Beware of Lay Clericalism

MINISTRY ISSUE

Beware of Lay Clericalism Russell Shaw Of Many Things Published by Jesuits of the United States n the aftermath of the vile murder, in an execution, or in cancer, or in 106 West 56th Street the Gospels tell us, the disciples AIDS, or war. Now that’s hard. You New York, NY 10019-3803 are bewildered, in shock, angry, want to find God in nature? Try finding Ph: 212-581-4640; Fax: 212-399-3596 I Subscriptions: 1-800-627-9533 ashamed, numb, empty. Jesus, the one God in a tsunami or a crop failure. www.americamagazine.org in whom they had hoped, is gone. That’s hard. facebook.com/americamag Worse still, most of them had turned Who can blame these disciples twitter.com/americamag and run away rather than face the hour for their doubts? Doubt, after all, is of danger. In the day following Jesus’ not the opposite of faith. Certainty President and Editor in Chief Matt Malone, S.J. burial, some of them are still running; is the opposite of faith. Faith cannot Executive Editors two have even left Jerusalem, en route be separated from doubt any more Robert C. Collins, S.J., Maurice Timothy Reidy than Easter Sunday can be separated to a place called Emmaus, a town about Managing Editor Kerry Weber from Good Friday. The Lord himself seven miles northwest of Jerusalem. Literary Editor Raymond A. Schroth, S.J. After all, why would they stay? It’s all acknowledges this when he says, “How Senior Editor and Chief Correspondent over, isn’t it? Did the White House staff slow of heart you are to believe all that Kevin Clarke stay in Dallas after President Kennedy the prophets spoke.” Editor at Large James Martin, S.J. died? Of course not. And who could blame us for doubting Poetry Editor Joseph Hoover, S.J. We can imagine what these two as these two did? We live in a world not Associate Editor and Vatican Correspondent might have said to each other in the totally unlike theirs. The world is still Gerard O’Connell couple of hours the trip to Emmaus beset by sin and injustice. How often Associate Editor Ashley McKinless Assistant Editors Francis W. Turnbull, S.J., Olga would have taken: “It wasn’t supposed have we picked up the newspaper, read Segura, Joseph McAuley to be like this. It wasn’t supposed to about another scandal in our beloved Art Director Sonja Kodiak Wilder happen this way.” Yes, we can easily church and said to ourselves: “It’s not Columnists Helen Alvaré, John J. Conley, S.J., imagine saying such things, mainly supposed to be like this. It wasn’t Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M., James T. Keane, John W. supposed to happen this way”? Martens, Bill McGarvey, Angela Alaimo O’Don- because we have all said them. And nell, Margot Patterson Finding God in all things is hard, but what the two say next is even more Correspondents familiar and poignant: “We were hoping it’s not impossible. The Jesuit Howard John Carr (Washington), Jim McDermott, S.J. that he would be the one to redeem Gray once wrote that “God is found (Los Angeles), Timothy Padgett (Miami), Steven Schwankert (Beijing), Judith Valente (Chicago), Israel.” Like you, I know that voice. It wherever love is needed the most.” If Mary Ann Walsh, R.S.M. (U.S. Church) is the voice of grief: “We were hoping.” Father Gray is right, then we know Moderator, Catholic Book Club How many of us have uttered these why Jesus appears to the two disciples: Kevin Spinale, S.J. same words? “We were hoping that They need him. They need his love. So Editorial e-mail [email protected] he would live long enough to see his Jesus ministers to them by healing their granddaughter graduate.” “We were wounded hearts. “Then they said to each Publisher and Chief Financial Officer hoping that they would find a cure in other, ‘Were not our hearts burning Edward Spallone time.” “We were hoping that he would within us while he spoke to us on the Deputy Publisher come home.” Like so many of you, I way?’” Rosa Del Saz know from experience that mourning is “Rejoice,” the psalmist enjoins us: Vice President/Advancement the loneliest place in the world. “Rejoice! And let your hearts be glad; Daniel Pawlus Development Coordinator The Jesuits have a pithy motto that abide in confidence.” For the Lord’s Kerry Goleski is supposed to sum up our approach to promise, the promise he makes to us, Operations Staff spirituality: “Finding God in all things.” the promise he made and kept to our Chris Keller, Glenda Castro, Judith Felix In fact, it is this motto that informs forebears on the road, in the upper Advertising contact this special issue on ministry. Yet the room and on the Vatican hill, is nothing [email protected]; 212-515-0102 less than the gift of himself, crucified Subscription contact/Additional copies phrase is often misunderstood. People [email protected]; will tell me, for example: “I find God and risen, in spirit and in sacrament; 1-800-627-9533 in all things. Like in nature. I find God he is the blessed hope, always ready in the sunset.” Well, that is a beautiful to reach inside and restart our broken © 2014 America Press, Inc. thought, and I find God there too. The hearts, to rejoice in our triumphs and truth though is that just about anybody bear with us in our hopes—no matter where we are on the road to Emmaus. Cover: Catholic Charities helps in Baton Rouge, can find God in a sunset. It’s not that La., after Hurricane Isaac, in September 2012. hard. You want hard? Try finding God MaTT Malone, S.J. Photo courtesy of Catholic Charities. Contents www.americamagazine.org Vol. 211 No. 8, Whole No. 5062 September 29, 2014

Ministry issue 16 Go and Do Likewise Lessons from the parable of the Good Samaritan Amy-Jill Levine 19 everyone’s Vocation Calling for an end to lay clericalism Russell Shaw 22 Unsung Miracles Catholic Charities fights poverty ‘one family at a time.’ Thomas J. Healey 25 Liturgy on the Hours So many Masses, so little time Frank D. Almade COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS 16 4 Current Comment 5 editorial Reconstructing Gaza 6 Reply All 9 signs of the Times 14 washington Front Finding Hope in a ‘Messy’ World John Carr 27 Vatican Dispatch Bit by Bit, A World at War Gerard O’Connell 28 Faith in Focus Prison Possibilities Valerie Schultz 39 The Word The Vineyard Grows John W. Martens 19 BOOKS & CULTURE 30 film “Last Days in Vietnam” of other things The Tangled Web BOOKS The Death and Afterlife of the North American Martyrs; Redeemer; A Call to Action; Contested Land, Contested Memory

ON THE WEB The debut of ‘America Films’: a video profile of graduation ceremonies at the Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Reservation of South Dakota. Full digital highlights on page 21 and at americamagazine.org/webfeatures. 30 CURRENT COMMENT

14th Amendment and the Voting Rights Act by eliminating Belaboring Child Labor voting periods favored by African-Americans. Toxic working conditions, no living wage, 12-hour It is important to make voting more accessible to workdays—a sweatshop circa 1900? In fact, it is the members of minorities and low-income citizens who may economic reality of 2014, not just for adults, but for children, have trouble taking off time to vote during working hours. and not just in the developing world, but right here in the It is a sad commentary on the state of U.S. politics when United States. something as fundamental to the democratic process as A recent report about a 13-year-old girl working in North casting a vote is made a partisan issue. Over the past three Carolina tobacco fields—under conditions even an adult decades early voting has been expanded in the name of voter should not endure—is shocking. More shocking is that it is convenience with little controversy. Today, in Ohio and perfectly legal for her to do so. Today young immigrants and other states where similar issues are being fought over in the children of migrants often perform jobs no one else will do courts, legislators need to reach across the aisle to establish in order to help their families survive in difficult economic early voting regulations, encourage maximum participation times. In 2011 the Obama administration sought to ban and restore confidence in the election process. work in tobacco fields for those under 16, but was thwarted by Republican lawmakers and farm groups. Though some tobacco companies restrict the use of child labor, their Protecting Human Dignity growers, contractors and workers find ways to get around At the end of August, the California Legislature labor and safety regulations. unanimously approved a bill that its crafters hope will set The United States is not the only country where child a precedent for combatting sexual assault on campus.As labor is an issue. One in 10 Syrian refugee children in summarized by The San Jose Mercury News (8/28), Senate Turkey have to work to support their families. And while a Bill 967—nicknamed the “Yes Means Yes” bill—”would U.N. convention sets 14 as the minimum age for work, in require all colleges taking student financial aid funding from July Bolivia became the first nation to pass a law permitting the state to agree that in investigations of campus sexual 10-year-olds to work. assaults, silence or lack of resistance does not imply a green The global economy is becoming increasingly complex, light for sex, and that drunkenness is not an acceptable but one thing is clear: parents should make a living wage, defense.” It also calls for outreach programs to help victims so their children will not have to work for a minimum one. with counseling, legal advice and other services. Bill 967 Children should not be exploited as economic tools for currently awaits a signature from Gov. Jerry Brown. someone else’s profit. While many have praised this proactive approach, others have criticized the bill’s convoluted rhetoric and Voting on Trial see it as overly invasive. An editorial in The Los Angeles It is not yet November, but voting in this year’s midterm Times describes the bill as “intrusive” and merely a way to elections is well underway. In North Carolina, Alaska and “micromanage sex so closely as to tell young people what Georgia, election officials have already sent out “no excuse” steps they must take in the privacy of their own dorm absentee ballots. And thanks to a recent federal court ruling rooms.” that blocked early voting restrictions in the Buckeye State, Prevention of sexual assaults must begin long before Ohioans can begin voting in person on Sept. 30. students arrive on campus. In “Talk About Steubenville” Ohio, an important, vote-rich swing state, expanded (4/8/13), America’s editors wrote that rape prevention early voting in 2008 after long lines kept people waiting at starts when parents talk to their children about sex, polling sites for over five hours in 2004. But earlier this year especially to young boys about “the sort of behavior expected the Republican-controlled General Assembly eliminated of them in protecting the human dignity of the people the first six days of early voting—the “Golden Week,” during they will encounter later in life.” Middle schools and high which African-American churches often run registration and schools can reinforce these sensitive private discussions voting drives—and the secretary of state reduced weekend with programs that teach young people how to prevent and and evening voting hours. In a suit filed by the American report sexual assault and discourage behaviors, like blaming Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the Ohio branch of the the victim, that add to the crisis. By having these difficult N.A.A.C.P. and the Ohio League of Women Voters, Judge but necessary conversations, parents and schools can equip Peter C. Economus ruled that the measures violated the students to fight the scourge of rape on campus.

