THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC WEEKLY JUNE 23-30, 2014 $3.50 Of Many Things Published by Jesuits of the United States he smoking gun had been fired Deep Throat—it’s hard to believe that 106 West 56th Street on July 23, 1972, during an oval there is still an untold story about the New York, NY 10019-3803 office conversation between Watergate affair. Yet here it is. Ph: 212-581-4640; Fax: 212-399-3596 T Subscriptions: 1-800-627-9533 President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. In this issue, Raymond A. Schroth, Haldeman, the flat-topped former Eagle S.J., tells the tale of three Jesuits and www.americamagazine.org facebook.com/americamag Scout Mr. Nixon had chosen for White their connections to the greatest political twitter.com/americamag House chief of staff. The two men were crime of the century. It’s fascinating, discussing the bungled burglary of the not least because these three men, President and Editor in Chief Democratic National Committee two who as Jesuits went through the same Matt Malone, S.J. months earlier, a scandal that had come basic academic training and spiritual Executive Editors to be known as Watergate, after the formation, could not have been more Robert C. Collins, S.J., Maurice Timothy Reidy name of the Washington, D.C., complex different from one another. Managing Editor Kerry Weber that housed the D.N.C. offices. People While President Nixon and Mr. Literary Editor Raymond A. Schroth, S.J. were now asking a lot of questions, Haldeman were concocting their Cuban Senior Editor and Chief Correspondent especially at NBC News, which had just scheme, John McLaughlin, S.J., was Kevin Clarke broadcast a special report on the Cuban- commuting back and forth between his Editor at Large James Martin, S.J. born burglars who had been hired by White House office—where he had Poetry Editor Joseph Hoover, S.J.

Nixon’s operatives to conduct the black taken charge of the moral defense of the Associate Editors bag job. president—and his apartment in, of all Luke Hansen, S.J. That gave the president an idea. places, the Watergate. Assistant Editors Francis W. Turnbull, S.J., Olga He directed Mr. Haldeman to tell the At the other end of Pennsylvania Segura, Joseph McAuley, Ashley McKinless Federal Bureau of Investigation to halt Avenue, meanwhile, Congressman Art Director Sonja Kodiak Wilder its investigation of the Watergate matter Robert Drinan, S.J., was actively Columnists Helen Alvaré, John J. Conley, S.J., Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M., James T. Keane, John W. because it might lead to the release of opposing the president’s policies Martens, Bill McGarvey, Angela Alaimo O’Don- classified information about the Bay and would eventually vote for his nell, Margot Patterson, Michael Rossmann, S.J. of Pigs, the botched invasion of Cuba, impeachment. Correspondents which had been orchestrated by the And at the height of the scandal, John Carr – Washington, D.C. Central Intelligence Agency in 1961. Frank Haig, S.J., provided quiet Moderator, Catholic Book Club Mr. Nixon knew, of course, that this was counsel to his brother, Gen. Alexander Kevin Spinale, S.J. a lie; but in the midst of the Cold War, Haig, who just happened to be Mr. Editorial e-mail [email protected] with Communism apparently thriving Haldeman’s replacement as White less than 90 miles from Florida, Cubans House chief of staff. Not, perhaps, since Publisher and Chief Financial Officer made convenient political scapegoats. the days when Jesuits served as the chief Edward Spallone So Mr. Nixon pulled the trigger: confessors to the crowned heads of Deputy Publisher “Say: ‘Look, the problem is that this will Europe had a group of Jesuits been so Rosa Del Saz open the whole Bay of Pigs thing, and close to the center of political intrigue. Vice President/Advancement the President just feels that,’ without The more things change.... Daniel Pawlus going into the details...don’t, don’t lie Forty years after Watergate, as Development Coordinator to them to the extent to say there is no Tim Padgett also reports in this issue, Kerry Goleski involvement.... Call the FBI in and say Cuba is still on the political—and now Operations Staff Chris Keller, Glenda Castro, Judith Felix ‘that we wish for the country, don’t go papal—agenda. As we look back to that Advertising contact any further into this case,’ period!” The eventful summer of 1974 and as we [email protected]; 212-515-0102 rest, as they say, is history. The Oval look ahead to the future of the U.S./ Subscription contact/Additional copies Office tapes that secretly recorded all Cuba relationship, we would do well [email protected]; this were subpoenaed and eventually to remember these words of wisdom: 1-800-627-9533 released to the public; and Mr. Nixon “Others may hate you, but those who © 2014 America Press, Inc. was sent packing 40 years ago this hate you don’t win unless you hate them, summer. and then you destroy yourself.” The After all these years of research and author, Richard M. Nixon, was speaking Cover: John McLaughlin and Richard Nixon. revelation—years in which we even from experience. Wikimedia Commons/National Archives and learned the identity of the mysterious Matt Malone, S.J. Records Administration/Karl. H. Schumacher Contents www.americamagazine.org Vol. 210 No. 20, Whole No. 5054 JUNE 23-30, 2014

articles 15 Watergate, S.J. Three Jesuits and the downfall of a president Raymond A. Schroth

22 a Pope for the Americas Can Francis help bring stability to Latin America? Tim Padgett

COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS

4 Current Comment

15 5 editorial War and the President

6 Reply All

8 Signs of the Times

12 Washington Front Immigration Impasse John Carr

27 Faith in Focus Among Mercies Ty B a r n e s

37 the Word Building on Faith; The Little Ones John W. Martens

22 BOOKS & CULTURE 29 Theater Journeys of hurt and healing on Broadway of other things Outrage Again BOOKS I’ve Got You Under My Skin; Jesus; Words Will Break Cement

ON THE WEB George Drance, S.J., right, talks about his solo theatrical performance of the Gospel of Mark on our podcast. Plus, a selection of America’s coverage of Watergate, and a Skype interview with Tim Padgett. All at americamagazine.org. 29 CURRENT COMMENT

predators seeking to capitalize on the increased demand No More Hot Air for prostitution lure poor, vulnerable girls to the arenas and After years creating strategic reserves of rhetoric against hotels with the promise of lucrative “work.” To combat this climate change, the Obama administration released on scourge, Talitha Kum (Little Girl, Arise), an international June 2 new standards aimed at reducing emissions from network of religious orders against human trafficking, has the nation’s roughly 550 coal-burning power plants. The partnered with the Vatican and the U.S. Embassy to the proposal would cut carbon emissions from coal-burning Holy See to launch a new campaign called Play for Life— facilities—the nation’s top producers of greenhouse Denounce Trafficking. Women religious and other advocates gases—by 30 percent from 2005 levels. States have until are using social media and public demonstrations to raise 2030 to meet individualized goals, either by shutting awareness about the heightened threat of child prostitution down coal plants, switching to renewables, deploying and forced labor; and during the month-long tournament, more energy-efficient technology or joining cap-and-trade they will hand out leaflets at airports and other tourist spots programs. encouraging visitors to be vigilant and report suspected President Obama finally had little choice but to exploitation to the police. sidestep Congress and set loose the regulatory dogs of the Churches, nongovernmental organizations and federal Environmental Protection Agency. The proposed government agencies have mounted serious efforts to combat standards, if they survive the scrutiny of courts and this vicious assault on human dignity in anticipation of the Congress, place the United States at the global forefront games. But even without the added risks of a large event, of efforts to reduce greenhouse gases and, we hope, will Unicef estimates that 250,000 children become victims hopefully encourage other large producers like China and of prostitution every year in Brazil. When the last whistle India to follow suit. The new standards are good for the blows, Brazilian authorities and the international community planet, good for public health and, by setting the stage must not shift the spotlight away from this horrific crime. for new industrial innovations and the broad adoption of sustainable energy technologies, will likely prove good for the U.S. economy. A Screed in ‘Real Time’ The state-by-state compliance standards set by the The Catholic Church has been subjected to many criticisms E.P.A. and the unprecedented flexibility offered by the over the past few years, some of them well-deserved. We all plan suggest complaints about an overbearing federal know about the painful revelations of sexual abuse and the bureaucracy are unwarranted. That will not, of course, financial scandals at the Vatican. But sometimes legitimate stop critics from arguing that the new standards will sink criticism crosses the line into hateful screed. Some mean- the economy and throttle U.S. job creation. Let’s recall, spirited words during the May 16 episode of the satirist Bill however, that these are often the same folks who, in the face Maher’s show “Real Time” crossed that line. of 97 percent certainty in the climate science community, Mr. Maher mocked Pope Francis’ lighthearted comments continue to deny the threat of climate change. about the church baptizing anyone who desires to become a Christian—even, say, Martians. In one fell swoop, he attacked the pope, Mitt Romney, Mormons and, most Soccer’s Shadow offensively, the sacrament of baptism, calling it “getting Starting on June 12, some 600,000 fans will descend sprinkled with magic water.” For good measure, he joked on Brazil to attend the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The about a groping, 50-foot-tall extraterrestrial priest with six quadrennial soccer championship will showcase the host arms. Crude smears like these are undignified. country’s vibrant culture and revamped infrastructure as well People with influential media platforms should not use as the unmatched skill of players from across the globe. But them to denigrate anyone’s faith. For whatever reason, Mr. in the shadows of the newly constructed stadiums lurks the Maher has turned against religion. That is his right and a ugly underground world of human trafficking. matter for his own conscience. Thoughtful critiques are one Brazil has the unfortunate distinction of being a popular thing, but his gratuitous attacks reveal unwarranted hostility. destination for sex tourists, and anti-trafficking activists He is not the only person to voice such sentiments, and warn that the influx of foreigners around the games will he will probably not be the last. But Mr. Maher is on the probably lead to a spike in the sexual exploitation of children board of Sam Harris’s Project Reason. He would do well to and vulnerable adults. During large sporting events like the practice some of the “vigorous self-criticism” the project seeks World Cup and the Olympic Games, criminal gangs and to promote.

4 America June 23-30, 2014 EDITORIAL War and the President

uring a commencement address at the U.S. Military United States “will use military force, Academy at West Point on May 28, President unilaterally if necessary, when our core DObama continued to make his public case for a new interests demand it—when our people role for American power abroad. At first blush, there is much are threatened, when our livelihoods for critics of recent U.S. military action to appreciate in the are at stake, when the security of our president’s remarks. His speech included a strong rejection allies is in danger.” These scenarios do of U.S. isolationism in a technologically and economically not seem to include preventing genocide or crimes against integrated world, but promoted new restraint in the use of humanity, a cause close to the heart of some of the president’s America’s military might. He issued a strong defense of “soft advisers. power” alternatives and a multilateral approach to conflict Mr. Obama characterizes “core interests” as those resolution through engagement with international institutions situations that directly affect Americans and U.S. allies. like the United Nations. But is it in the interest of the United States to prevent or Unfortunately, the president did not address how stop genocide, to risk lives and treasure to protect the lives drone warfare fits into his new, scaled-back vision of U.S. of innocent people even in a faraway land? The president’s power, a topic he explored in more detail in a speech on remarks did not adequately explore these questions and seem, counterterrorism at the National Defense University in at points, to contradict what he has said on other occasions. May 2013. Perhaps he considers such limited extensions of Just six months ago, the president argued: “Terrible things U.S. force too minor to feature in “big picture” pondering of happen across the globe, and it is beyond our means to right military actions. every wrong. But when, with modest effort and risk, we can According to the president, the new approach employed stop children from being gassed to death, and thereby make by the United States has so far proved useful in deterring our own children safer over the long run, I believe we should further Russian aggression in Ukraine and bringing Iran act.” The president’s inconsistency may be explained by the back, peacefully, to the table for negotiations to end its nuclear hard case of Syria, a human rights disaster that still weighs ambitions. It could also prove fruitful in resolving current on the conscience of the international community. Whether tensions in the South China Sea. “To say that we have an more aggressive intervention in Syria could have forestalled interest in pursuing peace and freedom beyond our borders the country’s spiral into bloody civil war is a question that still is not to say that every problem has a military solution,” divides many observers, including America’s editorial board. President Obama told the cadets. This is a point that very few Any determination of the proper use and limits of U.S. power foreign policy analysts will dispute. Not many people argued must reckon with these events. for providing boots-on-the-ground military support to the The president’s willingness to think hard about the rebels in Syria, and even fewer have called for direct U.S. use of force and to work with international institutions is military intervention in Ukraine. In our war-weary world, the laudable. Less praiseworthy is his continued insistence, at president’s case for a reduced role for the U.S. military has a West Point and elsewhere, that the United States remains receptive audience. an “indispensable nation.” Such talk has fueled military There are those, however, who argue that the United misadventures in the past, and could do so again in the future. States cannot shirk its responsibilities as a superpower. The president’s support of transparency and consistency with Included in this number are not just foreign policy hawks the rule of law, both of which received hearty cheers at West but supporters of the emerging doctrine of the responsibility Point, could serve as a necessary corrective to the temptations to protect, or R2P. Proponents of this doctrine, which of exceptionalism. He reaffirmed, again, his intention to close mandates an international response when a state fails to the prison at Guantanamo Bay and place restrictions on “how protect its citizens from serious and widespread harm, may be America collects and uses intelligence.” He should add to that concerned that the president’s address indicates a shift away list a more transparent accounting of the use of drones. Until from U.S. deployments aimed at protecting noncombatants these concerns are addressed, Mr. Obama’s words at West in simmering conflicts in nations like South Sudan and Point may have made for a nice graduation speech, but not the Central African Republic. The president said that the much more.

