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“...to foster a society based on creed instead of greed.” Peter Maurin June/July 2017 Price: For whatever it’s worth. Leaving Catholicism Learning by Scott Schaeffer-Duffy from SNCC n Palm Sunday, I was invited to give peace news and editorials. Married a talk about the Catholic Worker deacons proliferated. Worcester had an by Claire Schaeffer-Duffy Oduring a Unitarian church service. I was active office for women. Catholics like have always believed proximity would impressed with the music and the positive , Thomas Merton, and Dan help heal the racial divide in our society. spirit of the prayers, readings, and homily. Berrigan inspired many progressives to IPrejudice and distrust are more likely One thing that did surprise me though is become Catholics. to diminish when we risk becoming that, as I looked out over the congregation, neighbors. A white woman from the I recognized many attendees were former South, I grew up among brown people Catholics. Their departure from the because of my father’s work overseas. Church prompted me to ruminate on After college, I moved into a Catholic previous flights from Rome. Worker house located in a black ghetto The Second Vatican Council, convened of Washington, DC; and I have lived in by Pope John XXIII in 1962 to open the black neighborhoods ever since. Whites windows of the , dropped were such a rarity on 4th street that after the Latin Mass, empowered the laity, a few months of living there, even I, like and promoted ecumenism. The changes C. Rococokara my neighbors, began to regard them with were too much for some Catholics, like But, with the election of John Paul II, the suspicion. my father, who stopped going to Mass. Church backed away from . Proximity spared me the delusion of For a period of time, conservative priests New bishops rejected Cardinal Bernardin’s believing the world was white. Proximity resisted the changes as well. Some, like the view that opposition to abortion, war, and corrected that learned habit of regarding Irish monsignor of Saint Peter’s Church in the death penalty should be considered people whose appearance differs from our Worcester, held onto Latin until the mid a “seamless garment” of respect for life. own as a monolith. I remember, shortly 1970s. But other priests followed the lead The new prelates prioritized abortion. after our family arrived in Japan, looking of post-Vatican II bishops in encouraging Worcester’s office for women was closed at the Japanese faces around me and lay Catholics to action through and its peace and justice office was blended wondering, “How will I tell them apart? parish councils and peace and justice into one which focused thereafter almost Everyone is the same.” Within a few commissions. By the late 70s, bishops exclusively on abortion. The diocesan weeks, the distinctions were so obvious, like Dozier in Memphis, Matthiesen in paper was revamped to reflect the change my question seemed absurd. Proximity Amarillo, Gumbleton in Detroit, Sullivan in priorities. Progressive voices were also engendered love. Some of my most in Richmond, Hunthausen in Seattle, and replaced by anti-abortion conservatives. life-giving friendships are with people of Bernardin in Chicago, were challenging Some churches restored pre-Vatican II color. capitalism, the death penalty, war, and statuary and Latin prayers. This trend But proximity cannot erase the profound nuclear weaponry. Worcester’s Bishop accelerated under Pope Benedict who differences in historical experience Bernard Flanagan was one of the first to stopped attending an annual inter-faith between black and white Americans. oppose the Vietnam War and to call for prayer at Assisi, introduced a more Maybe that is why Pat, an African unilateral nuclear disarmament. He and conservative translation of the Mass, and American guest at the Catholic Worker his auxiliary, George Rueger, went so welcomed ultra-traditionalists previously on 4th Street, smacked me upside the head far as to testify in court several times for considered schismatics. Benedict went during one of her psychotic breakdowns. anti-war protesters. It was not uncommon so far as to suggest that a smaller, more Who was I to posture ? she at that time for activists to claim that purified Catholic Church was the ideal. demanded. I could never fully know what episcopal statements inspired them to civil This move to the right, coupled with the people of color endured. Never! disobedience. Diocesan newspapers, like sex abuse scandal, sent many thousands of Earlier this year, I spent ten weeks Worcester’s Catholic Free Press, featured (Continued on Page 4) (Continued on Page 2) Jasana Crowie

