JANUARY 21, 2019 THE JESUIT REVIEW OF FAITH AND CULTURE
Single Mothers and the Church Kaya Oakes
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The Expressive Tom Kean Individualism of on Fighting Donald J. Trump Extremism
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God and Beer at a Belgian Monastery
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2 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 3 FINAL10.1.18 JRC_America ad.indd 1 9/12/18 8:46 PM In Other News…
If the old saying is true, that good news objectively is an important part of cally true: Every day, millions, billions doesn’t sell newspapers, then it seems reporting the news. But it’s also true of people are served by the church, as if newspapers should be flying off that there is no such thing as absolute helped and healed through its sacra- the racks on the streets these days. Of objectivity—every reporter walks ments, and accompanied through its course, not many of us buy newspapers into every story with a history, with social services. Couples marry, chil- any more, so perhaps the cliché needs experiences, insights, perhaps even dren are baptized, young people are updating. But even if “Good news prejudices that influence how he or confirmed in their faith, sinners are doesn’t get retweeted” doesn’t have she covers it. forgiven. This is happening right now, the same ring to it, the principle holds No doubt about it: We at America as you read this, in every place the true: Most of what circulates widely, have a personal interest in news about church calls home. either in print or on social media, is the church. We care deeply about To get the story of the church bad news. the church; and I can assure you, last right, then, we have to cover this part You could be forgiven, for summer we were writing through our of it too—which is, as I say, the bigger example, for thinking that the news tears. But more often than not, our part. Unless we also report the good in the church is all bad. Last summer faith commitment, rather than be- news, then we will get the story wrong. brought us compounding ecclesiasti- ing something that gets in the way of That should trouble us both as Catho- cal scandals, the kinds of stories I had being good journalists, actually makes lics and as journalists. hoped we would never need to report. us better journalists. In the last few So in this issue of America we are I am glad we reported them, of course, months, we reported every day on launching a new segment in Dispatch- and I am proud of the fearless and the sexual abuse crisis, offering news es, our traditional section for news. honest way we did it. We will continue and analysis as well as spiritual It’s called, appropriately enough, to cover the sexual abuse crisis in the resources for our readers. This un- GoodNews, and will feature stories church and all of its attending conse- flinching coverage and pursuit that I hope will give you some sense quences. That’s our promise. of the truth is driven by our love of the almost miraculous things that It’s also our job. Not long ago, I said for the church and the people of countless people of faith do every that America’s staff are not journalists God. As people of faith, we know day around the world. who happen to be Catholic, but Cath- that the truth alone will set us free. We won’t relegate all the good olics who happen to be journalists. We don’t always get the story right news to that section. We will also That’s not to discount the good and (only God is perfect), but we have continue to feature stories in the valuable work that the non-Catholics pursued it to the utmost precisely rest of the magazine that inspire on our staff do each day, but simply because we are committed Catholics. and nourish you as much as they to state our fundamental orientation At the same time, our unwavering inform and challenge. This is a to events: America is a work of the commitment to cover the challenges part of the commitment we made church, and we labor in, with and for facing the church might give a reader in December 2017 in the Catholic the church. That’s why we exist. the sense that the news in the church Social Media Compact: “We will, as Some of my colleagues in the is all bad. I apologize if we have given far as possible, identify and celebrate Catholic media don’t like talking about you that impression. I know better. the good, the true and the beautiful as things that way. They would stress the The truth is that in any given hour, on much as we name and challenge what “journalist” part over the “Catholic” any given day, the news in the church is immoral, unjust or evil.” part. I suspect that is because they is more good than bad. Much more. Because the Good News is believe that talking about it the other By a magnitude of millions more. breaking news. way around might make Catholic That’s because most of the news in journalists appear less objective than the church is the Good News of Jesus we should be. Fair enough. Being Christ. That’s something we know as Matt Malone, S.J. able to step back and look at things people of faith. But it is also empiri- Twitter: @americaeditor.
2 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 3 THE ISSUE GIVE AND TAKE DISPATCHES FEATURES
6 12 18 YOUR TAKE PLACEMENT OF JESUITS THE PRESIDENT OF Are you in favor of UNDER SUPERVISION RAISES EXPRESSIVE INDIVIDUALISM legalizing marijuana? CONCERNS President Trump’s victory has revealed how few authentic 8 Infographic: Pilgrimage and religious conservatives are left OUR TAKE sites the world over Ronald E. Osborn The future of the pro-life movement; signs of hope in the church Theresa May’s poor Brexit 26 SINGLE MOTHERS AND THE 10 Christmas chaos at the border as CATHOLIC CHURCH SHORT TAKE Trump’s wall is challenged How the church can support The afterlife of Jesuit missions in single-parent families South America GoodNews: The “extraordinary Kaya Oakes Jim McDermott power of faith” in Iraq
4 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File Swarup, AP Photo/Manish
Indians feed seagulls from the boat in the river Yamuna on the first day of the new year in New Delhi. THE ISSUE Cover: iStock FAITH IN FOCUS IDEAS IN REVIEW THE WORD 32 38 50 A MID-LIFE CALLING THE CATHOLIC ART OF How do you proclaim God’s promise You can’t run away from a vocation CAMPION HALL with boldness? John W. Miller The legacy of Martin D’Arcy, S.J.,
and the world class art he brought Have you ever found Jesus’ message VANTAGE POINT to Oxford impossible to believe? Altair Brandon-Salmon Michael Simone 36 THE HERESY OF MODERNITY BOOKS 1931 The Art of the Wasted Day; Soon; LAST TAKE Big Fella; We Need Each Other; The Incomplete Book of Running 54 POEM TOM KEAN How the United States can continue 43 CULTURE the fight against terrorism PIETÀ The music of Rasha Nahas; Atar Hadari “Capernaum”
JANUARY 21, 2019 VOL. 220 NO. 2 WHOLE NO. 5209 YOUR TAKE
Are you in favor of legalizing marijuana?
In response to this question, 89 percent of respondents The most popular reason that people in favor of legal- said they were in favor of the legalization of marijuana, ization gave was that it would prevent the criminal justice either for medicinal purposes only (17 percent) or for both system from being overburdened by low-level offenders. medicinal and recreational use (72 percent). Sally Monahan of Mahwah, N.J., was one of the 67 percent of Some respondents said that the medical benefits respondents who gave this answer. “I believe this is a racial of marijuana need to be acknowledged and noted that and social justice issue,” wrote Ms. Monahan. “I don’t see legalization would help people with chronic pain and marijuana [as] any more difficult to regulate than alcohol.” illnesses. Mike Griffin of East Marion, N.Y., for exam- Roseanne Saah of Silver Spring, Md., concurred. “The ple, wrote: “For some patients fighting chemotherapy ‘war on drugs’ has never been about helping people and keep- or individuals suffering from frequent seizures, mari- ing communities safe,” said Ms. Saah. “Republican and Dem- juana may be the only thing that provides relief or the ocratic legislators and jurists have used low-level drug crimes most effective relief.” He added: “I am concerned with to keep a system in place that punishes black and brown peo- all the other drugs available to youth, including vaping ple as well as poor people, while enriching private prison con- and opiates.” tractors and disseminating tough-on-crime propaganda.”
Are you in favor of legalizing marijuana?
Yes, for both recreational 72% and medicinal use Criminalizing drug offenders is punishing Yes, but only for medicinal use 17% those who cause no societal harm. No 11% Rochester, N.Y.
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Which of these reasons best explains your position on marijuana legalization?
Legalization would prevent the criminal justice system from being 67% overburdened by low-level offenders Too many are in prison Legalization would 14% because of the laws in this lead to misuse regard, particularly people Legalization would of color and the poor. raise revenue 13% Mary Crowley Indianapolis, Ind. If it were legalized, marijuana would be 6% difficult to regulate 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
These results are based on reader responses to a poll promoted on Facebook, Twitter and in our email newsletter. Because of rounding, percentages may not add up to 100.
6 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 7 READERREADER COMMENTS COMMENTS
Changing Consciousness Not Allegiance Re “A Call to Prayer,” by Tim Shriver (1/7): Father Thomas Reconciliation is not allegiance. Further, the Communist Keating changed the consciousness of many of us who have Party is consistent and clear about who is in control of rested in God through “centering prayer.” His great quality the “Patriotic” Catholic Church. I generally admire Pope of humility models for us a new way of being in our divided Francis, but this “deal” strikes me as shortsighted and world. My father died last week, and I can attest that my naïve. There is no longer a Catholic Church in China. Let us centering prayer practice helped keep me present, loving hope, however, that Christians will find another flock from and trusting through my dad’s difficult eight months of which to gather strength. It seems the Protestant churches hospice care. I hope that the seed that Father Keating has holding to the word of God are more defiant. planted through his own death will now help centering Frank Pray prayer grow and flourish. Kat Beaulieu Hoping for Epiphany Re “How an Orthodox Celebration, Greek Tradition Acute Loss and a Bayou Dive Led to a Revelation of Faith,” by Sonja I am one of those acutely feeling the loss of Father Thomas Livingston (1/7): This is a beautiful essay. We are working Keating. And yet I know his life’s work will probably on this revelation myself and hope to find an epiphany. become more well known now that he has moved on to Jason and Amy Rogers greater life. He taught us the effects in daily life from a consistent practice of centering prayer. What can help us A Fascinating Tradition on a personal level can also help us on a national level. One This is beautifully written. And a fascinating story and person at a time. tradition of which I was entirely unaware. Thank you. Monica Doyle Todd Witherell
Special Treatment Mercy Re “Paying Tribute to Amazon” (Our Take, 1/7): Giving tax Re “Purgatory Is Other people,” by Jonathan Malesic (1/7): breaks to a single company and not to others seems like a “The Good Place” sounds delightfully insightful. Yes, we violation of fair and equal treatment to me. Why should have to do our part to become holy. But what does that this company receive special treatment over others? mean? Our part is to entrust ourselves to the Lord’s mercy. Shouldn’t the other companies in New York City sue for A good place to be. equal treatment? Rhett Segall Stanley Kopacz A Dose of Hope Remaining Questions Re “The America Profile,” by Matt Malone, S.J. (12/24): Re “What Is at Stake? The Peril and Promise of the China- After reading Father Malone’s article on Gov. John Bel Vatican Deal,” by Paul Mariani, S.J. (1/7): I think Father Edwards of Louisiana, my first thought was: That is the Mariani has written a very fine, informative article. As he kind of man I would like to see in the White House. It is points out, the terms of the agreement are being kept secret, so encouraging to see a pro-life politician who seems to and I think he has done a good job of presenting—to the live his faith. The article came as a dose of hope at a time extent the Vatican’s insistence on secrecy will permit—the when so much negativity and polarization comes out of possible pros and cons as well as the remaining questions Washington. about the deal. Paul Belhumeur Jeffrey More Hartford, Conn.
Comments drawn from our website, americamagazine.org, and America Media’s social media platforms. Letters to the editor can be sent to [email protected]. Please include the article title, author and issue date, as well as your name and where you are writing from.
6 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 7 OUR TAKE
Pro-life Priorities for the U.S. Supreme Court and Beyond
As the United States approaches the coalition than the one assembled in Republican Party, its risks and limita- 46th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme opposition to Roe. tions for the future are starkly evident. Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, the At the same time as the pro-life Pro-lifers know well that the pro-life movement is at a crossroads. cause has its best prospects ever at the movement honors women, cares for The priority that the movement Supreme Court, Gov. Andrew Cuomo women, is led by women and was has for decades rightly given to the of New York vowed on Jan. 7 both to founded by women. We should be pas- appointment of justices who recognize codify Roe’s results in state law and to sionate about making sure that the that the U.S. Constitution does not push to enshrine it even further with rest of the world can see our respect define a right to abortion has finally led an amendment to the state constitu- for women as well. Imagine a future to what should be a five-vote majority tion. Nine other states have laws that in which every proposal to defund in favor of overturning or weakening codify a right to abortion. Pro-choice Planned Parenthood is linked to in- Roe. As pro-life activists journey to advocates, understanding the threat creased funding for maternal health Washington again this month to bear to Roe, have broadened their focus to and protections for pregnant wom- witness to the more than 50 million include normalizing and even cele- en in the workplace. Imagine how unborn lives lost since 1973, it is time brating abortions. much harder it would be to caricature for the movement to ask what its At the end of 2018, The New York pro-lifers as anti-woman—and how priorities should look like now. Times began running an extensive and much closer we would be to protecting To be sure, it is not immediately tendentious set of editorials in defense all unborn children in law and wel- likely that Roe v. Wade will be explicit- of abortion, which are scheduled to run coming them in love. ly and conclusively overturned. Many through January. (The entire series is commentators predict that the court, already available online.) The Times A Sign of Hope led by Chief Justice John Roberts, will paints a picture in which any legal at- and Accountability steer a more incremental course, grad- tempt to defend the lives of unborn ually validating states’ restrictions on children is correlated with willing- Few would deny that 2018 was an abortion. The practical legal outcome of ness—even eagerness—to “erode” the annus horribilis for the Catholic such an approach may not differ greatly rights of women, driven by a desire for Church in the United States. As from the results of an outright reversal. control over them. Carefully choosing dioceses and religious orders released As we have long argued, the prop- the most extreme examples, the series the names of alleged sex abusers, er constitutional settlement for the implies that anyone who is not ada- it became clear the scope of the abortion question is for it to be re- mantly pro-choice is callously uncon- scandals was far wider than most turned to the states as a policy matter cerned about the lives of women. imagined or acknowledged. Such about which voters and legislators will Such unfair depictions will not painful revelations often feel like and should continue to debate. What- surprise veterans of the pro-life move- part of a larger narrative of decline ever the degree and method by which ment. But they must concern us. The and diminishment, and it can be a abortion is returned to “politics as priority given to Supreme Court nom- dispiriting tale for those who love usual,” it will remain a divisive politi- inations has left the movement vul- the church (or work for it, or both), cal question. The pro-life movement’s nerable to being reduced to the role particularly when faced with the fact work becomes more complicated, not of supporting player within an overall that in many cases it was the most less so, as the prospect of meaningful conservative political agenda. Along trusted members of the Catholic legal protections for unborn children with pro-choice absolutism within the community who were the source dawns. While judicial advocacy will Democratic Party, this has hollowed of the greatest harm. As many have continue to be important, developing out a vital part of national pro-life wit- pointed out, any effective reform must and winning support for comprehen- ness. Whatever one thinks of the his- include meaningful opportunities sive pro-life legislation will require torical prudence and necessity of the for laypeople to participate in the building a broader and more diverse pro-life movement’s alliance with the governance of the church. Having
8 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG and decisions. nity are brought tobearonitschallenges when thestrengths ofthewholecommu is the point: We are therefore stronger perfect either. Indeed,nooneis. Andthat authority. Ofcourse,laypeople are not if laypersons were inmore positionsof that would presumably belessprevalent ops andreligious—a perniciousreality of covering forone’s fellow priests, bish ing power structures and longtraditions sponse tocover upabuseistiedtoexist mentators have noted, theinstinctive re such amodel,aswell. Asmany com vention ofsex abuse in theadoption of lay leadersinthe church. us to envision other ways of empowering on ourecclesialimaginationandprompt such astep could have profound effects but thefactthatabishopiswillingtotake problem ofvocations tothepriesthood, will report directly tothebishop. by anordinary priest ofthediocese—she post. Further, shewillnot besupervised of thevery few laywomen toholdsucha priests are not available, Dr. Sauersisone useparishadministratorsages) when ularly inareas withsevere priest short parish. Whilemany U.S. dioceses(partic who provide sacramental ministry atthe pervisory authorityover ateamofpriests Sauers willhave decision-makingandsu ny ofPadua parishinFairfield, Conn.Dr. gy, asparishlifecoordinator ofSt.Antho laywoman whohasadoctorateintheolo J. CaggianoappointedEleanor Sauers, a where BishopFrankcese ofBridgeport, inDecemberfrom theDio tion emerged requirement forhealthy decisionmaking. questions are asked isanindispensable represented intheroom whenthetough diverse viewsandlifeexperiences There are implicationsforthepre donotSuch arrangements solve the An encouragingmodelforcollabora ------
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Centuries later, Jesuit missions still benefit local communities
“Is this work making any difference?” speak.” And apparently the impact on very well known. But what’s interesting It is a question that we all ask local culture was more or less perma- is, in Jesuit mission areas they cheat individually and that every religious nent, thanks in part to parents passing less. Whereas in the Franciscan mission institution asks regularly. Much of on knowledge to their children. areas, if anything, they [cheat] more.” the time, there is no satisfying answer. Mr. Valencia notes that other re- “I don’t want to get in trouble with But a recent study from the University ligious groups that had missions in the Franciscans!” he insists, laughing. of British Columbia suggests that the area do not demonstrate the same Beyond all this, Mr. Valencia’s the impact of the Jesuit missions long-lasting impacts. “The Jesuits and research confirms long-accepted founded in the 17th century in South the Franciscans both wanted to con- findings that education is in a sense America, also called reductions, is not vert souls to Catholicism,” he explains. self-perpetuating. That is, the more only measurable but far greater than “Both were Europeans; both were educated you are, the more able and anyone could have expected. doing these missions basically in the open you are to learning more and The economics professor Felipe middle of nowhere, these subtropical adapting further. So in Brazil, he notes, Valencia Caicedo studied 30 Jesu- forests, which were very isolated. But when genetically modified seeds were it missions in once-remote areas of what they did in them was very differ- introduced, those whose ancestors Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. He ent.” While the Jesuits concentrated had been taught by the Jesuits “are focused on how the areas around the on education, the Franciscan focus faster to adopt this technology.” reductions have changed over the 250 was more on care for the poor and Some might see Mr. Valencia’s years since the Jesuits were thrown sick. “Those are both completely valid research as suggesting the Society of out of the Spanish empire in 1767. conversion strategies,” Mr. Valencia Jesus accomplishes a greater good He discovered that in everything says, but the Franciscan communities through education than through direct from literacy and skills training to do not show the same long-lasting de- service to the poor. “Poverty allevia- overall levels of education, the areas velopment of human capital. tion programs are good,” Mr. Valencia around the former Jesuit missions Does that difference mean that says, “but investments in human cap- continue to show significantly higher religion itself played no part in the ital seem to be very longlasting.” Still, levels of achievement than equivalent positive long-term impact in the Je- he cautions that his research is limited communities without missions—with suit-sponsored communities? Mr. Va- to isolated communities; it is far more median years of schooling and liter- lencia notes that certain Jesuit ideas, difficult to measure long-term effects acy levels 10 to 15 percent higher and “things like striving for excellence, in big, constantly changing cities. modern per-capita incomes nearly 10 development of the full person,” cer- Mr. Valencia’s findings also raise percent higher. These areas also show tainly persist in former reduction ar- this question: If the effects of educa- the persistence of skills, some of them eas. But it is difficult to prove that the tion not only last far beyond the actual quite specific. Mr. Valencia offers the persistence of these values is directly presence of the Jesuits but continue example of embroidery. “We know for tied to Ignatian spirituality. to develop and increase, is there re- a fact that this was introduced to the And yet Mr. Valencia says that the ally a need for Jesuits to continue to area by Jesuit missionaries, who were Jesuit mission areas do seem to be im- stay in places that are already long mostly coming from the Low Coun- bued with a greater ethical sensitivity. established? Do Jesuits do more for tries,” he explains. “And it turns out He describes research games where the church and world by continuing to today there is more embroidery in for- individuals are told to flip a coin nine work at the same schools for centuries mer Jesuit municipalities” than else- times; if they get heads five times or or by moving on to new ventures—as where in Brazil. more, they will win a prize. The game St. Ignatius himself did? “They’re there for 150 years,” he works on the honor system; the mod- says of the Jesuit missions. “By the erator will not check to make sure time they leave there are eight gen- they actually flipped enough heads or Jim McDermott, S.J., is America’s Los Angeles correspondent and a erations that have been trained and tails. “In general, people systematical- contributing writer. educated in these Jesuit ways, so to ly cheat,” Mr. Valencia explains. “It’s Twitter: @PopCulturPriest.