June 23-30, 2014 America 5 REPLY ALL ment, written in 1993 as the Trappists Thanks for a superb meditation on felt the growing menace, allied him lives we find hard to imagine. Similar Witness with suffering Algerian people of all Catherine McKeen Re “What Martyrdom Means,” by faiths, in the same way Father Frans Online comment Patrick Gilger, S.J. (5/12): In so identified himself with the people of many ways, the story of the life and Homs, Syria. Dom Christian wrote: A Priest’s Family death of Frans van der Lugt, S.J., “If it should happen one day—and it In “Shared Sacrifice” (4/28), Msgr. echoes the story of the seven Trappist could be today—that I become a vic- Michael Heintz writes that as in a monks who lived among Algerians in tim of the terrorism which now seems marital relationship, the availability Tibhirine and who were kidnapped ready to engulf all the foreigners liv- of the celibate priest “is extended to and beheaded during the Algerian ing in Algeria, I would like my com- his spouse, his flock, his community.” civil war in 1996. The Trappists could munity, my church and my family to This comment pinpoints the special have left when they were warned of remember that my life was GIVEN and unique identity of the celibate the danger to themselves, but they to God and to this country.” priest. He is available and related to stayed among the people they served He went on to ask the readers of his flock. and loved. his testament not to heap scorn on The question for me is, “How does Dom Christian de Chergé’s testa- Algerians or its Muslim believers. he see himself related?” I experience this ministry not so much as “spouse” but analogously related to it. What you’re Reading at americamagazine.org It is most important that a priest 1 When Pope Francis asked an Israeli Reporter, ‘How Can I Help?’ see himself as part of a family rela- by Gerard O’Connell (In All Things, 5/24) tionship. He is part of the family be- 2 Jack, Bobby, Ted, by John F. Baldovin, S.J. (5/26) fore him; to the young ones as “father” 3 Simply Loving, by James Martin, S.J. (5/26) or “uncle”; to men and women of his 4 We Praise You, O God! by Robert F. O’Connor (5/26) age as “brother”; and when he is much 5 Renewing the Tradition, by Grant Kaplan (5/19) older, as “grandfather.” The priest takes on these various “identities” from the perspective of the different age groups and experiences of his family members as individuals with God-given, unique backgrounds. It is very important for him, young or not so young, to relate sincerely from these perspectives. William A. Beaver, O.S.B. Latrobe, Pa.

Other Vocations “Shared Sacrifice” celebrates the com- plementarity of Christian love and witness in vowed celibacy and mar- riage. But this comparison leaves out many people who are involuntarily single, widowed or divorced. While his paean to baptismal discipleship is articulated in these two lifestyles, these other growing populations (now about half of all U.S. adults) are of- ten seen as somehow a lesser witness value—and often without institution- al or ecclesial support—in an increas- ingly less coupled society. And this

6 America June 23-30, 2014 does not even address same-sex cou- STATUS UPDATE ples or those who are not disposed to- ward a coupled life. Readers respond to “We Praise You, O cal music that honored the 157-year- As I look around my parish on a God!” by Robert F. O’Connor (5/26). old German heritage in our parish. given Sunday, I see a majority of peo- We lost that in the last nine months, ple who serve the parish and human- The St. Louis Jesuits were my entrée and the reaction of the people in the ity immensely and deserve more than into the Scriptures. They introduced pews has not been positive. Music is the traditional pat on the back or be- me to the important passages and to enhance prayer and should hon- nign glance that says, “You, too, have a images in a melodic way that stuck or the heritage, tradition and cul- vocation…but we don’t call it a sacra- with me more than simple words ture of the parish. Contemporary ment or religious vocation as we do for or pictures could have. When I got music, spirituals, guitar masses, etc., your married and vowed co-parishio- more serious about Scripture study, might work in some parishes, but it ners.” I found that their music was still shouldn’t be imposed on those where The church still has much to do cel- valuable. Thanks to them for their it doesn’t work. ebrate the role of the single person in work. Becky Lentz the world and not emphasize only the Juliana Boerio-Goates vowed or married life. I enjoy both our traditional classics David E. Pasinski So very, very often I will hear a and contemporary music, depending Fayetteville, N.Y. Scripture passage, and the first thing on my current spiritual thirst. One that happens is that I want to sing of the things I most appreciate about Communion Disputes the song of that Scripture. I, too, am being Catholic is our inclusivity and Pope Francis is allegedly rethinking grateful for the contemporary com- the many rich traditions we have to the denial of Communion to di- posers. Thanks to these creative indi- enjoy, learn from and embody in our vorced and remarried Catholics. The viduals, there is always a song in my spiritual practice and lived experi- pre-history of the uses and abuses of heart. Many thanks! ence. Tricia Suttmann Nancy Walton-House holy Communion are interesting, as any Jesuit should know. We had wonderful, beautiful classi- Visit facebook.com/americamag. In 17th-century France, the Jansenists opposed frequent Letters to the editor may be sent to America’s editorial office (address on page 2) or letters@ Communion, believing it was the re- americamagazine.org. America will also consider the following for print publication: ward for a holy disposition, while their comments posted below articles on America’s Web site (americamagazine.org) and posts Jesuit foes believed sinners needed on Twitter and public Facebook pages. All correspondence may be edited for length. grace and should frequently approach the altar. Indeed, the church in the 18th century adopted more frequent Communion, but in practice the cler- gy generally still used Communion to keep the faithful in line. Again in France, in Vichy France, many clergy refused Communion to those who resisted the legal govern- ment of Marshal Philippe Pétain, a pro-Nazi regime, but they welcomed members of the Milice, a paramilitary group who specialized in murdering Jews and leftists, to the altar. Is it not time to be clear that Communion is a source of grace for sinners and not a reward for Catholic Pharisees? Norman Ravitch Savannah, Ga. “Nothing about flossing?” cartoon: Harley Sc h wadron cartoon:

June 23-30, 2014 America 7 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

The Vatican The Beginning of a New Journey To Peace in the Holy Land? t is my hope that this meeting will mark the beginning of a new jour- ney, where we seek the things that unite, so as to overcome the things ‘Ithat divide,” Pope Francis said in a forceful speech concluding the his- toric Prayer for Peace in the Holy Land. The event was held in the Vatican Gardens on June 8 and broadcast live by television to Israel and Palestine. “More than once we have been on the verge of peace, but the Evil One, em- ploying a variety of means, has succeeded in blocking it,” he said, referring to the failed attempts to broker peace between Israelis and Palestinians over the past 66 years. “That is why we are here—because we know and believe that we need the help of God.” That sentiment was shared by Israel’s president, Shimon Peres, and Palestine’s president, Mahmoud Abbas, elder statesmen who had, as Peres said, “experienced war and tasted peace,” whom Francis had identified as men of peace and men of faith. They were joined at the prayer gathering by Historic Prayer. Israeli President Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople. Shimon Peres, Orthodox Patriarch For over half a century negotiators had excluded the religious dimension Bartholomew I, Pope Francis and from the peace process, even though most of the Holy Land’s 12 million Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas inhabitants—Jews, Christians and Muslims—believe in the one merciful after their joint prayer. God. By inviting their presidents to pray with him, Pope Francis brought Pope Francis originally intended in the Vatican Gardens: a triangular God back to center stage. Such a high holding it in the Holy Land during lawn, closed off on two sides by high profile event has no precedent in the his historic meeting in Jerusalem hedges, with St. Peter’s dome in the history of these lands. It was the pope’s with Patriarch Bartholomew. Political background. It was an idyllic setting brainchild, not the fruit of Vatican obstacles prevented that, however, for prayer: only the sounds of water diplomacy. so he hosted it in a neutral setting flowing in a nearby fountain and birds

Immigration The Obama administration esti- mates that around 60,000 undocu- Church Leaders Urge Action mented and unaccompanied minors will enter the United States this year To Protect Migrant Children and projects the number will grow to atholic leaders have raised Obama administration and Congress nearly 130,000 next year. As recently concerns that Latin American to protect the unaccompanied children as 2011, the number was only around Cmigrants are increasingly in from Mexico and Central America 6,000. In a memo that describes the danger of human rights violations, crossing the border and to respond to problem as an “urgent humanitarian sit- particularly the growing number of the root causes of poverty and increas- uation,” Obama empowered the Federal minors trying to make the trip from ing violence as a long-term solution Emergency Management Agency to co- Central America to the United States to the issue. He described President ordinate relief for the children, includ- alone. In a statement released on June Obama’s announcement on June 3 of ing housing, care, medical treatment 4, Bishop Eusebio Elizondo, auxiliary a new interagency task force to coor- and transportation. bishop of Seattle and chairman of the dinate a response to the influx of soli- “These children are extremely vul- U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ tary children streaming into the United nerable to human traffickers and un- Committee on Migration, called on the States as “a good first step.” scrupulous smugglers and must be pro-

8 America June 23-30, 2014 group. There followed a meticulously requires sacrifice or compromise.” prepared hour-long prayer service in President Abbas, who connects well three parts: first Jewish, then Christian, with Peres, said Palestinians “are craving then Muslim. The format was the for a just peace, dignified living and same for each: praise of creation, plea liberty.” He added, “Reconciliation and for forgiveness, invocation for peace. peace are our goal.” Indeed, “we want Each prayer was followed by a musical peace for us and for our neighbors. We interlude provided by Jewish, Christian seek prosperity and peace of mind for and Muslim musicians. ourselves and others alike.” “Peacemaking calls for courage, much After the speeches, Francis, more so than warfare,” Pope Francis Bartholomew, Peres and Abbas shook said. “It calls for the courage to say, ‘yes’ hands and together planted an olive tree to encounter and ‘no’ to conflict; ‘yes’ before retiring to talk in private. to dialogue and ‘no’ to violence; ‘yes’ to Can Pope Francis’ introduction of negotiations and ‘no’ to hostilities; ‘yes’ to God into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict respect for agreements and ‘no’ to acts of open a new horizon for peace? Can provocation; ‘yes’ to sincerity and ‘no’ to it change the political climate among duplicity.” these two peoples by creating a dynamic Israel’s President Peres agreed. that political leaders cannot ignore and “We must put an end to the cries, to in which religion can make a positive the violence, to the conflict,” he said. contribution? Perhaps we will only “We all need peace. Peace between know the answers to these questions equals.” Peres, who reportedly reached when the olive tree has produced its a peace agreement with Abbas in first fruit. singing in the trees broke the silence. back-door negotiations in 2011 only Gerard O’Connell As the sun set, the pope, the to have it rejected by Prime Minister patriarch and the two presidents Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, The author, a veteran international jour- arrived in a white minibus and joined said, “Peace does not come easy. We nalist, will file weekly reports from Rome, the 18-member interfaith delegations must toil with all our strengths to beginning Aug. 1, as America’s new from Israel and Palestine and the papal reach it, to reach it soon, even if it Vatican correspondent. tected,” said Bishop Elizondo. “Over the Solidarity of the Latin American bish- long term, the increasing violence from ops’ council said in a statement follow- gangs and organized crime in their ing a meeting in Panama on May 16. home countries must be addressed and On May 22, Central American and controlled so they can be secure in their U.S. bishops concluded a meeting in El homes.” Salvador in which they highlighted the In separate meetings in May in growing trend of young people mak- Central America, bishops, church ing perilous migrations to the United workers and Catholic organizations States to rejoin family members. The from Latin America and the United meetings come amid heightening calls States arrived at the same conclusions. for the U.S. Congress to pass a stalled “Our biggest concern, among oth- immigration reform bill. The Senate ers, has been the violation of human has already passed a comprehensive rights during migration, the trafficking immigration reform package, but the of persons, the issue of public policy House of Representatives has failed to Crossing Guards. Migrants, mostly women and children, disembark and exploitation of various groups in- vote on similar legislation. from a U.S. Immigration and Customs volved,” the Department of Justice and “As pastors, we see the human con- Enforcement bus in Phoenix.