4 America September 29, 2014 EDITORIAL Reconstructing Gaza

or the moment, the rockets fired into Israel by Hamas agreement have failed, there are have stopped and the American-made F-16 fighter steps the United States can take Fjets zeroing in on the neighborhoods of Gaza are to create the conditions for peace. still. Survivors ask: Was it worth it? Some Hamas leaders First, the United States should, for a rejoice that to withstand an Israeli bombardment means change, use its influence in the United Nations to support, not to have “won.” Israel takes satisfaction in having punished veto, the Palestinian people’s demands for justice. This could “terrorists” and closed tunnels. But count the casualties: 2,131 mean allowing an investigation by the Human Rights Council Palestinians killed in Gaza, including 1,473 civilians, of whom of the United Nations into possible war crimes committed by 501 were children and 257 women, plus 66 soldiers and five both sides: Hamas firing rockets indiscriminately into Israel civilians dead on the Israeli side. Move through the blocks of and Israel bombing near U.N. schools and family homes. Both flattened villages and inhale the smell of death and sewage in sides, including some people in the United States, may resist the gutters. Count the factories and hospitals destroyed, the this investigation. But the only way to curtail war crimes is to 34 crumbled schools. Imagine the faces of 1,400 orphans, of hold responsible those who commit them. the 110,000 Gazans who lost their homes, huddled in shelters Second, though rebuilding may take 20 years, initial or lined up for drinking water. steps can improve living conditions now. The United States This could all happen again in two years if the region should drastically cut, by as much as two-thirds, the $3 returns to the status quo. Or, with determination and stronger, billion in mostly military aid it gives to Israel each year and wiser leadership, Israel and Palestine may move toward a two- direct those resources to the reconstruction of Gaza. With state solution, each secure enough to live, if not in friendship, international oversight, the money should help build schools, at least as neighbors. hospitals and factories to jumpstart its economy. (Gaza has Obstacles remain. Both sides are divided internally: the an unemployment rate of 40 percent, and 80 percent of its Palestinian Authority recognizes Israel, but Hamas does not; population depends on international aid.) A functioning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces criticism from the economy also requires that citizens have freedom of left and right. Both sides see themselves as victims and neither movement. With no seaport, airfield or highways that offer trusts the other. a way out, Gaza has become a prison. Israel should lift the But the basic formula for peace and security is clear. Israel blockade on goods and people flowing in and out of Gaza. must end the occupation of Arab territory seized following But lest Hamas and other militant groups exploit looser the conflict in 1967. But as recently as this September it borders to bring in weapons and sneak out terrorists, Israel seized over 1,000 acres of West Bank land near Bethlehem. should accept the European Union’s offer to provide security There Israel controls the water supply and highways on which at border crossings. only their cars may drive, and has pushed Arabs out of East In the end, however, there is only so much outsiders Jerusalem, where the Palestinians wish to have their future can do. To achieve a lasting peace, Israelis and Palestinians capital. need to talk to each other—not just at negotiation tables but Time and demography increase the urgency for reaching in shops, restaurants and on beaches. In a recent symposium a deal. There are more than 6.1 million Jews between the with Israelis and Palestinians in Harper’s (September), Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea; in the same space contributors stressed, “We don’t know each other. This is the there are 5.5 million Arab Palestinians now living in Israel heart of the issue.” They recalled the times when a Palestinian proper, the West Bank and Gaza, and their higher birthrate would wake up on a sunny day and say to his children, “Let’s will soon make Palestinians the majority. If by that time the go to the beach in Tel Aviv.” Palestinians do not have their own state, Israel will have to Recently, in testimony before the U.N. Human Rights give up its identity as both a Jewish state and a democracy, Council, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi told his audience, slip deeper into apartheid or drive the Arabs out once more. referring to the Israeli-Palestinian tragedy, “The way to the Meanwhile Palestinian anger will surely boil up again, next future lies in recognizing our common humanity.” Ten years time with more international opinion in its corner. from now, if Palestine is not yet a state, Gaza might at least Though numerous U.S. attempts to broker an be a prospering enclave at peace.

September 29 , 2014 America 5 REPLY ALL in this process. No matter how many ity for the calamitous escalation which reservations we may have about the occurred in Gaza. That, however, may Defining Disciples theology of the evangelical churches, not be the first priority. Rather, there In “Faithful Aspirations” (9/1), Frank they certainly understand the psychol- should be a revivified effort toward DeSiano, C.S.P., makes some good ogy of commitment. She is suggesting lasting peace. No one should under- points about the various degrees of that we learn from them. Why should estimate the difficulty of the task. We commitment and participation in the this be threatening? should not delude ourselves that the church. But I wonder if he is not missing (Rev.) Paul A. Hottinger majority of Israeli youth are not as Naperville, Ill. a point made by Sherry Weddell in her hard line as their elders (the evidence is to the contrary) or that moderate el- book, Forming Intentional Disciples. The Journey Together ements of civil society are only waiting point she makes is not elitist. She is Re “Grace on the Greyhound,” by James to be discovered. not restricting the church to the total- Martin, S.J. (9/1): I am a nurse who fre- It is more likely that the keys lie, ly dedicated. She is rather reflecting on quently travels in the northeast, always as Mr. Abbas has suggested, in a UN- the word and mission of the “disciple.” by bus. I think that talking about fellow rather than U.S.-sponsored peace pro- Are all the sheep gathered at the final pilgrims as “the poor” sets up an aura of cess. Mr. Netanyahu would have to judgment disciples? Is everyone who is distance and superiority. I have heard rethink the wisdom of his course and baptized a disciple? This is the question. this in parishes, even homilies, and it accept something less than uncondi- Not all are prophets, not all are teach- always rubs me wrong. It has made me tional surrender and repentance on ers, not all are administrators—so are feel uncomfortable, as “other” in my own the part of Hamas. The United States’ all disciples? parish at points in my life when I was credibility with Palestinians and much Her point is that discipleship re- struggling financially. I would humbly of the rest of world who care about quires a certain level of intention and suggest that, perhaps, we take the bus Israel and Palestine is minimal. It is conscious choice and commitment. It whenever possible from now on, and time we facilitate rather than take the does not mean that only disciples are that we all try to find ways to speak of lead toward peace. saved or only disciples are members “us/we” instead of “them/they.” of the church. But her point is that Ed McCarthy Jason Villarreal Vienna, Maine the church grows and serves the world Online Comment through its dedicated disciples, and they How Much Time? Facilitate Peace do not appear willy-nilly just because Re “It Takes Time,” by James Hanvey, In “Death in a Small Place” (Editorial, people receive the Gospel message and S.J. (8/18): Yes, it takes time; it also 8/18), the editors suggest that the the sacraments. Attention needs to be takes opening to the Holy Spirit. United Nations investigate war crimes paid to the process of forming inten- Whether we call it tolerance or accep- by both sides and indicate responsibil- tional choices, and people need support tance, the Anglican Church has chosen to break down the wall of sexism in Status Update their clerical ranks. There must have been a crack in the wall or a more open Readers respond to “Grace on the left at 1:30 a.m., without any apology system for them to accomplish this tre- Greyhound,” by James Martin, S.J. or compensation. mendous feat. (9/1). Ellery Klein The picture that accompanied I had a lovely ride by Greyhound from Greyhound is our country’s homeless Father Hanvey’s article, of women Cincinnati to Columbus and back last shelter on wheels. Cities give peo- and men clerics sitting together at an summer, but as I looked around at the ple who are homeless tickets to go to enthronement ceremony, was worth various people in the station, I thought: other cities. Here in San Francisco, 10,000 words. When Jesus prayed that Every politician in America should people seem to think cities give folks “all may be one, Father,” he knew about have to take a ride by Greyhound in- bus tickets to come here, which they the thick walls of sexism, racism, na- stead of flying, at least once a year, to do; but the fact is, San Francisco gives tionalism, cultural-ism, traditionalism remember who it is they should be people bus tickets too—to get rid of and religion-ism that existed. He knew representing. And watch, as I did, 20 them. It’s about time we address the that each nation, culture, race, institu- people trying to get to New York be needs throughout our country instead tion and individual person would have told the bus was full and they’d have of shuffling people around. to break down these walls to create to wait five hours before the next one Kelley Cutler equality and unity—which does not

