instead learns uncomfort- Just when we think we have it figured upbringing, to come up with one of the able truths about his parents. out, “Curious Incident” sneaks up and richest Broadway scores in memory. Whereas Haddon’s first-personknocks us out—a rough analog for There are occasional lapses into cheesy prose could powerfully evoke the com- Christopher’s journey from misunder- mid-tempo pop and a few clumsy lyr- partmentalized logic of Christopher’s standing to be-careful-what-you-wish- ics, but these are overshadowed by an Aspergers-like mind through indirec- for clarity. This odd, engaging play be- astonishingly surefooted series of stan- tion and understatement, onstage we gins as an exercise in seeing the world dard-worthy ballads, expansive anthems stand outside him and watch him do through another’s eyes; its destination and stomping dances. “The Last Ship” battle with the confusing, even menac- is a place of radical empathy for all our has the unmistakeable sound of a fine ing world outside his head; that outside blinkered perspectives. musician finding his bliss in a new form. world necessarily has a more literal, We hope Sting sticks with the theater multivocal presence onstage than it Rob Weinert-Kendt, an arts journalist and sees fit to write another show, this does on the page. and associate editor of American Theatre mag- azine, has written for The New York Times and time with a book as seaworthy as his The solution, pulled off mostly beau- Time Out New York. He writes a blog called The music. tifully by playwright Simon Stephens Wicked Stage.

November 24 , 2014 America 33 of other things | Daniel P. Horan Avoiding Absolutism mong the subjects of debate and ever resourceful.... thentic development of doctrine and and ostensible controversy disregards historical consciousness. Athat arose during the 2014 The central theme here is that The reduction of church teaching to Synod on the Family and continue in though we may speak abstractly about propositional claims alone is a sort of its wake, one in particular captured a “deposit of faith” that is eternal and doctrinal Docetism—a misguided be- my attention: whether doctrine can remains unchanging, we finite human lief that faith claims simply “appeared” change or develop. The answer is: it beings do not understand the full from above without any historical certainly does develop. It always has. meaning of these teachings immedi- grounding. Just as the Christological One of the synod participants, ately. We come to a fuller understand- heresy of the same name denied that Cardinal Reinhard Marx, archbishop ing of our faith with time, experience Jesus Christ was truly human, assert- of Munich and Freising, said public- and the guidance ing instead that he ly toward the end of the synod that of the Holy Spirit. Sacred was only divine and church doctrine, “doesn’t depend on This was true going appeared from heav- the spirit of time but can develop back to the pre-New tradition must en without any tie to over time.” He added, “The core of the Testament kerygma develop over creation, so too doc- Catholic Church remains the Gospel, the (early preaching of trinal Docetism is an but have we discovered everything?” the apostles), through time for us outlook that denies Cardinal Marx’s question echoes the earliest ecumeni- to understand the development of his prelate predecessor Blessed John cal councils, through Christian doctrine as Henry Newman (d. 1890), who wrote the Second Vatican its fuller humans seek to un- the now-classic text, An Essay on the Council and beyond. meaning. derstand their faith Development of Christian Doctrine. The church teach- more fully. The truth Newman engaged this question about ings on usury, slavery is that God did not the possibility of change and devel- and religious freedom send us a pre-existing opment in the church’s teaching and are often invoked to book, a “cosmic cate- affirmed that, both historically and illustrate this develop- chism” from heaven theologically, doctrine indeed de- ment. But there is also that states clearly and velops. Newman goes on to say that a clear development— completely the un- doctrinal developments were not in Newman’s sense of changing “deposit of only natural, but also intended by the fuller understanding faith.” Just as Scripture Creator. Newman writes that many of and clarification—of even the most must be interpreted in order to under- the core Christian doctrines... fundamental dogmatic statements stand its fuller sense, so too sacred tra- of our faith. If there could be heated dition must be interpreted and devel- cannot be fully understood at debates about the consubstantiality op over time for us to understand its once, but are more and more of the Son and Father on the path to- fuller meaning. clearly expressed and taught the ward doctrinal definition during the It is important to remember that longer they last—having aspects first Christian centuries, then many of many of the early council fathers and many and bearings many, mutu- the allegedly “nonnegotiable” themes others over the centuries entered the ally connected and growing one discussed at the synod may be fair councils with views that would anach- out of another, and all parts of a game too. ronistically be called “heretical,” only whole, with a sympathy and cor- As Thomas Reese, S.J., reminded us to come out with those same views ul- respondence keeping pace with in an article in The National Catholic timately declared orthodox. We must the ever-changing necessities of Reporter on Oct. 7, this way of think- trust in the Holy Spirit and be open the world, multiform, prolific, ing about doctrine in static, objective to the possibility that we do not yet and absolute terms is a return to what understand the fullness of our faith. Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M., is the author the theologian Bernard Lonergan, S.J., We have so much more to learn and of several books, including The Franciscan called the classicist approach to the- discover. Heart of Thomas Merton (2014). ology, which misunderstands the au- Daniel P. Horan