June 23-30, 2014 America 9 SIGNS OF THE TIMES sequences of this broken system each day in our parishes and social service NEWS BRIEFS programs, as families are separated, migrant workers are exploited, and our As the United Nations reported that 480,000 peo- fellow human beings risk everything to ple have fled after months of fighting in Iraq’s Anbar find a better life for themselves and the province, suicide bombings and clashes between secu- ones they love,” Archbishop Joseph E. rity forces and militants killed 36 people on May 30. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., president of the • Security forces in Afghanistan on June 6 were ques- U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, tioning three Taliban members arrested in connection Alexis Prem said in a statement released on June 5. with the disappearance of Alexis Prem Kumar, S.J., Kumar, S.J. Church workers contend that poor but have so far not located the Indian Jesuit, who was social and economic conditions contin- kidnapped on June 2.• Returning to Istanbul after his historic meet- ue to force residents to flee their native ing with Pope Francis in Jerusalem, Patriarch Bartholomew made the countries. The situation is particular- surprise announcement on May 29 that the two church leaders had ly acute in Central America, where agreed to “celebrate together a gathering in Nicaea in 2025,” which Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador Vatican officials hastened to describe as a “commemoration,” not an perennially rank among countries with effort to convene a third Council of Nicaea. • The North American the world’s highest homicide rates. Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation voted in early June to “The forces that are driving them, the encourage the “lifting of the restrictions regarding the ordination of predominant push factors, are violence married men to the priesthood in the Eastern Catholic Churches of added with poverty and lack of oppor- North America.” • U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on June tunity,” said Kevin Appleby, director of 5 that he is deeply concerned after Israeli authorities approved 1,400 migration policy and public affairs for new housing units in settlements on the occupied West Bank. the U.S.C.C.B. Office of Migration and Refugee Services. Appleby, who attend- ed the meeting in El Salvador, said, “One year terms ending in 2016. The sole Cardinal Rodríguez issued a ringing woman at a repatriation center, told us, American on the new board is Juan endorsement of the church’s competen- ‘I’d rather my child die on the way to the Zarate, a senior adviser at the Center cy to critique economic systems. Some United States than at my doorstep.’” for Strategic and International Studies of the church’s critics ask: “What is the and visiting lecturer at Harvard Law hierarchy of the church doing in the Vatican Finance School. The pope has taken a hard line economy? They know nothing about the Reform Continues on cleaning up the Vatican finance sys- economy,” Cardinal Rodríguez said in his tem. According to a report by the Italian remarks at the forum called Erroneous Efforts to reform and professionalize news agency ANSA, two senior officials Autonomy: The Catholic Case Against Vatican financial services and oversight at the bank have also been eased into Libertarianism. The church knows continued as Pope Francis dismissed early retirement after reports by two about the economy because “we know the all-Italian five-member board that separate ad hoc committees appointed about the human being,” the cardinal oversees the Vatican’s financial watch- by Francis to study Vatican finances. said. “The human being was not made dog agency on June 5, in a move wide- for the economy, but the economy was ly interpreted as a blow to the Vatican made for the human being.” He added old guard. According to a Vatican Church and Economy that the market’s “invisible hand has be- statement, the pope named five ex- The world financial system “has come [a] thief.” Cardinal Rodríguez said perts from Switzerland, Singapore, the been built as a new idolatry,” charged political action may help change the ills United States and Italy to replace those Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga of the current system. “Politics is often who were removed from the board of of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, at a forum regarded as a dirty game,” he said. “Who the Financial Information Authority on June 3 in Washington, sponsored else but committed Christians can clean (A.I.F.), the Holy See’s internal regu- by the Catholic University of America’s it up?” latory agency. The five outgoing mem- Institute for Policy Research & Catholic bers had been expected to serve five- Studies. During his keynote address, From CNS, RNS and other sources.

10 America June 23-30, 2014 June 23-30, 2014 America 11 WASHINGTON FRONT Immigration Impasse n Washington, conventional wis- cannot win the White House by oppos- without demonizing opponents or ig- dom is widely shared and often ing immigration reform. Apparently, noring legitimate concerns about re- Iwrong. After the 2012 elections, the message “We wish you and your spect for law, impact on U.S. workers the consensus was that immigration relatives weren’t here, but since some and national identity. It is essential that reform was one priority which could of you are citizens, please vote for us” Catholic conservatives and Republicans be accomplished on a bipartisan ba- is not a winner among Hispanics. But make the case for constructive action sis. In early June, the consensus is that these leaders are doing little to over- in public statements and private advo- this is almost impossible because of come their members’ opposition. cacy, as Jeb Bush and Paul Ryan have opposition in the Republican House. House Republican leaders alternate done. The specifics of reform require Let’s hope the conventional wisdom is between calling immigration reform a “prudential judgment,” but doing noth- wrong again. priority and blaming the president for ing or just erecting longer and higher The U.S. Catholic Bishops’ not moving forward. The fences are neither pru- Conference is taking extraordinary problem is not the White Will dent nor consistent with steps to prove that wisdom wrong. The House, but the House of Catholic principles or bishops are following the powerful ex- Representatives. Some Republicans American values. Will ample of Pope Francis, who traveled Republicans, focused on Republicans pay a price to Lampedusa, the Isle of Tears, to the 2014 elections and pay a price with their Catholic al- defend the lives and dignity of immi- possible primary challeng- with their lies for failure to act? grants. In April, Cardinal O’Malley es from their right, insist The fate of immigra- and other bishops made a pilgrimage the Congress should not Catholic tion reform probably to the U.S.- Mexico border, where they anger the party’s conser- allies for comes down to the mind shared in the Eucharist through the vative base, give Obama a and heart of Speaker fence and prayed for those who died victory or permit immi- failure to act? Boehner. In private he trying to cross over. In May, bishops grants to become citizens supports reform and came to Capitol Hill for a Mass for because of fears they are likely to vote ridicules fear in his own caucus. It is immigrants and to carry their message for Democrats. Speaker Boehner has quite possible that Boehner will not be to House leaders. Archbishop Thomas so far refused to let the House consider speaker three years from now. He may G. Wenski said this broken system was the Senate’s comprehensive legislation choose more time with his grandchil- “a stain on the soul of our nation.” He because it would probably pass, but dren and golf over trying to lead a dys- called current immigration policies without support from a majority of functional House. He may be voted out “cynical,” because we rely on undocu- Republicans. because he is not conservative enough mented workers to pick our food, bus President Obama has acted to pro- or confrontational enough. What will our dishes, clean our offices and care tect “dreamers,” young immigrants al- be his legacy? Will he be paralyzed by for our children but do not protect ready in U.S. schools and communities, divisions in his caucus, or will he have their dignity and rights as children of from being deported. But he has yet to the courage to let the House vote on God. limit other deportations, now at record immigration reform that advances the There is also cynicism in the poli- levels, in order to appear strong on bor- common good and protects the “least tics of immigration, in the gap between der security. He postponed a review of among us?” what leaders say and how they act. deportation policy to maintain leverage Conventional wisdom says he won’t National Republicans looking to and to avoid antagonizing Republicans. choose his heart over his head, that the 2016 elections are convinced they The broad coalition for reform— Speaker Boehner will yield to internal Catholics and evangelicals, business political pressures and not respond to and labor, law enforcement and agri- the call of his conscience. I hope con- John Carr is director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at culture—needs to persuade undecided ventional wisdom is wrong once again. Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. lawmakers and overcome resistance John Carr

12 America June 23-30, 2014

14 America June 23-30, 2014 Three Jesuits and the downfall of a president CN S file p h oto/ Th oma s L or ung Watergate, S.J. By Raymond A. Schroth he Eastern Point Retreat House in Gloucester, Mass., in the 1970s was ordi- nary in its accommodations, but striking for its setting—situated at the ocean’s edge, where a narrow path reached out to an enormous rock, which rugged souls could mount while a soft or angry sea crashed around and beneath them. It was a good place for Jesuits to pray and to ponder God’s grace, evil and TAmerican politics. By the spring of 1973, the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., had become a sensation but not yet an obsession. It made headlines beginning in January, after President Richard M. Nixon had been re-elected by a landslide. The Watergate burglars, who had been arrested on June 17, Hearing aidEs. 1972, were found guilty; the president’s top aides, H. R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman, Representative Robert F. and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst resigned; and General Alexander M. Haig Jr. was Drinan, S.J., talks with appointed White House chief of staff. Jerome Zeifman, counsel for the House Judiciary A young New York Province Jesuit scholastic on retreat at Gloucester at the time, Frank Committee in 1974. Herrmann, was walking along the ocean shore, when an older Jesuit came touring by on a bike,

Raymond A. Schroth, S.J., is literary editor of America and the author of Bob Drinan: The Controversial Life of the First Catholic Priest Elected to Congress (2011).

June 23-30, 2014 America 15 saw Mr. Herrmann, stopped and introduced himself as Bob The View From 56th Street Drinan. Mr. Herrmann was impressed; most famous people America’s first editorial on the subject of the growing simply assume you know who they are. When the conversa- Watergate scandal, on Sept. 9, 1972, summarized events tion turned to President Nixon, Father Robert Drinan was since the arrest of the five Watergate burglars on June 17 and quick to reply, “We’re going to get that bastard.” warned that if no one were indicted, many citizens would con- In truth, Father Drinan was not yet ready to move for clude that politics had blocked the prosecution. In the follow- impeachment; and, as the controversy progressed, Father ing issue, the magazine’s “Washington Front” correspondent, Drinan, who had learned that he was on President Nixon’s Edward Glynn, S.J., compared the Watergate affair to a spicy “enemies list,” described the impeachment in an interview stew that had been sitting on the back burner all summer. By with the The National Catholic Reporter as “a way to clear May 5, 1973, the editorial board was hitting hard. This is not the air” and said he “hoped the president could be vindicated.” mere “bungling malfeasance,” but a “sinister strategy overseen But Father Drinan also saw him- by some highly placed admin- self as a “moral architect,” a voice for istration men whose faces, at those silent citizens who lacked the Father McLaughlin’s this writing, are still in the inclination or the nerve to speak shadows.” The White House out against a government’s abuse of argument, often repeated, has been “shielding those faces power. from the light.” As dean of Boston College Law was that Mr. Nixon had During the spring and sum- School, he had been active in the not committed a crime. mer, America’s editorial writ- civil rights movement; and as the ers continued Father Glynn’s Vietnam War progressed, he saw use of metaphor: a “giant cyclo- it as both unjust and immoral. A trip to South Vietnam in rama that grows ever more crowded” (5/5), “a huge darksome 1969 with a study group of eight religious and civic leaders, bird of prey hovering over the heads of us all” (the column Of focusing on human rights and the treatment of prisoners, Many Things, 5/12), the “fiery poisoned shirt that Hercules “galvanized” him, he told The New Republic, to work for could neither endure nor tear off ” (8/18) and both a web and honest government. Vietnam, he found, was torturing its an iceberg (6/15/74). A steady theme was “the fundamental dissidents, and in the United States a State Department of- danger is a pattern of power exercised in high places of total ficial had lied to him about it. His response was to run for disregard of law,” characterized by an absolute righteousness Congress in 1970. that then covers up the truth through “public scorn and con- On the night of July 26, 1973, Father Drinan sat late at tempt heaped on distinguished newspapers” (5/12/73). his desk, which was covered with press clippings. Some were As if in anticipation of Father Drinan’s speech in Congress, from a series of articles by Seymour Hersh in The New York a two-page editorial in America on July 21 took the form of Times, including a report that the Pentagon admitted to a homily delivered in the White House. “God’s word is a two- 3,360 secret bombing raids on Cambodia in 1969 and 1970 edged sword,” it begins, and the role of religion in society is and that it had destroyed the records to cover up the missions. twofold: “to canonize and to criticize, to support society but He dictated a two-page memo to his staff explaining that his also to judge it.” The editors believed that Watergate repre- conscience called him to file a resolution to impeach the pres- sented a new kind of political corruption: “American politics ident. Yes, there were other reasons, including the plumbers’ has known before men who abused positions of power for pri- invasion of Watergate. But for Father Drinan the illegal se- vate gain. The Watergate conspiracy betrayed the public trust cret bombing of Cambodia was the reason he would stand in more deadly fashion. It stole our birthright.” before the House of Representatives on July 31 and say: “Mr. Speaker, with great reluctance I have come to the conclusion Enter John McLaughlin, S.J. that the House of Representatives should initiate impeach- Both Robert Drinan and John McLaughlin were members ment proceedings against the president.” He was particularly of the New England Province of the Society of Jesus, wrote proud that he could make that historic speech, the first call for for America and, at different stages, opposed elements impeachment, on the feast of St. Ignatius Loyola. of the Vietnam War. They ran for Congress in the same “Morally, Drinan had a good case,” wrote House majority year—Father Drinan for the House from Boston and Father leader Thomas P. O’Neill, known as Tip, in his memoirs, McLaughlin for the Senate from Rhode Island. Having lost “but politically, he damn near blew it.” The House was not his Senate race as a Republican, Father McLaughlin went to ready to back impeachment, and Mr. O’Neill had to strike the Nixon White House as a speechwriter. If anyone believed a deal with the minority leader, Gerald Ford, to keep Father that all Jesuits, having been molded from the same spiritu-