10 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 11 Hear Thomas Merton’s Lost Lectures
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10 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 11 DISPATCHES
Placement of Jesuits under supervision raises concerns More names of credibly accused released
By Michael J. O'Loughlin
As provinces of the Society of Jesus in the United States “If he’s still in the Society of Jesus and living in a moni- release lists of their members who have been credibly tored environment in a Jesuit community, we can keep tabs accused of sexual abuse against minors, questions are on him,” Mr. Gabriele said. “We can monitor his where- emerging about where these men should reside after being abouts and keep his restrictions in place, whereas if he removed from ministry. In particular, a recent report by a were just to leave the Society, then he would be out living in nonprofit investigative journalism group raised questions the residential community somewhere.” about why the addresses of the accused priests and brothers Mr. Gabriele said that the Maryland Province’s safe are not being made public and whether neighbors and law environment protocols have been in place since 2003 and enforcement have a right to know that individuals deemed that a third party audits their procedures annually. Jesuits dangerous enough to be barred from ministry are living in who have been accused of abuse are removed from active their communities. ministry at the start of an investigation, he said, and if an Mike Gabriele, the director of communications for the allegation is deemed credible, they are removed from min- Maryland Province and the USA Northeast Province of the istry permanently. The province plans to conduct an addi- Society of Jesus, said that when a member of the order is tional third-party audit of its files “to ensure that our previ- credibly accused but is not in the custody of law enforce- ous reviews were both accurate and complete.” ment, he is placed on a “safety plan” that includes a removal The nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting re- from ministry, the monitoring of his whereabouts, restric- ported in December that at least 20 Jesuits who had been tions on his access to technology and provisions meant to credibly accused of abuse against minors were housed at ensure that he is kept away from minors. Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., until 2016. Those Being able to impose those restrictions on the accused Jesuits were on safety plans, but according to the report, is one reason, Mr. Gabriele said, that the order does not these plans were not uniformly enforced. simply seek to oust members facing credible accusations. Facing backlash, the Jesuits West Province said that no
12 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 13 The Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos, Calif.
Jesuits accused of abuse against children will be was our responsibility to supervise these men who did so allowed to live at Gonzaga in the future. much harm on our watch.” “Jesuits West guarantees that no Jesuit with There was the belief, he said, that laicized men would a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a minor is have “a lot more chance for reoffending if they were out in currently or will ever be knowingly assigned to the community on their own than if they were under our Gonzaga University or the Jesuit community on care and supervision.” its campus,” the province said in a statement on More answers about how decisions were made in the Dec. 18. Instead, Jesuits facing credible allega- past are likely to be revealed after a thorough review of pro- tions will live at the province’s senior health care vincial records early in 2019, said Father Santarosa. facility in Los Gatos, Calif. On Dec. 17, the Maryland Province released a list of The Cardinal Bea House at Gonzaga dou- Jesuits “with a credible or established offense against a bles as a retirement home and an infirmary for minor” dating from 1950. The most recent instance of Jesuits of what was once the Oregon Province. abuse occured in 2002, the order said, with most of the al- (Oregon completed a merger with the Califor- legations dating back decades. The list included 19 Jesuits, nia Province in 2017 to become the Jesuits West most of whom are deceased. Province.) The C.I.R. report outraged many read- The province said that no credibly accused Jesuit is cur- ers who compared the relative comfort of Jesuit rently in active ministry. Five Jesuits on the Maryland Prov-
Emily Swing/Reveal via AP Emily Swing/Reveal abusers at the Cardinal Bea House with the indif- ince list are reported to have been removed from ministry ference and even hostility shown to victims and and to be now living “in a restricted environment on a safety their families in the past. As with other cases of plan.” The list does not include information about their resi- accused priests living in church-owned residences, some dences, but an article in ThinkProgress reported that four of have asked why such men were not reported to police, la- the men live in a Jesuit retirement home in Baltimore. icized or removed from the community. On Dec. 7 the West Province released the names of all “If we reassigned a Jesuit that we knew faced an alle- priests and brothers credibly accused of sexual abuse of mi- gation of abuse, that’s deadly wrong,” Scott Santarosa, S.J., nors since 1950. Father Santarosa considers that a “draft” list the religious superior of the Jesuits West Province, said. and said more names may surface as old files are reviewed. “What’s hard is I can’t speak for who knew what, when. All Despite the controversy over the Cardinal Bea resi- I can say is that now when anything comes to our attention dence, Mr. Gabriele would not rule out college campuses as in this matter, we do remove a man while we investigate.” locations where Jesuits accused of abuse could be located. He acknowledged that assigning members of the prov- He said that the Maryland Province seeks residences that ince who had been confirmed as abusers to the Cardinal do not house active ministries and where the accused can Bea House was not ideal; however, the Oregon Province be monitored. Sometimes, he said, the health care needs of had few other residential options. He said his predecessors the Jesuit are also taken into consideration. believed the Cardinal Bea home was suitably distant from “I think what’s appropriate is that the Jesuits who are any ministry of the province that might put known abusers pulled from ministry and on our safety plans are in [Jesuit in proximity to children. residences] where there are no active ministries going on... Many of the elderly Jesuits who were identified as and that they’re not associated with any Jesuit work, even abusers were already in residence at Bea House when alle- at a parish,” he said. gations against them began to surface. “Once a man has final vows as a Jesuit,” Father Santa- rosa said, “it is sort of a commitment for the long haul. It is Michael J. O’Loughlin, national correspondent. not easy to dismiss a man, but it was also partly because it Twitter: @MikeOLoughlin.
12 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 13 A Catholic iStock travel itinerary
The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe (1976 building at left and 1709 building at right), Mexico City
The foreign policy of the United States may have taken an travel departures from the United States in 2015, up from isolationist turn over the past few years, but its citizens are 61 million in 2000. There is no data on Catholic travelers more interested than ever in seeing the rest of the world. in particular, but it seems safe to assume that they make up In 2018 there was a record 138 million valid U.S. passports a large segment of international travelers. Here are some in circulation, up from 49 million in 2000 and a mere of the most popular sightseeing destinations of interest to 11 million in 1990. The percentage of U.S. citizens with Catholic voyagers. passports is now at a record 42 percent; it was below 10 percent as recently as 1994. Robert Sullivan, associate editor. According to the World Bank, there were 73 million Twitter: @robertdsullivan. MOST-VISITED CATHOLIC SITES ENDANGERED CHRISTIAN SITES In 2012, Travel + Leisure magazine compiled a list of the world’s 41 most-visited The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization maintains a “sacred sites,” based on estimates from tourism boards and other sources. No. list of World Heritage sites “considered to be of outstanding value to humanity.” 1 was the Meiji Shrine and Sensoji-Temple, a Shinto shrine in Japan that attracts The agency has also identified 54 sites endangered by environmental changes, 30 million visitors annually. The highest-ranking Catholic site was the Basilica warfare or human development. They include the following sites with special of Our Lady of Guadalupe; below are all the Catholic sites that made the top 25, importance to Christians: followed by estimates of annual visitors in millions. Abu Mena, Egypt. An early Christian holy city built over the tomb of the 3. Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City: 20m martyr Menas of Alexandria, who died in A.D. 296. 5. Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris: 13.65m Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls. Among its 220 historic monuments are the Resurrection rotunda in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which houses 6. Sacré Coeur Basilica, Paris: 10.5m Christ’s tomb. 11. St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City: 7m Birthplace of Jesus: Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route, Bethlehem. The site identified by Christian tradition as the birthplace 13. Cologne Cathedral, Germany: 6m of Jesus since the second century. The site also includes Latin, Greek Orthodox, Franciscan and Armenian convents and churches. 13. Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, France: 6m Hebron/Al-Khalil Old Town, Palestine. Includes a compound built in 13. Shrine of Padre Pio, San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy: 6m the first century to protect the tombs of the patriarch Abraham and his family. The site is a place of pilgrimage for three monotheistic religions: Judaism, 16. St. Mark’s Basilica, Venice, Italy: 5.5m Christianity and Islam. 17. Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, Italy: 5.5m Medieval Monuments in Kosovo, Serbia. Includes the 13th-century frescoes of the Church of Holy Apostles. 18. St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York City: 5.5m Ancient City of Bosra, Syria. Early Christian ruins and several mosques are found within its walls. 24. Sistine Chapel, Vatican City: 4m Ancient Villages of Northern Syria. The relics of some 40 villages 25. Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem: 4m illustrate the transition from the Roman Empire to Byzantine Christianity.
THE CHURCH IN THE U.S. AND CANADA Largest Catholic church: Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Oldest Catholic church site in Canada: Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame Conception, Washington, D.C. Includes 70 chapels and accommodates 10,000 de Québec, Quebec City. Built in 1647 and destroyed twice by fire; last restored worshippers. in 1922. Oldest Catholic church in the U.S.: Cathedral of San Juan Bautista, San World Heritage Site: San Antonio Missions, Texas. This is the only site in Juan, Puerto Rico. First built in 1521, rebuilt in 1540 after a fire. the United States on UNESCO’s World Heritage list that is of special interest to Oldest Catholic church on the continental U.S.: San Miguel Chapel, Catholics. It was built by Franciscan missionaries in the early 18th century, when Santa Fe, New Mexico. The present building dates from 1710. it was part of the colony of New Spain.
Sources: “World’s Most-Visited Sacred Sites,” Travel + Leisure magazine, Jan. 4, 2012; “The Church in the U.S. and Canada" from church websites; “World Heritage in Danger,” United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; World Heritage List, UNESCO. Passport data from the U.S. Department of State and the BBC; travel data from the World Bank. 14 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 15 Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during Prime Minister’s Questions at the House of Commons on Dec. 19.
Theresa May fumbles toward
a no-deal Brexit Parliament via AP Mark Duffy/UK
British Prime Minister Theresa May survived a right- A leak to British media revealed that during her closed- wing challenge to her leadership from within her own door, pre-vote meeting with party members in the House Conservative Party on Dec. 12. But just as in a previous of Commons, she had to buy some votes by promising not foray into deeper electoral thicket—an ill-considered to lead the Tories into the next general election, scheduled snap election in June 2017—Mrs. May comes out of the for 2022. latest vote weaker than when she went in. Even as most On her latest trip to Brussels, the prime minister as- Conservative M.P.s voted to retain her as the party’s leader serted that she would get further concessions from the E.U. in Parliament, about one-third failed to rally to her banner. 27, as the union minus Britain is now called, even though The intraparty discord has been brought about en- E.U. negotiators continue to flatly deny the possibility. All tirely by the protracted split among Conservatives over sides hope to avoid the return of a hard border that would Brexit. The vote made plain both just how riven the To- separate the U.K. member Northern Ireland from the ries are over the decision to leave Europe and, if any fur- neighboring Republic of Ireland, which remains an E.U. ther evidence were needed, just how unsatisfactory is the member state. Brexit deal struck with the European Union that Mrs. As revelations about the nature of the run-up to the May is trying to sell. vote continue to provoke outrage—Britons now know that Meanwhile, the British state continues to make many lies were told and Russian intrigues on social media preparations for the growing possibility of a no-deal exit. spun—there is merit in the growing clamor for a second That outcome is one the bureaucracy thinks sufficiently “people’s vote” before calamity strikes in March. There plausible that it is spending large sums recruiting new is at this late moment an opportunity to admit that the staff and renting warehouse space for key supplies, such Brexit “deal” Mrs. May and her Conservative Party are as E.U.-produced medicine, that may abruptly prove hard clinging to is nothing like what the Leave campaign prom- to come by. ised. Diminution and economic damage across Britain are The prime minister initiated a five-day debate in the now widely forecast. House of Commons over the widely lambasted deal she Listening to the will of the people would surely imply brought home from Brussels. But in the end Conserva- that, Scotland and the northeast of Ireland having voted to tives postponed a “meaningful vote” on the deal because, remain, the concerns of these nations should be respected as some government officials admitted, they presumed it more. There is a growing resentment that Scotland is treat- would lose by a significant margin. ed as a mere region of the United Kingdom, and the sepa- The prime minister settled on Jan. 15 for the replay ratist movement in Scotland has found a new energy. vote in Parliament on her Brexit deal but now risks a no-confidence vote sponsored by the Labour Party. Mrs. May has demonstrated her staying power, surviving sever- David Stewart, S.J., London correspondent. al leadership crises, but her luck appears to have run out. Twitter: @DavidStewartSJ.