6 America September 29, 2014 imply sameness. alent. Guess how many “progressive” islation has stalled “not least because of How long will God’s patience last? priests fought against racism? They the efforts of the House majority lead- Will Jesus’ followers in the 21st century were far more interested in trying to fit er, Eric Cantor.” The Democrats and resolve any of these “isms” in response in with the majority culture (at a time President Obama controlled the entire to Jesus’ prayer for oneness? when priests actually wore cassocks and legislative process during Obama’s first Arline Eveld, C.S.J. Catholics refused to eat meat on Friday) two years in office. Why did they not St. Charles, Mo. in order to “save souls.” The church in pass immigration reform during those the South was almost totally focused on two years? I guess it was not that im- On Death Row the inward Catholicism of the time, and portant to them. It is disingenuous to As a member of the National Coalition winning converts by appealing to the now fault Republicans for this mess. to Abolish the Death Penalty, I read majority ethos was deemed much more Second, Eric Cantor, until he left with interest “Prisoners Dilemma” important than challenging it. office, called on the president and (Editorial, 8/4), but I wish you had in- I am reminded of this legacy by the Congress to pass those items of immi- cluded some reference to those 3,100- focus of the church today on condemn- gration reform that both sides could plus men and women on death row ing another traditionally despised mi- agree on. The president would have in the United States. With the recent nority, LGBT people (in the name of none of it. It is everything he wants, botched executions and more execu- “religious freedom”). It seems to be very the comprehensive immigration reform tions scheduled for this fall, it is scan- easy for the church to condemn minori- package, or none of it. Unfortunately, dalous that our justice system even con- ties that the majority refuses to under- the legislative process is based on the dones the death penalty. I have a pen pal stand. art of compromise, something this who has been on death row in Raleigh, David Mooneyhan president is unable to do. Furthermore, N.C., for 16 years; I find this uncon- Online Comment Republicans are reluctant to pass any scionable. This does not minimize my legislation because this president only Share in the Blame sympathy for the victims and their fam- enforces those provisions he favors. ilies. But is our justice system fair when In “Children’s Crusade” (Editorial, 7/7), Ken Balaskovits an offender who has served 15 to 20 the editors write that immigration leg- Park Ridge, Ill. years on death row in one state would probably be serving a life sentence without parole in a state that does not use capital punishment? I am appalled, too, at the number of Catholics who still ap- prove of the death penalty. I pray each day that capital punishment will be abolished in all 50 states—sooner rather than later. Dolores Schuh, C.H.M. Davenport, Iowa

Looking In In “Of Many Things” (7/7), Matt Malone, S.J., asks about the history and legacy of racism: “Do we just pre- tend that everything has changed, when in reality some important things have changed and some important things have not?” I grew up Catholic in rural South Carolina, where Catholics were about 2 percent of the population, salvation was believed to be limited to Catholics, conversion to Catholicism was very, very rare and racism was very, very prev-

September 29 , 2014 America 7 8 America September 29, 2014 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Middle East threat, he argues, is that it once again relies mostly on military force to solve Back to Iraq: Is White House what are primarily political problems. Many of the Sunni tribal people in Preparing To Repeat Past Mistakes? northern Iraq currently supporting ISIS have elected to do so because they have become deeply pessimistic about their future in a nation that has been directed by Shiites since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Their treatment under the Maliki Shiite-dominated government has especially not been good, he points out; Sunni grievances are real and they remain unresolved. Military force alone will not be capable of defeating Islamic terrorist movements, he said, when they can find sustenance from disaffected locals. Sunnis in the region, he points out, have been under brutal assault from both Assad and Baghdad. “The Sunni Air borne. A U.S. population feels under siege. Some of fighter jet refueling over them are turning to ISIS, beginning northern Iraq on Aug. 21. to see working with ISIS as a lesser of two evils.” Cortright adds that he is istening to President Obama’s speech on Sept. 10, outlining his adminis- concerned that President Obama may tration’s purportedly new strategy for defeating Islamic State militants in be “too quick to judge the new govern- LIraq and Syria, David Cortright found himself wondering what, if anything ment as inclusive. the United States has learned from its long and costly involvement in the region. “When the United States, especially, Cortright, the Director of Policy Studies at the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc uses force against them, it only stirs up Institute for International Peace Studies, heard the president detail a plan to “de- more hatred and drums up more sup- grade, and ultimately destroy, [ISIS] through a comprehensive and sustained count- port for their effort,” Cortright said. “It er-terrorism strategy.” The president’s plan includes air strikes against ISIS targets is counterproductive and a lot of data and may mean the arming of Syrian opposition forces now fighting against both can support that.” A truly winning ISIS and the Assad regime, while shoring up a third, presumably moderate force in counterinsurgency strategy, he argues, the complex Syrian civil war. must take into account the often com- On arming opposition fighters, Cortright pointed out that the United States plicated underlying political conditions should understand by now what can happen when the weapons it brings into a con- driving the conflict and include creative flict end up in the wrong hands. Many of the most destructive pieces of equipment diplomatic moves, like working with now deployed by ISIS fighters were seized from fleeing Iraqi soldiers, who aban- unlikely allies such as Iran and robust doned advanced weapons, tanks and armored humvees that had been provided by economic sanctions aimed at closing off the United States. And in the not-too-distant past U.S. agents have had to buy back funding sources such as oil sales. weapons on the black market after they fell into the wrong hands after U.S. intel- Which is not to say that the use of ligence agents armed the mujahedeen in Afghanistan. Nor has the United States force cannot sometimes be complete- proved capable of creating a self-sustaining moderate political movement in Iraq de- ly justified. Cortright points out that spite great effort there over a decade. Cortright worries that a moderate middle in the military may be required to pro- Syria will likewise prove a mirage. “It’s way too late to start that now,” he said. tect vulnerable, imminently threat- But the overall problem with the administration’s strategy to turn back the ISIS ened groups, as was recently the case

September 29 , 2014 America 9 SIGNS OF THE TIMES when Yazidi, Turkmen and Christian sor,” the pope said on Aug. 18. during the Mariel boat lift in 1980. villagers were targeted by ISIS. At “He made it clear that he was not While many advocates for exec- such times, the president’s plan to at- referring to bombing or to war,” said utive actions bemoaned the admin- tack ISIS forces may mesh with Pope Cortright. “The use of force is justified istration’s delay, the chairmen of the Francis’ recent call for appropriate and even necessary if it can save inno- U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ countermeasures to the extremist cent people from being killed, but that migration committee and its Catholic group. “In these cases, where there is does not justify bombing as a policy or Legal Immigration Network on Sept. an unjust aggression, I can only say engaging in warfare as a policy.” 9 urged Johnson to begin protecting that it is licit to stop the unjust aggres- Kevin Clarke undocumented individuals and families as soon as possible. “With immigration reform legislation stalled in Congress, Immigration our nation can no longer wait to end the suffering of family separation caused Executive Inaction on Reform by our broken immigration system,” resident Obama’s decision to Kevin Appleby, director of migration said the letter from Bishop Kevin W. delay executive measures on policy and public affairs at the U.S. Vann of Orange, Calif., chairman of Pimmigration until after the Conference of Catholic Bishops, told Clinic, and Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio November elections drew sharp re- The Los Angeles Times. “We would L. Elizondo of Seattle, the migration bukes from some of the most vocal like to see families protected as soon as committee chairman. advocates for immigrants, while oth- we can; however, we’d like to see them The bishops urged Johnson to ers continued to urge specific actions protected in a permanent way.” authorize deferred deportation for toward reform and analysts several groups of people, includ- weighed whether the delay hurts ing: those who have lived in the or helps candidates in close con- United States 10 years or lon- gressional races. ger who have strong ties here; In June, Obama asked the parents of U.S. citizens; parents heads of the departments of recipients of DACA; and of Justice and of Homeland U.S. residents who already are Security to come up with pos- approved for family or employ- sible steps he could take on his ment-based visas but whose cas- own to address some of the prob- es are backlogged or blocked be- lems of the broken immigration cause of years-long bars on their system. He said he would move Reform interrupted. Protesters in front of the applications. on those recommendations by White House on Aug. 28. Meanwhile, The Associated summer’s end, after word from Press reported on Sept. 11 that congressional leaders that there was The president said on Sept. 5 the administration has quietly slowed no chance they would act, even on a re- during a NATO summit news con- the rate of deportations by nearly 20 quest for emergency funding to handle ference in Wales that he was just then percent, after record-setting paces in a surge of Central American children receiving proposals from Homeland the previous few years. Since Obama and families entering the country. Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and took office in 2009, the administration With midterm elections approach- Attorney General Eric Holder. Among has deported more than 2.1 million ing in November, a political calcula- some of the possible steps that legal people. The number of deportations tion to protect vulnerable Democrats experts have suggested Obama might this fiscal year—258,608 from Oct. 1 from being linked to potentially un- take are extending to other groups the to July 28—is the lowest to date since popular actions appears to have tak- status given to certain young adults 2007. Among the reasons cited for the en precedence over that end-of-sum- in the program known as Deferred decrease is a shift in emphasis since mer goal. “The one concern of course Action for Childhood Arrivals and 2011 toward deporting criminal im- is the number of families that will be offering parole to new categories of migrants and those who are thought separated from now until November,” immigrants, like that given to Cubans to pose a security threat.