34 America November 24, 2014 books | David O’Brien tively engaged with some of the omit- ted issues as with the ones covered. behind the debates Readers will find much here to think about. They will admire the What They Wished for across the Catholic community, fol- range and sophistication of Catholic American Catholics and American lowed by an increasing emphasis on advice on many public policies. They Presidents, 1960-2004 “life” issues, “non-negotiable” demands will sympathize with the persistent By Lawrence J. McAndrews directed particularly at Catholic pol- public engagement of the bishops University of Georgia Press. 472p iticians. Kennedy, the first Catholic and their staffs, all the while trying to $49.95 president, enjoyed strong Catholic avoid partisan politics. They will be support; John Kerry, the next Catholic impressed with the attention (usually History happens. In 1960 as John F. candidate, upset many bishops and respectful) that presidential staffs gave Kennedy ran for President, I headed lost the Catholic vote. to questions coming from the bishops. to graduate school to study American And they will be reminded of some political history. J.F.K. enchanted me; remarkable Catholic achievements, in- after that no president won my heart. cluding the church’s central role in the Catholicism filtered—sometimes resettlement of Vietnamese refugees shaped—my judgments about politics and the church’s timely and intelligent and presidents. And, I have to admit, commentary on nuclear arms control my judgments about politics and pres- and disarmament. idents sometimes filtered my under- They will also find that honest standing of faith and my judgments differences existed among the bish- about my church. The dialogue of faith ops over every major policy, includ- and culture, so beloved by theologians, ing family allowances under Nixon, was for me a bit of a wrestling match. housing and full employment under Lawrence J. McAndrews has now Gerald Ford, arms control with Jimmy turned my own complicated civil reli- Carter and health care under Clinton. gion into history as he tells us in great And they will see Cardinal Joseph detail about how Catholics (more pre- Bernardin’s consistent ethic of life in cisely Catholic bishops) and American action and the gradual displacement presidents dealt with one another, of Bernardin-era negotiation by a from J.F.K. to George W. Bush. more confrontational insistence on Professor McAndrews offers a pro-life doctrines, the stance that hurt chapter for each president, and each John Kerry. chapter has three sections, corre- McAndrews enriches this famil- Those who follow these matters sponding to what McAndrews takes iar story with reports from previous- will wonder that there is almost no to be the central areas of Catholic ly unavailable sources in the White discussion of education, a major con- teaching: war and peace (the just war House and in the offices of the bish- cern of Catholics, especially in the tradition), social justice (Catholic ops. McAndrews is a good scholar: he Kennedy-Johnson-Nixon years. There social teaching) and life and death wants to set out the record, not tell a is even less of higher education, al- (Catholic teaching on human life, es- story or make a case. And there is far though Catholic colleges and universi- pecially abortion). McAndrews, a dili- more here than can be covered in one ties might well have gone under with- gent researcher, has made good use of volume. So he makes selections with- out assistance from the government presidential libraries and the archives in each area: for example arms con- (assistance unavailable to elementary of the national bishops’ conference. trol and not Vietnam with Kennedy; and high schools). McAndrews recalls The overall pattern he describes is fa- ill-fated efforts at guaranteed annual extensive discussion of world hunger miliar: liberal engagement around civ- income, not environmental regula- in the Ford-Carter years but says little il rights, social welfare and peace, cli- tion or aid to higher education, with of development, foreign assistance or maxing with the pastoral letters of the Nixon; and the Clintons’ ill-fated human rights questions in other ad- 1980s on peace and economy, slowly health care initiative but almost no ministrations. giving way to political and theologi- mention of so called “welfare reform.” The material here offers Catholics cal divisions among the bishops and Yet bishops were as deeply and effec- some help for current reflections:

