Running with the Money
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Maurice Timothy Reidy on the Art of Borysewicz Feb. 11, 2008AmericaTHE NATIONAL CATHOLIC WEEKLY $2.75 Running With the Money Fundraising and the Presidential Campaigns Costas Panagopoulos T IS NOT OFTEN that popes cancel The Vatican later released the pope’s scheduled addresses, but after intended text. Had the protesters both- America protests by professors and graduate ered to read it, they would have found Published by Jesuits of the United States students at Rome’s La Sapienza that Pope Benedict had endorsed aca- IUniversity, the Vatican canceled a lecture demic freedom. He observed that today Editor in Chief by Pope Benedict XVI scheduled for the La Sapienza is “a public university with opening of the university’s academic year that autonomy...which must be bound Drew Christiansen, S.J. on Jan. 18. In the end, the controversy exclusively to the authority of the truth.” Acting Publisher underscored how prejudiced and ill- “Surely,” he added, the pope “must not informed the scientific community can impose the truth on others in an authori- James Martin, S.J. sometimes be. It also showed how diffi- tarian way.” He also offered soothing Managing Editor cult a task Pope Benedict has set himself admissions of cognitive humility, admit- Robert C. Collins, S.J. in attempting to dialogue with today’s ting, for example, that “things handed secular European culture. down in practice by ecclesial authorities Business Manager La Sapienza was founded in 1303 by have been shown by history to be false, Lisa Pope Pope Boniface VIII. In 1870, with the fall and today they confuse us.” At the same of the Papal States, it was re-opened as time, he affirmed his unflagging commit- Editorial Director the public university of the city of Rome. ment to fulfill “his duty to keep the sensi- Karen Sue Smith Today it is the largest public university in tivity to truth alive.” Europe, with 138,000 students. The I must confess that when Pope Online Editor Vatican cancellation came after 67 faculty Benedict speaks abstractly about reason Maurice Timothy Reidy members signed a protest against Pope and truth rather than the Gospel, I get a Benedict’s giving the concluding speech little nervous myself. I am apprehensive Associate Editors of the convocation on grounds that the that the Christ of faith is being displaced Joseph A. O’Hare, S.J. pope is hostile to science. As evidence, by the God of the philosophers. I fear as George M. Anderson, S.J. the critics cited a well that I 1990 address in am being Dennis M. Linehan, S.J. which the then- presented Matt Malone, S.J. Cardinal Of Many Things with what James T. Keane, S.J. Ratzinger quot- the pope Peter Schineller, S.J. ed the Austrian philosopher Paul himself once called premature judgments Feyerabend, who argued that Galileo was cloaked in the mantle of reasonableness. I Literary Editor wrong in believing he had discovered in realize, however, that I am put on my empirical observation a rationalist guard not by the pope’s own measured Patricia A. Kossmann method for the attainment of all truth. In phrases and pastoral discretion but by the Poetry Editor most academic circles today, scholars bullying way that the pope’s self-anointed acknowledge that different fields employ partisans abuse his authority with know- James S. Torrens, S.J. different methods and that these change it-all sneering and snobbery. Assistant Editor over time. Even within a single field, The La Sapienza speech was an investigators in one sub-field find the lit- effort to articulate the pope’s relation to Francis W. Turnbull, S.J. erature in others unintelligible. These university life. How he envisages the Design and Production observations hardly merit an anti-papal role of the church and the pope in con- campaign. tributing to keeping alive sensitivity to Stephanie Ratcliffe The protesting scientists, however, truth reveals a thoroughly pastoral approached the philosophy of science the grasp of his mission. Faith should have Advertising way many outsiders approach fields in a place at the symposium of reason, he Julia Sosa which they are not proficient, reacting to argues, because “over the course of gen- symbols (like the mere mention of erations” the Christian way of life has 106 West 56th Street Galileo), applying amateurish litmus tests yielded proof of “its reasonableness and New York, NY 10019-3803 and fanning into flames burnt-out ideo- its enduring significance.” “The history Ph: 212-581-4640; Fax: 212-399-3596. logical fires. Pope Benedict’s citation was of the saints, the history of the human- E-mail: [email protected]; not an endorsement. He cited ism that grew up on the basis of the [email protected]. Feyerabend as an example of the rela- Christian faith,” he writes, “demon- Web site: www.americamagazine.org. tivism of post-modern thought and char- strate the truth of this faith in its essen- Customer Service: 1-800-627-9533. acterized the philosopher’s judgment as tial nucleus, thereby making it an exam- © 2008 America Press, Inc. “drastic” overreaching. Nonetheless, for a ple for public reason.” It is by this col- churchman, especially the former prefect lective witness, he writes, that the of the Congregation for the Doctrine of church provides “a purifying force” for the Faith to make a passing, critical men- the interest-driven thinking that domi- tion of Galileo was a red flag to Italian nates postmodern secular society. academics. Drew Christiansen, S.J. Cover photo Shutterstock/Elnur www.americamagazine.org Vol. 198 No. 4, Whole No. 4803 February 11, 2008 19 Articles Running With the Money 11 Costas Panagopoulos Campaign financing and the race for the presidency ‘An Ordinary Mystic’ 15 Maurice Timothy Reidy The faith and art of Alfonse Borysewicz Pilgrimages for Peace 19 George M. Anderson Bob Maat on postwar Cambodia The Witness of Courage 22 and Forgiveness Camille D’Arienzo Current Comment 4 28 Editorial Responding to Recession 5 Signs of the Times 8 Ethics Notebook 10 Hope and Change John F. Kavanaugh Faith in Focus 24 Our Broken Parish A Parishioner Film 26 What Might Have Been Richard A. Blake Bookings 28 A Slow, Sure Spiritual Journey Emilie Griffin Book Reviews 31 A Jesuit Off-Broadway; Forces for Good Letters 37 The Word 39 Looking Backward and Forward Daniel J. Harrington This week @ Alfonse Borysewicz narrates an audio slide show of his art work, and Sidney Callahan talks about her new book, Created for Joy: A Christian View of Suffering. America Connects Plus, James T. Keane, S.J., reviews the Bob Dylan biopic, “I'm Not There.” Current Comment a cultural context requiring far more interreligious dia- The Finger of Suspicion logue than their American brothers. Many will have lived “I just don’t believe that people in this country are going and studied at Western educational institutions, so they to choose their candidate based on which church he or she will have some familiarity with U.S. religious culture (far goes to,” former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney more than American Jesuits will have with theirs). They said in a recent Republican primary debate in Florida. The will also be less tied to the Irish-American hierarchies that problem for Mr. Romney’s presidential hopes is that at have dominated the ranks of American priests and reli- least some voters have already voted against him using gious. They will also face serious challenges, because for- precisely that criterion, according to polling data. And a eign priests are often not privy to our own national recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll indicated that internecine struggles and concerns, particularly around 44 percent of Americans believe that a Mormon president hot-button issues like the role of women and the laity in would have a difficult time uniting the country. the contemporary church. American Jesuits will have We have seen this before. This magazine, for much of much to learn from their Indian brothers, but also much its history, railed against similar bigotry directed against to offer them about the American cultural experience of Catholic politicians. Its name, America, was chosen in Catholicism. part to evoke a seminal ideal at the heart of the American founding: no religious test is permitted or ought to be expected of any candidate for public office. Big Pharma and the Poor Forty-eight years ago, then-Senator John F. Kennedy, The pharmaceutical industry is failing to make key medica- responding to Americans’ unease with his candidacy, said: tions available to millions of people in developing countries, “While this year it may be a Catholic against whom the according to a recent report from Oxfam International, finger of suspicion is pointed, in other years it has been, Investing for Life. The study examined the practices of the and may someday be again, a Jew—or a Quaker—or a world’s 12 biggest pharmaceutical companies—practices that Unitarian—or a Baptist.… Today I may be the victim—but include putting protection of intellectual property rights tomorrow it may be you.” ahead of the critical health needs of people in the world’s This year the finger of suspicion is pointed at a poorest countries. The companies mount fierce resistance to Mormon. There may be good reasons not to vote for Mr. cheaper generic drugs, which they see as unacceptable com- Romney, but his faith is not one of them. The anti-Mormon petition. And yet generic competition, the report observes, whispers and, in some quarters, the outright bigotry direct- “is the most effective...method to reduce drug prices.” ed against him are unfair, un-American and un-Christian.