Drinan’s resolution from coming up for a vote. al clay, shared the same mind-set or lifestyle, Drinan versus h . Sc umac er A rc h ive s and R ecord dmini tration/karl. Ph oto: N ational

16 America June 23-30, 2014 June 23-30, 2014 America 17 McLaughlin was a rich case study. and that, while Mr. Nixon had made mistakes, all presidents Born in Providence, R.I., in 1927, John McLaughlin entered had made mistakes and pursuing all these charges would the Society of Jesus after graduating from LaSalle Academy weaken future presidents. and, after completing the ordinary Jesuit course of stud- Father McLaughlin’s basic argument, often repeated, was ies at that time, was ordained in 1947. At Boston College he that Mr. Nixon had not committed a crime, and impeachment earned master’s degrees in English and philosophy. He then required a crime. Father Drinan, a member of the House taught high school, earned a doctorate in communications at Judiciary Committee that would address the impeachment Columbia University and became an editor at America in the case, had studied that question and concluded, with the com- late 1960s, where he published an article criticizing the bomb- mittee, that no crime was required for impeachment. ing strategy in Vietnam. He also gave lectures on sexual morali- The display of two battling Jesuits challenged the ty. When he left America, the editor in chief, Washington press. Father Drinan had Donald Campion, S.J., declined to tell The decided that when Father McLaughlin New York Times why, though he described On the Web barked, he would not bite back; but the America’s coverage him as a man “who has a way with words in of Watergate. Los Angeles Times national correspondent a baroque way—you don’t know quite what americamagazine.org/vantagepoint Jack Nelson simulated a debate by bringing they mean, but they sort of stun you.” together two separate interviews in “Two Patrick Buchanan, then a White House Jesuits at Odds Over Nixon” (10/10/74). adviser, brought Father McLaughlin to the White House as Father McLaughlin compared the House Judiciary Committee an assistant speechwriter and “resident Jesuit,” a priestly advo- to the novel Lord of the Flies and charged Father Drinan with cate for the Nixon administration. He took an apartment in a “rape of justice” and with having characterized Mr. Nixon’s the Watergate Hotel, gave his blessing to the 1972 Christmas policies as “Hitlerite genocide.” bombing of Hanoi, defended the president’s obscenities on Father Drinan replied, “Never said it,” and blew up at Mr. the tapes as “emotional drainage” and told CBS News that Mr. Nelson: “If [ Father McLaughlin] had any goddamn sense of Nixon was “the greatest moral leader in the last third of this decency, he would not misinterpret my position.... But don’t century.” When the president insisted that there would be no quote me on that, I don’t want to have anything to do with more tapes released to anyone, Father McLaughlin explained this. I only talked to you [Mr. Nelson] because I thought you that according to a theological analysis of the transcripts, they wanted to talk about impeachment.” were neither amoral nor immoral and that the president had Responding to questions about lifestyle, Father Drinan acquitted himself with honor during these discussions. He refused to say why he wore the Roman collar, although he described Senator Hugh Scott’s concern about the tapes as had previously told the press that he had only one suit or “erroneous, unjust” and containing elements of hypocrisy. To that he wore it to get attention. He lived in one room in the Father McLaughlin, Representative Peter Rodino, who led Jesuit community at Georgetown University, with a bath- the House Judiciary Committee’s investigation of the Nixon room down the hall, and turned in half his salary to the White House, was a “crude political tactician.” Society of Jesus for the room. Father McLaughlin said his Father McLaughlin was a Republican attack dog, picking Watergate suite was less luxurious than many Jesuit rooms, up where former Vice President Spiro Agnew, who had re- did not want to “trade off the collar” and would not disclose signed on Oct. 10, 1973, amid a bribery scandal, had left off. his salary, reported to be $30,000 a year—the equivalent of On Oct. 20, in what became known as the Saturday Night more than $150,000 in 2014. Massacre, President Nixon fired the Watergate special prose- cutor Archibald Cox; and Attorney General Elliot Richardson The Brothers Haig and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus resigned The forced resignations of John Ehrlichman and H. R. in protest. Three days later, 44 Watergate-related bills were Haldeman in April 1973 threw President Nixon into a state introduced in Congress, including 22 that called for an im- of depression. Withdrawing even from his wife, he retreated peachment investigation. to his haven in Key Biscayne, Fla., where at Mr. Haldeman’s Against this background Father McLaughlin defended the insistence he summoned General Haig to assume the role of president in a series of radio and television talk show appear- chief of staff. General Haig was a decorated veteran of the ances in the Boston area. In one 53-minute radio encounter, he wars in Korea and Vietnam and had earned a master’s degree argued that the special prosecutor had “provoked his firing” by in international relations from Georgetown University. He rejecting a reasonable compromise when Mr. Nixon refused was formerly on the staff of Henry Kissinger, who described to release tapes that were “private.” He compared the investi- him as “strong in crises, decisive in judgment, skillful in bu- gation to the Spanish Inquisition and said all the charges of reaucratic infighting.” The top White House staff job was to “abuse of power” and maladministration were vague and weak stand in the midst of the conflict and both keep order and

18 America June 23-30, 2014 protect the president. Mr. Haig resisted, but he could not re- to save the president. According to Father Haig, in a recent fuse his commander in chief. interview for this article, his brother had opposed bringing As months passed, evidence mounted that the president Father McLaughlin in as a speechwriter, but later accepted was taking less responsibility for his behavior. Mr. Haig had him, though in his estimation the Jesuit speechwriter was not witnessed this development. Mr. Nixon began calling his what a good Catholic priest should be, not a strong defender friends and advisers at night, asking whether he should re- of both the faith and the truth. sign. His chief of staff repeatedly said no. But once he became For a while, Mr. Haig was suspected of being the uniden- aware in July 1974 of the June 23, 1972, tape that made clear tified source known as Deep Throat, who fed information to that the president had ordered the cover-up of the Watergate investigative journalists at The Washington Post. But there break-in, his role changed, shifting from protecting the pres- was no way Alexander Haig could have been Deep Throat, ident to managing the president’s resignation in a way that his brother said. He would rather have quit. What should Mr. would allow Mr. Nixon to come to the decision on his own. Nixon have done? The Haigs thought he should have told the Mr. Haig admonished Mr. Nixon’s visitors to give the presi- whole truth right away and the issue would have died. dent the facts about the mounting opposition but not to sug- gest quitting. Mr. Nixon had to resign “freely.” On Trial Throughout, Mr. Haig’s off-scene supporter and confidant On July 24, 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court, at the request of was his younger brother, Frank Haig, S.J., a physicist who the special prosecutor Leon Jaworski, decided 8 to 0 (Justice had been president of Wheeling College from 1966 to 1972, Rehnquist had recused himself ) that executive privilege did and after his brother served both President Gerald Ford and not apply to the White House tapes and ordered President President Ronald Reagan, was president of LeMoyne College Nixon to surrender them all to Judge John Sirica, who had in Syracuse, N.Y. (1981-89). Though he had always been a been hearing the Watergate case since the arrest of the plumb- Democrat, he called himself a Rockefeller Republican to sup- ers two years earlier. The court asked Sirica to review the tapes port his brother. and decide which should be released to the special prosecutor’s According to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in office. Thus the public learned that Mr. Nixon had said to his The Final Days (1976), Alexander Haig “detested” John aides, “I want you all to stonewall it, let [the burglars] plead McLaughlin, S.J., whose ideas on morality were not going the Fifth Amendment, cover up, or anything else, it’ll save it—

June 23-30, 2014 America 19 save the plan.” That evening the House Judiciary Committee, which had been working on impeachment since the previous December, began its deliberations in earnest. Over the following several days, the committee voted by wide margins to recommend impeachment on the first three articles: obstruction of justice, abuse of power and refusal to cooperate with the committee’s investigation. Father Drinan seldom spoke during the hearings. He had already had his moment in the sun with his original proposal; he was surrounded by 37 other lawyers who had a lot to say, and he had a hard time getting recognized. The fourth article of impeachment, on the bomb- ing of Cambodia, was anti-climactic and was rejected, although Father Drinan had to ask, “How could we impeach a president for concealing a burglary but not for concealing a mass bomb- ing?” On Aug. 9, 1974, President Nixon resigned.

Exit John McLaughlin Three months earlier, in May, Richard Cleary, S.J., the pro- vincial superior of the Jesuits in New England, told the Boston press that he had called Father McLaughlin to re- turn to Boston for an eight-day retreat to reconsider his life- style and his interpretations of moral laws, which some had misunderstood as representing those of the Society of Jesus. Father McLaughlin dismissed Father Cleary’s comments as coming from the “geopolitical center of liberal thinking... Massachusetts, the only state out of step with the rest of the country.” By the end of the month they had resolved their dif- ferences. But in October The National Jesuit News reported that Father Cleary had ordered Father McLaughlin to resign from the White House. Father McLaughlin claimed he quit because President Ford wanted a new staff. He promptly left the Society of Jesus, worked for several years in radio and television talk shows, and still presides over a long-running Sunday morning political panel called “The McLaughlin Group.” He did not respond to several requests to be inter- viewed for this article. Frank Haig, S.J., asked recently what his brother learned from the Watergate experience, described Alexander’s im- patience when diplomats from other countries as well as Americans talked in terms of loyalty to the president or some national leader. “He learned that being an American has noth- ing to do with race or color or religion or origin or wealth. It is your devotion to the founding principles: the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.” America, in its end-of-the-year editorial (12/28/74), said that “our national experience reflects the dilemma behind the crisis of leadership throughout the world....The temptation is to withdraw and seek compensation...in...prayer and inti- macy. Still, total preoccupation with a private life...becomes unreal. The challenge, then...is to bring the insight and the courage that arise from this personal center into the public struggle to redeem the systems within which we live.” A

20 America June 23-30, 2014 June 23-30, 2014 America 21 A Pope for the Americas Can Francis help bring stability to Latin America? By Tim Padgett

enezuela is mired in a deadly and crippling he called for “reciprocal recognition and respect.” standoff. Since early February, anti-government That last part is a tall order. But Pope Francis is perhaps protests, largely student-led, have turned many the only credible nonpartisan go-between that both the gov- of the oil-rich nation’s cities into scenes of street ernment and the opposition can trust at this juncture. Vbarricades and tear gas. More than 40 people have been In the bigger picture, however, it seems time for Pope killed so far. Francis to dive not only into the Caracas conflict but nu- This is the crisis Hugo Chávez left behind. The radical merous other problems in Latin America. In his case, this left-wing leader died last year after ruling Venezuela for 14 should not be just an issue of diplomacy. It is a matter of years. Chávez’s socialist revolution did empower and im- duty. Francis, after all, is the first Latin American pope. And, prove life for Venezuela’s poor. But Chavismo (the name fairly or not, he cannot escape his historic responsibility to given to the country’s socialist movement) has undermined make that mean something. Just as Pope St. John Paul II, his achievements as a result of authoritarian governance and the first Slavic pope, was instrumental in the downfall of mismanagement. Venezuela is saddled with South America’s communism in Eastern Europe, Pope Francis can bring his highest inflation and homicide rates, not to mention a cur- background to bear on the challenges facing Latin America. rency crisis and chronic shortages of basic goods like eggs As the Venezuela controversy points up, the development and toilet paper. of Latin America is still weighed down by its own lingering, Hence the demonstrations aimed at Chávez’s elected Cold War albatrosses. Not the least of these is the region’s successor, President Nicolás Maduro. He has made things epic inequality, which while improving, remains among the worse with his security-force crackdowns and arbitrary jail- worst of any region in the world. It is the kind of yawning ing of protesters and opposition politicians, not to mention gap between rich and poor that Francis all but declared his delusional insistence that the disorder is all a plot backed his papal priority last autumn in “The Joy of the Gospel.” by the Central Intelligence Agency to raise a coup against What better place to focus his example and energies in that him. Not that the protesters have been saints. Their own, 21st-century crusade than on his home continent? sometimes violent tactics have alienated the half of the pop- ulation that still at least grudgingly supports the revolution. A Political Player Here is the bottom line for both sides: The protest move- Francis’ rock-star popularity has already brought a New ment is not likely to oust Maduro, but Maduro is not likely World glow to a Holy See worn down by centuries of Old to get rid of the protest movement, at least as long as the World gravitas. His emphasis on the poor, on backing the country’s social and economic situations underdog, is a big part of that. But so is the keep deteriorating. The only way out is to On the Web relative open-mindedness he has encour- Thomas M. Kelly on Pope Francis sit down and negotiate an end to the fra- and the Latin American Church. aged. His call for the church to stop ob- cas. But who could mediate this ultra-po- americamagazine.org/pope-francis sessing about “small-minded rules” reflects larized mess? the sort of independent thinking that has The pope. long defined Latin America. Now is the The only good news for Venezuela since the strife began time for Pope Francis to get involved in the Americas with was the announcement by the Vatican in late March that it the same sense of purpose Pope St. John Paul II brought to was “willing and desirous” to help broker a solution, which the Soviet bloc. it is now trying to do. “I urge you not to get stuck in the Venezuela seems the best place to start. “The Vatican is conflict of the moment,” Francis wrote in April as talks got an obvious player in Venezuela,” Michael Shifter, president underway. While he recognized “the restlessness and pain,” of Inter-American Dialogue, told me recently. “It can fulfill that role better than anyone right now.” Francis has a cap- tive Roman Catholic audience on each side of the divide, not Tim Padgett is editor for the Americas at the South Florida NPR affili- just the mostly middle-class opposition but Maduro and the ate WLRN and WLRN.org. socialists as well. Perhaps even especially the Chavistas, as