10 America September 29, 2014 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

U.S. Bishops Visit NEWS BRIEFS East Jerusalem U.S. bishops visiting the Holy Land on The “big man” of Northern Irish politics, Sept. 11 said an on-the-ground tour long-time antagonist of Ulster Catholics, about the situation in East Jerusalem late convert to the Good Friday Peace heightened their awareness of the set- Accords and former heckler of Pope John tlement issue in the divided city. “The Paul II, Ian Paisley, passed away at the age expansion of settlements is quick- of 88 on Sept. 12. • With at least 250 dead ly driving [the possibility of a two- and hundreds of thousands marooned state solution] off the drawing board,” and displaced, the Catholic Bishops’ Kashmir flood victims said Bishop Richard E. Pates of Des Conference of India appealed for help Moines, Iowa, chairman of the U.S. after the northern states of Jammu and Kashmir were devastated by bishops’ Committee on International torrential rains and flooding in early September. • Police in Bujumbura, Justice and Peace. During a two-hour Burundi, detained two suspects for questioning on Sept. 9 in the rape tour, the Israeli attorney and activist and murder of three elderly Xaverian Missionary Sisters of Mary: Daniel Seidemann shared his concerns Sisters Lucia Pulici, 75; Olga Raschietti, 82; Bernardetta Boggian, 79. for the increasingly shrinking window • The first church dedicated toS t. John Paul II in the Chinese Catholic of opportunity to push forward the world was blessed and inaugurated on Sept. 6 in Laiyi, in the Diocese concept of the two-state solution to the of Kaohsiung, Taiwan.• The Vatican confirmed on Sept. 12 that Pope Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He said that Francis would visit Turkey in November, but as speculation mounted while the Israeli enclaves embedded in that the pope would include a stop near the Iraq border, added that the East Jerusalem remain small, with at visit’s length and agenda had not been determined.• On Sept. 8 Pope most 2,500 Israeli Jews living there, it is Francis accepted the resignation of Cardinal Seán Brady, who will be still possible to withdraw them, but that succeeded by coadjutor Archbishop Eamon Martin as Archbishop of if the settlements continue to expand, Armagh and Primate of all Ireland. the situation will become more compli- cated. In Catania, the Caritas Help Center kidnappings and sale of young girls Landing in Sicily stayed open the whole summer to pro- under the false premises of religious At least 124,000 migrants entered vide food, shelter and clothing to some teachings as is done, for example, by Italy in the first eight months of this 400 migrants and other homeless peo- Boko Haram in Nigeria or by the so- year, more than twice the 60,000 who ple. “The poor don’t go away on vaca- called Islamic State group in northern arrived in all of 2013. The vast major- tion,” the Rev. Piero Galvano, director Iraq.” Archbishop Tomasi pointed ity landed first in Sicily. Seeing to the of Caritas in Catania, told BlogSicilia, out that “some 250,000 children are new arrivals’ immediate needs in Sicily’s an online publication, in July. “Migrants forcibly conscripted and even used as multiple port cities is now a joint effort deserve being treated with dignity and ‘human shields’ in the front lines of between church and civil society. In respect. Tending to them is a sign of civ- armed conflicts.” He added, however, January, the Palermo branch of Caritas ilization.” that “other, subtler forms of slavery” signed a convention with city author- also deserve attention, “including the ities to open four centers for migrants, Ending Slavery 5.7 million children who are victims known as extraordinary welcome cen- of forced and bonded labor, domestic ters, which currently house 160 people. In Our Time servitude, early, forced and servile mar- When groups of migrants suddenly ar- In an address at the Human Rights riage...and caste-based forms of slav- rive, Caritas volunteers greet their boats Council in Geneva on Sept. 11, ery, which affect the lives of so many with food, clothes and medical help. Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Holy and are not confined to developing and In an emergency, Palermo churches re- See’s permanent observer at the United poor countries.” move pews and install cots, provided by Nations, described the tragic forms of the city, for stays of as long as a week. contemporary slavery, such as “massive From CNS, RNS and other sources.

September 29 , 2014 America 11 SIGNS OF THE TIMES dispatch | beijing the murder at McDonald’s. The five may have been trying to proselytize the A Crackdown on Christianity woman at the time; they allegedly blud- geoned her to death when she refused he heat was on Christians of It was during these church and cross to hand over her phone number. all denominations in China demolitions that one of the province’s The Chinese government previ- Tthis summer, as an ongo- most iconic churches, the 140-year- ously demonstrated its determination ing campaign sought to reassert the old, French-built Jiangbei Sacred to eliminate what it views as harmful Communist Party’s ideological lead- Heart Cathedral in Ningbo, caught fire religious groups during its campaign ership. In one of the most overtly an- and burned. The traditional, seafaring against the quasi-Buddhist sect Falun ti-mainstream religious movements in city of Ningbo stands at the conflu- Gong after its members encircled the years, Protestant churches were tar- ence of three rivers, a sort of Chinese Zhongnanhai leadership complex in geted in one of Christianity’s strongest Pittsburgh. Catholics there at first be- Beijing in 1999. Falun Gong had by regions, coastal Zhejiang Province, lieved that the cross-removal campaign that point recruited millions and count- where crosses displayed on churches had taken a dark, new turn, but no evi- ed many Communist Party members were systematically removed and in dence of arson has been found. The fire and People’s Liberation Army officers some cases churches or shrines among its ranks. were torn down. China also made its stance on The cross removals were Worship will be relations with the Vatican clear initiated by the province’s as Pope Francis visited nearby Communist Party secretary, Xia restricted to South Korea. Pope Francis be- Baolong, who felt the symbols state-operated churches. came the first pope to fly through were too overt. The crackdown, Chinese airspace, sending greet- which appeared to be limited to ings to China’s President Xi Zhejiang, was portrayed by authorities was probably no more than an unhappy Jinping as he did. Those tidings of joy as moves against churches that were il- coincidence. The church’s loss is being were not met in kind. Although Beijing legally constructed. The campaign was felt by Catholic and other Ningbo citi- was never on the pope’s itinerary for his widely seen, however, as an effort to di- zens alike. The cathedral was a favorite first visit to Asia, Chinese Catholics minish the rapid growth of Christianity backdrop for young people’s wedding were told not to journey to Korea to in the area, in part by reducing the “sky- photos, regardless of their faith. participate in any related events there, line” of crosses. Following the highly publi- and there was no news coverage in Most surprising was that the major- cized beating death of a woman at a China of the pope’s visit to its neighbor. ity of the targeted churches had been McDonald’s restaurant in Shandong These various threads of official built with state authorization, unlike Province, government officials also resistance to Christianity were tied the unapproved churches, including moved decisively against the Church together into a more coherent, if wor- underground Catholic churches loyal of Almighty God, a quasi-Christian risome policy in an announcement to the Vatican, which are the usual vic- cult also known as “Eastern Lightning.” made in late August: Chinese author- tims of periodic repression. (China has (The group takes its name from Mt ities plan to formulate and promulgate no official relations with the Vatican 24:27: “For as lightning that comes an official version of Chinese Christian and requires Chinese Catholics to be- from the east is visible even in the west, theology, with catechisms to be used long to the Chinese Patriotic Catholic so will be the coming of the Son of by Catholics and Protestants. Worship Association.) Man.”) Eastern Lightning has become will be restricted to state-operated an outlawed religious group because churches led by state-ordained priests of its specific antigovernment stance and ministers. Steven Schwankert, author of Poseidon: and because of its classification as a If the summer was sweltering for China’s Secret Salvage of Britain’s Lost cult. About 1,000 of its adherents have Christianity in China, then the ap- Submarine (Hong Kong University Press), is America’s Beijing correspondent. Twitter: been arrested, and five of its members proaching winter may prove bitterly @stevenschwankert. were put on trial in late August after cold. Steven Schwankert