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for Chaney, Schwerner, and Goodman, the shooting of seminarian Jonathan SNCC searchers found the bodies of Charles Daniels in Lowndes County Alabama; Moorer, Henry Dee, and an unidentified or the killing of Vietnam vet and student (Continued from Page 1) teen. All three were lynched by white activist Sammy Younge. I have not immersed in the history of the Student terrorists who assumed the youths were mentioned the collaboration of local law Nonviolent Coordinating Committee civil rights workers. I did not know enforcement with white supremacists (SNCC), one of many civil rights about the brazen killing of Herbert Lee, throughout the Deep South; the culture organizations waging the Freedom NAACP member and father of nine. A of impunity; the sporadic and dubious Struggle in the American South during the Mississippi state legislator shot Lee in assistance Washington provided civil 1960s. Born out of the black student sit-in the presence of many men because he rights workers. movement, SNCC (pronounced “Snick”) had supported a SNCC voter registration In the spring, Holy Cross sociology was edgier than the more established effort. I did not know about the murder of professor Selina Gallo-Cruz helped me NAACP or the strategic Southern Louis Allen, witness to the Lee killing, or produce a dramatic reading of civil rights Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) the fatal bombing of NAACP organizer texts that featured personal accounts by of which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. women in SNCC. One scene told of was a part. the brutal beating of female activists, SNCC tackled segregation with We didn’t have any civil rights. including the indomitable Fannie Lou pickets, walk-outs, and sit-ins, It was just a matter of survival, Hamer. The women were arrested adopting a pay-no-bail policy that after several entered a white-only of existing from one day to the filled county jails with protesting area of a Mississippi bus station. A youngsters. Its field secretaries next. I remember going to sleep white jailer ordered a black man to ventured into counties, where white as a girl hearing the Klan ride at beat Hamer who was well-known power was viciously maintained, night and hearing a lynching and in the state for her work on voter to work with local blacks on registration. “It was horrifyin’ . . . I voter registration campaigns and being afraid the house would burn had to get over there on the bed flat on other projects promoting black down. my stomach,” she said, “and that man self-determination. They were Rosa Parks beat me till he give out.” American democracy-makers who, Even edited, Hamer’s description in conjunction with other civil was unbearable to hear. Worried our rights groups, achieved astonishing production was getting “too heavy,” I results. Within five years of SNCC’s Vernon Dahmer. During the Mississippi asked Selina if we should cut the scene. establishment, Congress passed two major Freedom Summer of 1964, the violence “No,” she said vehemently. “People need civil rights laws. levied against those working for black to hear this.” All this occurred amid extreme advancement included at least thirty-five Post 1965, SNCC abandoned its violence. Persistent, terrorizing violence shootings, eighty beatings, and sixty-five initial integrationist approach and intended to silence pursuits of inclusion bombings, thirty-five of which targeted advocated black power. Militant in and access to power. I did not realize how black churches. rhetoric, its demands were more modest. much violence, until recently. This incomplete tally only reports on It continued to organize at black colleges Of course, I knew about King’s Mississippi. I have not mentioned the and universities which like their white assassination. Like many Americans, I burning of black churches in Georgia; counterparts were roiled in the turbulence had seen news footage of mob brutality at the lunch counter sit-ins and police Vol. 33, No. 6 THE June/July 2017 fire-hosing children, siccing attack dogs, and clubbing suited-up youth and mamas in their Sunday best. I knew too CATHOLIC RADICAL about the patiently executed murder of Medgar Evers, a well-loved NAACP leader and SNCC supporter, who was Published every two months by: shot in his driveway while bringing in The Saints Francis & Thérèse Catholic Worker Community the groceries; and about the fate of James 52 Mason Street, Worcester, MA 01610 Telephone: (508) 753-3588, 753-3089 Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Email:[email protected] Goodman, three civil rights workers who Founded in 1933 by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, the Catholic Worker is a lay were murdered one June night, their movement serving the poor while denouncing injustice and proclaiming peace. We remains later discovered beneath an are not tax exempt. We rely entirely on the generosity of our supporters to meet our earthen dam on a farm in Mississippi. expenses. We welcome volunteers, letters, poetry, articles, artwork, and donations. But I did not know that while looking June/July 2017 THE CATHOLIC RADICAL Page 3