22 America June 23-30, 2014 Venezuela’s socialists are known, for two reasons. like the late Cardinal Ignacio Antonio Velasco García were First, like many Latin American leaders, Chávez injected practically arm-in-arm with the putsch leaders. As a result, large doses of Catholic spirituality into his politics. That was the Chavistas might love nothing better than to bypass the especially true during the battle with the cancer that took his Venezuelan hierarchy and work directly with what they per- life, when he regularly evoked Christ’s passion and reported ceive to be a more socially conscious Vatican under Francis. visions of Jesus appearing to him. Critics suggest it sprang But the pope has an even more effective tool for leverage: more from Chávez’s messianic self-image and that Maduro his secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. The Italian laces his speeches with Christian rhetoric as a cynical means diplomatic veteran, whom Francis made a cardinal this year, of deifying the late comandante and bolstering his own rule. was the Vatican’s ambassador to Venezuela from 2009 to 2013, and he is well regarded by both the government and the opposition. Maduro FRANK TALK.Venezuela’s President Nicolás even mentioned Cardinal Parolin by Maduro visited the Vatican in June 2013. name when the Vatican’s intervention in the Venezuelan crisis was first broached. The bigger question, though, is wheth- er Pope Francis and Cardinal Parolin can get the two bitterly distrustful sides to agree on any points substantive enough to end the conflict. It certainly will not be easy, but I think Francis can be most effective by reminding both parties how badly they have failed Venezuela’s poor.

Life Before Chávez For Maduro’s opponents, one of the most frustrating things about the pro- tests is how ineffective they have been at galvanizing poorer Venezuelans to the antigovernment side, despite the coun- try’s acute economic hardships. But the opposition still fails to understand that while the poor may no longer be that fond of the revolution, they do not yet see an alternative they are willing to embrace. What they do recall is life be- fore Chávez, when the elite’s lavish cor- ruption helped keep half the nation in poverty. I saw this up close when, as a graduate student in the 1980s, I was a teacher for the Catholic education move- ment Fey y Alegría in one of the slums of Caracas. Some opposition leaders—like Gov. But the last time I interviewed Chávez, in 2006, he sounded Henrique Capriles Radonski of Miranda State, who almost at times like the kind of liberation theologian that “The Joy defeated Maduro in last year’s special presidential elec- of the Gospel” has made respectable again. “If you really look tion—do appreciate that reality. But too many others need a at things through the eyes of Jesus Christ, who I think was reminder that Chávez came to power for a reason, and they the first socialist,” he told me, “only socialism can really create are more likely to pay attention if that knock on the forehead a genuine society.” comes from Pope Francis. Second, the Chavistas consider the Venezuelan church a The pope’s involvement might make it easier to convince partisan arm of the opposition. When Chávez was briefly opposition leaders that their goal should be developing oto/Stefano Spaziani, CN S p h oto/Stefano ousted by a coup in 2002, for example, Venezuelan prelates a platform that persuades the Chavista base to help them

June 23-30, 2014 America 23 eject Maduro at the ballot box, perhaps in a recall referen- hemisphere to address—including Communist Cuba. Take dum next year, instead of at the ramparts. Maybe then they the case of 64-year-old Alan Gross, a contractor for the U.S. would be more willing to ease out of the protests, provided Agency for International Development. Since 2009, when Maduro makes concessions—real ones. he was arrested for bringing unlawful satellite communica- Maduro should start with the release of prisoners con- tions equipment to the island, Mr. Gross has been serving a victed in kangaroo courts, like opposition leader Leopoldo 15-year sentence on highly questionable espionage charges. López. Just as important, he should agree to revise certain Mr. Gross’s imprisonment is now the biggest obstacle to disastrous Chavista policies, especially economic ones. thawing U.S.-Cuban relations. That also makes it an obstacle How can the Vatican convince someone as rigidly and nar- to improving relations between the United States and Latin row-mindedly ideological as Maduro to back off his vision America as a whole. This is why U.S. Secretary of State John of a Cuban Venezuela? By making him see—as Brazil and Kerry, during his visit to Rome in January, was smart to seek many other leftist-led Latin American countries have dis- the Vatican’s help in winning Mr. Gross’s release. covered in this century—that socialism and capitalism are The Catholic Church’s recent and robust revival in Cuba, compatible and that snuffing out the latter as ardently as the a half-century after Fidel Castro all but extinguished it, Chavistas are trying to do simply undercuts the former. makes this another potentially successful project for Francis. As an Argentine, Francis knows all too well that hyperin- The church, in fact, is the only non-Communist institution flation is the worst tax you can dump on the poor. He needs that current Cuban leader Raúl Castro, Fidel’s younger to remind Maduro, a former bus driver, what it is like for brother and successor, has shown trust in. Cuban bishops low-wage families to wait entire days outside grocery stores brokered the release of more than 100 political prisoners in for rice or cooking oil. Or what it is like to see 50 murders 2011. Just as important, the church has served as a conduit per weekend in their barrios, thanks to the utter ineptitude for Raúl’s free-market-oriented economic reforms, helping of the Chavista police. to train fledgling entrepreneurs and even partnering with a Spanish university to offer Cubans M.B.A. degrees. Jailed in Cuba Alan Gross’s Washington, D.C., attorney, Scott Gilbert, For now it is enough that Francis and the Vatican are at told me at first he though it “highly unlikely that the Vatican the Venezuelan table. Meanwhile, he has other crises in the in and of itself ” could win the contractor’s freedom. But

24 America June 23-30, 2014 he now realizes that the sturdy bridges between Cuba’s ing back those efforts is the influential Dominican Cardinal Catholics and communists “could be very useful.” Nicolás López, who backs the ruling and has called anyone The Vatican’s diplomatic guns first have to convince Raúl who opposes it “liars and charlatans.” that the outcome he desires—a Cold War-style spy swap of That probably was not what Pope Francis wanted to hear. Alan Gross for a handful of Cuban agents doing time in the Ralph Gonsalves, chairman of Caricom, told me in December United States—is not going to happen. They then need to that when he met with the pope that month, Francis agreed help the Obama administration find a bargaining chip that the Dominican ruling was “unacceptable.” (The Vatican has is acceptable to both Washington and Havana. A prime not denied that.) prospect: taking Cuba off the State Department’s list of In January, by naming Haiti’s first cardinal, Bishop state sponsors of terrorism. As most Cuba experts tell me, Chibly Langlois, who has a more common touch than his any evidence that keeps Havana on that roster today is scant Dominican counterpart, the pope may have been sending if not entirely missing. López a message. The move both symbolically and practi- cally alters the hierarchical center of power on the island Stateless in the D.R. of Hispaniola, which the Dominican Republic shares with The pope can also help with the plight of hundreds of Haiti, the hemisphere’s poorest country. That smoothes the thousands of Haitians caught in legal purgatory in the way for a much needed Vatican intervention. Dominican Republic. In September, the Dominican high The list goes on. Francis should work harder, for example, to court essentially stripped citizenship from anyone born in advance the cause for sainthood of the late martyr Archbishop the Dominican Republic after 1929 if their parents were un- Óscar Romero of El Salvador, who was killed for supporting documented immigrants or non-Dominicans. Haitians call the very causes the pope trumpets in “The Joy of the Gospel.” it a racist decision aimed at them—meaning blacks—some- And while Francis will not overturn “Humanae Vitae,” he thing Dominican leaders deny. could perhaps convince Latin American prelates to shift their The United States and the Caribbean Community, a focus away from restricting birth control to addressing poverty. 15-member organization known as Caricom, have urged These issues may not seem as epic as the ones faced by Pope St. the Dominican Republic to perhaps find legislative ways to John Paul II; but if a Latin American pope does not confront reverse the court ruling. But one of the key persons hold- them, a historic opportunity will be lost. A

June 23-30, 2014 America 25

FAITH IN FOCUS Among Mercies My grandmother, Catherine McAuley and me By Ty Barnes y grandmother was one of God is good all the time, and all the time in May 2008 to enjoy a slower pace the most faithful people God is good. Amen. and lower cost of living. Six months MI’ve ever met. In my fondest My family was raised in the African- after our move, my employer went memory of her, she is walking through American Baptist Church. Influenced out of business. Unemployed, I volun- the house on a warm summer day, by my grandmother, teered at area schools. About a watering plants while singing spiritu- I continue in that tra- year later, I was offered a posi- als—those Christian songs created by dition, but I also had tion as part-time secretary. In enslaved people in the United States the awesome privilege January 2011, I learned that as a form of prayer and worship. of being surrounded my part-time position was Whether Grandma was caring for her by several faith tradi- being eliminated. I was devas- grandchildren, assisting people in the tions as a child. We tated at the thought of going community or doing chores, she pre- lived in Baltimore, from underemployment to sented her faith through song. Md., where I knew Along with her songs, my grand- people who were mother’s way of helping others also Protestants, Catholics, became a form of prayer. When I was Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses, in fourth grade, I remember rushing Seventh-day Adventists and to her house after school on an ex- Jews. Learning about each of tremely cold winter day. While passing these practices taught me to be through the vestibule, I heard her say, respectful of God’s presence in “Have as much as you’d like, we have different forms and helped me plenty.” There was a family of three sit- to have an open mind when in- ting at the kitchen table eating a bowl teracting with people of other of soup. After saying hello, I joined faith traditions. Out of respect them at the table. I learned later that for one of my Jewish friends, we the family had been living in their car. were mindful to not hold our My grandmother’s generosity, humili- faith-sharing meetings on the ty and grace were infused by her faith. Sabbath, nor did we eat foods From the top: the author’s grandmother, Nancy Wilks; Sister Jane Hotstream blesses the Grandma also inspired me to start that might have insulted his ko- author’s hands. my first faith-sharing group in ele- sher lifestyle. mentary school. Nine of us sat in a Bearing witness to the merciful unemployment again. This was one of circle on someone’s front porch and spirit of my grandmother helped to the most vulnerable times of my life. opened with prayer before sharing. I build the foundation for my desire to Four weeks later, I learned of an know we discussed biblical stories, but create community today. Her example administrative assistant position with now I recall the fellowship more than helped me to see the importance of the Sisters of Mercy in Belmont, N.C. the discussions. At the end of each not limiting my faith community to Before the interview process began, gathering we held hands and thanked the boundaries of one denomination I prayed to work someplace where God for our time together, praying: and instead to allow God’s teachings I could openly talk about my faith to be the cornerstone of my faith. and be with likeminded colleagues. This mind-set allowed me to be Fortunately, I was offered a posi- Ty Barnes is the director of Mercy Association for the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, South open to new opportunities when my tion to support the sisters’ Office of

Central Community, in Belmont, N.C. family and I moved to North Carolina Association and the Office of Justice. s y of aut h or Ph oto s courte

