The National Catholic Weekly Oct. 31, 2011 $3.50 of Many Things
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THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC WEEKLY OCT. 31, 2011 $3.50 OF MANY THINGS PUBLISHED BY JESUITS OF THE UNITED STATES alloween was not always fun. But Halloween is not just a game for To the ancient Celts, who children. We know from the specialty EDITOR IN CHIEF seem to have originated it, Halloween stores that suddenly open Drew Christiansen, S.J. Halloween was deadly serious. By for the season that Halloween is big EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT October’s end, the dark came early, the business. As Dublin came alive at MANAGING EDITOR cold never left and death dwelt nearby. October’s end last year, phantoms of Robert C. Collins, S.J. Surviving the coming winter demanded every sort haunted O’Connell Street EDITORIAL DIRECTOR attention. and the Temple Bar—not so many Karen Sue Smith These peoples of ancient Ireland ghosts and demons as St. Patricks and ONLINE EDITOR knew of thin places—sacred wells, nuns and punks, all with healthy Maurice Timothy Reidy haunted groves—where the veil between draughts of Guinness. They would CULTURE EDITOR our world of stone and wood and anoth - hardly scare away the forces of evil, but James Martin, S.J. er world of spirit and imagination was they were having a lot of fun. LITERARY EDITOR flimsy. And at Halloween, they felt, these We have other ways to confront our Patricia A. Kossmann worlds were very close indeed. So they fears today, our demons, our ghosts, our POETRY EDITOR dressed up to confront and confuse the hostile powers. There are things that James S. Torrens, S.J. demons of the other side, powers they reasonable people can fear—not ASSOCIATE EDITORS did not understand but had to face. becoming crippled by it but needing to Kevin Clarke They were saying to these forces: “We face it. Some drown their fears with Kerry Weber are just as strong as you. We can match drink or drugs—hardly a healthy Raymond A. Schroth, S.J. Edward W. Schmidt , S.J. your power for evil with our power for response to things we cannot control. good. You can haunt us and harm us, Some seek therapeutic help and benefit ART DIRECTOR Stephanie Ratcliffe but in the end you are no match for us.” a lot from it. Some take action to con - ASSISTANT EDITOR I learned of this in October 2010, front sources of destructive power. Our Francis W. Turnbull, S.J. when I was in Dublin. I took a day trip current economic and political climate ASSISTANT LITERARY EDITOR up north to Newgrange, a Neolithic has induced thousands to take to the Regina Nigro burial chamber some 5,000 years old. It streets, to occupy public spaces. This is was constructed so that the rising sun how they creatively face a future that BUSINESS DEPARTMENT on Dec. 21, the winter solstice, shines looks bleak and without hope. And CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER directly into the door to this chamber. simple knowledge can be a helpful first Lisa Pope The builders knew how to celebrate the step in taking control of what threatens earth’s victory over darkness! us, making the unknown less fearsome 106 West 56th Street Modern revelry on Halloween bears and less powerful. New York, NY 10019-3803 some resemblance to ancient fears. Our faith, of course, is a great Ph: 212-581-4640; Fax: 212-399-3596 When children dress up for Halloween, resource. In the Gospels, Jesus appears E-mail: [email protected]; they conjure up images of the other to his frightened apostles, and they [email protected] world the Celts knew of and invest it think he is a ghost. “Don’t be afraid,” he Web site: www.americamagazine.org. with their own defiance. The 5-year-old urges them. Don’t be afraid of the storm Customer Service: 1-800-627-9533 ghost declares that ghosts do not scare or the sea, “Oh you of little faith.” Jesus © 2011 America Press, Inc. her! The 7-year-old in his pumped-up is telling us not to look at phantom evils Chicago Bears uniform is telling the but to know the power of good. He tells world that he will be that fearsome us not to rely on our own power, but Bear some day. The-8-year-old fairy is that he will be with us always. as regal as any bride in Westminster After the ghosts of Halloween come Abbey. One year when a nephew of the saints of Nov. 1, those who heeded mine was about five, we went to a that Gospel call. These are the heroes neighborhood park to face the spook who have gone before us, faced evil in trail set up there. He endured bravely this world and won victory. They are in but begged Mom and Dad not to make our memories and in our hearts with - Cover: “Council of Trent” painting located at the Museo del Palazzo del him do that