mass incarceration and police killing of unarmed black men. At 57, I confess I have not seen this thread clearly. “Everyone has a responsibility to deal with racism. As Americans, we have all been lied to,” says Katherine Duncan, curator of Harrison Boarding House located on the West Side of Las Vegas which is where blacks lived during the city’s era of rigid segregation. Denied lodging on the east side, Sammy Davis Jr. stayed at Harrison’s modest bungalow after many a night of crooning to whites on the Strip. Duncan is tall, graceful, and still beautiful at 62. Her house tour includes SNCC activists on a Freedom Ride personal stories and a heartfelt talk on of the late 1960s. Southern police and was convicted of inciting a riot and spent race relations. She thinks that what we are national guardsmen responded with seven months in jail. facing in this country is not “a war against extreme and sometimes fatal force. In the Orangeburg, which happened two blacks and whites,” but “a spiritual struggle spring of 1967, police wounded student years before national guardsmen shot between good and evil.” Knowledge of demonstrators in Nashville, Houston, white students at Kent State, is “one of our histories and forgiveness offer the and Jackson, Mississippi, firing several the least known and most misunderstood way out. Whites need to ask forgiveness thousand rounds of ammunition on an stories of the civil rights era,” writes Frank for their ancestors, and blacks need to occupied dormitory during the Houston Beacham, a writer who made find ways to grant that forgiveness, she protest. In Jackson, they killed 22- year- a documentary about the tragedy. “Yet the says. There was more to Duncan’s talk old Ben Brown, a former Freedom Rider massacre is a chilling history lesson on the – reflections on restoring peace in black and SNCC staffer well-known to police. horror of law enforcement motivated by families and communities – but it was her That fall, SNCC reported two of its field racism and hatred.” observations on our racial divide that I secretaries in Mississippi drowned when SNCC’s story is only a slim chapter remember best. Klansmen forced their car off the road. in the history of black America which Racism is America’s original sin, one Several months later the Orangeburg my friend Steve Baggerly describes we cannot get out from under without Massacre occurred. On February 8, 1968, acknowledgement, repentance, after three days of escalating racial tension and reparation for its occurrence. over efforts by students at South Carolina I know many white Americans State College to desegregate a local fear this process, believing it will bowling alley in nearby Orangeburg, nine result in burdensome guilt or loss highway patrolmen fired on a crowd of of some assumed power. Perhaps. 200 students, seriously wounding 27 and But what it will ultimately bring killing Henry Smith, Samuel Hammond is loss of hubris and delusion. Jr., and Delano Middleton, 17, who was Everyone would benefit from sitting on the steps of a dorm waiting for such an unshackling. his mother to get off work. On those occasions, when The shooting reportedly began after I have stopped to look at the someone threw a wooden object injuring racism blacks endure, I have been one of the police officers. Another officer amazed to discover examples fired into the air to quell the crowd, of generosity, courage, and triggering a barrage of gunfire from faith. The SNCC story, for all his colleagues. All the students were its accounts of cruelty and loss, unarmed, an investigation into the event ultimately gave me heart. Like later revealed. Most were shot while as a “heritage of plunder and brutality so many civil rights struggles it offered fleeing, some in the back and in the soles endured at the hands of white Americans.” a brilliant example of persistent people of their feet. In a subsequent trial, the (Simplicity summer 2015). And its pattern power. Here were Americans, black and nine patrolmen were acquitted. SNCC continues, he argues, from slavery, convict white, risking their lives for the sake of organizer Cleveland Sellers Jr., however, swapping, Jim Crow, red-lining, to today’s deep liberation. Ω Page 4 THE CATHOLIC RADICAL June/July 2017