12 America September 29, 2014 September 29 , 2014 America 13 WASHINGTON FRONT Finding Hope in a ‘Messy’ World resident Obama recently said, aggression and epidemics? Where is national security, humanitarian obliga- “If you watch the nightly news, Congress? tions and lack of viable alternatives re- Pit feels like the world is fall- In responding to ISIS, President quire military action. ing apart…. The world’s always been Obama committed truth, saying, “We On probability of success, the mission messy. We’re just noticing now in part don’t yet have a strategy.” Having left needs to be clear, the means outlined because of social media.” Excuse me, his administration, Hillary Clinton and “success” defined. Despite the cour- but the problem is not increased aware- said Obama’s caution, “Don’t do stupid age, sacrifice and skills of our military, ness. The world is broken and bloody stuff,” is not a global strategy. But stupid World War II was our nation’s last in ways far beyond “messiness” as usual. choices on Iraq, delay on immigration clear major military victory. U.S. inter- From August: and absence of a just peace for Israelis ventions in Korea, Vietnam, Lebanon, • The Islamic State showcased on the and Palestinians contributed to these Somalia, Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq web the execution of American jour- humanitarian disasters. have often led to stale- nalists, as they kill or exile Christians, For difficult choices, Suffering mate, tragedy or disap- Yazidis and Shiites who do not share Catholic moral tradition of- pointment. their perversion of Islam; fers ethical criteria: protec- people On matters of discrim- • On our border, young people risk tion of human life, dignity are not ination and proportionali- their lives to flee violence and depriva- and rights; priority for the ty, our nation should re- tion, becoming excuses for leaders to poor and vulnerable; pursuit issues, sist the temptation to use oppose or delay reform of a broken im- of peace and the common tactics and weapons that migration system; good. Catholic teaching of- but sisters minimize U.S. casualties • In Africa, the Ebola virus takes the fers traditional just war prin- and without equal commit- lives of thousands and threatens many ciples that resist, restrain ment to safeguard civil- more. Boko Haram kidnaps school- and guide use of military brothers. ian lives. Drone strikes girls, attacks churches and has killed force. Even a pope named and bombing campaigns 5,000 people; Francis said, “It is licit to stop the un- have moral, as well as military, limits. • The conflict in the Holy Land just aggressor” and added: “With what Believers should raise ethical ques- worsens since Hamas missiles target- means can they be stopped? These have tions, but faith requires more. In these ed Israeli civilians and Israeli responses to be evaluated.” sad places, beyond the horrible loss of killed more civilians than combatants Concerning legitimate authority, the life is the terrible loss of hope. Fear in Gaza. church rightly urges international au- and anger feed a cycle of violence and These crises are visible to us most- thorization and warns against unilater- despair. The suffering people in Iraq ly when they touch Americans. The al action. In our own nation, Congress and Syria, in Ukraine and Africa and horrific murder of American journal- prefers to second guess rather than to on our borders are not issues, but sis- ists exposed for many the brutality of debate and decide. Have we learned the ters and brothers. They deserve our ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Children cross- dangers in a democracy of military ac- assistance, solidarity and defense of ing our border made violence and de- tion without full debate, shared sacrifice their lives and rights. All of us need spair in Central America visible. The and a commitment to pay the price? A the hope that the world that is “falling illness of American caregivers brought volunteer army and war weariness do apart” can, with their courage and our the Ebola epidemic to our attention. not relieve us of the duty to consider action, become a more just and peace- Dysfunctional institutions exacer- fully the moral, human and financial ful place. bate these crises. Where is the United costs of action…or inaction. Pope Francis defined our task, Nations in the face of war crimes, On last resort, President Obama “Today, amid so much darkness, we seems to be the personification of “last need to see the light of hope and to be John Carr is director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at resort.” Elected to end wars, not start men and women who bring hope to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. them, he has grudgingly decided that others.” John Carr

14 America September 29, 2014

Go and Do Likewise Lessons from the parable of the Good Samaritan By Amy-Jill Levine

hroughout the English-speaking world the parable heard today are generally good news. What is not to term “good Samaritan” is synonymous with like about helping the stranger and being charitable toward charitable do-gooders. Hospitals with the others? But those are not the messages a first-century Jewish name “Samaritan” appear throughout the audience would have heard. The parable for them would not United States, from Medstar Good Samaritan have been about looking after a fellow human being, and the THospital in Baltimore to Good Samaritan Hospital in parable is not, finally, an answer to the question, “Who is my Los Angeles. Australia has the Good Samaritan Donkey neighbor?” It is more provocative than that. And if we readers Sanctuary, which does exactly what its name suggests. identify with the Samaritan—as the politicians and charitable The parable of the good Samaritan is so well known for organizations do—we have missed the deeper implications of its message of aiding the stranger that it has become a staple the parable as well. of political discourse. Former U.S. president George W. Bush Worse, the standard identification we readers have today invoked the parable in his first inaugural address: “I can pledge with the Samaritan leads to the standard anti-Jewish interpre- our nation to a goal: when we see that wounded traveler on tations that have infected much of New Testament study. In the road to Jericho, we will not pass to the other side.” For many Christian contexts, the Samaritan comes to represent President Bush, the parable is about taking care of nations in the Christian who has learned to care for others or to break distress. free of prejudice, whereas the priest and the Levite represent In the 1970s, I heard a citizen of Sierra Leone interpret the Judaism, understood to be xenophobic, promoting ritual pu- parable as proclaiming that one should take aid from whoever rity over compassion, proclaiming self-interest over love of would offer it, even the enemy, and thus Jesus gave warrant neighbor and otherwise being something that needs to be for his country’s acceptance of aid from the Soviet Union. rejected. Although I do not think that this reading is quite the origi- To get an initial hint of the distance between the mind- nal import of the parable, it at least highlights two important set of parable’s original audience and our own 21st-century points. It recognizes the role of the Samaritan as enemy and perspectives, we might begin by reflecting briefly on the term suggests the possibility of interpreter “good Samaritan.” Today, we use the identification with the wounded man term as if it were not peculiar. Yet as rather than the Samaritan who gives far as I am aware, there are no “Good aid. The standard reading is the one Catholic” or “Good Baptist” hospitals. in which “we” are the Samaritans; “we To label the Samaritan, any Samaritan, Samaritans” help “them,” the sick, the a “good Samaritan” should be, in today’s poor, foreign nationals and so on. climate, seen as offensive. It is tanta- The parable of the good Samaritan mount to saying, “He’s a good Muslim” has come to mean whatever we want it (as opposed to all those others who, in to mean. In one respect, this inevitable this configuration, would be terrorists) appropriation is to be appreciated. Texts or “She’s a good immigrant” (as opposed should always take on new meaning as to all those others who, in this same they are encountered by new readers from new cultural con- configuration, are here to take our jobs or scam our welfare texts. However, texts also have their own original context. system). But what happens when we strip away 2,000 years of The various appropriations and interpretations of the usually benevolent and well-intended domestication and hear the parable as a first-century short story spoken by a Jew to Amy-Jill Levine is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish other Jews? Studies, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies and Professor of Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School and Who is My Neighbor? College of Arts and Science in Nashville, Tenn. This article was adapted from her new book, Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of Jesus tells the parable of the good Samaritan in response to a Controversial Rabbi (HarperOne). a lawyer’s question: “And who is my neighbor?” (Lk 10:29).