14 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 15 Christmas chaos at the border Trump’s wall challenged by church leaders
On Christmas Eve, 8-year-old Felipe Alonzo-Gómez died nizations work with immigration enforcement to care for while in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. newly arrived asylum seekers. Felipe, who had traveled from Guatemala before he was “We want to prevent drugs and we do want to prevent detained along with his father, was the second child to die all the illegal activity that goes on across the border and in U.S. custody in December. across the river,” he said. As the federal shutdown continued in December, Pres- In Laredo, detention centers are full and there are too ident Trump said he would veto any funding bill that did few immigration judges, Mr. de la Garza said. While immi- not include $5 billion for a U.S.-Mexico border wall. While grants and asylum seekers wait for the cases to be decided, the Trump administration has said the wall is necessary to Catholic Charities and other groups step in to help. curb illegal immigration and drug trafficking, many faith Since late December, many Christian groups have leaders who live along the border see things differently. been responding to what they say are chaotic scenes of “The idea of a wall is absurd,” said the Rev. Julio López, migrants being randomly dropped off in their cities and the director of Casa del Migrante in Nuevo Laredo, Tam- towns near the U.S.-Mexico border by federal immigration aulipas, Mexico. “The Berlin Wall fell, why are we thinking officials. Dylan Corbett, executive director of the Hope Bor- about more walls? der Institute in El Paso, Tex., could not say if the government “We have to build bridges, bridges of humanity before shutdown was to blame for the chaos in El Paso, but, he said, walls,” Father López said. “Barriers already exist, be they “These games are unacceptable.” He charged on Dec. 26 that cultural barriers or sociopolitical barriers that often sep- as local groups struggled to process the migrant drop-offs, a arate us. Many times they are instruments of discrimina- border crisis was being “manufactured in Washington.” tion. So with all that, why do we need more barriers?” The release of the migrants, which seems to have hap- But Benjamin de la Garza, the executive director of pened also in neighboring New Mexico, took place on Catholic Charities in Laredo, Tex., recognized the need for Christmas Day itself and several days leading up to it. “We border security, if not the kind of barrier proposed by the here at the Catholic Diocese of El Paso are very concerned president. Catholic Charities and other faith-based orga- about the hundreds of people being put on the streets in El
16 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 17 CNS photo/Jose Luis Gonzalez, Reuters Luis Gonzalez, CNS photo/Jose The church of Mar Behnam and Mart Sarah awaits repairs
in Qaraqosh, Iraq. Clarke Kevin by Photo GOODNEWS The ‘extraordinary power of faith’ in Iraq Speaking in Westminster Abbey at an ecumenical service on Dec. 4 “to celebrate the contribution of Christians in the Middle East,” Prince Charles recalled his “great joy” upon meeting Luma Khudher, a Dominican Sister of St. Catherine of Siena, in England in October. He described Central American migrants, who were dropped off at a bus station in El Paso, how as Isis extremists advanced on the Christian town of Texas, line up for food on Christmas Day. Qaraqosh in 2014, Sister Luma “got behind the wheel of a minibus crammed full of her fellow Christians and drove the long and dangerous road to safety.” Paso, at the bus depot, at the airport and at a local park,” Now she has returned to the Nineveh Plains to help Bishop Mark Seitz wrote in a statement released on re-establish the Christian presence there. “Like the Dec. 27. “We understand that the facilities of Homeland 100,000 other Christians who were forced from the Security are overcrowded, but the decision of our gov- Nineveh Plains...they left behind the ruins of their homes ernment to simply put these children and families with and churches and the shattered remnants of their commu- no money, no tickets, no food, no access to phones, out nities,” he said. on the street is inhumane and unconscionable. “The sister told me, movingly, of her return to Nineveh “Clearly, this Christmas the newborn Savior will with her fellow sisters three years later, and of their de- find no room," Bishop Seitz wrote. Catholic parishes spair at the utter destruction they found there,” he said. have made available volunteers and facilities to help, “But like so many others, they put their faith in God, and said Bishop Seitz, but he believes the government also today the tide has turned—nearly half of those displaced needs to own up to what happened. having gone back to rebuild their homes and their commu- “Our government has a responsibility, when it takes nities.” these refugees into custody, to provide for their basic Prince Charles said the return of Christians to Iraq needs,” Bishop Seitz wrote. “With the recent deaths of represented “the most wonderful testament to the resil- two young children, the accounts of mistreatment in ience of humanity and to the extraordinary power of faith holding cells and the heartless expulsion of these fami- to resist even the most brutal efforts to extinguish it.” lies, an undeniable picture is coming into focus, and it is The prince expressed his hope that Christians and not one of which we Americans can be proud.” Muslims will again live together in peace, saying that throughout history they have “shown that it is possible to live side by side as neighbors and friends.” J.D. Long-García, senior editor. Twitter: @jdlonggarcia. With reporting from Catholic News Service. Visit americamagazine.org for a video report from the border. From Catholic News Service
16 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 17 By Ronald E. Osborn
INDIVIDUALISM Three important thinkers provide key terms for understanding how we have arrived at this historical moment
In an article in First Things in 2011, the Eastern Orthodox theologian David Bentley Hart pondered why so many literary depictions of the devil present him as attractive, witty, stylish and debonair. If there is a devil, Hart ventured, he is a thug and a bore, “probably a monomaniac who talks about nothing but his personal grievances and aims, and in the bluntest, most unrefined language imaginable—the sort of person you try your best to get away from at a party.” Hart recalled a legal case from 1993 in which a poor, el- derly New Jersey woman, Vera Coking, fought to keep her home while a ruthless developer used all his power to have the land seized by eminent domain so he could buy it at a discount and turn it into a limousine parking lot for one of his Atlantic City casinos. Hart then offered the following verdict on that developer and on the nature of the diabolical: “Cold, grasping, bleak, graceless, and dull; unctuous, sleek, pitiless, and crass; a pallid vulgarian floating through life on clouds of acrid co- logne and trailed by a vanguard of fawning divorce lawyers, the devil is probably eerily similar to Donald Trump—though perhaps just a little nicer.”
18 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 19 CNS photo/Jonathan Ernst, Reuters Ernst, CNS photo/Jonathan
President Donald Trump signs into law the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2018.
18 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 19 President Trump leaves the Oval Office before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on November 26, 2018.
Six years later, First Things was publishing articles of Their ideas will be familiar to many readers, yet a very different kind about the meaning of Donald Trump they are worth revisiting as we now witness the and Trumpism. In an essay published in July 2017, the mag- putative defenders of reason, virtue and the wis- azine’s editor, R. R. Reno, praised the new president (whose dom of the ages offering equivocating if not al- candidacy he had endorsed in 2016 along with other nota- ways effusive support for our nihilist in chief, the ble conservatives calling themselves “Scholars and Writers president of expressive individualism. for America” as “the most likely to restore the promise of America,” to end “crony capitalism” and to “promote an American Individualism and the Loss of Virtue honest and just government”) for having “discerned the In his seminal study of moral philosophy in 1981, true meaning of our historical moment.” Liberal commen- After Virtue, MacIntyre offered an unsettling tale. tators were alarmed by a speech Trump had just given in “Imagine,” he wrote, “that the natural sciences Warsaw to the people of Poland. They heard echoes of the were to suffer the effects of a catastrophe.” For blood-and-soil rhetoric of Hitler and National Socialism. some reason the masses turn against scientific Reno, too, was “struck by Trump’s emphasis on ‘will,’ and knowledge and go on a rampage, burning scientific especially by the way in which he spoke of the Polish nation textbooks, smashing research laboratories, as consecrated by ‘the blood of patriots.’” lynching physicists and abolishing all science But far from harboring any moral or political qualms courses from the universities. Generations later, about Trump’s language, Reno compared him with Pericles. people realize that the anti-science purge was a He admired Trump’s use of “the classic rhetoric of resolve, terrible mistake. A few enlightened individuals determination, will, blood, and sacrifice” to counter the attempt to undo the damage. Not raised in a true threat of our age—not the danger of resurgent author- scientific culture, however, all they know of the itarianism around the globe but what Reno called “velvet scientific method and scientific theories is what nihilism.” He defined this peril as “a disposition of cultural they have gleaned from mysterious bits and pieces of the and moral disarmament that cannot rouse itself to affirm past—disconnected fragments of learning that do not add up or defend much of anything.” According to Reno, postwar to any unified project or integrated worldview (a single page fears of fascism and the slogan “Never Again!” have led to from an article here, portions of the periodic table there, “disenchantment,” “irony,” “moral relativism and radical etc.). They might imagine that by faithfully preserving and secularism.” But for Reno, it is time to move on. “We do not committing to memory this potpourri of artifacts they are need to be chastened by Auschwitz,” he remarkably con- engaging in “science.” Yet true scientific knowledge does cluded. What we need in “our circumstances” are “consol- not advance, and their veneration of what they believe to idating motifs, to rally people to causes that are worthy of be science more closely resembles a kind of superstition or their loyalty, even to the point of self-sacrifice.” religious faith. Whatever else Trump represents, he has never stood MacIntyre then offered a “disquieting suggestion” for loyalty (except the unquestioning loyalty of others to about our current reality: himself), for self-sacrifice or for traditional or conserva- tive values in the face of the moral relativism of Hollywood The hypothesis which I wish to advance is that in and coastal elites. Embraced by nearly half of voting Amer- the actual world which we inhabit the language of icans—including a majority of non-Hispanic Catholics and morality is in the same state of grave disorder as an overwhelming majority of evangelical Protestants—for the language of natural science in the imaginary his alleged prowess as a businessman and for the “authen- world which I described.… We possess indeed ticity” of his vitriol against the political establishment, simulacra of morality.… But we have very largely, the only “motifs” that Trump has “consolidated” are pre- if not entirely, lost our comprehension, both cisely those of the nihilism that conservative intellectuals theoretical and practical, of morality. But how have long made it their vocation to decry. Three important could this be so?... The catastrophe will have to thinkers of the past 40 years—Alisdair MacIntyre, Robert have been of such a kind that it was not and has not Bellah and Charles Taylor—provide key terms for under- been—except perhaps by a very few—recognized standing how we have arrived at this historical moment. as a catastrophe.
20 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 21 Photo by Oliver Contreras/SIPA USA (Sipa via AP Images) (Sipa USA Contreras/SIPA Oliver by Photo
Insofar as secular liberal societies do subscribe to any pirical or normative—is explicitly rejected. Bottom lines overarching moral theory, according to MacIntyre, it is and psychological harmony—the truth that is true only if it the theory of emotivism—namely, the view that there are serves my interests, or if it feels true to me—trump all. no objective moral standards and that statements of mor- Where MacIntyre used the term emotivism to name al principle are really just masks for personal preferences. our moral predicament, the sociologist Robert Bellah and These notions have penetrated far deeper into our culture, his co-writers, in their classic 1985 study of American so- MacIntyre suggested, than we might realize or care to ad- ciety, Habits of the Heart, identified two powerful strands mit. “The reduction of morality to personal preference of American thought that in some ways correspond to the continually recurs in the writings of those who do not think managerial and therapeutic types: utilitarian individual- of themselves as emotivists.” ism and expressive individualism. The archetypal utili- He identifies two modern types who in their profes- tarian individualist in American history, they suggested, sional roles are incapable of engaging in serious moral is Benjamin Franklin, who made a lifelong project of per- debate and yet have come to influence our moral thinking sonal self-improvement according to economic standards powerfully: the manager and the therapist. Both in their of industry and thrift. Franklin’s Autobiography was a kind own way obliterate questions of moral ends, transforming of secular Pilgrim’s Progress that self-consciously set out to all problems into matters purely of technique to be evaluat- transform classic Christian virtues along more pragmatic ed in terms of quantifiably measurable outcomes (greater lines. Utilitarian individualism sees people as self-made profits in the case of the manager, reported feelings of men- and self-maximizing creatures, motivated primarily by ap- tal well-being in the case of the therapist). The idioms of petites and entering into rational social contracts not out management and therapy, MacIntyre contends, have thor- of any noble concern for the common good but rather to oughly penetrated and colonized a host of other spheres, advance their own interests, security and profits. including education, politics and religion. In the emotivist While our political and economic life is dominated frame, objective truth is no longer held up as a paramount by the assumptions and vocabulary of utilitarian individ- value. Indeed, the idea that individuals ought to be held ualism, however, American culture is arguably even more accountable to universal standards of truth—whether em- strongly influenced by the second form of individualism,
20 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 21 Alasdair C. MacIntyre, Robert N. Bellah, Charles M. Taylor flickr, wikimedia, alamy
which arose in opposition to the drive toward ever great- can probably do almost anything within reason and still not er efficiency and control. “Expressive individualism holds raise an eyebrow, it is all ultimately thanks to the Baptists.” that each person has a unique core of feeling and intuition But Bellah detected a fatal contradiction in the cul- that should unfold or be expressed if individuality is to ture of expressive individualism. With ever greater affir- be realized.” The archetypal expressive individualist, ac- mation of the sacredness of the individual, “our capacity cording to Bellah, is Walt Whitman, whose most famous to imagine a social fabric that would hold individuals to- work, Leaves of Grass, begins with the words, “I celebrate gether is vanishing.” In the final analysis, he wrote, “Rog- myself.” For Whitman, in contrast to Franklin, the goal of er Williams was a moral genius but he was a sociological life is not to maximize efficiency for the sake of material ac- catastrophe. After he founded the First Baptist church he quisition but rather to luxuriate in sensual and intellectual left it for a smaller and purer one. That, too, he found in- experiences, to take pleasure in one’s bodily life and sexu- adequate, so he founded a church that consisted only of ality and to express oneself freely, without any concern for himself, his wife and one other person. One wonders how social conventions. he stood even those two.” More than a decade after Habits of the Heart was pub- Yet the most powerful dissolvent of the social fabric lished, Bellah traced the origins of both utilitarian and ex- was not the drive toward religious purity and freedom of pressive individualism to still deeper wellsprings in Amer- conscience (leading to the perennial splintering of Protes- ican history than either Franklin or Whitman, sources he tant denominations). It was the capitalist drive toward an confessed he had earlier failed to appreciate fully. Ameri- economic individualism that “knows nothing of the sacred- can-style individualism, he argued in a plenary address to a ness of the individual” and whose “only standard is mon- meeting of the American Academy of Religion in San Fran- ey.” Bellah was not optimistic about America’s long-term cisco, is at its root religious, flowing out of the idea of free- prospects: “[T]he poignant reality is that, without a mini- dom of conscience first championed by radical Protestant mal degree of solidarity, the project of ever greater recog- sects like the Quakers and the Baptists. Secular liberalism nition of individual dignity will collapse in on itself. Under thus lives on borrowed moral capital. “[T]he key move was the ideological facade of individual freedom, the reality to extend the sacredness of conscience from religious be- will be, is already becoming, a society in which wealth, ever lief to any seriously held conviction whatever.” Bellah wryly more concentrated in a small minority, is the only access to continued, “[H]ere, in the city of San Francisco, where you real freedom.”