Johnny Cash singing: conservative parish is filled with Latinos, Catholicism That old wheel Africans, Asians, and whites. When I sit in (Continued from Page 1) is gonna roll around once more. those pews and reach out to offer the peace When it does, it will even up the score. of Christ, I have a foretaste of a world Catholics to the door. Attendance dropped Don’t be weak, as they sew they will reap. where humans live as one family. so precipitously, as did ordinations to the Turn the other cheek and don’t give in. Fourth, Vatican II defined the Church priesthood, that many churches had to be That old wheel will roll around again. as “the People of God.” When I complain, closed. And I think of Dorothy Day and Francis “The Church does this or doesn’t do While activists fought the XL and of Assisi. They could have created a that,” I could just as easily be criticizing Dakota Access pipelines, and joined the purified entity outside the Church, but did myself. If I believe the Church should do Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter not. They remained when the leadership something, then I need to do that thing movements, the Catholic Conference was hardly exemplary. Why? and, in doing so, the Church accomplishes of Bishops became a virtual wing of the They obviously found something it too. Republican party. It was this climate that nourishing, essential, and inspiring in And lastly, there is that most feminine drove progressives to other traditions. Catholicism despite the vagaries of part of the Trinity: the Holy Spirit. She Many a time, my oldest son had to fight is not mocked or diminished by our the urge to walk out of Mass because of sinfulness. She remains steadfast in Her Islamophobic or homophobic homilies. desire to fill us with grace, something But then, the unexpected happened — that always seems to happen just before a personalist from Argentina was elected Catholicism goes over a cliff once and pope. Francis, someone who believes that for all. The Holy Spirit unlocks doors of the heart of faith is its love for those in fear and prejudice to open the way for need, not only tackles a broad range of us to become the saints we are called issues, but also takes personal action on to be. She touched Saint Francis and them. Not surprisingly, he is popular with Dorothy Day. She wants to touch us too. many non-Catholics. Some say he is the Sometimes the institutional Church helps world’s most respected voice for justice Her and sometimes it hinders Her, but it

and peace. He established a commission Day Dorothy cannot stop Her. As Dorothy Day said, to consider ordaining women deacons. “No matter how corrupt the Church may He replaced ultra-right wing bishops. politics. The first of these gems was the become, it carries within it the seeds of its In doing so, he has infuriated the so- sacraments. Francis and Dorothy were own regeneration.” called “restorationists.” They resist his devoted to the belief that God desires to I witnessed this regeneration on the leadership and openly pray for a short be intimate with us in tangible signs of feast of Saint Catherine of Siena, a woman pontificate. Whether or not Francis reigns grace. Francis would kiss the hands of who is also a doctor of the Church, when long enough for his optimism to reach “any poor little priest,” regardless of his I attended Mass at Saint Dominic’s in down to seminaries and parishes remains individual flaws, because “this person’s Washington, DC. The gorgeous 147-year- to be seen. Some are willing to wait for it. hands handle the Word of Life and possess old church was full of a diverse crowd Others are still leaving. something that is more than human.” singing a tribute to Saint Francis’ Canticle Interestingly, the pastoral ebb and flow Immersed as they were in the filth and of the Sun. The homilist used the biblical that I witnessed in my life is not new. violence of poverty, Francis & Dorothy readings, the life of Saint Catherine, and The Catholic Church, like all institutions, believed divine perfection was available Pope Francis’ Laudato Si to has periods of decay and renewal. There to them in the Mass. The Eucharist and defend creation. The liturgy ended with a were times when priests would refuse to other sacraments nourished them. hymn with lyrics taken from the prophet give communion to union organizers or to Secondarily, they were deeply in love Micah: “We are called to act with justice, allow blacks to sit anywhere except in the with the scriptural Jesus. They heard we are called to love tenderly, we are called back pews. There were also times when stories of Him at Mass and dug deeper to serve one another, to walk humbly with priests joined civil rights marches and into those stories in prayer. They were God.” And then people took up large defended the right of workers to unionize. enchanted with Jesus’ extraordinary love. banners quoting Pope Francis and joined Like seasons, there have been periods Third, they desired to stand shoulder the Climate Change March. While the when everything seems dead and times to shoulder with the community of saints Catholic Church has failed spectacularly, when life springs in abundance. When and sinners that is the Church. As a young this was not one of those times. the devout Catholic Ben Salmon refused socialist, Dorothy empathized with the And so, all things considered, I have to to fight in World War I, he was denied the immigrant poor, but, as a Catholic, she say that Catholicism still puts gas in my sacraments, but now, Franz Jagerstatter, worshipped with them. The Unitarian tank, or should I say, charges my electric who refused to fight in World War II, is on church I attended had very progressive battery? While I won’t judge those who the path to canonization. I’m reminded of politics, but little ethnic diversity. My more decide to leave, I am going to stay. Ω June/July 2017 THE CATHOLIC RADICAL Page 5 The Elephant In the Room by Scott Schaeffer-Duffy