June 23-30, 2014 America 27 This is where I was introduced to the ity of indigent people. Her legacy in- forward in Jesus Christ through ser- life of Catherine McAuley, founder spired me to identify prejudice toward vice, prayer and community. For the of the Sisters of Mercy. I would have God’s people and advocate for change. first time in my life, I choose not to ig- never imagined how much Mercy Unknowingly, this was an introduction nore the person on the corner asking Association and social justice would to Catholic social justice. As a woman for help. I pay attention to the people become a part of my life. of faith, I didn’t know what to do with around me because my covenant and In truth, the Sisters of Mercy had this sudden eruption of passion, be- community hold me accountable to been around me my entire life, though cause becoming a vowed member of live with devotion. I hadn’t realized it. Some of my very the Sisters of Mercy was not an option. Upon reflection, I see the spirit close friends were educated by the I am a Protestant, married mother of of Catherine McAuley in the life my Sisters of Mercy. I remember going three. During this time, I was intro- Grandma lived. Like Catherine, she had to dances and community programs duced to Mercy Association. a great desire to meet the immediate at those schools and feeling drawn to Mercy Association is an alliance of needs of the people around her while the spirit of compassion and hospi- lay women and men who are called to living Gospel values. Both women have tality. There was a sense of great con- share in the mission of Mercy while inspired me to do the same, because I sideration for the betterment of the maintaining independent lifestyles believe God ultimately wants us to be- students and affiliates of the school through a covenant come partners on the as well as the overall community. The with the Sisters of On the Web journey. As I continue relationship between the students and Mercy. After a pe- Faith reflections to grow, I thank God sisters felt familiar. In many ways I riod of prayer and from young Catholics. americamagazine.org/generationfaith for the manifestation compared it to the appreciation that discernment about of faith in my life. my grandmother had for her commu- Mercy Association, With love and mercy, nity. Both the Sisters of Mercy and my it became very clear that I was called to I can’t help but be thankful and embrace Grandma were purposeful in their af- be part of this community. I joined on the varied paths of faith surrounding filiations in order to foster positive re- Sept. 24, 2012, and now help to orga- me. lationships within society. I wanted to nize the associates in my region. My journey has been an awesome be like them, too. The charism of Mercy inspires and blend of sharing and learning. For in- Learning about Catherine McAuley challenges me to confront issues of stance, as part of an Association an- felt like meeting an old friend with a overlooked populations with compas- tiracism workshop in Mississippi, common interest in serving the un- sion. It provides a platform by which our participants attended Mass at St. met needs of marginalized people. I can wholly honor traditions of my Rose of Lima Catholic Church. There Life taught her about the vulnerabil- culture and my faith while moving was a mix of all races and a Gospel choir. There I sat intimately with God amongst friends and acquaintances of every age, sex, race and religion—in hope and community with one another. Some may ask, how does an African-American Baptist woman identify with an order of apostolic vowed Catholic religious? It is actual- ly very simple: The presence of God exists in both places. As a society, we must learn to build intimacy with God and trust the Holy Spirit to guide us how we should go. Catherine McAuley and my grandmother worshiped God by doing the works of mercy. I praise God for each part of my journey. Between my Grandma’s mentorship and my relationship with the Sisters of Mercy, I can fully embrace God in both traditions. A

28 America June 23-30, 2014 Books & Culture

theater | Rob Weinert-Kendt be enough to keep the howling winds of despair from the door, but it’s enough to draw us around its campfire warmth. In Creature Discomforts the iconic leading roles, the deceptively Journeys of hurt and healing on Broadway casual Franco and the soulful but metic- ulous O’Dowd have the unmistakable hen a playwright puts a Lennie (Chris O’Dowd), doesn’t stand chemistry of hard-knocks comradeship; character with a promi- a chance in this unforgiving sphere, the smiling tenderness between them Wnent disability or a disfigu- not least because Lennie—a brutish- feels no less genuine for being forged un- ration at the center of his or her work, ly strong man-child with an unnamed der such crushing conditions. it can seem like a craven shortcut to an type of intellectual disability—can’t An irrepressible sweetness is also audience’s empathy, not to mention a help but cause harm. He not only lash- the saving grace, and quite possibly sure magnet for actors hoping to add es back, if reluctantly, when attacked; in the Achilles heel, of The Cripple of an award statuette to the mantle. Of Steinbeck’s cruelest irony, even Lennie’s Inishmaan, Martin McDonagh’s 1996 course, a serious play—even if it is a embrace of the things he loves is deadly. comedy, being given a belated and comedy—is up to more than simply In the face of that bleak vision, di- crowd-pleasing Broadway debut by tickling our tear ducts and making us rector Anna D. Shapiro’s riveting pro- the British director Michael Grandage. think, “What a great performance.” By duction teases out the work’s humanity In the title role of Billy Claven—a placing characters with afflictions or im- pairments in the fore, authors and actors UNFORGIVEN. Chris O’Dowd and inevitably raise the moral stakes of their James Franco in “Of Mice and Men” endeavor, since to depict such challenges is to reflect on the nature of the world and of creation. It gives the question of suffering, of theodicy, an irreducibly hu- man form: What kind of creator makes flawed creatures? How do we relate to each other, all of us flawed? Might out- ward imperfection point the way to in- ner truth? The answers, as provided in a pair of stellar play revivals on Broadway, are not pretty, though both productions are things of beauty in their own right. In John Steinbeck’s 1937 classic Of Mice and Men, the world of migrant farm workers in central California is a place of punishing, almost atavistic scarcity and severity. It is not only the Depression-era economics that give the and humor, which of course only serves well-meaning errand boy in 1930s work its potent fatalism; in this milieu to heighten its excruciating tension and Ireland who has, in the playwright’s sim- of solitary, mutually mistrustful men, tragedy. The corrugated-tin bunkhouse ple, non-medical diagnosis, “one leg and every shred of hope and human feeling where the farm workers swap stories one arm crippled”—Daniel Radcliffe is either snuffed out mercilessly or chan- and plot getaways over cards is as close gives an endearing, slightly effortful per- neled into merciful killing. The show’s as the show gets to a welcoming hearth, formance, as if he’s working to convince only loving relationship, between itiner- and the exquisite ensemble actors cre- us of Billy’s infirmity.

Ph oto: ric h ard p ibb s ant laborers George (James Franco) and ate a glow of fellow feeling. It may not Luckily, this eagerness on the part

June 23-30, 2014 America 29 of the actor dovetails nicely with Billy’s more accessible, ostensibly more ma- bodied by sitcom star/awards-show own chipper determination against ture, less angry play; whereas elsewhere maven Neil Patrick Harris, takes the steep odds of his poor and misun- McDonagh’s characters were comically us from humble beginnings in East derstood existence in a seaside village, distorted by ignorance or hatred, put- Germany to a humbling fringe career in where he has the unappetizing choices ting a boy with congenital disabilities at middle America, and then beyond, to a of condescension from two adoptive the center of “Inishmaan” seems to have glam-rock walpurgisnacht that, improb- spinster aunts, open mockery from a forced McDonagh to reckon with the ably, acquires the shape of a passion pair of teenage frenemies or gossiping possibility that human suffering may be play, complete with a resurrection. interference by the town’s official busy- a larger and less comprehensible thing Best of all is Violet, yet another body, Johnnypateenmike. It’s no won- than could be explained by mere stupid- 90s-era piece just now finding its way to Broadway. This gorgeous, country-in-

Pat Shortt and Daniel Radcliffe in flected chamber musical by composer “The Cripple of Inishmaan” Jeanine Tesori and librettist/lyricist Brian Crawley, based on Doris Betts’s short story “The Ugliest Pilgrim,” is as strange and unconventionally beautiful as its title character, a North Carolina farm girl whose father accidentally wounded her face with an axe. With the aid of judicious flashbacks, the show follows the adult Violet’s bus trip to seek a holy makeover from a faith healer in Memphis—a quixotic mis- sion as doomed to disappointment as it is meant to signify a deeper search for meaning and repair. It’s a remarkably affecting show, with many sharp and surprising turns, and der then that Billy spies an escape hatch ity or venality. it doesn’t hurt that it has two of the when an American film crew descends But McDonagh’s play never really ris- best performances of the season: from on a nearby village to make a docu- es to the occasion invited by Billy’s con- Joshua Henry, as a rueful but tender- mentary. “Ireland mustn’t be such a bad dition, instead mining it for straight-up hearted soldier Violet meets on her place, if the Yanks want to come here to pathos and laughs. The new Broadway travels, and from the flinty, supple and do their filming,” says Johnny, in a recur- production wisely plays to those achingly transparent Sutton Foster, ring, look-on-the-bright-side joke that strengths. Grandage in the title role. As neatly sums up the play’s sourly satirical has given the play On the Web Violet reaches the view of Irish self-loathing and passivity. the brash bounce of Raymond A. Schroth, S.J., reviews last turn of her jour- It’s been much noted that this biting a boulevard comedy; the film “The Last Sentence.” ney, she is surprised americamagazine.org/things irreverence for the Emerald Isle—and in if it edges toward by a beauty no scar particular for the potato-parade tropes the cartoonish, that could ever take from of Irish playwrights like Sean O’Casey seems to be the ideal way to put across her, but that would never have shown and J. M. Synge—likely comes from the play: as a kind of Gaelic sitcom-fa- itself without first having been hidden. McDonagh’s upbringing in London, ble, to be quaffed like a pint and forgot- “If I show you my darkness/ Will you with frequent visits to, but crucial dis- ten in the morning. bring me to light?” she sings, backed by tance from, his parents’ Irish home. And Elsewhere on Broadway, two mu- a gleaming chorus that is her answer. in the exuberant gallows humor of plays sicals deserve a mention in this space, She is no longer disfigured by suffering like “The Beauty of Leenane” and “The since both represent resoundingly but transfigured by it. Lieutenant of Inishmore,” you get the moving journeys from hurt to healing. sense of a young punk literally slaying In Hedwig and the Angry Inch—like Rob Weinert-Kendt, an arts journalist those ancestral demons, exploding blar- “Inishmaan,” a late-90s phenomenon and associate editor of American Theatre mag- azine, has written for The New York Times and ney into rubble. just now getting its Broadway debut—a Time Out New York. He writes a blog called The

Ph oto: jo h an per ss on “The Cripple of Inishmaan” is a transgender chanteuse, memorably em- Wicked Stage.

30 America June 23-30, 2014 of other things | Kevin Clarke Outrage Again

t feels useless, even shameful, to down before they could legally drink, only new humiliation and resentment, write one more column expressing but “Your dead kids don’t trump my generously stoked by the jeering and Ioutrage about yet another outburst constitutional rights.” anger of his peers among male “incels,” of gun violence in the United States. That’s pretty much it in a nutshell for as these “involuntary celibates” called What a parade of editorial futility fol- gun absolutists, who attempt to main- themselves. lows each new gun aberration as we stream a profound misreading of the Should American parents, espe- “opinion makers” fall into a predictable Second Amendment. This reading was cially those struggling with troubled line to dispatch our familiar script of rejected by the Supreme Court’s Heller young boys, be worried about the state frustration and anguish. Years of such decision in 2008, which endorsed both of mental health services in the United folly and we remain confronted by the the right of individuals to own guns and States? Of course they should. Should same ghoulish, draining drama. the power of the state to regulate the they be concerned about the subterra- While the rest of the industrialized same. They are content nean hatred of wom- West has long put the problem of every- to accept as customary Each mass en exhibited by Elliot day gun violence behind it, the United and normal the level Rodger and the young States endures 31,000 firearm deaths of gun mayhem expe- shooting men with whom he each year. I feel foolish even writing rienced by the United highlights made common cause another word about it. If the abomi- States as long as their on the Internet? You nation at Sandy Hook elementary in access to guns remains something bet. Fathers especial- Newtown, Conn., was not enough to the primary social good. uniquely ‘off’ ly need to add this change the national dialogue on gun vi- Each mass shooting agenda item to their olence, I am under no illusion that the incident seems to high- in American regular discussions comparably “minor” bloodletting at the light something unique- society. with their children on University of California, Santa Barbara, ly “off ” in American sexuality and human will lead to any meaningful change now. society. Sandy Hook dignity, especially with What has to change first, as the fa- spotlighted the nation’s boys, who will soon ther of one victim pointed out, is the woeful mental health confront a confusing nation’s “craven” political class. Cowed care system—an issue swirl of contradictory by the gun manufacturers’ shadow lob- gun lovers rushed to messages about their byists at the National Rifle Association, embrace. This latest sexuality, their power they have demonstrated persistent insti- incident revisits that and their relationships tutional cowardice in confronting this problem while tapping with girls. national crisis. into another: a cultural undercurrent of Elliot Rodger suffered life-long As after each such incident, some a seething-to-subtle hatred of women, problems with mental health; and, column writers will bemoan the toll especially among an emerging cohort of absorbing cues from the culture and of gun violence, while the gun apolo- apparently self-entitled, angry and oc- society around him, he acquired a gists will just as predictably continue casionally violent young men. The sad furious resentment toward women. to distort the meaning of the Second and creepy video posted by the Santa But with a gun in his hand (and, yes, Amendment. That perspective has rare- Barbara shooter Elliot O. Rodger and in his case, also a knife), he became a ly been so explicitly expressed as it was his emailed manifesto detail his lone- murderer. Let’s not take our focus off when the conservative oracle Samuel liness and his isolation, but mostly the real problem. These especially vi- Joseph Wurzelbacher, a k a Joe the they declared his simmering misogy- olent incidents make headlines and Plumber, was asked his opinion of the ny. He was a heart-breakingly lonely sometimes startle us into action, but matter: Sorry for your trouble, he told boy ignored by most girls and young the truly shocking monotony of gun the parents of these young people cut women—and other boys for that mat- violence in America—85 deaths each ter—when he wasn’t being taunted by day—should make as compelling and Kevin Clarke is senior editor and chief corre- them. He sought solace in Internet chat consistent a claim on our outrage. spondent for America. rooms, but instead of support he found Kevin Clarke