22 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 23 Whatever else Trump represents, he has never stood for loyalty, for self-sacrifice or for traditional or conservative values.
and certainly no appeal to sacred writ can be allowed to in- The Rise of the Culture terfere with the one sacred truth of the culture of authen- of Authenticity ticity: Individuals must be free to define themselves and In his magnum opus, A their own goods however they desire, provided only that all Secular Age, in 2007, involved are consenting adults in the “free market.” Charles Taylor similarly The highest and perhaps only real ethic of our secular linked expressive ind- age is the “harm principle” first enunciated by John Stu- ividualism with con- art Mill—namely, the idea that no one should interfere in sumerism and with the any aspect of anyone else’s life except to prevent a person subordination of values from doing harm to someone else. “Doing harm” is itself to the demands of the now seen, though, precisely in terms of interference. To market. There are traces impede—or even to call into question—someone else’s of these developments as self-expression, whatever that expression might be, is to far back as 18th-century Romanticism, but Taylor sees a commit a kind of violence against their personhood. The fundamental shift after World War II from a mere emphasis pursuit of virtue is thus replaced by the quest for self-ac- on subjectivity to a full-blown consumerist culture of tualization. In Taylor’s words, “One shouldn’t criticize the authenticity. others’ values, because they have a right to live their own Since the 1940s, the United States has undergone a life as you do. The sin which is not tolerated is intolerance.” period of unprecedented affluence and the widespread dif- Or, in the words of the Rev. Franklin Graham, whether or fusion of what were formerly thought of as luxury goods, not the president of the United States had an affair with a from washing machines to packaged family holidays. porn star and silenced her with hush money on the eve of Corporations have honed techniques of mass marketing an election “is nobody’s business.” to convince people that they need to purchase a constant The irony of “authenticity” in the consumerist societ- stream of novel things in order to express their individu- ies of late capitalism is that personal expression takes the ality. The “pursuit of happiness” in American society—and form of brand loyalty. “Individuality” is expressed as group globally insofar as the world has embraced American val- conformity—and, in the political realm, a sheer tribalism ues—thus today largely means the pursuit of ever more divorced from any sense of ideological consistency or firm “stuff.” According to Taylor, the convergence of consumer- moral commitment. Corporate marketing on the one hand ism and expressive individualism fosters an ethic of “soft isolates individuals in their acquisitiveness, fostering indif- relativism.” “Expressions like ‘do your own thing’ become ference to “losers” in the global economy. At the same time, current; a beer commercial of the early 70s enjoined us to advertising and social media exploit our fears of isolation, ‘be yourselves in the world of today.’ A simplified expres- binding us ever closer to one another, not in authentic com- sivism infiltrates everywhere. Therapies multiply which munity but in liturgies of consumption that revolve around promise to help you find yourself, realize yourself, release insecure imitation games (or what the social theorist René your true self, and so on.” Girard called “mimetic rivalries”). “The present youth cul- Under soft relativism, traditional understandings of ture is defined both by the way advertising is pitched at it marriage and sexual ethics undergo a corresponding rad- and, to a great degree autonomously, as expressivist,” notes ical revaluation. Practices that were formerly stigmatized Taylor. But the “styles of dress adopted, the kinds of music taboos become the staples of light entertainment. No good listened to, give expression to the personality, to the affini- of the community, no natural law, no biological inheritance ties of the chooser, within a wide space of fashion in which
22 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 23 American-style individualism, Bellah argued, is at its root religious, flowing out tator Rod Dreher’s phrase (that echoes prescient earlier of the idea of freedom of comparisons, made from the left by Noam Chomsky and Richard Rorty, between Weimar Germany and conditions conscience first championed in the United States), there is no more reason for faith in the collective wisdom and virtue of the demos than there is by radical Protestant sects for faith in the wisdom and virtue of the leader whom the demos has already chosen—the hotelier from Manhattan like the Quakers. with his golden palaces; his smash-mouth politics; his se- rial adulteries; his manifest lying about matters great and one’s choice could align one with thousands, even millions small; his lack of all impulse control; his disdain for tradi- of others.” tion, rules and norms; his fulsome praise of thugs and dic- The new emphasis on private space has freed us from tators; his casual cruelty toward those he deems weak; and older relationships of mutual support, neighborliness and his crudely transactional morality. shared responsibility. But this expanded freedom to assert Conservatives have long decried the relaxing of sexual our personal “identities” comes at steep social and spiri- ethics and the loss of codes of etiquette as markers of lib- tual costs. The culture of authenticity is marked by grow- eralism’s moral impoverishment and as political perils to ing distrust of social and political institutions because of Western civilization. Yet with the rise of Trumpism, they their failure to fulfill their promises and satisfy our deep- are themselves now deeply and irreversibly implicated in est human longings. Yet we are complicit in the breakdown the expressivist turn. All of the old pieties, it turns out, are of these institutions through our refusal to place others completely fungible for most conservatives as well. Basic ahead of ourselves or to limit our “right” to consume and to principles of rationality, truth-telling, civility, decency and emote, whenever and however we please. restraint have been laid waste by the reality television star’s hostile takeover of the Republican Party and ascent to the The Decadence of Trumpism White House on a tsunami of emotive tweets and hyperbol- And so at last we return to the president of expressive ic promises of “better deals.” Yet an astonishing number of individualism, who exemplifies, in the crudest forms Americans, abandoning their own earlier proclamations of imaginable, both the utilitarian and emotivist frames that the necessity of virtuous character for wise and just politi- have animated the American experiment from its founding cal leadership, now cheer the unraveling—and the cruelty. and who perfectly embodies the essential relativism, According to Taylor, there is a troubling amnesia among individualism and narcissism of our consumerist “culture many liberal champions of the ethics of authenticity, a for- of authenticity.” Strip away Benjamin Franklin’s literary getfulness of the violence that can be unleashed on the world genius and still quasi-Christian concern for the relationship when large numbers of people embrace political ideologies between pragmatic utility and the development of good that are emotivist and expressivist at their cores. For many character and we are left with The Art of the Deal. Remove young people, it is “as though the morality of mutual respect Walt Whitman’s poetic elegance, generosity of spirit and were embedded in the ideal of authentic self-fulfillment it- love for the commoner, and it is no great leap to the boasts self”; they are “oblivious of how the terrible twentieth-cen- of the modern libertine who has devoted his entire life to tury aberrations of Fascism and extreme nationalism have celebrating himself and who has only contempt for the also drunk at the expressivist source.” But if liberal cheer- constraints of conventional morality: “You know, it doesn’t leaders for authenticity are oblivious, as Taylor says, to the really matter what [the media] write as long as you’ve got a ways in which liberalism and extreme nationalism have young and beautiful piece of ass.” “When you’re a star, they drunk from the same expressivist wells, the converse is also let you do it. You can do anything.” true. Many self-described conservatives are willfully oblivi- Politicians regularly proclaim as an article of faith ous to the ways in which their newfound “populist national- their abiding trust in the “wisdom of the American people,” ism” partakes of the spirit of the age, the ethos of “me first” in our collective common sense that in the end must always bleeding into the nativism of “America First.” somehow see us through. But in our morally and spiritually Today’s “conservatives”—who embraced Trump as exhausted “Weimar America,” in conservative commen- their champion from out of a field of 17 Republican alter-
24 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 25 President Trump speaks to reporters about border security in the briefing room of the White House, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2019. AP Photo/Evan Vucci AP Photo/Evan
natives—are the heirs not of Edmund Burke so much as of richer through the cynical orchestration of pseudo-events Robespierre and the Jacobins, eager to smash the highest that play on mob appetites, insecurities and hatreds; the achievements of their forebears in the name of an incho- catharsis of collective scapegoating climaxing in ritualistic ate appeal to something “greater.” This is not the “velvet violence. nihilism” that Rusty Reno fears but rather nihilism of a In the final analysis, Trump’s revolt against the liberal far more uninhibited, coarse and quintessentially Ameri- order ironically manifests and exacerbates all the internal can kind. To comprehend the wellsprings of this new rad- contradictions eating at the heart of the culture of authen- icalism from the right and its appeal across large swathes ticity. What his ruinous triumph has revealed in stark relief of the electorate, we must come to terms not only with the is how few authentic conservatives are left in our expres- realities of stagnating wages, growing inequality, economic sivist land. As the atmosphere of chaos, mendacity and ve- despair and fears of racial and cultural supplanting in the nality surrounding the White House deepens day by day, heartland, but also with the moral and spiritual signifi- Trump’s ceaselessly tolerant and indulgent supporters and cance of a sordid spectacle that in retrospect appears as a apologists—whose silences often speak louder than their dark portent of our times: more than 80,000 frenzied fans words—can no longer plausibly claim to be the guardians cheering Trump on as he body-slammed, beat and shaved of virtue. They must now be counted among the greatest the head of a writhing, sobbing Vince McMahon, and then moral decadents of our secular age. rained money from the sky (most of it fake, some of it real) during the 2007 “Battle of the Billionaires” storyline on WrestleMania XXIII. This is what the apotheosis of util- itarian and expressive individualism in the American ex- Ronald E. Osborn is an independent scholar and the author periment can, at least potentially, look like: an unvarnished of Humanism and the Death of God: Searching for the Good appeal to fantasies of power and revenge; the rich growing After Darwin, Marx, and Nietzsche (Oxford University Press).
24 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 25 iStock 26 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 27 SINGLE MOTHERS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH How the church can support single-parent families By Kaya Oakes
In the late afternoon on a muggy day this past summer, I attended a funeral for a friend’s mother. A woman who had spent her working career as a nurse and her retirement years volunteering with AIDS patients, my friend’s mom lived into her late 90s. The testimonies at the funeral were moving. Her friends and family spoke about her kindness, her devotion to the marginalized and her deep and devout love for the Catholic Church that had sustained her over the course of a very long life. But when her children got up to speak, both of them returned again and again to the same topic: their mother’s care for them as a single parent. The relationship between single mothers and the Catholic Church is not always an easy one. Because the church has long defined marriage as central to lay Catholic identity, Catholic single mothers have sometimes stayed hid- den in the shadows. The history of Ireland’s mother and baby homes, where so-called “fallen women” and their children were subject to horrific treatment at the hands of Catholic religious orders, has become widely known thanks to a num- ber of journalistic and government investigations. Similar homes existed throughout the United States. Physical and mental abuse, rampant disease
26 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 27 iStock and early death were common in Catholic-run homes for slow, particularly when it comes to the status of women. single mothers. An investigation by the Marshall Project In the case of births out of wedlock, women have long car- into mother and baby homes in the United States revealed ried the burden of responsibility for whatever actions may that these homes were “at least as numerous” until the have led to their becoming single mothers. In his apostolic mid-20th century as they were in Ireland—and “at least as exhortation on the family, “Amoris Laetitia,” Pope Francis brutal.” The so-called “fallen women” who populated these wrote, “A pastor cannot feel that it is enough to simply ap- homes, according to the historian Estelle Freedman, expe- ply moral laws to those living in ‘irregular’ situations, as if rienced a greater stigma than male criminals of the 19th they were stones to throw at people’s lives.” century. But attitudes toward single mothers vary widely from While the church’s treatment of single mothers has parish to parish. The pope spoke out against priests who greatly improved, some of that stigma remains. In a sur- refuse to baptize the children of single mothers in 2016, vey of Catholic women commissioned by America and saying that denial is a form of “pastoral cruelty.” When it conducted by Georgetown University’s Center for Ap- comes to the baptism of the children of single mothers, the plied Research in the Apostolate, single Catholic mothers Catechism of the Catholic Church says only that at least reported mixed experiences of parish life. The survey re- one of the parents must promise to do their best to bring vealed that “Catholic women are more likely to agree ‘very up the child as a Catholic. Yet even in Berkeley, Calif., the much’ that divorced and remarried Catholics (25 percent) famously liberal city where I teach, the priest at my former and non-heterosexual Catholics (25 percent) are more parish told me he had received a phone call from a sobbing welcome in their parish than unwed Catholic parents (16 woman who had been told by the pastor of another local percent).” Most of the widowed and divorced parents who church that her child could not be baptized there unless responded said their parishes were only “a little” or “some- she was married. what” welcoming, and nearly 18 percent said their parishes According to the last U.S. census, nearly a quarter were not at all welcoming. More than half of women overall of children in the United States are being raised in sin- said their parish provides no or little support for new moth- gle-parent homes, and the majority of those are sin- ers (52 percent) or child care (55 percent). gle-mother families. That means there are over 10 million It is not news to Catholics that change in the church is single mothers, about half of whom are divorced, a third
28 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 29 Women have long
of whom have never been married and a smaller number carried the burden who are widows. There have been multiple stories in the past few years of responsibility for of single female employees of Catholic churches, schools and colleges being fired for becoming pregnant out of wed- lock. Morality clauses, which require teachers at Catholic whatever actions schools to agree not to bear a child out of wedlock, enter into a same-sex marriage or use birth control, have received may have led to their increased attention in some dioceses. In 2014, Shaela Evanson of Helena, Mt., became pregnant and was fired for becoming single violating the morality clause of the contract at the Catholic school where she taught. The single mother Christa Dias mothers. was fired by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in 2010 when she became pregnant through in vitro fertilization, and on views of the roles available to women within families, the a Reddit thread from 2016, a devout teacher at a Catholic church struggled to understand how to deal with the pres- school fretted about expediting her wedding after she be- ence of single mothers who may have previously stayed came pregnant so as not to lose her job. In December 2018, hidden in congregations. By the 1970s and ’80s, these Naiad Reich, a Catholic school teacher in Pennsylvania, women were discovering a kind of self-agency as they saw was terminated from her position when she informed the single, empowered women more widely represented in school’s principal that she and her partner were expecting popular culture. a child out of wedlock. “It’s not like we were having single mother marches,” Ms. Doherty says. But their presence did become more Second-Class Catholics? mainstream, and they were less ashamed of their status. The difficulties single mothers face in the church are not Before feminism, she says, single mothers “were almost new. Although my friend’s mother was a churchgoing Cath- content to be in the back of the back of the church.” But olic until her death, as a divorced woman in the 1960s, she even after the feminist revolution, “the time constraint and sometimes faced judgment from fellow Catholics, with the the inability to participate” that Ms. Doherty encountered added stress of raising two children on her own as a work- as a single mother meant it was difficult for her to really ing woman. Vacations were a rarity, the kids often wore feel engaged in parish life, even though she chose to remain second-hand clothes, and money was so tight they took in Catholic. roomers to make ends meet. That experience led her to question whether to bring up Ashley Doherty, who is in her 60s and was widowed her daughter in the church, and she ultimately decided that in her 30s, says that when it came to parish life as a single it would be her daughter’s own decision. When her daugh- mother, “I felt on the outside looking in at the time, without ter was in junior high, Ms. Doherty realized her daughter’s anybody being deliberately rude.” Ms. Doherty grew up in catechesis classes were thin on theology, and she told her Mississippi during the era of segregation and says that the daughter it was up to her whether she would continue with church of her childhood treated a single-parent family or them. By the time her daughter was 13 and the time for any family without a large number of children as problem- confirmation had arrived, Ms. Doherty says she told her: atic. For those kinds of families, “it almost becomes a re- “You can walk out any time. This is not mandatory.” But her quirement that you acknowledge your second-class status daughter chose to be confirmed, stayed in the church and is before you’re allowed in the door,” she says. now raising her own children as Catholics. Ms. Doherty says the prejudice toward single mothers in the church may be part of a larger reaction against other Help Wanted kinds of relationships—same-sex couples, unmarried cou- Donna, a single mother in her 30s, who asked that her last ples living together and so on—that stray from the ideal name be withheld, says that her experiences in the Catho- of a “traditional” family. As the rise of feminism in the lic Church have also been mixed. Donna was divorced at a second half of the 20th century began to change society’s time in her life when she was lapsed from the church, and
28 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 29 Donna, a single mother in her 30s, says that her experiences as a single parent in the Catholic Church have been mixed. her child from that marriage was not baptized. When she sues faced by Catholic single parents and to returned to the church a year ago, she was told by the pastor meet the needs of the single parents in the of her local church that in order for her child to be baptized, congregation. she would need to get an annulment. She contacted her lo- The number one issue they identified, cal archdiocese, but they never returned her calls. according to the program’s current director, In her years as a single mother, it was partially the Jaquelyn Mika, was that the single parents church’s attitude—exemplified by that unreturned phone did not know where they fit in the Catholic call—that caused her to again distance herself from the Church and did not feel welcomed. They church. Single motherhood, she says, means “you never also learned that what single parents in the get a break, you never rest or are able to take a step back,” congregation needed was primarily “emo- which for her meant that spiritual questions had to move tional, practical and spiritual support.” to the back burner in favor of survival. The logistical and Ms. Mika, a single mother to grown chil- financial assistance she did receive did not come from the dren, says that in terms of practical support, church but from her artistic community. At times, she says, child care is the number-one priority for she felt “branded with a scarlet letter” in church and adds single mothers who attend the group, so that she had never “encountered a Catholic community the parish provides free babysitting during that helped me out personally.” the meetings. The format is simple. The Donna is now engaged and pregnant again. Although group meets monthly and is facilitated by a she left the church before because she felt “treated like the moderator. It provides an opportunity for sum of my mistakes in life,” she says her current efforts to single parents to discuss their lives in what get her first marriage annulled, get married in the church Ms. Mika calls a “safe and confidential” en- and have her child and soon-to-be-born second child bap- vironment, with opportunities to speak but tized are the result of “a lot of growing up” and an effort not a lot of pressure to do so. The parish also to move past “nasty” experiences with church staff and to offers supplemental monthly meetings for of Donna courtesy Photo “keep my eyes on Christ.” single parents with guest speakers offering Donna says that any kind of support from the church for talks on topics of special interest to parents, including the single mothers would have been enormously helpful to her psychological issues common in single-parent households, in the past but that some members of the clergy seem afraid the legal issues faced by single parents as well as health to offer it “because of a misplaced fear of glorifying divorce and budgeting. On the spiritual side, the group has hosted or glorifying premarital sex.” A single-parents group, a Bi- speakers on the annulment process and on catechesis for ble study or simply providing a place where single Catholic children. They also offer social events that parents can par- mothers could get together and share their experiences, ticipate in with or without children. she says, was pretty much impossible to find. The group has also provided support to single-par- ents groups at other churches and has identified three Acknowledge, Accept, Support areas where single parents feel their pastoral needs are It is telling that while I was researching this essay, my not generally being met. Those include acknowledgment, searches turned up only one group for Catholic single par- acceptance and support. Acknowledgment, Ms. Mika says, ents that promoted itself in ways that were easy to find on can mean anything from occasional recognition in prayers the internet. That group meets at St. Thomas More church at Mass to sensitivity from pastors and church staff. The in Austin, Tex. Founded in 2003 by two single parents from needs of single parents are different; and time, money and the congregation, the group was given approval by both the child care are all high priorities. Acceptance includes reas- pastor and the diocese. The participants mirror the larger surance that they do have a place in the church and not be- demographics of single parents in the United States: While ing made to feel like “second-class citizens.” And support single fathers do attend the group, about three-quarters can range from providing child care to a church forming its of the participants are single mothers, and a majority of own single-parents group. those are divorced. At their first meeting, 25 single parents Ms. Mika says attendance can fluctuate from meeting showed up, and they made it their goal to identify the is- to meeting because of the logistical challenges single par-
30 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 31 Photo courtesy of Ashley Doherty of Ashley courtesy Photo
Ashley Doherty, who is in her 60s and was widowed in her 30s, said after her husband’s death she “felt on the outside looking in” at parish life.