he Republican Party, which largely abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. want to put anyone in jail, but we earnestly favors the wealthy, the military, the Yet despite the clear complexity of those want to see an end to the taking of human Tgun lobby, the fossil fuel industry, and attitudes, political discourse largely life by war, the death penalty, euthanasia, capital punishment, defines itself as ignores the possibility of a middle ground and abortion. To accomplish this goal, “pro-life” because of its opposition to between making all abortions legal or we try to live nonviolently ourselves, to abortion, even though many, if not most, prohibiting them entirely. Ms. Clinton, make it easier for others to do so, and to Republicans favor restricting rather than like most Democratic politicians, fell into articulate, in word and action, the merits outright banning the procedure. this either/or trap last year.” Groome went of nonviolence and debits of violence. In contrast, the Democratic Party, which on to suggest: “Democratic politicians Although we are not gradualists, we largely champions the downtrodden and should publicly acknowledge that abortion rejoice to see even incremental steps the environment, advocates unrestricted is an issue of profound moral and religious away from violence, such as cease-fires, access to abortion. In an ironic twist, the concern.... Politicians should also continue gun buy-backs, and restorative justice party that presents itself as more liberal and to frame their efforts to improve health programs. We are pleased that the US tolerant has become increasingly rigid on and social services as a way to decrease abortion rate dropped 21% from 2009 until abortion. When US Representative Dennis abortions.” 2014. While some would argue that this Kucinich, a Roman Catholic, vegan, and In her May 9, 2017 New York Times is a result of Republican efforts to restrict anti-war Democrat who had long held that op-ed, “Abortion Is About More than access to abortion, Massachusetts, a state “human life begins at conception,” ran which has not introduced restrictions, for president in 2004, he reversed himself saw an 11% drop in abortions between and embraced abortion rights. He did so 2010 and 2015. Perhaps that decline in the political context of anti-abortion was related to the state’s generous democrats like Pennsylvania Governor health and human services. If so, why Bob Casey being shut out of party can’t Republican and Democratic leadership over his anti-abortion stance. politicians come together to promote And now, Tom Perez, the newly-elected them nationally? Democratic Party Chair has made it While marching down Pennsylvania clear that the party will not support any Avenue to the White House during the anti-abortion candidates. Interestingly, April 29th Climate Change March, I saw Perez’s statement came out not long a sign with red and blue hands clasped after Governor Casey’s son, Bob Jr., together and the caption, “Climate an anti-abortion Democrat, soundly Change is Non-Partisan.” A block defeated two abortion rights opponents later, I saw an anti-abortion banner on in a primary and went on to beat the the sideline which read, “Killing Kids incumbent, US Senator Rick Santorum. is a Very Cruel Way to Stop Climate Debbie Tomassi It’s not unreasonable to suggest that Change,” suggesting that voting for Hillary Clinton’s uncompromising support Money,” Lori Szala said: “We should the environment necessitated voting for for abortion rights cost her victory in all agree, whether anti-abortion or pro- abortion. This kind of divide will become Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, choice, that abortion is not a solution to less and less common if we stop trying to states with sufficient electoral votes to the host of systemic injustices driving crush our opponents and start celebrating have elected her president. poverty. Progressives cannot continue common ground. So long as abortion is In his March 27, 2017 New York to claim every effort to reduce abortion characterized by cliches and distrust, it Times op-ed “Can Democrats Win Back is anti-women and will lead to ruin and will remain an elephant in the room. Catholics?”, Thomas Groome, a professor disaster. And conservatives must do more I believe the Women’s March benefited of theology and religious education at than tell abortion-seeking women ‘go in from the presence of feminists for life as Boston College, pointed out: “Polls