November 24 , 2014 America 35 1. Politicians control the agenda. ness. And active pro-life volunteers are visitors flowing though the Gregorian, Administrations of both parties paid ready to help on abortion and related some going back to his Australian ori- lip service to their support for issues issues. But almost no diocese any lon- gins and others who are world figures, the church cared about, but their ac- ger has offices dealing with peace or including the former Archbishop of tions often lagged far behind. international justice, and the religious Canterbury, George Carey, and his 2. Bishops and their staffs know orders that used to take care of these wife, Eileen. His stories show him to what they are talking about. On do- matters are far weaker. So when the be an excellent colleague, mentor and mestic social justice issues, the bishops bishop gets mail about poverty. he has friend. He appreciates both human can draw upon the on-the-ground ex- someone to give it to; that is not true and artistic beauty. His loyalty to his perience of Catholic charities—both on global questions. friend Jacques Dupuis, called Jim, is their own and those of religious or- So this is a history worth thinking touching, and his account of how his ders and independent movements. On about: the hard reality behind debates collaboration with colleagues and stu- abortion and life issues, they can draw, about faith and civic and secular re- dents contributed to his development when they choose (as Pope Francis re- sponsibilities. The common good as a theologian is edifying. He is proud minds them), on wide pastoral experi- matters, but it is hard to turn that into of his students and their successes. ence with real people facing problem policy. It is wonderful that peacemak- Seeking a deeper encounter with pregnancies. On global matters, they ing, not peace, is the center of Catholic multiculturalism, O’Collins initially have the resources of the Vatican and teaching, but translating that into pol- sought assignment to India, but he un- the global church, and effective rela- icy for Syria or Colombia is both in- expectedly found the encounter at the tionships with hierarchies in other tellectually challenging and politically Greg, with its connections to national lands. ambiguous. Readers of McAndrews’s colleges and its international student 3. Catholic capacity for influence is fine book will sympathize with the body. He saw how global inequality re- greater on domestic questions than on bishops, and they may emerge perhaps sulted in deficiencies in early education international ones. Each bishop has a more sympathetic as well to the likes that caused difficulties in enrolling charities office and a pastoral presence of Kennedy and Kerry, John Boehner students and how a certain ruggedness among people with great needs. There and Nancy Pelosi. there made it challenging to recruit full- are personnel on the ground ready time faculty. With humor and regard to receive and implement teachings David O’Brien is emeritus professor of history he reveals the unity and the diversity about poverty, racism and homeless- at the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. that characterized the international Jesuit community. We meet characters like Felice Cappello, S..J., a canonist in Anthony J. Pogorelc and out of favor with popes, and saint- ly alumni like Archbishop Romero and No Place Like Rome Sr. Luz Marina, who became martyrs. He reflects on three styles of theology On the Left Bank to know a priest of O’Collins’s type. that laid the foundation for his “re- of the Tiber He is straightforward and honest and trieving fundamental theology.” One is By Gerald O’Collins, S.J. not afraid to engage contrary opinions, classical European academic theology Connor Court. 310p $29.95 though this has sometimes landed him centered on the verbal expression of in trouble. Fearing that he had been truth; the second is Latin American Gerald O’Collins, S.J., has written a de- too frank with a reporter, he recounts liberation theology that strives to live lightful memoir on his years in Rome being “rescued” by Italian thieves who the truth while seeking justice; and the at the Gregorian University. With stole the tape of the interview from the third flows from the Eastern churches’ Rome’s history in mind, he shares a reporter’s car. This is a great book for expression of truth in worship. series of personal and touching stories anyone who loves Rome or who hopes The papacy is central to Rome, and to explain the matrix that generated to live or study there. O’Collins witnessed three pontificates his theological and spiritual writings. O’Collins is the kind of priest whose during his time there. The first was Yet they communicate not only one faith is evident and who loves relation- that of the frail and lonely Paul VI. The man’s experience but represent the ships and collaborating with others. second was that of the gracious pastor essences of persons and institutions, He places great importance on family John Paul I, who reigned for only one what the sociologist Max Weber called and friends, and his loyalty is lasting. month. The third was John Paul II, a “types.” I advise anyone in Rome to get He describes the steady stream of his complex and innovative man who as