ents face, but that the numbers are not the priority. Form- In their experiences on the margins of the church, ing community is. While her group was enthusiastically these self-sacrificing women who stick with the church supported by the local diocese, that has not always been even when it pushes back against them might actually be the case for groups in other churches that have sought prophetic witnesses to the power of faith. It is worth re- help in starting a similar ministry. And occasionally, peo- membering that the first person to spread the news of Je- ple just stop attending. But not showing up can actually sus was not the apostle Paul but the many-times-married be a sign of success: People often arrive for the first time Samaritan woman he met at the well. “Many of the Samar- feeling spiritually broken, and after six months to a year itans from that town believed in him because of the wom- of attending the group, they sometimes feel so much bet- an’s testimony,” John’s Gospel tells us. Perhaps it is time for ter that they just move on. Simply having a place to feel the church to begin listening to these women, too. acknowledged, accepted and supported is enough to cre- ate change. Kaya Oakes, a contributing writer for America, teaches writing Groups like the one at St. Thomas More can help break at the University of California, Berkeley, and is the author of The the stigma around single mothers in the church, but as the Nones Are Alright. Catholic single mothers I spoke to testify, it is also a matter of acknowledgment and acceptance from congregations and pastors. Pope Francis called a single mother who had written him in 2013 and offered to baptize her child if she could not find a priest who would do it. But the fact that the woman expected to be turned down by priests in the first place reflects the same second-class status that many sin- gle mothers experience.
30 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 31 History’s battles of ideas are etched into the stones of Notre Dame d’Orval, a monastery on the Belgian-French border founded by Benedictine monks in the 11th century. iStock
32 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 33 A Mid-Life
Calling By John W. Miller
To find my vocation, I had to stop running away and start listening
The day after I quit my job at The Wall Street Journal to take a midlife sabbatical, I had lunch with a former chief executive of U.S. Steel. Walking home, I slipped on an icy Pittsburgh sidewalk and broke my finger. Laid up over Christmas at my parents’ house in Brus- sels, where I grew up, I was unable to pick my banjo, play basketball or ride a bike. That same month, my marriage had been annulled. Into a life without familiar hobbies, work and status came rushing strange vibrations. Every morning, I woke up with warmth pounding in my chest, a quaking heart filling with bliss and terror. For a few scorching, unbearable weeks, scenes from my past flashed before my eyes, recasting beliefs and assumptions. I had known happiness. I had known sadness. What was this? God?
32 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 33 For the first time in my life, the famous visitation scenes of Scripture made sense. I had been knocked off my horse. The bush was burning.
The numinous pounding lasted into the spring, throw- ican in Brussels. I spent a week at a Jesuit retreat house ing off my plan to take just a few months off and then get outside Cleveland. After one priest I talked to compared back to work. I turned down two jobs and a fellowship. my story to that of St. Ignatius, I read his autobiography. I I retreated to Pittsburgh and scheduled an appointment learned about movements of the spirits and discernment. I with a spiritual director. In March and April, I spent morn- was accumulating knowledge—but no clarity. ings feeding homeless people at a soup kitchen and after- Then a trusted priest friend in Belgium suggested I go noons reading and napping on my couch. Every few weeks, on retreat at Notre Dame d’Orval, a monastery on the Bel- my spiritual director and I met for prayer and conversation. gian-French border. I found myself ridiculous, beating back a messiah com- ••• plex and listening to myself entertain notions of throwing Monastic communities are like families. Some fight. Some all my possessions in the river. Friends whispered and wor- fail. This one, my friend said, is healthy. It commands a ried. I made sure to shave every day: If you’re wondering global beer business. The monks faithfully follow the rule if God is speaking to you, it is best to maintain a facade of of St. Benedict. They pray, work and welcome visitors. impeccable sanity. I booked a week. On a warm Monday in May, I took But something was happening. For the first time in my trains from Brussels to a tiny farming town called Floren- life, the famous visitation scenes of Scripture made sense. I ville and trekked five miles on a road that snaked through a had been knocked off my horse. The bush was burning. pine forest to the monastery. The intensity of the calling experience, the dissatisfac- Orval, which makes a popular dry, citrusy ale, attracts tion with a job I had once loved and the failure of my mar- beer tourists from all over the world and has the restaurant riage suggested, I thought, a path in the church. and brewery museum to satisfy them. Around the time I broke my finger—my ring finger, It also welcomes pilgrims. For $50 a night, you can get no less—my marriage had been formally annulled by the a simple room and sustenance, including a Trappist beer, church. God, I thought, was marching me off to the mon- and, if you want, time to talk with an attentive monk. astery. In this age of twittering madness, I would join those There are good reasons to get to know Orval besides bearing witness to peace, sanity and truth. spiritual searching. History’s battles of ideas are etched Although I have been a practicing Catholic since my into its stones. Founded by Italian Benedictine monks in teens and graduated from a Catholic college, I felt unfamil- the 11th century, by the 1700s the monastery had become iar with the church. Outside of marriage and attendance at one of the world’s leading industrial sites, run by monks, a Catholic school, my closest involvement had been cover- with nine forges and state-of-the-art hydraulic technology. ing the sexual abuse crisis as a journalist. But I could not It represented the kind of ecclesiastical luxury hated by the ignore this strange calling. That would be the only thing freethinkers who seized power in the French Revolution, worse than the pain and confusion I was feeling. and in 1793, steeple-toppling Jacobins burned it to the I picked the brains of anybody I could find—a parish ground. priest in Pittsburgh, a Jesuit in Washington, D.C., a Domin- The site lay in ruins until the 1920s, when a new wave
34 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 35 iStock
of anti-clericalism in 1926 again threatened French monks, that you’re living in reality. who went shopping for a new home. The Trappist order “You can’t figure out your calling experience on your bought the Orval site from its private owners and started own,” Father Lode said. “And when you do understand making the beer to pay for construction of a new monastery what it means, it’s going to make you very happy, like you’re among the ruins of the old. in love. But you’re not going to fall in love while you’re go- A 60-foot statue of the Virgin and child fronting the ing so far from what you know.” Again, he said, “Go back to main chapel looks over a large cloister with a pond, sur- what you know.” rounded by the cloister walk, from which doorways lead He offered a note of caution: “You could spend your to the monks’ small, private rooms. Everything is eternal- whole life running around the world interviewing monks ly and cheerfully colored in green and white. On the sunny and priests, like a journalist, and not get anywhere,” he said. mornings I attended daily prayer. Pilgrims sat with monks, “But this part of your life is not about being a reporter; it’s white plastic chairs almost touching, trading secrets for about listening to your heart.” wisdom. ••• My confessor was the abbot, Father Lode, a tall, funny, “Vocation,” Thomas Merton wrote, “does not come from charismatic man in his 60s who reminded me of C.E.O.s I a voice ‘out there’ calling me to be something I am not. It had covered as a journalist. He seemed to know everybody, comes from a voice ‘in here’ calling me to be the person I dropping names of popes, philosophers, even musicians was born to be.” with whom that my dad, a pianist, had played. I returned to Pittsburgh and got back to work, as a writer, On the second day, the abbot said he had something filmmaker, and youth baseball coach. I even met a woman. important to tell me. “I don’t think you have a calling, at The process of understanding my vocation will go on least not for now,” he said. “I think you need to go back for the rest of my life, but I mark the conversation with to what you know, get a job, maybe meet a woman. When Father Lode at Orval as the point when I stopped running you’re happy again, your heart will tell you what’s next.” away and started running toward something. The only thing God wants us to give up, he continued, It took a wise Belgian abbot to remind me that every is the devil. “If you’re not enjoying things you used to enjoy, calling is an invitation to become our truest, happiest selves that’s your ego or that’s depression. That’s not from God.” and not to turn us into somebody we’re not. That evening, as I ate in silence with the other pilgrims I emailed the abbot to thank him. and savored my beer, I felt a weight lift from my shoulders. “You’re certainly starting a new phase in life, one where The next day, the abbot resumed his lecture. There are you’ll live more deeply,” he replied. “But you’ll get there. three things you need to orient yourself in times of crisis And we’re here to help.” and change, he said. One is divine inspiration. The second is the facts of your life. What you’ve done before and what you’re able John W. Miller is a Pittsburgh-based writer and former staff to do, practically. And the third is a wise witness to certify reporter and foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal.
34 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 35 The Heresy of Modernity: Modern Travel
Who doesn’t love to get away? G. C. Heseltine, It is a great mistake to think that men economy of ideas, the habit of making for one. But one might wonder if it was a travel only to get to a certain place, to one idea do for everybody, because question of temperament rather than the details see some famous sight, or to perform people are too busy working for some- of his journeys, because this extended screed some personal or business mission.... body else, to think for themselves. against modern travel from the April 18, 1931, The best thing about many journeys is Modern communications make it issue of America turned fairly quickly into a coming back, going all over the world possible for a cafeteria, policeman’s screed against, well, just about everything else. to find your way home. It is then that uniform, or heartache melody sprung One hesitates to ponder what Mr. Heseltine you find home is worth going away for, upon Chicago, to be adopted at once would think of selfie sticks, coach airline seats, and, in the words of the song, there is from San Francisco to Long Island, Airbnb or Starbucks! In any case, we knew he no place like it. so that wherever the traveler goes he would be the perfect fit for this travel issue…. On the other hand, people are will eat the same food, obey the same known to go away, not because they regulations, and hear the same ca- want to get to any place, but because cophonous wail. they want to get away—from the po- There is not even a journey to ex- lice, their creditors, or the club bore. It cuse such travel. The journey is cut by is one of the real blessings of modern every ingenuity known to science so transport, perhaps the only real bless- that it is as brief as possible.... To pre- ing, that it enables you to get away very vent any hint of travel creeping into a quickly.... That is the only excuse, but modern railroad journey you can have it is a good excuse, for the speed-craze. the same canned fodder, the same pal- It is a common error amongst pitating saxo-sob by radio, and be poi- modern travelers to think that they soned by the same hooch.... can travel more and in greater com- It is pretty much the same with fort than our forefathers, merely travel abroad. The same monotony because they can travel faster. Most of modern efficiency is distributed modern travel is not travel at all, over the capitals of Europe as over unless you can call getting from one the cities of the United States. All modern city to another modern city, grand hotels are Grand Hotels, and travel. To me it is suspiciously like there the matter ends for most trav- staying in the same place. All modern elers.... The difference between the cities, especially in the same coun- Europejski in Warsaw and the Bilt- try, have the same deadly, monoto- more is not worth going five thou- nous, efficient architecture, the same sand miles to enjoy. traffic, the same sorts of shops (and The traveler who makes use of thanks to the chain stores, even the modern travel to meet foreign peo- same shops), the same hotels all built ples and see foreign places usual- like a public lavatory, and the same ly fails utterly, though he does not worried-looking, strenuous citizens, always know it.... The vision of the rushing about as busy as so many modern traveler is blurred as it would ants, dressed in the same fashion. be by double-speed movies. Adding Never have different towns been to this the help or hindrance of guide so much alike, thanks to the modern books, he gets a very poor image on
36 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 37 the mind—the sole purpose of see- What American today could trav- eler’s route, the beaten track. It is as ing. It is impossible for him to gain el like Marco Polo to the court of the full of unheard-of marvels as the lost any definite or real impression since great Kublai Khan at Xanadu, like Atlantis or the land of Prester John.... the essential condition for that is one William of Rubruk far through Cen- But modern travel allows no such of time. To see the marvel of the Ni- tral Asia to Mongolia and the lands of thing. The twentieth-century traveler agara Rapids it is necessary to stand the Tartars, or like many another to always knows where he is going. and stare, which is exactly what ev- Cathay and the three Indias and the erybody does. To visit the Tower of land of Prester John, and bring back G. C. Heseltine was a frequent contributor London, the National Gallery, West- tales of “palace gates of sardonyxes to America in the 1930s. minster Abbey, and the Zoo in one inlaid with snakes horn, windows of day, or Stratford-on-Avon, London, crystal, tables of gold and amethyst, and Paris in the same week is like be- pavements of onyx, lamps burning ing forced to run at a breathless pace balsam,” of where “twelve archbish- the full length of the Grand Canyon ops sit on our right at table to meals of Colorado. The difference is not one every day and twenty bishops on our of travel, or of sightseeing, but only of left,” and where the King is preceded physical exertion. by a wooden cross “that he may always So it is that modern travel, in bear in mind the Passion of Christ.” its most highly developed form, for It is not that the places are not pleasure or curiosity, fails in its ob- there, nor equal wonders to be seen, ject. Modern travel for other pur- it is because travel has been confined poses is not travel but transport. to rails and routes and the tales of The idea that we travel easier or those have all been told. Travel is a better than our ancestors who had poor thing if no one will listen to your only their two feet or a horse, is a tales when you come back. The mod- great fallacy. Thousands upon thou- ern world is too sophisticated and too sands of medieval bishops from the busy to wonder at them. The medie- remotest parts of Europe regularly val travelers went far and wide, again made their ad limina visit to Rome. and again, and there was nothing to There was constant communication stop them. between Rome and every See, and You can still travel today to won- between all the courts and nobles, derful places and live among wonder- numerous as they were, by travelers, ful peoples, but they are inaccessible since there were no telegraphs or ra- to those who go by rail or automobile, dio. When a man went traveling in tossed deftly from one Grand Hotel to the old days, there was a perpetual- another. It requires little more than ly changing wonder revealed to him, it did centuries ago, a stout heart, a slowly enough for him to take it in. strong stomach, and two sound feet, The world is so mapped and places with the courage and curiosity to ven- are so described today, that the el- ture into the unknown. The unknown ement of surprise, which is half the is not remote or far away, it is any- fun of travel, is lost. where a little way off the modern trav-
36 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 37 IDEAS IN
Martin D’Arcy and the Art of English Catholicism By Altair Brandon-Salmon
It is 1935, and Martin D’Arcy, S.J., the he pulls out a photograph to show to that the obvious place for it was Cam- foremost English Catholic personality Father D’Arcy: It is of a large Spanish pion Hall,” D’Arcy relates in his essay of the interwar period and the master polychrome relief sculpture, depicting “Treasure Hunting,” “and he not only of Campion Hall, Oxford, is at lunch in St. Ignatius Loyola surrounded by agreed but took care that it could be fit- London with Sir Edwin Lutyens, the his companions, with two cherubs ted into the wall in a suitable spot.” most celebrated English architect of holding his cape aloft. That polychrome sculpture his time. Lutyens is designing the new Mr. Lutyens suggests that it should of St. Ignatius is still in its original college building for Campion Hall, the perhaps go to the new Catholic cathe- (Lutyens-designed) niche at Campi- Jesuit college at Oxford University, dral in Liverpool. But Father D’Arcy on Hall. It functions as an alternative but as they wait for lunch to arrive, disagrees: “I immediately told Lutyens portrait of the Jesuit founder: Instead
38 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 39 Martin D’Arcy, S.J., was a well-connected figure and friends with a disparate series of people, including W. H. Auden, left.