peace and keep warm and well fed’; they did the Climate March from pro-lifers indicate that the nation holds mixed must sacrifice their time and treasure to for the environment. Big tent thinking views on abortion. About 80 percent of serve women in need.” has a better chance of problem solving Americans don’t want to criminalize As Catholic Workers, a movement than a fortress mentality. As Lori Szala it again. At the same time, at least 60 grounded in , we do not try to concluded, “Our society must not settle percent of Americans — and most likely a advance our ideals through criminalization. for leaving women who face unplanned higher percentage of Catholics — oppose Ours is a of the heart. We do not pregnancy no hope but abortion.”Ω Page 6 THE CATHOLIC RADICAL June/July 2017 A Life to Inspire Us All reviewed by Scott Schaeffer-Duffy Just Call Me Jerzy: Popieluszko in the travels in the US and Canada, which may United States and Canada, by Judith have nourished and emboldened him Kelly, fxBear Publishing, 2016. Order it when he returned home. She points out through [email protected]. that he could easily have claimed asylum in either country and have escaped death t is extremely rare for me to read a book at the hands of the Polish secret police, but in less than 24 hours, but that is what I he insisted on going back, saying,“You Idid with Judith Kelly’s gem Just Call Me see, I may be afraid, but I really have no Jerzy, about the Polish priest who played alternative. I could not act otherwise.... an extraordinary role in the struggle for But if I must die violently, then I’d prefer freedom under the communist regime, a to meet death while defending something struggle which ultimately led to his brutal worthwhile, than save my life by refusing murder. While some biographies take us to take a stand against injustice.” safely back to another time from which With so much distrust in politicians we can distance ourselves, Judith’s book anyone stand before five or ten thousand and the media today, I took comfort from continually challenged and invited me people and use a microphone to condemn one of his last homilies before his murder to embrace a deeper and more fearless the errors of state and party. Nowhere, in in 1984, in which Jerzy said: “To live in nonviolence. Father Jerzy Popieluszko’s that vast stretch encompassing some four truth means to be true to one’s conscience. words to the workers in the Solidarity hundred million people, was anyone else Truth always unites and consolidates. It Union and to the secret police and other openly telling a crowd that defiance of frightens little men because it unmasks agents of the repressive government authority was an obligation of the heart, of their lies... but truth is immortal, while any brought me to tears. Having just attended religion, manhood, and nationhood.” lie is short-lived.” the Center for Nonviolent Solutions’ multi- Jerzy threaded a very delicate needle Judith opens the book with a quote media presentation on the women who by insisting that justice could only be from Daniel Berrigan, SJ: “The nonviolent worked for civil rights in the American achieved through nonviolence. In a 1982 hero often ends up dead.... So does the... South, I was reminded again how brave homily he said: “Violence is not a sign of soldier, by the thousand.... An interesting and faithful were many whose stories strength but of weakness. Whoever fails to question , however, remains: who dies in a simply cannot be told often enough. win over heart and minds tries to conquer way [that] is a gift to history? Who makes The title of Judith’s book comes from with violence. Every show of force is it less inevitable that many others will die, the insistence of Popieluszko, as a newly proof of moral inferiority.... An idea that in the same way, in even larger numbers, ordained priest, to be addressed only by needs weapons to survive will die on its in the next generation?” Judith describes his first name, an informality unheard of own.... A living idea conquers by itself. Jerzy Popieluszko as exemplifying a in Poland in 1972. With an enthusiasm Millions follow it spontaneously.” “nonviolent life well-lived.” Such lives for the Gospel fired by the Second Judith not only describes Jerzy’s are water in the desert for all generations. Vatican Council, Popieluszko connected courageous work in Poland, but also his I’m very grateful she wrote this book. Ω with people in an intimate way devoid of clerical patronization. He also had a deep belief in nonviolence marked by Catholic Worker Calendar his emphasis on Romans 12:21: “Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil June 7 — Responding to Laudato Si: Join Scott & Claire with good,” an extraordinary challenge Schaeffer-Duffy for a slide presentation on responses to Pope in a country dominated by political and Francis encyclical letter onclimate change. 