36 America November 24, 2014 bishop of Rome regularly visited par- succeeded John Paul II would take the respect for biblical scholarship and ishes and was the first pope to visit a name Benedict because it responded to produced theologically flawed docu- Roman synagogue. O’Collins offers an the greatest need of the time: reconcili- ments. O’Collins had a mixed relation- honest and thoughtful discussion of ation. Yet he offers frank ship with the Vatican, his pontificate that extends over two criticism of that succes- and his detailed account chapters. He was impressed by John sor, Joseph Ratzinger, of the investigation of Paul’s use of the language of experi- who presided over the Jacques Dupuis from ence. As a communicator he was a star Congregation for the 1998 to 2004 represents and at his best when he spoke simply Doctrine of the Faith bureaucracy at its worst. and directly. He also identifies shad- during O’Collins’s years A Belgian, Dupuis ows of this papacy. One was a tenden- in Rome. Here the type came to the Gregorian cy to over-centralize the church; an- of bureaucracy, rooted after many years in other was his heavy-handed treatment in ancient Rome, helps India, where he had of the Jesuits, especially Pedro Arrupe. us to interpret events. been immersed in in- The third appeared as insensitivity to Weber said that bu- terreligious dialogue. Latin America, demonstrated in his reaucracy could be a very He displayed a passion treatment of Archbishop Romero. efficient form of organi- for recognizing the trea- Overall he evaluates John Paul II’s leg- zation, but it could also sures of world religions acy positively and cites his major role be an iron cage. Bureaucracy can lead not unlike that of Pope John Paul II. in the downfall of Communism and good people to exercise bad behav- O’Collins asks if the Dupuis inves- his promotion of the well-being of ior. A lack of transparency can allow tigation might be a case of misplaced families and ecology. He was a pioneer faceless men to wage vicious battles in aggression against the pope himself. in encouraging all religions to embrace which pettiness, misinterpretation and O’Collins, who served as Dupuis’s a common responsibility for human misunderstanding prevail. O’Collins spokesperson before the C.D.F., as- welfare. Though not perfect, he truly criticizes the bureaucratic functioning serts that fair process was lacking and displayed heroic virtue. of the C.D.F. under Ratzinger, which Dupuis was accused of holding views O’Collins predicted that whoever he said lacked professionalism, lacked he did not hold. Dupuis loved the

Settlers’ Gravestones, Millersburg, Ohio

There is no poem like a gravestone, and staked their claim by planting loved that tersely worded, lapidary tercet, ones in the ground like fenceposts. These are names the name, the numbers, and the R.I.P. the rain has made a thousand rubbings of. that are the skeleton key to all biography. It takes a second to subtract in your head Some lie embedded, trapdoors in the grass, the birth year from the death year and discover while others rear their monumental the old, old names like Fannie and Pearl cornices and angels, like cathedrals died when they were three years old. where worms receive the body’s bread and wine. It’s only the stone’s The purest poetry’s in settlers’ gravestones, sense of timing and command of tone the kind you find in small Ohio towns that lets you glimpse them in their frocks and curls named for the clan that cleared the woods scurrying down these mouseholes to the underworld.