16 America September 29, 2014 The lawyer’s question has legal merit. One needs to know who are neighbors, and so under the Law, and who are not. But in the context of love, his question is not relevant. According to Leviticus, love has to extend beyond the people in one’s group. Leviticus 19 insists on loving the stranger as well. For our parable, the lawyer’s question is again misguided. To ask “Who is my neighbor?” is a polite way of asking, “Who is not my neighbor?” or “Who does not deserve my love?” or “Whose lack of food or shelter can I ignore?” or “Whom I can hate?” The answer Jesus gives is, “No one.” Everyone deserves that love—local or alien, Jews or gentile—everyone. According to Jewish law, the lawyer is responsible for loving those like him and those who are not like him but who live in proximity to him although they are not part of his people, the “children of Israel” as he defined the term. Leviticus does not explicitly require him to love his “enemy” who lives across the border, outside the boundaries of the community. In Jewish thought, one could not mis- treat the enemy, but love was not mandated. Proverbs 25:21 insists, “If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink” (Paul cites Prv 25:21–22 in Rom 12:20). Only Jesus insists on loving the enemy: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” He may be the only person in antiquity to have given this instruction. The traveler in the parable is stripped, beat- en and left half dead in a ditch. He is robbed not only of his possessions, but also of his dignity, his health and almost his life. Luke describes him as having “wounds” (Gk. trau- mata, hence “trauma”). The lawyer had asked about eternal ing corpse contamination and so violating purity laws. But life—he should rather be worried about those left half dead. there is nothing impure about touching a person who is “half And yet half dead is still alive; the man is, despite being naked dead.” Nor is there any sin involved in burying a corpse; to (as would be a corpse before shrouding) and prostrate, alive. the contrary, the Torah expects corpses to be interred. The Listeners, identifying with him, can only hope that rescue will Law, rather, required that both men attend to the fellow in come. And because they identify with him, their question— the ditch, whether alive or dead, for one is to “love the neigh- and so our question—is: “Who will help me?” bor” and “love the stranger” both. Just as the fellow in the ditch is revictimized by being la- Arguments that read the parable in terms of “uncleanness” beled a despised merchant or a bad Jew, so too the priest or “purity” are made by modern Christians, not by Jesus or and the Levite receive their share of negative interpretations Luke. Neither gives the priest or Levite an excuse. Nor would that go well beyond the justified critique of their failure to any excuse be acceptable. Their responsibility was to save a act. Stereotypes get in the way. From both classroom and life; they failed. Saving a life is so important that Jewish Law pulpit comes the claim that the priest and the Levite pass mandates that it override every other concern, including keep- enata S edmakova P hoto:shutterstock.com/ R enata in madrid, spain. rupnik, S .j., in almudena cathedral by pater “good samaritan,” by the man in the ditch, because they are afraid of contract- ing the Sabbath (e.g., 1 Mc 2:31–41; 2 Mc 6:11; Mishnah,

September 29, 2014 America 17 Shabbat 18:3). Their responsibility, should the man have died, today’s interpreters, the hook by which the sermon func- was to bury the corpse. They failed here as well. tions. In a number of settings, the parable serves as a warn- The best explanation I have heard for the refusal of the ing against prejudice; for example, the two who walk by are priest and the Levite to come to the aid of the man in the a pastor and a choir director, while the Samaritan is a gay ditch comes from Martin Luther King Jr., who preached: man, an “illegal immigrant,” a person on parole or any oth- “I’m going to tell you what my er victim of bigotry. The point in imagination tells me. It’s possible this reading is that “they” are really these men were afraid.... And so To understand the parable nice, that “we” sometimes fail in the first question that the priest as did its original our obligations to help and that [and] the Levite asked was, ‘If I “we” too should “have compassion” stop to help this man, what will audience, we need to on those who are mistreated. happen to me?’... But then the But to understand the parable good Samaritan came by, and he think of Samaritans less as as did its original audience, we reversed the question: ‘If I do not need to think of Samaritans less as stop to help this man, what will oppressed but benevolent oppressed but benevolent figures happen to him?’” King went on, and more as the enemy, as those “If I do not stop to help the san- figures and more as the who do the oppressing. From itation workers, what will hap- enemy, as those who do the perspective of the man in the pen to them?” King then went to ditch, Jewish listeners might balk Memphis, and it was there he was the oppressing. at the idea of receiving Samaritan assassinated. There are bandits on aid. They might have thought, “I’d the road. rather die than acknowledge that Whatever the motives of the priest and the Levite, King one from that group saved me”; “I do not want to acknowl- is correct. They, like the lawyer, thought only about them- edge that a rapist has a human face”; or “I do not want to selves, not about the man in the ditch. recognize that a murderer will be the one to rescue me.” The lawyer asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus The Rule of Three reframes the question. As Martin Luther King Jr. so elo- For Jesus’ audience, and for any synagogue congregation to- quently revealed in his sermon, asking the right question is day, the third of the group is obvious. Mention a priest and of utmost importance. The issue for Jesus is not the “who,” a Levite, and anyone who knows anything about Judaism but the “what,” not the identity but the action. The lawyer will know that the third person is an Israelite. The audience, is unable even to voice the hated name “Samaritan.” He can surprised at this lack of compassion, would have presumed only say, “The one doing mercy for him.” both that the third person would be an Israelite and that The parable spoke about compassion, but the lawyer he would help. However, Jesus is telling a parable, and par- read the action as one of mercy. His rephrasing the issue ables never go the way one expects. Instead of the anticipat- is apt: compassion can be felt in the gut; mercy needs to ed Israelite, the person who stops to help is a Samaritan. In be enacted with the body. The term may come from Luke, modern terms, this would be like going from Larry and Moe who uses it extensively, but only in the infancy materials, to Osama bin Laden. where mercy is an attribute of the divine: For the lawyer, The Samaritan’s compassion then becomes, for many of and for Luke’s readers, the Samaritan does what God does. The divine is manifested only through our actions. Therefore, Jesus responds to the lawyer’s observation not with a question and not with a parable, but with an imperative: “Go,” he says, “and you do likewise.” We do not know what the lawyer did following this parable. Nor do we know if the parable was actually spoken to a lawyer, or if Luke has provided both the opening and closing frame. All we can know is what we, upon hearing this parable in its narrative frame, will do. A

18 America September 29, 2014 Everyone’s Vocation Calling for an end to lay clericalism By Russell Shaw

n The Edge of Sadness, the elegiac successor to his wild- a layman and has to live as a layman with the strength of his ly successful novel The Last Hurrah, Edwin O’Connor baptism, which enables him to be a leaven of the love of God places these words about the priesthood and lay cler- in society…not from his pulpit but from his everyday life.” icalism in the mouth of the story’s priest-narrator: Contrast that with the praises sung today—from pulpits, I“Probably in no other walk of life is a young man so often pastoral letters and Catholic media—to the excellence of lay and so humbly approached by his elders and asked for his ministries, as well as the customary silence regarding the ap- advice. Which, by the way, is almost always received grate- ostolic role of Catholic lay people in the world. fully and forgotten promptly.” The emergence of lay ecclesial ministries has been an im- Much has changed in Catholicism since TAKING CHARGE. John Lundy leads a class in English as a 1961, when The Edge Second Language as a member of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps, of Sadness was pub- in the South Bronx section of New York City. lished, but the am- bivalent clericalism of the Catholic laity per- sists, albeit in altered forms. Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires captured one expression of it in an interview not long before he became known to the world as Pope Francis: “We priests tend to clericalize the laity. We do not real- ize it, but it is as if we infect them with our own thing. And the laity—not all of them but many—ask us on their knees to clericalize them, because it is more comfortable to be an altar boy than the protagonist of a lay path.” But, someone might ask, what’s so bad about being an al- portant development in Catholicism over the last 40 years. regory A . S hemitz P hoto: CNS photo/ G regory tar server? The future pope gave this answer: “The layman is It has brought fresh vitality to many parishes and made a significant contribution to pastoral work. The problem is not lay ministry as such but the clericalization of the laity Russell Shaw, author of To Hunt, to Shoot, to Entertain: and the neglect of formation for the lay apostolate in the Clericalism and the Catholic Laity (Wipf and Stock), is the former secretary for public affairs of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops/ world that have accompanied its rise. Now, barring a sudden U.S. Catholic Conference. change, Pope Francis’ vision of a missionary church engaged