7:00 p.m.. 52 religious oppression. Mason Street. Followed by refreshments. Two days after Solidarity leader Lech Walesa was named as the winner of the June 14 & 28, July 12 & 26 — Evening Prayer: Join 1983 Nobel Peace Prize, Popieluszko told us for prayer and Taize chant at 7:00 p.m.. 52 Mason Street. a British journalist, “In all the time of Van Gogh (detail) Followed by refreshments. Solidarity, not one life was lost. We are very proud of that.”And yet, Michael Kaufman, June 17 & July 15 — Vigil to Reverse the Gun Culture: Join us at the The the New York Times Warsaw bureau chief, Gun Parlor shooting range. 12:30-1:30 p.m., 170 Prescott Street, Worcester. said of Jerzy’s sermons, “Nowhere else from East Berlin to Vladivostok could June/July 2017 THE CATHOLIC RADICAL Page 7

Now, would Jesus choose to speak Dear Scott, against Israel’s nuclear arms stockpile “For Jesus there are no countries to be and Israel’s ongoing apartheid against conquered, no ideologies to be imposed, L innocent Palestinians? Or would he defend no people to be dominated. There are only Palestinians? children, women, and men to be loved.” E One answer is to teach the truth from Henri J. M. Nouwen the 48-page book, Steadfast Hope: The ...The above observation of Father Henri T Palestinian Quest for Just Peace, written Nouwen might be a beacon to guide us & published by both the Episcopalian & through the dreadfully polarizing social T Presbyterian churches. Topics include climate that envelops us. Settlements, The Wall, War on Gaza, etc. As for “fact checking,” a stand-alone E and are covered concisely in two pages per fact has no self-evident meaning — it topic. The final chapter is on how we can must be clothed with context, intention, R work for peace in Palestine/ Israel. Using emotion, empathy, and sympathy for the this book to teach the truth to your parish speaker. The so-called fact-checker brings S or town is one very effective ministerial a whole world to the fact, and can turn any action you can take. fact into a statement of the devil himself. Books can be ordered from: The Or can, by manipulating the context make Episcopal Peace Fellowship, epfnational. what was intended as a fact to appear as org/PIN/ or (312) 922-8628. fiction. And then, by claiming divine Dear Scott, If WWIII happens, it will begin with validation, can justify destroying the I very much enjoyed the latest Catholic this Israeli/Palestinian issue. But Israel’s perpetrators of this “fiction” as we see in Radical. The front page article, “The totally unnecessary violence is easily religious wars. Does Fr. Nouwen give us Truth Will Set You Free,” was eye- resolved: withdraw all US funding to Israel hint and a challenge to seek truth in the opening, but, I guess, not surprising. Just and they will find a way to peace within service of love for every human being? to see the Fiction vs. Fact side by side was a year, rather than paying from their own Tout comprendre, c’est tout pardonner quite jolting. But, in my heart of hearts, I treasury. Our taxes are encouraging and [To understand all is to forgive all]. How believe truth and goodness will prevail. In sustaining the genocide of Palestinians by does God see the “enemy”? When we, as the meantime, prayers are going up for Mr. the Israelis. And that is on our souls. far as possible, enter the heart and mind Trump’s state of mind and the continued Jan Leary, Ph.D., M.Div. of another with an understanding that only ability of Congress to rein him in! Enough Natick, Massachusetts un conditional love can give, can we really politics!!! judge his or her efforts and actions to be Wishing you, Claire, and your family a Dear Claire & Scott, lies, or reduce them to fiction? Blessed and Joyous Easter Season. Love Finally got to read with care your last We’re all pathetic slobs just wanting to be the pictures of your grandkids — too three issues of the CR which cheered me loved and respected as we muddle along cute for words! Funny how we love our to no end and also let you know how far trying to find our way home. “There are only grandchildren as much as we love our behind I am on anything of merit (your children, women, and men to be loved.” kids, but there is NO STRESS involved. CR always remains of merit). My favorite Ed Stevens No homework, running to the doctors, of the three CRs is that great poem “It’s Wayland, Massachusetts dentists, discipline, tons of laundry — Gotta be the Joy,” by Brendan Walsh. In ONLY EN“JOY”MENT! the Feb/Mar. CR, I’m so glad you included Editor’s Note: The above letter came Christine Joiner the article on nonviolence by Pope Francis in response to “The Truth Will Set You Webster, Massachusetts — it is a major blessing that he is the new Free.” While we appreciate Mr. Stevens’ pope and I’ve never really till this issue call to look compassionately into Donald To the Editors, read any of his writings. And in the April/ Trump’s heart, we still believe that In