By Amit Majmudar

Amit Majmudar is a diagnostic nuclear radiologist in Columbus, Ohio. His poetry and prose have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly and The Best of the Best American Poetry 1988-2012. His second poetry collection, Heaven and Earth, was selected by A. E. Stallings for the 2011 Donald Justice Prize.

November 24 , 2014 America 37 STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION church and wanted to be loved by her; (Act of Aug. 12, 1970; Section 3685, Title 39, United States Code) his love for Christ and the church was 1. Title of Publication: America. Publication Number 016920. 2. Date of Filing: 9/16/14. strong until the day he died in 2004. 3. Frequency of Issue: Weekly except for 11 combined issues: Jan. 5-12; Jan. 19-26; April 27-May 4; May 25-June 1; July 6-13; July 20-27; Aug. 3-10; O’Collins loved Italy and the Aug. 17-24; Aug. 31-Sept. 7; Dec. 7-14; Dec. 21-28 Italians, who favor individual free- 4. Location of known office of publication: 106 West 56th St., New York, NY 10019. dom over national unity and speak a 5. Location of the headquarters or general business offices of the Publisher: 106 West 56th St., New York, NY 10019. language filled with cute ironies. He 6. Names and addresses of publisher, editor and managing editor. Publisher: Edward Spallone, The America Press, Inc., 106 West 56th St., New York, appreciated their kindness and devo- NY 10019. Editor: Matthew F. Malone, S.J., 106 West 56th St., New York, NY 10019. Managing Editor: Robert C. Collins, S.J., 106 West 56th St., tion and made many Italian friends for New York, NY 10019. whom he provided pastoral services 7. Owner: The America Press Inc., 106 West 56th St., New York, NY 10019 (nonprofit, non-stock corporation). like weddings, consolation in sickness 8. Known bondholders, mortgagees and other security holders owning or holding 1 percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages or other and funerals. He also loved his travels securities: None. 9. The purpose, function and nonprofit status of this organization and the throughout the world, many of them exempt status for Federal income tax purposes have not changed during connected with pastoral purposes. He preceding 12 months. 10. Extent and nature of circulation: Average no. Single issue comes across as a man who is always copies each nearest to issue during filing date preceding 12 growing and shows a willingness to months make changes in the beginning, mid- A. Total No. Copies printed: 36,374 37,067 B. Paid Circulation dle and latter part of his life. He has 1. Mailed Outside-County Paid 34,531 37,067 Subscriptions: worked well with his brother Jesuits, 3. Paid Distribution Outside the Mails: 1,236 C. Total Paid Circulation: 35,767 36,621 his fellow theologians, the Catholic hi- D. Free Distribution by Mail(Sample 304 246 erarchy and leaders of other religions. Complimentary, and Other Free) E. Total Free Distribution 304 246 He is definitely not the bureaucratic F. Total Distribution 36,071 36,867 G. Copies Not Distributed 303 200 type, but truly a man for others. H. Total 36,374 37,067 I. Percent Paid/or Requested Circulation 99% 99% Anthony J. Pogorelc, a Sulpician priest, 11. I certify that the statement made by me above is correct and complete. is a research fellow at the Institute for Policy (Signed) Edward Spallone, Chief Financial Officer, AMERICA. Research and Catholic Studies at the Catholic University of America.