June 23-30, 2014 America 31 big unsolved mystery is not their sto- books | Emilie Griffin ries but her own. Next question: why the song title? Sand Gets in Your Eyes Why do so many of Clark’s titles echo a well-known song? And how about I’ve Got You father still don’t know who Blue Eyes the way she builds suspense? Short Under My Skin was, or whether this unsolved crime sentences, staccato dialogue, characters A Novel will ever be unraveled. But there’s who voice their inner thoughts. At first, By Mary Higgins Clark more. Blue Eyes sent a message, which in the early pages, I was impatient with Simon & Schuster. 328p $26.99 the boy still remembers. Tell your Mom Clark’s careful descriptions. Hazel eyes she’s next, then it’s your turn…. for one character. Light brown for an- Sand between the pages: that pretty The place is Manhattan. I haven’t other. Long legs. Short legs. Crutches much captures how I feel. Even with- lived there for some years, but felt that slip out of control. Then I real- out a summer vacation, a blue horizon, Clark’s vivid simplicity walk me across ized all this was part of Clark’s artful, a rich red sunset off Acapulco, Long deliberate style. Somewhere between Island or Nantucket, a good summer Chapters 3 and 17 my irritation gave read engages me. Well, sure, not every- way to an urgent need to know what one gets to the beach in the summer. happens next. Yet there’s a certain moment when No one is what she or he seems in summer hits hard, temperatures soar this classic tale of murder, hatred, grief, and many of us yearn to get lost in a shame, guilt, anger and revenge. Is book. Mary Higgins Clark is that sort Clark’s fiction an inverted way of por- of reader and that sort of writer. She traying vice and virtue? Scenes unfold writes for those who want full immer- like photo stories in Vanity Fair, win- sion in a story but can’t squeeze in time dows and balconies overlooking West for even short books, let alone long Hollywood harbors and socialites ones. smothered to death with fancy pillows. I’ve Got You Under My Skin is A hundred pages later I found my- Clark’s latest, and looks like a good self thinking, “Where is God in all candidate to get sand, or gumdrops, this?” Clark’s mentions of God are between the pages. This book is fat, sparse and non-theological, popping heavy to cart around, but Clark her- up in phrases like “God-given opportu- self (in a New York Times interview nity” and expletives like “Oh God!” But some time back) confessed that she for me, God, rarely named, is an actor lugs around heavy volumes to the in Clark’s drama, where justice often dentist, the doctor’s office, all her every street corner. Those who have takes center stage. I was sure of it when appointments. Her reason: she nev- never lived in Manhattan may feel the the murderer (never mind the name) er wants to lose a minute of reading same. First Deputy Commissioner heads out to do mischief with a refer- time. Leo Farley of the New York Police ence to wailing and gnashing of teeth, No doubt you’re thinking, What’s Department, just retired, shepherds a biblical reference for sure. There all this about, anyway? Is it the sum- his grandson to and from St. David’s are plenty of human actors in Clark’s mer solstice? The magnetic field? Earth school. I can almost see the curbs drama, too, asking make-up artists to wobble? Summer makes us feel like it’s on 98th Street as they move togeth- make them look not like themselves, time to relax, kick shoes off, leave the er, talking about simple stuff, when but someone else. Illusion, appearance, dishes, let paperwork pile up while we a fast-moving skateboarder flashes secrets long buried in memory, not to follow the twists of a really baffling through their conversation, reminding mention Shakespearean devices like mystery. us of uncertainty and doubt. Anything draughts or potions: sleeping pills on a Timmy was three when his father can happen in tales like this one, and hospital table as a police detective tries was killed right in front of him. He frequently does. Meanwhile Timmy’s to pinpoint a crime soon to be commit- called out in alarm “Blue eyes just killed good-looking mom, Laurie Moran, is ted many miles away. my daddy!” Now it’s six years later; trying to launch a television series on It’s a page-turner, but more than Timmy is 9; his mother and grand- unsolved murders and cold cases. The that, a reflection on the human heart.

32 America June 23-30, 2014 That’s what murder is about, and why day. “I’d sacrifice anything, come what experiences in the formation program summer reading never goes out of style. might, for the sake of havin’ you near.” and in his Jesuit community life and For years I carried around a 3-by- Not just a lyric, but a motive. Clark is a ministry as a Jesuit, including stints in 5 card with this verse from Jeremiah master of both logic and intuition. She East Africa and the Caribbean. Martin’s 17: “the heart is more devious than grasps the meaning of songs, and their obvious joy and satisfaction in his reli- any other thing…who can pierce its cautions: “Don’t you know, little fool, gious life, coupled with his honest and secrets?” Oddly, a remark of Meg you never can win.” I’ve Got You Under open personal manner, makes his work Ryan’s also comes to mind: “There My Skin is a good read, as Clark’s big an unwitting vocational poster for the is no upside to fame.” Her comment sales figures suggest. As a suspense Jesuit priesthood. applies to wealth and privilege as novelist, she’s skilled, intuitive, some- And, finally, Martin offers the reader well. Handsome people, rich estates, times funny. But with the insight of a wealth of spiritual reflection on all of well-manicured hands and lawns still ancient playwrights and thinkers, she the above. This, ultimately, is the point hide unspoken secrets: loathing, the is always probing for justice. That, of of the book, which he describes as in- desire to do harm, feelings of guilt, fear course, is ultimately up to God. viting the reader “to meet the Jesus you of retribution. It’s all there, as in Dante, already may know, but in a new way. Or, and the staircases lead straight down. Emilie Griffin is an award-winning play- if you don’t know much about Jesus, Unless they lead up, where the angel is wright and author of many books on religious I would like to introduce him to you. pointing to joy, beauty and long, lazy faith, including Green Leaves for Later Overall, I would like to introduce you Years: the Spiritual Path of Wisdom. She afternoons. And the song title? I’ve lives in Alexandria, La. Her latest title is to the Jesus I know, and love, the per- known the Cole Porter lyric many a Goodbye Birds & Other Poems. son at the center of my life.” To achieve this heartfelt goal, the author shares his own joys and sorrows, his moments of Donald Senior tears and ecstasy as well as his frustra- tions and struggles. The overall tone Pathfinder of the book at these points is like a well-crafted homily on various facets Jesus Jesuit friend. He visited all the perti- of the Gospel accounts: personal, nar- A Pilgrimage nent sites, especially those connected rated with passion, filled with examples By James Martin, S.J. with the ministry of Jesus. As one who and stories, leading to sound reflections HarperOne. 544p $27.99 has taken numerous groups to these on the meaning of Christian life led in spots over the years, the spirit of the Gospel. James Martin, S.J., the engaging author I thoroughly enjoyed Father Martin art- of this book on Jesus, had to be per- Martin’s account of his fully blends these vari- suaded to travel to the Holy Land by visits and experiences. ous wellsprings in each his fellow Jesuit, Drew Christiansen, A second source is chapter of this rather S.J., then editor in chief of America. his competent acquain- substantial book (over Martin felt he knew enough about tance with current bib- 500 pages). A visit to Jesus and the Gospels from a lifetime of lical scholarship about a particular site or re- study and reflection and didn’t need to the historical Jesus. He gion of the Holy Land travel to the Middle East. But he finally does not pretend to be triggers a reflection on agreed to go—and the readers of this a frontline scholar on some aspect of Jesus’ book on Jesus will be grateful. this subject, but his own life and ministry, which This book on Jesus of the Gospels theological training and in turn leads to a wider joins a host of other such explorations, wide reading in the area reflection on Christian but it has its own special flavor and enable him to speak life. Some of these are spirit. The author, a popular spiritu- accurately and in an easily accessible fairly predictable paths, others less so. al writer and frequent spokesperson manner of what we know and don’t Watching some fishermen ply their on behalf of the Catholic Church, know about the historical circum- trade on the Sea of Galilee, for exam- draws deeply on several wellsprings stances of Jesus’ life and times. ple, leads to a reflection on the stories in the composition of the book. One A third source is his Jesuit back- of the call of the first disciples and then is the two-week trip to the Holy Land ground. He speaks frequently and af- to a reflection on how we are called by Martin made in the company of a fectionately of his Jesuit vocation, his Christ today, a reflection further illus-

June 23-30, 2014 America 33 trated in an earlier encounter Martin in Jerusalem and his final resurrection (Nadya) Tolokonnikova, Yekaterina had with a young man who was search- appearance in Galilee along the Sea of (Kat) Samutsevich and Maria ing for meaning in his own life. Tiberias as recounted in John 21. As Alyokhina. Self-taught in literary criti- Discovering the coves along the those who have traveled to the Holy cism and philosophy, Nadya earned ad- northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee’s Land know, such a neat chronological mission to the philosophy department shoreline and surmising that this could and geographical framework is difficult at Moscow State University, where she have been the spot mentioned in the since the Gospel stories move back and joined a co-ed group of performance Gospels where Jesus preached from forth across the terrain; some repeti- artists. In time, Nadya became more Simon’s boat (Lk 5:1-11) leads to a tion and backtracking in Martin’s vis- interested in feminist and L.G.B.T. discussion of the parables and culmi- its to sites is inevitable. Nevertheless, causes and formed an all-female mu- nates in a reflection on the parable of the value of Martin’s work is not in sic group that ultimately called itself the lost sheep, illustrated by an expe- the flow of the overall presentation of Pussy Riot. Another member was Kat rience of the shepherd’s care for the Jesus’ life and mission but in the beau- Samutsevich, who studied computer sheep Father Martin had during his tiful and enticing individual reflections programming, took a job at a defense mission work in Kenya and the key that come with each site he visits and research institute and quit her post lesson that God will never abandon us. with his compelling portrayal of the after becoming disgusted with cor- The overall flow of the book at- Jesus of the Gospels and his meaning ruption in the industry and frustrated tempts to follow the unfolding story for Christian life. with her daily work life. Thereafter, of Jesus in the Gospels, beginning with Kat became interested in photogra- Donald Senior, C.P., is professor emeri- his baptism at the Jordan River and tus of New Testament Studies at the Catholic phy and politics, which led her into culminating with the passion of Jesus Theological Union in Chicago. the same artistic circles as Nadya and brought them together in early perfor- mance art actions. Lisa A. Baglione Maria joined them later. An activ- ist in the environmental movement as Revolution Rock a youth, she studied journalism and hoped to change the world; Pussy Riot Words Will Break In Words Will Break Cement, Masha gave Maria that venue. While there Cement Gessen investigates the origins of the were other members of the group, these The Passion of Pussy Riot act and the women’s three went on trial in 2012, By Masha Gessen experiences with the and Nadya and Maria were Riverhead. 320p $16 Russian criminal ultimately forced to serve justice system. After time. Released just prior On Feb. 21, 2012, a group of Russian emigrating to the to the Sochi Olympics, the female performance artists slipped United States from group has reconvened and into Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Soviet Union as has been trying to focus the Savior to stage “A Punk Prayer,” a young teen in 1981, attention on authoritarian- beseeching “Virgin Mary, Mother of Gessen went back ism, nationalism, patriarchy God, chase Putin out” and to protest to her homeland and homophobia in Russia. the impending re-election of Vladimir 10 years later and They see Putin’s conser- Putin to his third term as president. became an accom- vative coalition—those The group chose the cathedral for the plished journalist in support of the Russian action because the church supported and L.G.B.T. activ- Orthodox church, Russian the Russian regime and symbolized ist. Her understand- nationalism and traditional the luxury and commercialism of the ing of the Russian gender roles and norms— era. Playing dowon the political, an- language and culture, close following as his new bulwark, and their aim is to ti-Putin nature of the action, the au- of political developments, talent as a expose the nature of his rule. thorities portrayed it as a blasphemous journalist and sensitivity to issues of For observers of Russian poli- and disrespectful act against believers, human rights and justice uniquely po- tics, the strength of this book is in its and for those crimes, three women sition Gessen to tell this story. coverage of the trial. Here, Gessen’s were each sentenced to two years each At the outset, readers learn about translation of the actual transcripts in prison. the three young women—Nadezhda and commentary on them is invalu-