of the august, antique Jane Stevenson of Oxford University paintings in conversation with the oils of aristocrats and recently wrote. Father D’Arcy, a play- viewer and with one another. They bishops hung in the ful, well-connected figure, friends with represent an alternative Catholic dining halls of the col- a disparate series of people—from Ev- monarchy for England: a portrait of leges they had found- elyn Waugh to Kenneth Clark, Edith Mary of Modena, the devout Roman ed, at Campion Hall Sitwell and W. H. Auden—wanted to Catholic wife of James II, from the the visitor meets the present a rival vision of Oxford, what studio of Geoffrey Kneller; a minia- spiritual originator of it might have looked like had Britain ture of James Francis Edward, the both the Society of Je- stayed Catholic. Thus his regime of Jacobite claimant to the throne in sus and the hall itself. art collecting had a definitive sense of the 18th century; a portrait of Mary, It sums up the mag- purpose: to assure his college’s social Queen of Scots, pretending to be pie-like eye of Father status in an intensely class-conscious from the 16th century but exten- D’Arcy (1888–1976) university and to posit a Catholic vi- sively retouched, poor Mary having and his eagerness in sion that stressed the historical conti- a touch of Ginger Rogers about her; furnishing his “new” nuity of English Catholicism, with its and of course, a dignified portrait of college to the same links to continental Europe. James II, another piece of Kneller standards as his sur- Father D’Arcy’s cultivation of a studio work. None of these are roundings. kind of English baroque could be seen paintings one would expect to find This was all the everywhere in the new college, from in an Oxford college, either now or more pressing as the polished wooden floor underfoot, in 1936. Campion Hall was redolent of Spanish missions, to the Indeed, when Father D’Arcy viewed as a Catholic unapologetic Catholic iconography bought these paintings from Mayfair interloper, an intrud- to be found hanging on the walls. Pe- galleries, they were deeply unfash- er into a university ter Davidson, curator and archivist at ionable and were sold at low prices. still deeply connect- Campion Hall, has written how there Aided by his friendships with prom- ed to the Church of is a tradition in England of “perceiv- inent dealers, like John Hunt, paint- England. Catholic ing the Catholic arts as the arts of the ings were on occasion offered to him students had only rel- enemy,” yet D’Arcy was not trying to before they went on sale. Even more atively recently (since unduly provoke Oxford, but rather to extraordinarily, because of D’Arcy’s 1895) been allowed present a vision of what the university friendship with Kenneth Clark, direc- Burns Library, Boston College Boston Burns Library, to become full mem- would have been like if Mary, Queen of tor of the National Gallery, Clark did bers of the university; Scots, had taken the English throne in not bid for baroque religious works at Campion Hall was 1558 instead of Elizabeth I. auction that he knew D’Arcy wanted one of four “permanent private halls” This is seen most clearly in what for the hall. Thus for a relatively small founded at the turn of the century in is now known as the D’Arcy Room in outlay, the new Jesuit college was able order to provide teaching, accommo- Campion Hall. Found on the ground to assemble a remarkable collection of dation, and perhaps most importantly, floor of Micklem Hall, a 16th-centu- old masters, including Cigoli, Marcel- a community for young Roman Cath- ry house assimilated into Campion lo Venusti and Jacopo Bassano. olic students. Hall by Mr. Lutyens, the visitor de- Catholicism, in a land that had re- scends a small series of steps into a A Rich Variety of Artworks pudiated the pope in Rome for nearly wood-panelled room, illuminated by Yet Father D’Arcy was not content four centuries, was still seen as “a re- French windows that open out into with only 17th-century oils of ligion of dissidence and alterity,” as the garden. Here facing you are four Catholic monarchs and gentle
38 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 39 Photo: Courtesy Campion Hall Campion Courtesy Photo:
Campion Hall’s artwork includes “Christ at the Column,” by Palma Il Vecchio (c. 1528), and a restored version of “Madonna and Child” (Florentine, anon., c. 1450).
Madonnas. Staying in the D’Arcy from David Jones. Jones, a modern- lection is equally rich in modern devo- Room, if one turns toward the ist poet and engraver, was a Catholic tional art, making for one of the most panelled wall opposite the alternative convert and friendly with Father D’Ar- idiosyncratic yet coherent private Jacobite royal house, there is a rare cy, and gave a number of his prints to collections put together in the British watercolor on linen from China, the hall. D’Arcy was especially keen on Isles in the 1930s and ’40s. showing St. John receiving the Book presenting Campion Hall as a “mod- The D’Arcy Room, with its ba- of Revelation from an angel. Only ern” college, so apart from engaging roque candlesticks and salmon-pink here St. John is depicted in the Lutyens to design it, he collected upholstered chairs, could perhaps be graphic Chinese manner, painted by works by Picasso and Derain and two mistaken for the parlor of a recusant an 18th century Chinese Catholic powerful prints by Georges Rouault. Catholic family. This, of course, is part convert, probably intended for the This was complemented by an array of the point. Yet it is also very similar Jesuit mission in China—it points of British contemporary art by Frank to common rooms found in other Ox- toward the international scope of the Brangwyn and Eric Gill. Father D’Ar- ford colleges—such as the Elizabethan Society of Jesus and reminds us that cy even had his portrait painted by Jesus College—differing in the details we are in a specifically Jesuit house. that quintessential English bohemian, rather than in the overall structure. It is The collage-like effect of the room Augustus John. With its deep links to at once intensely familiar and remark- is completed by several small prints both baroque and global art, the col- ably disorientating, shot through with
40 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 41 a distinctly “continental” flavor (a term kneeling to the “Virgin of Mercy”). it in the history of English art in the which has long troubled, and continues Father D’Arcy funded the Lady 20th century. to trouble, so many Britons). Chapel using donations by Evelyn If the D’Arcy Room displays in the Waugh from the royalties for his bi- Forever an Outsider most concentrated form his art-col- ography of St. Edmund Campion, Since the Reformation, English lecting predilections, then the Lady and D’Arcy had originally approached Catholics have been persecuted Chapel represents his significant role Stanley Spencer to complete the and discriminated against at every as a patron of the arts. Passing through scheme, no doubt inspired by his work level of society. Indeed, the memory Lutyens’s intimate but vaulted chapel, at Burghclere Chapel. However, the of this persecution in families who the light shades humorously shaped two men did not get on, D’Arcy dismis- have maintained their faith over the as cardinals’ hats, there is a small side sively describing Spencer thus: “So centuries remains strong. Father chapel that holds a marvellous paint- diminutive as to be almost a dwarf in D’Arcy belonged to a generation ed room, an exceedingly rare endeav- labourer’s clothes with a dirty satchel whose parents and grandparents our for England in the 20th century. containing all his belongings, he was lived through a regime of legalized Every surface has been painted by no ordinary guest.” prejudice—civil rights had only been Charles Mahoney, resituating the life Mahoney, a Royal Academician, restored to Catholics in Britain in of the Madonna in a walled garden in was a safer pair of hands and expe- 1829. To situate a Jesuit college at contemporary, 1930s England. rienced in mural painting (although Oxford as an intellectual and social Mahoney took his cue from the much of his work was destroyed in the equal of its Protestant brethren was a old masters that surrounded him as Blitz). Age and illness, though, pre- radical, subversive act. he worked on the wall paintings in the vented him from entirely finishing the Despite his closeness to a literary postwar period. It has been part of the Lady Chapel. One panel remains as a and artistic elite in Britain between tradition of Western art to rearticulate monochrome sketch, still waiting for the wars, D’Arcy would forever be an the Gospels in the visual vernacular of the vitalizing application of color. outsider to the establishment, his re- its audience: So just as Florentine art- Still, it is a remarkable, beautiful ligion an enduring mark of difference. ists in the Quattrocento placed Jesus environment, summing up D’Arcy’s Nevertheless, in assembling an and his disciples in the Tuscan land- aspirations for a specifically English art collection that ran the gamut from scape, Mahoney brings the story of the Catholicism, employing the recog- Picasso to Pacchiarotti, Derain to Virgin Mary into an idealized English nizable visual symbols of Britain, its Murillo, D’Arcy announced, as Jane garden, complete with roses, oaks and fashions and its mores to retell the Stevenson put it, “that Jesuits were, carefully tended shrubbery (a garden- life of the Virgin using Catholic ico- within an Oxonian sense of the term, er in blue overalls is one of the figures nography. There is not much else like civilized.” Campion Hall represented Photo: Courtesy Campion Hall Campion Courtesy Photo:
The Parsons Room in Micklem Hall features paintings by Guido Reni and Sébastien Bourdon. 40 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 41 Photo: Courtesy Campion Hall Campion Courtesy Photo:
A painted chapel at Campion Hall by Charles Mahoney resituates the life of the Madonna in a walled garden in 1930s England. a legitimate alternative to the conser- sciously or not, with the chipped but continuity with both the nation’s and vative Anglican traditions espoused ardent sculpture of St. Ignatius, his the church’s history. As Britain faces by the university as a whole. face ineffably peaceful, hand forever a reckoning with its own identity in Much of the artwork collected raised in benediction. the 21st century, it would do well to by D’Arcy remains at Campion Hall, The art has become embedded remember its Catholic, continental supplemented by acquisitions in the into the daily life of Campion Hall, and transnational past represented by same aesthetic spirit, testifying to exposing an international group of Campion Hall. the internationalism of the Society students to a baroque visual culture, of Jesus and the importance of beau- reminding them of an old knowledge, ty in attempting to grasp the divine. that England was not always thus, Altair Brandon-Salmon is the former assistant curator at Campion Hall. He Paintings like Cigoli’s brooding, ba- that its Protestantism was a political is currently a master’s student in the roque “Lamentation” become a visu- choice and that the suppression of history of art at Christ Church, Oxford. al prompt through which ecumenical Catholicism was equally a conscious, dialogue with the Church of England planned-out program, with centu- can take place. The art is passed by un- ries-long repercussions. dergraduate and graduate students on In Campion Hall, Father Martin their way to tutorials, or to a lecture, D’Arcy created a powerful vision of or even for lunch, communing, con- Catholic values and British identity in
42 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 43 Pietà
By Atar Hadari
His cries quieted eventually like ants disappearing down an ant-hole, he'd woken on the underground from a passion of outstretched on his mother's lap sleeping— the bottle had already dropped and she bent so his hand held stretched out almost touched the floor, but it missed and she picked the bottle up where it rattled on the train floor before it stopped, and he didn't wake only the copper lights with ornamental shadows made him rise outstretched, the bone-buttons bowed on his duffel coat and his lower midriff bared where the T-shirt rode up on his mother's tartan pants and shining patent leather boots: he screamed, he screamed and she rocked him and comforted, eventually the ants fled but Judas came with his rifling hands and before sleep came again made sure they got off and proceeded round the station through a brilliant tunnel and some stairs rising toward the stars.
Atar Hadari’s Songs From Bialik: Selected Poems of H. N. Bialik (Syracuse University Press) was a finalist for the American Literary Translators’ Association Award. His translation Lives of the Dead: Poems of Hanoch Levin, published by Arc Publications in 2018, won an award from PEN Translates.
42 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 43 BOOKS
Time’s a-wastin’ By Nick Ripatrazone iStock
“Anyone can do any amount of work,” ventors—from Leonardo da Vinci to crastinate or relax, but they offer us wrote the American humorist Robert Frank Lloyd Wright—were chronic some control. We get to slow down the Benchley, “provided it isn’t the work procrastinators. Even Moses took his rush of existence and tread water. We he is supposed to be doing at that time, not to mention St. Augustine’s know it won’t last forever, but some- moment.” Procrastination is an act of dictum: “Not yet.” times delusion can be so comforting. will, the choice to postpone what needs Hampl, a novelist and poet, has The ideal audience for Soon is to be done. We are lying to ourselves written a book about leisure. Her writers and artists, those who must when we procrastinate—yet everybody patron saint is the essayist Michel create under pressure and see procras- does it. For some, procrastination is de Montaigne, who “found his vo- tination as an inevitable element of life. endemic to creation. For others, it is cation early, companioned by music Procrastinators, Santella explains, “at- an act of survival. plucked on sheep gut as he went up tempt to justify their delay with elabo- Two new books consider our and down the staircase of his father’s rate rationalizations.” Such a narrative tendency to tune out, slow down and cold house.” She says Montaigne un- approach can risk becoming repetitive, postpone the inevitable. The Art of derstood “the value of being sluggish, but Santella settles into a nice mixture the Wasted Day, by Patricia Ham- lax, drowsy.” Her book is a paean to of personal anecdote, philosophical pl (Viking. 288p $26) and Soon: An solitude and moving slowly, and a re- commentary and curious historical Overdue History of Procrastina- jection of organization and to-do lists, notes. My favorite procrastinator, Ed- tion, by Andrew Santella (Dey Street actions “meant to sweep away all the gar Allan Poe, used to pass the time Books. 208p $25.99) are very differ- dumb tasks of the day so that Real Life with Jesuits in the Bronx—eating din- ent books. Santella’s is not a self-help can be lived.” ner and playing cards. They “never said book for procrastinators. He offers no Procrastination and leisure are not a word about religion.” balms and no solutions. He is a proud exactly the same thing—Hampl says: Santella alludes to his Catholic time-waster, and he is not about to “Leisure isn’t simply idleness, and it childhood throughout the book— stop: “My aim wasn’t to end my habit isn’t simply an exhausted pause before with the type of facetious worry that but to justify it, to excuse it.” Soon is shouldering the next task”—but the two Catholics can appreciate: “The Chris- peppered with historical anecdotes. books complement each other nicely. tian tradition’s antipathy to procras- Santella considers why contempo- Both procrastination and leisure are tination is rooted in the desire for rary culture detests procrastination, functions of time; we cannot always fi- eternal life—and the fear that if we when so many great artists and in- nancially or emotionally afford to pro- put off salvation too long, untimely
44 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 45 Two new books prompt the question: Where do procrastination and leisure converge?