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38 America November 24, 2014 THE WORD

household, “each with his work,” and the doorkeeper was commanded “to be Daily Distractions on the watch.” The household is asked First Sunday in Advent (B), Nov. 30, 2014 to continue its work and its daily rou- Readings: Is 63:16–64:7; Ps 80:2–19; 1 Cor 1:3–9; Mk 13:33–37 tines with their minds attuned to when the master would return. Jesus calls for “Beware, keep alert; you do not know when the time will come” (Mk 13:33) vigilance. ope Francis said, on World has permeated our daily lives so com- In the final part of the image, Jesus Environment Day, June 5, 2013: pletely that intellectual, spiritual and instructs his disciples: “Therefore, keep “We are losing the attitude of emotional focus can no longer be taken awake—for you do not know when the P master of the house will come, in the wonder, contemplation, listening to for granted. Distractedness does not creation. The implications of living in allow us to wait; it does not al- evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, a horizontal manner [is that] we have low for patience, for it wants or at dawn, or else he may find you moved away from God, we no longer what it wants now. asleep when he comes sudden- read His signs.” He was referring to the Constant access to ly. And what I say to you I physical environment, but he links the information and sourc- say to all: Keep awake.” lack of awareness of our physical sur- es of knowledge is not a “Keep awake” is not roundings, nature and the human mi- substitute for wisdom. about sleep, but about lieu to inattentiveness and distraction It can, however, draw us spiritual torpor, which concerning the spiritual world. If we into the mire of minuti- in our day manifests it- do not attend carefully to the things of ae, away from real think- self often as busyness in this world, including ourselves, we lose ing, wonder and contem- the form of distractedness. sight of God. plation, and lead us to ignore our Distractedness is a way of not During Advent we need to refocus need to wait patiently to be prepared PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE our spiritual attention. One way we to encounter Christ. Patient waiting can do this is to gently question our is neither distracted nor empty be- How can you reduce distractedness as you await the coming of Christ?

need for instant gratification and quick havior. Patient waiting allows us to a. d u nn e tad t: answers in all areas of life. How many contemplate our lives and consid- a r of us today are bound by our smart- er how we will prepare to greet the paying attention to oneself or the phones, responding thoughtlessly by coming of Christ during Advent, to needs of others or the voice of God reaching for our phone whenever we wonder about the signs of God and because we are so busily doing noth- hear e-mail or direct message tings, re- what they are speaking to us, to listen ing. Being awake when the Messiah gardless of what we are doing or with attentively to Scripture and what it is arrives depends upon our ability to whom we are talking? Our devices saying in the church and in the world. wait quietly and to be aware enough follow us everywhere, not allowing us We need to adopt an internal qui- to recognize Christ when he comes. time to think or reflect. et to wait with and for Jesus. Before To wait for Christ patiently demands We are losing the sense of wonder his arrest and crucifixion, Jesus taught active attention. The prophet Isaiah and contemplation, unable to read his disciples how to wait patiently for says, “There is no one who calls on the signs of the times because of dis- his return by means of a parable. He your name, or attempts to take hold tractedness. This has an impact on our taught them to “Beware, keep alert; of you.” But how can one call on prayer, sense of community and fami- for you do not know when the time someone they no longer know? The ly, and spiritual reflection. Distraction will come.” This is not an instruction difficulty today is not necessarily that to anxiety, but guidance on attentive- people reject Christ, but that they are ness. The instructions for waiting on not awake and attentive to the signs John W. Martens is an associate profes- sor of theology at the University of St. Thomas, Christ are outlined in the parable. The reminding us that the Messiah is St. Paul, Minn. Twitter: @BibleJunkies. slaves were asked to take charge of the coming. John W. Martens

America (ISSN 0002-7049) is published weekly (except for 13 combined issues: Jan. 6-13, 20-27, April 28-May 5, May 26-June 2, June 9-16, 23-30, July 7-14, 21-28, Aug. 4-11, 18-25, Sept. 1-8, Dec. 8-15, 22-29) by America Press Inc., 106 West 56th Street, New York, NY 10019. Periodical postage is paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mailing offices. Circulation: (800) 627-9533. Subscription: United States, $56 per year; add U.S. $30 postage and GST (#131870719) for Canada; or add U.S. $56 per year for international priority airmail. Postmaster: Send address changes to: America, P.O. Box 293159, Kettering, OH 45429.

November 24 , 2014 America 39