September 29, 2014 America 19 in outreach to the world is at risk of being a dead letter for life and to the perfection of love” (“Dogmatic Constitution American Catholicism. If that happens, the clericalism of on the Church,” No. 40). At the same time, of course, “by the Catholic laity will deserve a large share of the blame. reason of their special vocation it belongs to the laity to seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and di- Father Knows Best? recting them according to God’s will” (No. 31). The sources of lay clericalism are of two kinds: historical-so- Against this background, Pope Francis’ call for a mission- ciological and theological-pastoral. It is a holdover from the ary church should be seen as an antidote to lay clericalism. time when the priest was the best educated Catholic in the In the first chapter of his apostolic exhortation “The Joy of village (or the old neighborhood, in the days of immigrant the Gospel,” which lays out the program of this pontificate, Catholicism). The U.S. bishops’ struggle with lay trusteeism under the heading “A Church Which Goes Forth” Francis during the 19th century heightened the lay-clerical divide. writes: “All of us are called to take part in this new mission- The result was a state of clerical ascendancy and superficial ary ‘going forth.’ Each Christian and every community must lay subservience like that reflected in the passage fromThe discern the path that the Lord points out, but all of us are Edge of Sadness: Father knows best, so let’s ask him—and asked to obey his call to go forth from our own comfort zone then do pretty much as we like. in order to reach all the ‘peripheries’ in need of the light of The theological-pastoral source of lay clericalism was and the Gospel” (No. 20). still is a defective understanding of vocation premised on the That includes the laity. “All the baptized, whatever their universally normative character of the clerical state. In this position in the church or their level of instruction in the way of thinking, other states and modes of being a member faith, are agents of evangelization.” A plan of action intend- of the church are rated by how closely they approximate the ed only for church professionals is not sufficient. “The new state of clerics. The central importance of personal vocation evangelization calls for personal involvement on the part of is overlooked, so that to say, as St. John Paul II did, that each of the baptized” (No. 120). personal vocation “defines the dignity and the responsibil- Nor is ecclesial lay ministry the answer. Francis writes: ity” of lay women and men (“Christifideles Laici,” No. 58) “Even if many are now involved in lay ministries, this involve- is taken simply as rhetoric. What counts is participation in ment is not reflected in a greater penetration of Christian some form of ministry that brings a lay person within the values in the social, political and economic sectors. It often penumbra of the clerical state. remains tied to tasks within the church, without a real com- The harm done by lay clericalism is also of two principal mitment to applying the Gospel to the transformation of kinds. society. The formation of the laity and the evangelization of First, it impoverishes the church’s mission in the world. professional and intellectual life represent a significant pas- Lay people imbued with a clericalist spirit are tempted to toral challenge” (No. 102). suppose they are doing all that can reasonably be asked of them by taking part in parish-centered ministries. Preaching The Job of Lay Catholics and catechesis often reinforce this attitude. In what areas are the efforts of the laity to apply the Gospel In such circumstances, the idea of giving witness to to the transformation of society especially needed today? In Gospel values in everyday life—on the job, in the neighbor- “Christifideles Laici” St. John Paul II identified these eight: hood, in social contacts and at home—does not register very promoting the dignity of the person, fostering respect for the strongly. These are often good, decent people leading good, right to life, defending freedom of conscience and religious decent lives, but the notion that they have been called to be freedom, protecting and encouraging marriage and family lay apostles in the secular order—an ideal that at least re- life, engaging in works of charity, participating in public life, ceived lip service in the days when Catholic Action was in placing the individual at the center of socioeconomic life and vogue—seldom occurs to them. the evangelization of culture. More than that, however, the mentality of lay clericalism It is not the church’s job to tell lay Catholics exactly how also assumes a two-tiered spirituality, to the disadvantage of to apply the Gospel in any of these contexts—how Catholic lay people. There is a high spirituality associated with the doctors should practice medicine, Catholic lawyers should clerical state (whether particular clergymen pursue it or not practice law, Catholic politicians should do politics, Catholic is another question) and then there is the minimalistic, le- writers should write and so on. The church’s responsibility galistic spirituality thought to be appropriate for the laity. is to form them to shoulder the task according to their own Forms of spirituality do indeed differ according to state well-formed judgment. in life and vocation; but in the end there is only one sanctity, In part, this formation is a work of instruction; and today, as the Second Vatican Council made clear: “All Christians in it seems, many lay Catholics are dismayingly uninstructed in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian the faith. Not long ago, chatting with a small group of intelli-

20 America September 29, 2014 gent, serious-minded lay people about the social teaching of Protestants rather than her fellow Catholics. O’Connor’s re- the church, I mentioned the universal destination of goods sponse, dated May 4, 1963, reads, in part: as a central principle of this body of doctrine. The reaction was blank disbelief: Surely the Catholic Church never said To a lot of Protestants I know, monks and nuns are anything like that? If this incident was typical—and unfor- fanatics, none greater. And to a lot of the monks and tunately I suspect it was—there is an enormous amount of nuns I know, my Protestant prophets are fanatics. For instruction to be done. my part, I think the only difference between them is In part, too, this is a work of vocational discernment. that if you are a Catholic and have this intensity of be- Clericalist thinking supposes “discernment” to be something lief you join the convent and are heard from no more; done only by the comparatively small number of people who whereas if you are a Protestant and have it, there is no at any particular time are engaged in making up their minds convent for you to join and you go about in the world, about whether to be clerics and religious. From the perspec- getting into all sorts of trouble and drawing the wrath tive of personal vocation, however, continuing discernment of people who don’t believe in anything much at all of God’s will, not only in large matters but ordinary ones, down on your head. is a lifelong need for all the baptized, laypeople as much as members of the clergy and religious. This is hardly a new No longer is it the case that Catholics who “join the con- thought. It is very much in the spirit of what Jean Pierre de vent” are necessarily “heard from no more.” But the funda- Caussade, S.J., called the “sacrament of the present moment” mental point still stands: The assumptions underlying the and Cardinal John Henry Newman’s insight that “we are not clericalism of the laity prevent them from undertaking the called once only, but many times, all through our life Christ work of evangelization. As Flannery O’Connor might say, is calling us.” Yet in how many parishes do parishioners re- we need well formed Catholic lay women and men who ceive regular encouragement and guidance for day-by-day are ready and willing to go about the world getting into discernment of what God is calling them to do? trouble and drawing down “the wrath of people who don’t Finally, it is good to recall something another writer believe in anything much at all.” And as Pope Francis keeps named O’Connor—Flannery O’Connor—said when asked telling us, it is time to set aside lay clericalism and get on in a letter from Sister Mariella Gable why she wrote about with the job. A

from our blogs Gay Groups in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade: Cardinal Dolan’s Pastoral the national catholic review Choice, Mary Ann Walsh, R.S.M Obamacare Can Mean Anything VIDEO You Want It To The debut of “America Films”: a profile of gradua- Robert David Sullivan tion at Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Pope Francis Accepts Resignation Reservation of South Dakota. of Ireland’s Cardinal Sean Brady, Gerard O’Connell

INTERVIEW what you are reading A Q&A with Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B., about Holy Spirits, Carlos Mesquita her new book of collected writings. The Message of Mercy, Walter Kasper Q&A with Father Ron Rolheiser OMI, Sean Salai, S.J.

THE LIVING WORD Elizabeth Tenety Named Engagement Scott W. Hahn on the scriptural insights of Joseph and Community Editor for America Ratzinger. The Battle of the Nuns Raymond A. Schroth, S.J.

What You’re Talking About: “We trust Jesus when he says we must love our neighbor and care for the least of us—we must trust what he says about marriage as well.” — Marie Austen on The Message of Mercy Wednesdays at 1 p.m. on The Catholic Channel 129

September 29, 2014 America 21 Unsung Miracles Catholic Charities fights poverty ‘one family at a time.’ By Thomas J. Healey young man whose brother was killed on the Nearly 80 percent of these individuals received some sort streets of Paterson turned up days later at the of food distribution from Catholic Charity-run food banks, Father English Community Center with a sim- pantries or other services, while the remainder benefited ple request. Poor and marginally employed, he from prepared meals served through soup kitchens, congre- Aneeded a suit, shirt and tie to wear to his brother’s funer- gate dining or home delivered meals. al. Carlos Roldan, who oversees the clothes closet, food Catholic Charities serves members of our communities pantry and furniture warehouse at Father English, part of in a surprising number of other ways as well. For example, Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Paterson, N.J., treated nearly a million clients were on the receiving end of a wide the request as he had hundreds of others. The man left with range of health-related services in 2012. This assistance— a brand new set of clothes he had picked out for himself. provided without regard to religious, social or economic “That’s why we’re here,” Mr. Roldan insists, “to offer services backgrounds—includes mental health counseling and help to those most in need, and to do it in a way that treats them for people battling addictions. It also includes pregnancy-re- with dignity and respect.” lated aid, like educational programs within schools, resi- Nationally, Catholic Charities U.S.A. repeated such acts dential housing services for pregnant women and assistance of compassion with more than 17 million clients in 2012— with prescription medicines. and has served more than a billion people since its found- In the field of housing, Catholic Charities U.S.A. reached ing in 1910 on the campus of The Catholic University of out to nearly a half-million clients. Among the critical ser- America in Washington, D.C. As the second largest social vices it provides are rental and home mortgage assistance, service provider today, after the federal government, Catholic temporary shelter, foreclosure counseling, home repairs Charities goes about its work day after day with little fanfare and help finding a place to live. In addition to low-income or, for that matter, public recognition. But for many of the families, recipients of these services include the physically estimated 50 million people in this country (including 13 challenged and senior citizens. Catholic Charities is further million children) who live below the poverty line, the organi- focused on improving the economic security of families by zation is nothing short of an unsung miracle worker. providing assistance for clothing, utilities, finances and other C.C.U.S.A. has become over the years a strong national essential needs. advocate for the most vulnerable in our society, tending to Refugees and immigrants are another segment of soci- their immediate needs while calling for more effective and effi- ety that increasingly relies on the beneficence of Catholic cient public policy for poverty relief. Pope Francis has elevated Charities. Nearly 300,000 people were able to tap into le- the dialogue by championing the cause of the poor globally, gal services, and another 130,000 received assistance in urging people everywhere “not to place ourselves above others, such important areas as interpreter services, job placement, but rather lower ourselves, place ourselves at the service of the English as a Second Language instruction and employment poor, make ourselves small and poor with them.” training. As part of this growing effort, some 580 parishes or congregations—an increase of more than 100 from the A National Network of Support prior year—sponsored or provided sponsorship assistance Given the poor state of the economy in recent years, it is not to refugees in 2012. surprising that much of the demand for Catholic Charities No organization has been more active—or resourceful— services has been has been driven by hunger. Indeed, more in its work with refugees and immigrants than Catholic than nine million clients received food assistance in 2012, Charities Fort Worth in Texas. With the goal of “eradicat- according to the organization’s most recent annual survey, ing poverty one family at a time,” in the words of Heather a dramatic increase of 40 percent over the previous year. Reynolds, the president and chief executive officer, the organization created the Translation & Interpretation Network, Thomas J. Healey, a retired partner of Goldman, Sachs & Co., is a a for-profit business that provides its services to local busi- senior fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and nesses, hospitals and the court system. From the $1.8 mil- treasurer of the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management. lion the business earned in 2013, it paid a living wage to its