death will intervene and damn us to gorgeous sentences, and The Art of the from the world, “There was the sense unending torment.” Wasted Day allows her syntax to ride that precisely because they weren’t St. Expeditus is the patron saint the routes of her thoughts. Her mom out there they saw it all. Observation of procrastinators. According to leg- hates her habit of getting lost in the was not an act of experience, but of end, in fourth-century Armenia, a clouds, but Hampl knows that “day- the imagination.” Roman centurion planned to con- dreaming doesn’t make things up. It Observation as imagination is what vert to Christianity but met a talking sees things. Claims things, twirls them brings Hampl back to Montaigne. She crow who tried to convince him to around, takes a good look. Possesses is a pilgrim and travels to southwest- wait. “Realizing that the crow was, in them. Embraces them. Makes some- ern France to visit his infamous tower, fact, the Devil in avian form arrived to thing of them. Makes sense. Or music. where he wrote much of his work. She tempt him, the centurion…did some- How restful it is, how full of motion. is devoted to him and for good reason. thing remarkable. He stomped the My first paradox.” Hampl says, “words are partly thoughts, talking bird to death.” St. Expeditus is Young Hampl is about to make her but mostly they’re music, deep down,” artistically rendered as holding a cross first confession, but she is scared to learn which sounds like Montaigne’s descrip- and stepping on the felled crow. “The that daydreaming is listed as a sin in her tion of his own literary approach as vanquished bird holds in his beak a Baltimore Catechism. In hindsight, “meddling with writing.” scroll bearing the Latin word for to- it makes a little (lighthearted) sense: He meddled in that tower, which morrow, CRAS, the root of the English When you daydream, you are “lolling includes a chapel below his “shrine- word ‘procrastination’ and a close ap- under the filtered light of heaven. You like cavern.” She appreciates how proximation of the sound of a crow’s possess everything that passes through Montaigne “built liturgy into his pri- distinctive croak. The cross Expedite the mind. It’s divinity. That must be the vacy…. He was a skeptic—and also a holds in his portraits reads HODIE— sweetness. That must be the sin.” believer. He bridged the gap. He lived Latin for ‘today.’” Hampl is not quite a procrastina- above with his books in the unheated This odd saint—who most like- tor. Whereas Santella wanted his to- tower, and he tended, faithfully, the ly never lived—makes Santella think do lists “to go on forever—and me, too, rituals down there in the candlelit about the relationship between time, if possible,” Hampl conceived of lists dark where mystery abided.” spirituality and procrastination. “In as generative, essential to her being. That is where procrastination and my Catholic grade school,” he writes, “Whole decades can go this way,” she leisure converge: a place of mystery. “brilliance was tolerated, but punctu- reflects, “not just in domestic detail, Much of Hampl’s book is wistful, but ality revered. Nothing was more im- but awash in the brackish flotsam of there is an elegiac strain. Her husband portant than being on time.” In that endeavor, failure and success, respon- died in 2015. She longs for him. He was parochial world, the “classroom clock sibility and reward.” On one hand, she her reader for so many years. There was almost always positioned, not co- wishes to reprimand herself. A few pag- is a refrain in the book of holding “his incidentally, just below the crucifix es later, though, she worries that her beautiful hand,” which is now “dust.” that watched over us.” hurried and harried existence sped by: Her past conversations with him are We have only so much time on this “the sense of life being littered rather threaded with her present pilgrimages. earth, so procrastination can almost than lived.” Leisure, contemplation, and perhaps appear sinful. And once upon a time, it She thinks back, with admiration, even procrastination might not be able did. Hampl’s book begins in 1953. She to the nuns of her youth: “We caught to stop time, but in their own curious is 7 years old, a daydreamer. “When a glimpse of their mysterious lives be- ways, they can hold back despair. you close your eyes, you see and hear hind the filmy black curtain dividing things you didn’t notice before, though the cloister from our side of the chap- they must have been there all along. el. Enclosure, silence, chanted Latin Nick Ripatrazone has written for Rolling It’s not that you make things up—you murmurings. It was romantic and Stone, The Atlantic, The Paris Review notice things.” Hampl is a writer of dead serious.” The nuns were away and Esquire.
44 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 45 BOOKS
The Big Fella We Need Each figures from St. Mary’s. Leavy’s main Babe Ruth and the Other World He Created focus is a cross-country barnstorm- By Jean Vanier By Jane Leavy ing tour Ruth and his fellow Yankees Paraclete Press Harper slugger Lou Gehrig embarked upon 144p $19.99 560p $32.50 in the autumn of 1927, after what was arguably Ruth’s and the Yankees’ greatest year. From the Jersey Shore to L.A., Ruth dazzled big crowds, playing exhibition games against lo- cal talent as well as (controversial- Larger than life ly) Negro Leagues stars. Leavy then In this together An argument could be made that steps back to chronicle Ruth’s life Jean Vanier’s new book, We Need the storied baseball stadium on and times, with a heavy emphasis not Each Other, is classic Vanier. 161st Street in the Bronx is not “the only on the culture Ruth played in, Longtime readers of the writings house that Ruth built,” but instead but the ways he radically altered that of this revered spiritual master and the house the Xaverian Brothers culture. prophetic voice will recognize many built. As Jane Leavy notes in her Leavy’s book (like other Ruth of the lessons and anecdotes that sprawling new biography, it was bios) could have taken a broader Vanier shares from his other works. while a young George Herman Ruth look at how St. Mary’s shaped this Nevertheless, his simple lessons on was living at St. Mary’s Industrial enormous public figure who main- humility and Christian love always School in Baltimore that the Sultan tained an intriguing relationship bear repeating. of Swat fell under the spell of a with Catholicism throughout his life. In 1964 Jean Vanier founded baseball-loving Xaverian brother Ruth’s agent, Leavy notes, convinced L’Arche—a group of communities named Martin Leo Boutilier, known Ruth to campaign for Al Smith in in which disabled and able-bodied to the boys as “Brother Matt.” 1928, yet there is no mention of what people live together. After encoun- “Ruth would credit Brother Ruth may have thought about the tering inhumane living conditions Matt for his pigeon-toed gait and election’s anti-Catholic hysteria. in a French mental institution, he his uppercut swing—saying he was Ultimately, The Big Fella is very took in two patients from that in- born as a hitter the first day he saw much like its subject: ambitious, stitution and began to care for them [Brother Matt] hit a ball,” writes entertaining and always willing to himself, forming the first L’Arche Leavy. Before he died in 1948, at the swing for the fences. community. There are now more age of just 53, Ruth fondly recalled than 150 such communities around Brother Matt “teaching me how to Tom Deignan, a contributor to the the world. Vanier still lives in the play ball—and how to think.” That’s recent book Nine Irish Lives, has original L’Arche community in Tro- written about books for The New not exactly a compliment, given York Times, The Washington Post sly-Breuil, France, where the com- the more tempestuous moments and The National Catholic Reporter. munity that he cared for over more of Ruth’s life (as well as Brother than 50 years now cares for him. Matt’s, it turns out), all of which We Need Each Other, published Leavy colorfully documents. in honor of Vanier’s 90th birthday, Right up front, Leavy cites the is adapted from a retreat he gave in Jesuit maxim: “Give me the child Kenya in 2008. The book combines for the first seven years and I’ll give Scripture reflections with stories you the man.” Slightly disappoint- from Vanier’s life and anecdotes ing, then, that she makes rather about the disabled people and their quick work of numerous fascinating families with whom he has worked
46 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 47 The Incomplete and lived. Each story ends with a vari- Book of Running as a teenager, something rarely dis- ation on the same lesson: God is just By Peter Sagal cussed by men. as needy and hurt as we are, and we Simon & Schuster Sagal knows what it is to run come in contact with God through 185p $27 away from problems, to need to others, no matter their disability, be needed, and how much can be poverty, nationality, religion or any- achieved through stubborn per- thing else that might estrange us. sistence. He also knows where all “In reality, we need each other;” the public restrooms within four Vanier writes. “We need to touch our miles of his house are. If you want wounds and keep the vision. I am more details about Sagal’s bowel wounded. I need help from my com- Running to stand still habits, you should buy The Incom- munity. I need help from Jesus, be- When I was 7 years old, I ran about a plete Book of Running. If you do not, cause I cannot do it on my own.” mile around my elementary school’s you should buy The Incomplete Book This small book draws the read- track. I liked it, so I have been of Running and skip Chapter 6. er, who becomes a retreatant, into running ever since. A lot of people Sagal’s self-reckoning might reflection with succinct yet probing have asked me: How can I make be serious, but it is not somber. He questions: What are you looking for? myself like running? I have never dabbles in Kantian morality and Have you met Jesus? Is healing pos- known how to answer this question, whether the categorical imperative sible? Vanier helps the reader first to but Peter Sagal does. No need to applies to “bandit” runners (those acknowledge and explore his or her start with a mile, just try running to who enter a race without register- own weakness and then to bring that the end of your street at first, Sagal ing or paying). He also writes about weakness to God and one’s communi- advises in The Incomplete Book of running for charity in boxer briefs ty for healing through acts of love. Running. Get hooked through little that say “KNICKERS OF GLORY” victories. on the butt. His writing is enter- Sagal, the host of the weekly taining, even if your ideal run is no Colleen Dulle, assistant producer of audio and video at America Media. N.P.R. news quiz “Wait Wait... Don’t run. That is because, in Sagal’s book, Twitter: @ColleenDulle. Tell Me!” and 14-time marathoner, writing about running is inseparable has many nuggets of running wis- from being honest about the human dom. But The Incomplete Book of needs we all have. Running is more than a guidebook. There are many sources for running Emma Winters, Joseph A. wisdom and race stories but none as O’Hare Fellow. funny as Sagal and few as spiritual. Twitter: @emwinters1. The book opens with Sagal nar- rating his decision to serve as a run- ning guide for a visually impaired runner in the Boston Marathon in 2013—Sagal’s ploy to distract him- self from his messy divorce. They finished the race shortly before the bombs exploded. Sagal grapples with the tragedy that missed him by about 100 yards and with feeling unneeded by his family. He writes about hav- Full book reviews at ing body image issues and anorexia americamagazine.org/books
46 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 47 CULTURE Photo: Carolin Saage Carolin Photo:
From a Palestinian rocker, “I feel art shouldn’t love songs and protest anthems only be entertainment,” By Eloise Blondiau says Rasha Nahas.
When she is on stage, Rasha Nahas’s added violins and rockabilly,” Ms. Na- Sessions,” a project that highlights lo- wiry frame splays like a bird on the has is now in the process of making cal musicians in Palestine. In the vid- cusp of take off, her swoop of curls her first album, which she is self-pro- eo, a fresh-faced Ms. Nahas showcases falling forward. “Myself, I am a ducing and crowdfunding with help her classical guitar techniques (she desert torn,” the 22-year-old singer- from Palestinian and European fans. never uses a guitar pick, even when songwriter declares, accompanied Although she still writes in Arabic, playing the electric guitar). “Meen Bint by her electric guitar. “I was born her native tongue, Ms. Nahas’s upcom- Sgheeri” has a rolling, liquid quality on a mountain by the sea.” Ms. ing album is in English. This is partly that comes naturally to Arabic, with Nahas is performing solo to a cross- because she wants a wider audience Ms. Nahas singing run-on lines punc- legged audience in Berlin at a Sofar to hear her music and also because tuated by the guitar. “This is a funny Sounds event, which hosts surprise she says that is how the songs come to way to say it,” Ms. Nahas said, but in Ar- performances in secret venues across her. “I am not assuming that everyone abic “sometimes the words roll on the the world. speaks English,” she said, “but I want rhythm. In English they’re square, and A Palestinian artist who lives people who are not only Arabic speak- in Arabic they’re more round.” and performs in Berlin, Ms. Nahas is ers to have access to my music.” Ms. Nahas’s sound has sharpened from the Mediterranean city of Haifa, But Ms. Nahas first found an au- as a result of writing and performing where she was trained as a classical dience with a stirring original song in in English, and it has also affected her guitarist before venturing into rock. Arabic, “Meen Bint Sgheeri” (“Who’s lyric composition. “In Arabic there Hailed by The Guardian as having the a Little Girl”), which she performed for are hundreds and thousands of ways “theatricality of Weimar cabaret with a YouTube series called “Indigenous to say you love somebody,” Ms. Nahas
48 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 49 A boy’s poverty-stricken life in Beirut
said, referring not only to the vast vo- Poverty is the uncredited lead character Labaki has cast her film with what cabulary of Arabic but also the various in “Capernaum,” one of the year’s more are usually called “non-actors” but different dialects and the difference remarkable movies and one with many who are nevertheless peerless here as between spoken and written Arabic. ancestors: the Italian neo-realism of conveyers of charity amid misery, no- By contrast, in English “it’s hard to De Sica and Rossellini, the faux-vérité bility amid squalor. They also, appar- describe emotions without sounding of Abbas Kiarostami and possibly even ently, have back stories as agonizing like a hundred other different songs.” Carl Dreyer’s “Joan of Arc”—the human as those of the characters they play, In the past two years, Ms. Nahas’s face being the film’s most eloquent including Yordanos Shiferaw, who sound has taken a further twist. It is device, amid the supreme chaos (or plays Rahil, the Ethiopian immigrant experimental, a little weird or “rude” “capernaum”) of current-day Beirut. whose permit has expired and who as Ms. Nahas said. “The Fall,” a song The dominant face belongs to constantly fears deportation as she released last year, could not be fur- Zain (Zain al Rafeea), a tough, savvy cares for—and hides—her 18-month- ther from “Meen Bint Sgheeri.” Ms. street kid whom we first meet as he is old, Yonas. Shifraw herself was a dis- Nahas’s voice has grown, and she has being examined by a police physician. placed person, and in “Capernaum” greater control of it in the glissan- Zain looks like a first-grader; the doc- she plays one scrambling to find the do-filled song. tor says he is 12. It is the first of many money for a counterfeit ID from the Ms. Nahas’s newly assembled appalling details that flow like a river predatory document forger who also band, which includes a cellist, a vio- of recriminations throughout “Caper- wants to traffic her son. linist and a drummer, are helping her naum,” which is bookended by Zain’s Money may be the root of all evil, bring to life what she broadly calls court case. He has been accused of but lack of it is the lifeblood of predato- rock songs, steered by electric guitar stabbing someone. Who? The likely ry criminality and bureaucratic indif- and backed by string arrangements. candidates multiply as the story un- ference. The poor will always be with Ms. Nahas plans for her album to in- folds. Meanwhile, Zain has his own us, Jesus said, but they will also always clude protest songs, love ballads and complaint to file: He wants to sue his be victims, as Labaki and her film make character-driven narratives. useless parents. Why? For having al- clear, generating drama high and low “With the European audience, I’m lowed him to been born. and even an occasional bit of dark hu- somehow bringing something very fa- Viewers are thereby hooked, and mor. Zain, in one of his more desperate miliar, in terms of like a band onstage the Lebanese director Nadine Labaki moments, tries to pass himself off as a playing rock and roll,” Ms. Nahas said. keeps them that way throughout a pi- Syrian refugee so a relief organization “But it is very much influenced by who caresque journey through the streets will give him milk and food for Yonas. I am, and the story I bring with me and hovels and storefronts and sor- It’s a wry moment but hardly the only being a woman in exile, being a Pales- did domestic dramas that provide her one in “Capernaum.” tinian artist born in Haifa.” Ms. Nahas film’s physiology. With few exceptions, describes her exile as chosen, because the movie is told in flashback and por- John Anderson is a television critic she decided to leave Haifa for Berlin trays Zain’s hardscrabble existence. for The Wall Street Journal. so she could advance her music career and she can return home. For Ms. Nahas, it is not enough to make music that is beautiful. “I feel art shouldn’t only be entertainment,” Ms. Nahas said. “Music has this power to open people’s hearts, and I feel like when I open people’s hearts, I want to leave some questions there.”