ever again. Let’s leave out masks or makeup. Buonconsiglio. Photo: Wikimedia Halloween to tricks and treats. EDWARD W. SCHMIDT, S.J. commons.org/Laurom. CONTENTS www.americamagazine.org VOl. 205 NO. 13, WhOle NO. 4950 OCTOber 31, 2011 ARTICLES 11 A LESSON FOR TODAY? Bishops and theologians at the Council of Trent John W. O’Malley 15 CATHOLICS AT WORK 6 Late-Night Catechism Mary Lynn Hendrickson COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS 4 Current Comment 11 5 Editorial Conscience in the Mud 6 Signs of the Times 9 Column When Catholics Vote John J. DiIulio Jr. 17 Faith in Focus The Art of Dying Sidney Callahan 19 State of the Question Life or Death Decisions Charles F. MacCarthy and John P. MacCarthy 24 Poem Darkness: For Mother Teresa Michael D. Riley 29 Letters 15 31 The Word Inexhaustible Light Barbara E. Reid BOOKS & CULTURE 22 ART Rembrandt’s haunting view of Christ BOOKS Habits of Change; The Lord as Their Portion ON THE WEB ON THE WEB John W. O’Malley, S.J., right, talks about the lessons of the Council of Trent , and Leo J. O’Donovan, S.J., narrates a slideshow of Rembrandt’s paintings of Jesus . Plus, past articles from the Catholics at Work series. All at americamagazine.org. 22 CURRENT COMMENT from newly hostile territory. Even properly documented A Free Catholic Press? workers are leaving, worried about hassles with police and The six editors of Zenit, a private Catholic information state and school district bureaucrats. The abrupt depar - service based in Rome, resigned over the issue of indepen - tures have left crops rotting in the fields, shingles unham - dence, according to a report by Catholic News Service on mered and restaurants scrambling for replacements. For Oct. 11. They objected to the growing control of Zenit by proponents of the law, this is all to the good: employers the Legionaries of Christ, a major financial backer, and will be forced to seek out native-born citizens and legal cited the spirit of Zenit: to serve the universal church, not residents to replace the departed workers. one religious congregation. The editors said they preferred Alabama has begun a real-world sociological experi - to resign rather than betray their principles. This followed ment that is fraught with peril. Are there some back- the forced resignation of Jesús Colina, who founded Zenit breaking jobs that native-born workers simply will not in 1997. Mr. Colina stated that a major issue was the take, and are there wage hikes for unskilled work that U.S. Legionaries’ lack of transparency over finances and the sex - employers simply will not make? Testing these questions ual scandals surrounding their founder, Marcial Maciel. could prove devastating to Alabama’s economy. Speaking for the Legionaries, Andreas Schoggl, L.C., said that Mr. Colina’s resignation did not indicate a change Fighting Bias of policy but that “the stress on journalistic indepen - When the U.S. bishops’ Office of Migration and Refugee dence…might have induced people to think that Zenit was Services learned that it had been denied a grant from the just a private initiative of Catholic journalists.” Quite clear - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of ly, Zenit is now just a mouthpiece for the Legionaries. Refugee Resettlement, some expressed worry that the lack Journalists struggle to maintain the credibility that of funds would negatively affect those served by the orga - comes from the pursuit of objectivity. Which stories nization. But another concern also surfaced: fear of anti- appear and how they are weighted are subjective decisions, Catholic bias in the White House. A post on the bishops’ of course. Still, writers and editors—even in Catholic jour - Media Blog argued that the H.H.S. was abiding by “the nalism—must work independently of their publishers’ ABC Rule, Anybody But Catholics” and cited the bishops’ business and public relations agendas. stance against abortion, sterilization and artificial contra - ception as the reason. The Alabama Experiment The lack of this grant may disrupt services while the A new state immigration law in Alabama, perhaps the cases at the bishops’ migration office are shifted to new toughest in the nation, empowers police to check the agencies, and this is unfortunate. But to describe the move immigration status of people they stop or arrest, adds new as anti-Catholic is to get caught up in an argument that pressure on employers to verify worker residency and benefits no one. Two-thirds of the migration office subcon - requires schools to filter out children of undocumented tractors were non-Catholic organizations, so Catholic residents. Other states have passed similarly stringent laws, groups are not the only ones to suffer the loss of funding.