the April/May Catholic Radical, Peter May issue, I’m so glad you included all verifiably false statements by leaders can King wrote a letter referring to the those quotes in “The Truth Will Set You have harmful consequences unless they “hopeless situation” of Jews in Israel. The Free.” But we must be charitable and kind are refuted. Nonetheless, we should avoid truth is that, far from being “hopeless,” to an incredibly spiritual and/or mentally demonizing those with whom we disagree. Israeli Jews are one of the most powerful ill person, without question, who is merely people on Earth thanks to the over $10 the present figurehead of an incredibly Dear Scott, million dollars a day we US taxpayers spiritually ill country.... No matter what, Great Catholic Radical issue! Well written hand to Israel so they will purchase we have to trust the Great Mystery...all is/ and it covered a lot of territory! God Bless! military weapons. Israel is the size of was/will be well.... It’s great to be alive and Catholic. Peace. New Jersey, but has stockpiled at least 200 Joan Thomas Tom Malloy nuclear weapons! Phoenix, Arizona Providence, Rhode Island Page 8 THE CATHOLIC RADICAL June/July 2017 Mason Street Musings

ur backyard Saint Francis, now leans along the seam of her basement wall. against a garden fence post. Years The Cambodian tenant before her cleared Oof snow and rain have eroded the statue’s the invading knotweed jungle behind the base, leaving our holy man feetless and house and planted a garden. Tomatoes, wobbly. Just beyond his chipped robe, pots of ginger, and Asian greens that I half a dozen marigolds rim the perennials could not identify. Father Steve planted the summer his He was an officer during the Cambodian sister died of cancer. One afternoon, he war, an experience that left him no peace. and another sister, both disoriented from His cultivated patch seemed to soothe him. grief, came in a station wagon filled with Many a morning, I would see him mulch and pots of lavender, sage, and on a wooden plank, lovingly fussing over corn flowers. They dug, watered, and a tomato, a stick of incense disintegrating planted until long after dark, laying down before a statue of the Buddha tucked in the this blooming memorial to a woman who corner of his garden. loved gardening and was generous to the The humans inside 52 Mason Street poor. back wall of the house. The other day a are also thriving. Our guest A. no longer There are other commemoratives – woodchuck ambled worrisomely close asks for her anti-anxiety pills after supper, under the lilac bush a stone painted white to the vegetable patch. Worst of all is the which apparently were prescribed on an and inscribed with “Therese” marks the loathsome Japanese knotweed sprouting as-needed basis. Months of a reliable place spot where we buried our twelve-year old shoots along the yard’s border. O devil to stay, a regular job, communal meals, Tabby last August, and to the left of the incarnate! O subterranean Gorgon! These and some kindness from everyone here garden shed, a cluster of money plants tubular thugs are the terror of any garden, have calmed her. She’s off looking for an burst purple in celebration of Judy Cahill- invading perennials and dislodging stone apartment. No room-mates, she’s decided. Brown, my best friend from college. foundations. Just a cat. And C. who arrived pale and Hers was a hectic passing, all of us in The knotweed’s crown or head can weepy last Friday is looking more relaxed. the hospital room crying and praying and grow to the size of a bull’s head, its “This is the first real home, I’ve been in, in bidding our good-byes while her organs multitudinous roots radiating out like years,” he told us. fell apart. “ I’m going to heaven,” she said strands of hair. In England, its presence can As for me, I am pondering the wisdom late that Thursday night. And two days drastically reduce property value, because of poet Marie Howe. Abandon metaphor, later, she was gone. eradication is so costly. A Newsweek she advises. Experience life’s clang and This May, as with every other, the back account tells of a British property-owner clutter as it is. For us these days, it’s lot throbs with life. Strawberry plants who killed his wife and then himself after wobbly saints, an ecstasy of blossoms and snake into the peas, and day lilies explode spotting knotweed in his yard. burgeoning edibles, encroaching critters, from their pots while the oregano runs riot We are not so despairing on Mason and yes, the blasted knotweed. I thank in the bathtub herb garden. Street. Come summer, my neighbor God for these glories and aggravations, Not every sign of spring’s vitality is Elizabeth used to take a long-poled scythe the stuff and substance of life. Blessed welcome. Squirrels have burrowed in the and whack the evil tubers protruding Summer, everyone. Ω Claire

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