34 America June 23-30, 2014 able. What the behavior of the judge who give in and follow the regime, hav- this book; it shows the triumph of and the lawyers reveals is what many ing lost their ability to think critically the human spirit, gives us hope in have known—these courts are charged and see the lies the system is purveying. the idealism and creativity of youth with providing the politically desired Kat took on the church itself and how and uncovers more unseemly details outcome, and they will stoop as low as it had lost its way, becoming a tool of of Putin’s rule. It is also valuable for they must to obey those in power. The Putin’s rule. Like the others, she assert- highlighting historical similarities. statements of the women are, in addi- ed that the group’s action exposed the While some analysts today seem to tion, remarkable because of their so- truth about contemporary Russia and see the 1930s as the appropriate anal- phistication, despite the relative youth that veracity would ultimately under- ogy, Gessen suggests that a better of the speakers and the exhausting and mine the system. This theme has been comparison is with the Brezhnev era, debilitating conditions under which central to the resistance of autocracy a time of corruption, leadership ego, they had to compose them. They are for centuries; regarding anti-Commu- popular acquiescence and economic also courageous. The activists never nism, it is perhaps decline. Given that shrank from taking on the regime and best associated with On the Web the regime’s struc- its contradictions. the work of Vaclav The Catholic Book Club discusses tural weaknesses Rekindling the Christic Imagination. As the speakers and Gessen remind Havel who exhorted americamagazine.org/cbc and moral bank- the reader, these trials are similar to others to refuse to ruptcy are clear to proceedings in both tsarist and Soviet “live the lie.” some Russians, as times. In particular, the comparison Ultimately, two were incarcerat- the 2011-12 protests revealed, speak- that is most fitting is with the dissident ed; Kat had her sentence suspended. ing out and undermining the new, trials of the 1970s. In fact, Alexsandr While Nadya endured hazing and was conservative formula for legitimacy Solzhenitsyn’s words, which Nadya breaking under the impossible prison are important. Words will break ce- slightly edited and voiced at her trial, work requirements, Maria became en- ment, and Pussy Riot and Gessen have became Gessen’s title. The Nobel Prize ergized and fought for eight-hour work brought an effective hammer down on winner wrote, “So the word is more days and other decent prison condi- the concrete. But given Putin’s recent sincere than concrete? So the word is tions. The book ends with Nadya’s nationalist efforts, even more words not a trifle? Then may noble people be- going on a hunger strike, which earned from people who know the truth are gin to grow, and their word will break her a move to a more humane facility, going to have to follow to crack this cement.” and Maria’s legal efforts securing sig- authoritarian edifice. During her turn, Maria excoriated nificant improvements in prison con- Lisa A. Baglione is professor and chair of the Russian educational system for ditions for her peers. the political science department at Saint Joseph’s churning out unthinking automatons There is much to recommend in University in Philadelphia.

Liturgy: • Is responsible for planning, organizing rosaries are available at The Rosary Beads CLASSIFIED and overseeing our University and St. John’s par- Company. Visit http://rosary-beads.co. Books ish liturgies and all daily and weekend liturgies, in addition to special memorial and other occasion- Translator Religion & Civility (faith & reason) Together; www. al prayer services. • Is an integral member of the I will translate into Spanish your books, articles, wordunlimited.com. Campus Ministry staff and collaborates with the essays, pastoral letters, ministry resources, web- Director of Music Ministry, Liturgy Team and sites and newsletters. Luis Baudry-Simon, luisbau- Positions parish staff in the position. To apply, visit: https:// [email protected]; (815) 694-0713. Coordinator of Liturgy at Creighton careers.creighton.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/ University, Omaha, Neb. The Coordinator frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1399911995627. of Liturgy for Campus Ministry/St. John’s at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., reports to The Center for Spirituality and Want your ad here? the Director of Campus Ministry and the Pastor Discernment at Villanova University is Visit americamagazine.org. of St. John’s Parish. The qualified candidate will seeking to hire an Associate Director of Campus have a bachelor’s degree (minimum degree; a Ministry to focus on ecumenical and interfaith Email: [email protected]. master’s degree is desirable) in pastoral ministry, outreach and education. A master’s degree in the- Call 212-515-0102. liturgy, theology, divinity or related field and some ology is required, but a D.Min. or Ph.D. is pre- Ten-word minimum. Rates are per word per issue. experience working as a coordinator of parish or ferred. For more information, go to https://jobs. 1-5 times: $1.50; 6-11 times: $1.28; 12-23 times: Catholic school liturgies. Candidate must have villanova.edu/postings/6648. $1.23; 24-41 times: $1.17; 42 times or more: $1.12. a thorough working knowledge of Catholic lit- For an additional $30, your print ad will be posted on urgy. Understanding of Ignatian spirituality and Rosaries America’s Web site for one week. The flat rate for a Jesuit education is preferred. The Coordinator of Rosaries. Beautiful hand-crafted and Italian Web-only classified ad is $150 for 30 days.

June 23-30, 2014 America 35 36 America June 23-30, 2014 THE WORD

rock...will build my church.” And the rocks with which Jesus Building on Faith would continue to build would sur- Saints Peter and Paul (A), June 29, 2014 prise his apostles, especially when Paul Readings: Acts 12:1-11; Ps 34:2-9; 2 Tm 4:6-18; Mt 16:13-19 received his own “revelation” of the ris- en Lord (Gal 1:12, 16). The apostles “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (Mt 16:13) were wary of Paul when he came to he question for the disciples Jonah! For flesh and blood has not Jerusalem because “they were all afraid came from Jesus himself, revealed this to you, but my Father in of him, for they did not believe that “Who do people say that heaven.” But what had been revealed to he was a disciple” (Acts 9:26). Could T Jesus build the church with Paul, the the Son of Man is?” The problem for Simon son of Jonah? Was it that only Christians today in answering this divine revelation could unveil persecutor of the earliest dis- question might be how to make sense the faith necessary to af- ciples? Could the one who of Jesus’ humanity in the context of his firm Jesus’ messiahship? ripped stones off the true divinity. For Jesus’ apostles, stand- Or was it Peter’s foundation now con- ing face to face with the flesh and blood faith that had allowed struct like a skilled of their friend and teacher, the relevant the revelation of Jesus master builder? The issue seems not to have been was Jesus as “the Son of the liv- apostles would need God, but what sort of man has God ing God” to emerge? to accept that Paul sent to us in Jesus. The title “son of the had been chosen to In puzzling out an answer to Jesus’ living God” does not continue to build the question, the disciples drew on what necessarily imply more church. they heard from others and perhaps than messianic identity (see Jesus built on the what they themselves were struggling 2 Sm 7:14 or Ps 2:7), though clearly PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE to figure out: people say you might by the time Matthew’s Gospel was Reflect on the faith of Peter and Paul. How be John the Baptist, or Elijah or some written, belief in the divinity of Jesus, does your confession of Jesus the Messiah other prophet. They might have been however inchoate, was emerging. allow you to build and to be built into the wondering as they spoke these answers Jesus is affirming both the messianic church? whether Jesus was more than a proph- identity that Simon proclaimed and a. dunne tad art: et. Could Jesus be the Messiah? It is the depths of Jesus’ divinity that the dis- faith of Peter, who had denied him difficult, however, to imagine the dis- ciples could not yet comprehend fully three times, and he would build with ciples, all first-century Jewish mono- but Peter brashly named in faith. the faith of Paul, who had persecut- theists, looking at Jesus, even in light Even more, though, it is through ed the church of God. Indeed, Paul of miraculous healings, exorcisms and Simon’s proclamation that Jesus makes continued the work of the Twelve, feedings, and saying, “We think you are clear that a true understanding of “who planting churches throughout the God.” he is” is a “revelation,” an insight given Roman Empire. Paul acknowledged But faith revealed this to Peter. by God, just as the faith given to the that on human terms he was “unfit When Jesus asked the disciples to an- “infants” in Mt 11:25 was a “revela- to be called an apostle” (1 Cor 15:9), swer the question for themselves, “But tion.” Upon this revelation, Simon is but the Second Letter of Timothy who do you say that I am?” Peter an- given a new name, Petros, which all presents Paul offering his last testa- swered boldly, “You are the Messiah, the Gospels attest Jesus gave to Peter ment, in which he confesses that “I the Son of the living God.” Jesus af- (Mk 3:16, Lk 6:14, Jn 1:42). The have fought the good fight, I have fin- firmed Peter in his answer by telling Greek word petros, “rock,” translates ished the race, I have kept the faith.” him: “Blessed are you, Simon son of the Aramaic kepha and indicates not The faith Peter confessed was the just the faith of Peter but his function faith that Paul maintained and is the as the foundation rock of the church. It faith handed on to us, by which we John W. Martens is an associate professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas, St. is not Peter, mind you, who builds the are built and by which we build the Paul, Minn. Follow him @BibleJunkies. church, but Jesus himself who “on this church today.

June 23-30, 2014 America 37 THE WORD

ones” model the necessary trust, de- pendence and reliance upon God the The Little Ones Father that the Son has revealed to Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A), July 6, 2014 them. It is this reliance that the adult Readings: Zec 9:9-10; Ps 145:1-14; Rom 8:9-13; Mt 11:25-30 disciples of Jesus must demonstrate if they are to become “little ones.” Jesus “You have hidden these things from the wise and have revealed them to directs us all to become like them and infants” (Mt 11:25) to adopt the proper stance toward God ow quickly should we move dren alone or all who are simple and and God’s kingdom. from the literal to the alle- considered little ones by the world? Jesus’ way is not the way of the phi- gorical, figurative or spiri- What makes children worthy recipi- losopher, wisdom carved out by the H intelligentsia for the elite. Jesus’ way tual meaning of words in the Bible? ents of God’s revelation? There is no one answer, for in reading On the surface it seems ridiculous is gained by God’s gracious will and the Bible sometimes the literal mean- to think that Jesus could intend hu- revealed to all those who can turn to ing of a word or a passage is indeed man children by nepioi, except that in God and trust, who can become like the spiritual meaning itself; at other Mt 19:14 Jesus instructs his disciples children and open themselves to the times, the literal reading grounds a to “let the little children come to me, truth. It seems that just as the rich are separate spiritual or allegorical mean- and do not stop them; for it is to such tempted by false reliance upon wealth, ing; and at still other times, both a as these that the kingdom of heaven the wise and intelligent are tempted by literal and figurative meaning exist belongs.” In this verse, actual children false reliance upon themselves. together. As Jesus prays in the Gospel are in view, and it is to them that the God’s wisdom is available to all, of Matthew, he says, “You have hidden kingdom belongs. If children are the whether we are young, poor, frail, el- these things from the wise and the in- intended recipients of the kingdom, derly, wise or lacking intelligence, be- telligent and have revealed them to in- it is indeed possible that Jesus has in PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE fants.” The Greek wordnepioi, which mind actual children to whom the literally means “infants” (NRSV), reality of God and God’s kingdom Imagine yourself listening to Jesus speak might also be rendered figuratively has been revealed. these words. What must you do to become as “little ones” (NAB). What does it Yet in Mt 18:3 Jesus teaches that a “little one”? matter? “unless you change and become Ancient Jews and Christians be- like children, you will never enter cause God’s way must be available to lieved that every word of Scripture the kingdom of heaven.” This sug- all if it is the way of salvation. Adults, mattered in interpreting God’s word. gests that while literal children are the especially religious experts, often feel Careful interpretation ought to matter model disciples, the adult followers of we must know it all, have it all under to us as we determine whether Jesus is Jesus are able to “change and become control and always take charge; it is a literally speaking of children or figura- like children” in order to enter the heavy burden, which Jesus asks us to tively of all of us as children of God, kingdom. lay down. Then, he assures us, “you or both, for this has implications as What is it that children have that will find rest for your souls.” to how we ought to live. Why, for in- the wise and intelligent lack in Jesus’ What, then, is the meaning of ne- stance, has God “hidden these things equation? Children are vulnerable, pioi? It refers to those who are literally from the wise and the intelligent open, trusting, reliant, weak, inferi- and figuratively the “infants,” who are and…revealed them to infants”? Are or and must depend upon those with open to the love of God and who ac- all adults considered “wise and intelli- power to protect and care for them. cept that we are all children of God. gent”? Does this verse mean that the Such reliance opens children to the Jesus asks that we lay down the bur- “wise and intelligent” are shut out of revelation from the Son. Jesus’ way is dens of the world and rely on God to the kingdom? Does infants reflect chil- revealed to infants because the “little become what we are intended to be: America (ISSN 0002-7049) is published weekly (except for 13 combined issues: Jan. 6-13, 20-27, April 28-May 5, May 26-June “little ones,” to whom God desires to 2, June 9-16, 23-30, July 7-14, 21-28, Aug. 4-11, 18-25, Sept. 1-8, Dec. 8-15, 22-29) by America Press Inc., 106 West 56th Street, New York, NY 10019. Periodical postage is paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mailing offices.C irculation: (800) 627- reveal his kingdom. 9533. Subscription: United States, $56 per year; add U.S. $30 postage and GST (#131870719) for Canada; or add U.S. $56 per year for international priority airmail. Postmaster: Send address changes to: America, P.O. Box 293159, Kettering, OH 45429. John W. Martens

38 America June 23-30, 2014 June 23-30, 2014 America 39