Eloise Blondiau is a producer at America Media. In “Capernaum,” the human face is the film’s most eloquent device. Sony Classics
48 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 49 THE WORD | THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (C), JAN. 27, 2019
Speak Boldly! Readings: Neh 8:2-10, Ps 19, 1 Cor 12:12-30, Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21
In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is foremost a prophet. God had a ‘That you may realize the message for human society, and Jesus was its herald. Luke relates many of the same miracles one finds in Matthew certainty of the teachings and Mark, but the most memorable parts of his Gospel are actually not the actions of Jesus but his words. Some you have received.’ (Lk 1:4) of these are words of teaching, like the great parables of the good Samaritan or the prodigal son. Some of these are words of challenge, like those he spoke to Zacchaeus and PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE Martha, the sister of Mary. In Luke’s mind, Jesus did not build God’s kingdom so How do you proclaim God’s promises with boldness? much as point out its arrival. The kingdom was already in place, surrounding and penetrating every person, but peo- How does your own faith inspire the faith of others? ple had somehow missed it. Anxieties, ego-driven passions, the “normalness” of everyday experience all distracted One should be cautious not to oversimplify. Alleviating attention from the quiet but inexorable divine action all poverty and restoring freedom require more than a mere around them. The kingdom of God that Jesus revealed was change in perspective. Nonetheless, any solution does re- hidden in plain sight. quire a transformation of mind as a first step. These mo- The essential component of Jesus’ messianic mission ments of conversion can be profoundly exciting, and this was to draw attention to this new reality. Luke found a excitement can open a door for divine grace. Jesus’ pro- foreshadowing of this in the prophecy of Isaiah, which Je- phetic boldness was the spark that kindled the healing and sus quotes in this Sunday’s Gospel. Liberty for captives and liberation Isaiah foretold. healing for the broken in body and spirit were the distant The right word at the right moment can change a life. goal; the first step was to proclaim that such things were The right response to a devastating crisis can renew an en- even possible. For many, faith was a dying ember, inspiring tire world. If this Sunday’s Gospel reading offers any chal- only the faintest wisp of hope. Jesus recognized quickly lenge to today’s disciples, it is to remember the power of that his first responsibility was to reignite that faith in the bold speech. Although we may need new words to commu- hearts of many. He did this by proclaiming a simple mes- nicate the message, Jesus’ own experience shows us that sage: God was still at work and was still committed to the God’s ancient promises have an enduring power to inspire plans he had revealed centuries before. faith and excite hope. Divine grace remains active, but it Jesus proclaimed this message with boldness, and it requires someone with a living faith to be fully effective. led to the transformation of many. This boldness fascinated Inspiring that faith is the task of those who take up the mis- Luke, who identified it as key to the ministry of both Jesus sion of Christ. The simple reminder that God is at work can and the Apostles. Speaking the good news with boldness transform the lives of many. did reignite the faith of many. Simply reminding people of God’s ancient promises aroused excitement and hope. In many of Luke’s miracle accounts, this burgeoning faith was the necessary prerequisite for the healing or deliverance Michael Simone, S.J., teaches Scripture at Boston College that followed. School of Theology and Ministry.
50 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 51 American Catholic History
Every Catholic An Apostle A LifeEvery of Thomas A. Judge, CatholicCM, 1868–1933 WilliamAn L. Portier Apostle Born in Boston of Irish immigrant parents, Thomas A. Judge, CM (1868– 1933) preached up and down the east coast on the Vincentian mission EVERY CATHOLIC bandA betweenLife of 1903 Thomas and 1915. A. Disturbed Judge, by CM, the “leakage” 1868–1933 of the im- migrant poor from the church, he enlisted and organized lay women AN APOSTLE he metWilliam on the missions L. Portier to work for the “preservation of the faith,” his A Life of ThomAs A. Judge, Cm, watchword. His work grew apace with, and in some ways anticipated, the growing body of papal teaching on the lay apostolate. When he be- 1868–1933 William L. Portier S came superior of the godforsaken Vincentian Alabama mission in 1915, he invited the lay apostles to come south to help. “This is the layman’s hour,”Born he wrote inin 1919. Boston By then, however, of many Irish of his lay apostles had evolved in the direction of vowed communal life. This pioneer of the lay apostolateimmigrant founded two religious parents, communities, one Thomas of women, and one of men. With the indispensable help of his co-founder, Mother Boni- faceA. Keasey, Judge, he spent the lastCM decade (1868–1933) of his life trying to gain canonical approval for these groups, organizing them, and helping them learn “to trainpreached the work-a-day man up and woman and into down an apostle, tothe cause each A biography of Thomas A. Judge, to be alert to the interests of the Church, to be the Church.” The roar- BUY NOW ing east twenties sawcoast the work on expand the beyond Vincentian the Alabama missions as a pioneer of the lay apostolate in far as Puerto Rico, which Judge viewed as a gateway to Latin Ameri- the United States ca. The Great Depression ended this expansive mood and time and put agonizingmission pressure on Judge,band his disciples, between and their work. 1903 In i932, the and year before Judge’s death, the apostolic delegate, upon being apprised “William Portier is a first-rate historian as well Missionary Servants of Judge’s financial straits, described his work as “the only organized as a distinguished theologian who has told 1915 and founded a missionary of the Most Holy Trinity movement of its kind in the Church today that so completely meets the a needed story very well . . . will be of great wishes of the Holy Father with reference to the Lay Apostolate.” interest to scholars interested in the history family movement in the church. of American religion and theologians and religious studies professionals interested in WILLIAM L. PORTIER is in the Department of Religious Studies, University of Day- the laity, vowed religious life and social move- ton and author of Divided Friends: Portraits of the Roman Catholic Modernist Crisis ments.” —David O’Brien, professor emeritus, in the United States (CUA Press) College of the Holy Cross
ALSO BY WILLIAM L. PORTIER October · 576 pages · 6 x 9 Paper $34.95 · 978-0-8132-2981-2 Divided Friends ebook $34.95 · 978-0-8132-2982-9 Portraits of the Portraits of the Roman Catholic Modernist Crisis in the United States Roman Catholic Modernist Crisis in American Catholicthe United History States Paper $39.95 978-0-8132-2164-9 Every Catholic An Apostle A Life of Thomas A. Judge, CM, 1868–1933 WILLIAM L. PORTIER Every
Portier cover.indd 10 5/15/13 7:36 AM WilliamCatholic L. Portier 6 cuapress.cua.edu 1.800.537.5487 Born in Boston of Irish immigrant parents, Thomas A. Judge, CM (1868– 1933)An preached Apostle up and down the east coast on the Vincentian mission ” EVERY CATHOLIC band between 1903 and 1915. Disturbed by the “leakage” of the im- migrant poor from the church, he enlisted and organized lay women A Life of Thomas A. Judge, CM, AN APOSTLE he met on the missions to work for the “preservation of the faith,” his 1868–1933 A Life of ThomAs A. Judge, Cm, watchword. His work grew apace with, and in some ways anticipated, the growing body of papal teaching on the lay apostolate. When he be- 1868–1933 S William L. Portier cameWilliam superior L. Portier of the godforsaken Vincentian Alabama mission in 1915, he invited the lay apostles to come south to help. “This is the layman’s hour,” he wrote in 1919. By then, however, many of his lay apostles had Bornevolved in the Boston direction of vowed Irish communal life. This pioneer of the lay apostolate founded two religious communities, one of women, and one immigrantof men. With the parents, indispensable help of his co-founder, Mother Boni- lgnite Thomasface Keasey, he A. spent Judge, the last CM decade of his life trying to gain canonical approval for these groups, organizing them, and helping them learnA “toCELEBRATION OF JUSTICE (1868–1933) preached up and traindown the thework-a-day east mancoast and onwoman the into an apostle, to cause each Vincentian mission band betweento be alert 1903 to the and interests 1915 of andthe Church, to be the Church.” The roar- A biography of Thomas A. Judge, ing twenties saw the work expand beyond the Alabama missions as foundeda pioneer ofa missionarythe lay apostolate family in movementfar as Puerto Rico, in thewhich church. Judge viewed as a gateway to Latin Ameri- the United States ca. The Great Depression ended this expansive mood and time and put Disturbed by the “leakage” of theagonizing immigrant pressure on poorJudge, his from disciples, and their work. In i932,MAY the 21, 2019 year before Judge’s death, the apostolic delegate, upon being apprised the“William church, Portier is a he first-rate enlisted historian and as well organized lay women he IGNITE of Judge’s financial straits, described his work as “the only organized as a distinguished theologian who has told 6:30-8:30 P.M. met on the missions to work formovement the “preservation of its kind in the Church of the today that so completely meets the a needed story very well . . . will be of great wishes of the Holy Father with reference to the Lay Apostolate.” faith,”interest to scholarshis watchword. interested in the history His work grew apace with, and NEW YORK CITY inof American some religion ways and anticipated, theologians and the growing body of papal religious studies professionals interested in WILLIAM L. PORTIER is in the Department of Religious Studies, University of Day- the laity, vowed religious life and social move- teaching on the lay apostolate.ton and author of Divided Friends: Portraits of the Roman Catholic Modernist Crisis ments.” —David O’Brien, professor emeritus, in the United States (CUA Press) Missionary Servants College of the Holy Cross of the Most Holy Trinity The Honorees
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The Center for APRIL 25 - 27, 2019 . LOUISVILLE, KY Undocumented Students, St. Peter’s University Legacy of the Martyrs Award
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50 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 51 THE WORD | FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (C), FEB. 3, 2019
The Fall and Rise of Many Readings: Jer 1:4-19, Ps 71, 1 Cor 12:31–13:13, Lk 4:21-30
One of the themes that Luke follows throughout his to do with his bold speech. Mark’s version of these events writings is the idea of the “great reversal.” The arrival of makes that plain, “Where did this man get all this? Is he not Jesus, Luke thought, would topple kings, confuse the proud the carpenter, the son of Mary?... And they took offense at and lift up the lowly. As Simeon prophesied to Joseph and him” (Mk 6:2-3). Luke compresses this controversy into Mary, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of a subtle phrase that the Lectionary renders “They also many in Israel” (Lk 3:34). In short, many of those in the asked, ‘Isn’t this the son of Joseph?’” The surprise they ex- best position to recognize the messiah’s arrival ended up perienced at his gracious words quickly turned sour when resisting him, whereas those who lacked the knowledge they considered the man they thought they knew. Jesus or status to appreciate Jesus’ significance believed in and was not allowed to speak about himself or about God with followed him whenever they encountered him. such boldness. The reasons for the “great reversal” were mysteri- This is the nature of Jesus’ prophetic message in Luke’s ous, but Luke found it in many places. People learned in Gospel. Jesus’ words had power. Those who encountered the prophecies of Israel rejected Christ, whereas the un- Jesus for the first time, like the residents of Capernaum, lettered poor and literate but irreligious types, like tax found his message fresh, even exhilarating. Those who collectors, appreciated his preaching (Lk 7:29-30). Jesus thought they knew him, like his childhood neighbors at offended guardians of Jewish national identity but attract- Nazareth, found his message impossible to take seriously. ed Gentiles (compare Lk 20:19-26 with Lk 7:2-10). In this No one with Jesus’ background, they thought, could preach Sunday’s Gospel, those who had known Jesus since early authentically the words they heard from his mouth. Sim- childhood threatened to kill him, even after residents of ilarly, those who did not know Jesus but studied prophe- Capernaum, Jesus’ adult home, flocked to him for healing. cies of the coming messiah also found him preposterous. It is not explicit in Luke’s account why the residents of Leaders of the community, like the scribes and Pharisees, Nazareth turned on Jesus, but it certainly had something heard the power of his words and saw his mighty deeds but could not accept that he was the one Israel had awaited for centuries. Luke wrote this passage in part as a warning to disci- They also asked, ‘Isn’t this ples of every age. We can come to think that we know all we need to know about Christ’s message, the extent of his the son of Joseph?’ (Lk 4:22) power and the effects of his love. When divine grace draws us into a deeper understanding of the Gospel, that invita- PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE tion can be disruptive. We can reject what we only think we understand, as did the citizens of Nazareth, or we can ac- Have you ever found Jesus’ message impossible to cept the mystery, as did the citizens of Capernaum, several believe? of whom became apostles and followed Jesus for the rest of his days. How did you come to accept it?
Have you ever spoken words on Christ’s behalf that Michael Simone, S.J., teaches Scripture at Boston College caused others to reject you? School of Theology and Ministry.
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52 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 53 Georgetown University, the nation’s oldest Catholic institution of higher learning, seeks a scholar-administrator to provide energetic and visionary leadership to the Catholic Studies Program as its new director.
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The George W. Hunt, S.J., Prize for Excellence in Journalism, Arts & Letters seeks to recognize the best of Roman Catholic literary intelligence and imagination in a variety of genres and to support the intellectual formation, artistic innovation and civic involvement of young writers.
The 2019 Hunt Prize will be awarded in the category of Poetry.
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52 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 21, 2019 AMERICA | 53 LAST TAKE To Support and Defend The fight against extremism is not over By Tom Kean
In the 17 years since the attacks of Sept. First, the United States needs Third, the United States needs to 11, 2001, U.S. law enforcement has to reorient current spending toward better leverage the efforts of other do- prevented another large-scale terrorist programs that address the underly- nors. Geographic proximity and the attack on the homeland. The militaries ing causes of extremism. The United migration crisis have caused European of the United States and its allies States has already spent close to $6 countries to commit billions to con- have relentlessly pursued terrorists trillion fighting terrorism, the vast ma- front extremism in the Sahel. The Gulf overseas, killing Osama bin Laden and jority on military and law enforcement States, too, are becoming increasing- dismantling the Islamic State. Despite operations. The calls in the initial 9/11 ly active in efforts to curb extremism. these achievements, the global struggle Commission Report to confront the Nevertheless, existing global efforts against extremism is not over. In the growth of extremism by expanding remain poorly coordinated and rare- past five years, over 150,000 people educational opportunities, fostering ly follow best practices. The United have been killed in terrorist attacks, six economic development and encour- States should become more active in times the number killed in the five years aging more open, tolerant societies global efforts to unite donors and re- following Sept. 11. Islamist militants have gone unheeded. Even in countries cipients around a common agenda. have established a presence in more where extremists have established a Finally, the United States needs to places than ever before and govern presence, an overwhelming percentage act with decisive leadership in a time of territory in close to a dozen countries of U.S. development spending goes to rising geopolitical uncertainty. Major across the Middle East and Africa. public health and disaster relief rather global and regional powers, like Chi- Fourteen years after the 9/11 Com- than programs that engage vulnerable na, Russia, the Gulf States, Turkey and mission that I chaired issued its final youth, promote women’s leadership or Iran, are more active in the region than report, Congress has tasked the U.S. empower civil society. ever before, and growing strategic com- Institute of Peace with developing a Second, the United States should petition among them is a major cause of plan to “prevent the underlying causes prioritize targeted, locally owned pro- the recent rise in extremism. High-lev- of extremism” in fragile states in Africa gramming, which shows promise in el diplomacy is needed to mitigate the and the Middle East. I, along with the dissuading individuals from joining potential for further outbreaks of con- former U.S. Representative Lee Ham- terrorist groups. In 2010, a U.S.-fund- flict that extremists will exploit. ilton, the vice chair of the commission, ed program in eastern Afghanistan Implementing this preventive have agreed to lead this effort to fulfill recruited upstanding young men and strategy will be hard and will take some the one unmet recommendation of the gave them training and funding to time to bear fruit. But after 17 years 9/11 Commission: to prevent the con- design and implement projects that of an approach that has created more tinued growth of Islamist terrorism. they—rather than foreign techno- terrorists than it has killed, the United Terrorists cannot be defeated only by crats—thought would improve their States can ill afford to wait. force. Rather, the United States needs community, like building dams or ter- a preventive strategy to mitigate the races. In areas where this program was Tom Kean, former governor of New political, economic and social causes of implemented, insurgent strikes plum- Jersey, served as the chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks extremism. This strategy contains four meted, even as attacks spiked across Upon the United States, also known as essential elements. the rest of Afghanistan. the 9/11 Commission.
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FOLEY POETRY CONTEST Poems are being accepted for the 2019 To submit a poem Foley Poetry Award. through Submittable, go to americamedia.submittable.com. Each entrant is asked to submit only one unpublished poem on any topic. The poem To submit a poem should be 40 lines or fewer and not under by postal mail, send to: consideration elsewhere. Foley Poetry Contest Include contact information on the same America Magazine page as the poem. 1212 Sixth Ave. New York, NY 10036 Poems must be postmarked or sent in by Submittable between Jan. 1 and March 31, For more information contact 2019. The winning poem will be published Br. Joe Hoover, S.J. in the June 10, 2019, issue of America. [email protected] Cash prize: $1,000.
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