22 America September 29, 2014 Pope Francis has elevated the dialogue by championing the cause of the poor globally.

STEP RIGHT UP. Volunteers at the Emergency Assistance Program of Chicago Catholic Charities.

300 interpreters and translators, each an immigrant or ref- of becoming homeless after moving from Puerto Rico ugee client of Catholic Charities Fort Worth. It has also es- and having no job prospects, Mr. Ruiz found his way to tablished a for-profit fashion accessory line staffed by other Catholic Charities, where he was able to tap into the food immigrant and refugee women from the area who are paid pantry to feed his family of four. When New Jersey’s child fair and steady wages for the knitting they do in their homes, welfare agency told him he would lose custody of his two often while caring for young children. children if the family did not have a place to live, Catholic To provide this vast array of assistance year after year, Charities found the family an apartment in a nearby town, C.C.U.S.A. depends on a network of more than 160 local paid the security deposit and first month’s rent and ar- Catholic Charities agencies nationwide. In addition to em- ranged for a job interview. Mr. Ruiz was able to secure a ploying some 70,000 people, it counts on several hundred full-time job. thousand volunteers at the grass-roots level to help meet ba- Last year, the network of six pantries run by Catholic sic human needs. Charities Diocese of Paterson provided over 1.5 million meals to over 9,000 individuals each month, a third of them A Good Neighbor in Paterson children. “Many of these youngsters would have gone hun- Though it is just a small part of this tightly woven mosaic, gry if not for Catholic Charities,” emphasizes Mr. Roldan Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Paterson, N.J., offers a from Father English Community Center. telling example of one agency’s extraordinary commitment Mr. Roldan’s own pantry in downtown Paterson is a to the communities it serves. As Joseph Duffy, president of model of efficiency and empathy. Instead of standing in the Secretariat for Catholic Charities at the diocese, suc- line to collect bagged food items randomly gathered by its cinctly puts it: “We’re combining our faith and Catholic staff, clients are given a cart and allowed to gather canned teaching with good works to be a neighbor to society’s most goods and other nonperishables they most need from pan- vulnerable.” try shelves under a point system designed to ensure fair al- Among the beneficiaries is Mario Ruiz (who asked that location among all families. At the same location, clients— his real name not be used) and his family. On the verge many of them working poor—have access to clothing and P hoto:reuters/jim young

September 29, 2014 America 23 furniture that are typically donated by members of more Each facility provides compassionate, round-the-clock care than 70 parishes across the diocese. as well as vocational training and paid work opportunities Staffing the diocese’s pantries are volunteers who are me- for many residents during the day. ticulous about their work. On a recent morning, a group was Paterson’s diverse grass roots organization—which re- carefully sorting through a roomful of garments that lay in cently celebrated its 75th anniversary—relies heavily on neat bundles on the floor. “Our volunteers spend their time government support along with grants and gifts from mem- selecting the best items for our clients,” said a beaming Mr. bers of the church and the public. “Our people do an excel- Roldan. “When people come here, we don’t want them to see lent job year-to-year working with the resources we have,” anything that’s ripped or that smells bad.” acknowledges Mr. Duffy, who is also the executive director That scrupulousness is on display across the agency’s of Straight & Narrow, “but with more than 800,000 people other community-based programs, including Straight & in New Jersey living in poverty, we’re constantly struggling to Narrow, the oldest and largest drug and alcohol treatment keep up with the demand for our services.” program in New Jersey. At the corner of Straight and No operation has felt the pressure more than Paterson’s Narrow Streets, the organization’s clean and professionally food pantries—at least until recently. A diocesan-wide food managed center in Paterson provided both residential and drive this summer—cooked up by Mr. Duffy and actively intensive outpatient services to over 7,000 adolescents and supported by Bishop Arthur Serratelli on down—successful- adults in 2013. The program even boasts a gospel choir that ly filled pantry shelves at a time of the year when shortages is booked for performances most weekends of the year. and rationing are common. The overwhelming response to the A widely acclaimed system of care centers for those with drive turned into a huge logistical exercise for Carlos Roldan developmental and intellectual disabilities is equally com- and his small team, however, who transported truckloads of mitted to improving lives on a one-by-one basis. Through food each day from multiple drop-off sites across three coun- its Department for Persons With Disabilities, Catholic ties to the various pantries. At one point, a parish coordinator Charities of Paterson cares for 75 adults in nine group homes expressed her sympathies to Mr. Roldan for the punishing task and two apartment programs, including Murray House in he had assumed. Carlos gave a characteristic response: “That’s Clifton, the oldest group home of its kind in New Jersey. a problem I’m happy to take on any day of the week.” A

24 America September 29, 2014 Liturgy on the Hours So many Masses, so little time By Frank D. Almade

here is a clever scene in the movie “A Few Good Men,” in which a naval attorney, played by Tom Cruise, has been trying to get a Marine on the witness stand to de- Tscribe a Code Red—a situation in which a superior officer orders a Marine to rough up a fellow Marine who is failing to carry out his duties in a satisfactory manner. The prosecutor in the court martial, played by Kevin Bacon, challenges the witness to point out where exactly in the Marine handbook there is a defi- nition of a Code Red. He cannot—because it is not in there. Cruise jumps up, grabs the handbook from Bacon and asks the Marine: “Can you point to the chapter where it describes the mess hall?” The Marine cannot. Cruise asks, in mock horror: “You mean they don’t feed you?” “No,” the Marine responds with a grin, “we get spirituality. three square meals a day.” But the very next canon (905, §1–2) places limits on how “But how do you find the mess hall, if it is not described often a priest may celebrate the Eucharist: in the handbook?” “Well, I guess I just followed the crowd at chow time, sir.” A priest is not permitted to celebrate the Eucharist We all know a lot of things that are not in the book. more than once a day except in cases where the law permits him to celebrate or concelebrate more than Letter of the Law once on the same day. From time to time parishioners ask me, “How often does a If there is a shortage of priests, the local ordinary priest have to say Mass?” They expect me to say “every day” can allow priests to celebrate twice a day for a just or at least “several times a week.” Instead, I quote Canon 904 cause, or if pastoral necessity requires it, even three from the 1983 Code of Canon Law, which, to their surprise, times on Sundays and holy days of obligation states, “priests are to celebrate frequently.” (No doubt they . would be shocked to learn the 1917 code directed priests In its commentary on the code, the Canon Law Society of only to celebrate the Eucharist several times a year.) I quick- America notes that since the 11th century, there have been ly add that priests, like all Catholics, are obliged to partici- limitations on how often priests can celebrate the Eucharist. pate in Mass every Sunday and on holy days of obligation. One reason for the restrictions was to prevent priests from But preside at the celebration? Only frequently. celebrating several Masses just so they could receive addi- In fairness to the code, it goes on to offer this exhortation tional stipends (a ploy prohibited by Canon 951). Another to priests: “Indeed, daily celebration is recommended ear- is “to ensure that the manner of celebrating by a priest does nestly.” Several other documents on priestly life and ministry not become too hurried or routine.” Further, the commen- published since the Second Vatican Council encourage daily tary (and common sense) suggests Mass schedules should celebration of the Mass, as a foundation for engaged priestly be adjusted to prevent expanses of empty pews in large churches. Offering fewer, fuller Masses not only eases the Rev. Frank D. Almade, a priest of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, is pastor burdens on fatigued priests, but contributes to more partici- of four parishes in New Castle, Pa. pative and enthusiastic eucharistic celebrations. a. dunne tad art:

September 29, 2014 America 25 Code-Breaking Cutting back on the number of Masses has its downsides. Canon 905 is regularly violated in my neck of the woods. I Parishioners get upset when “their” Mass time is taken away. know of pastors who say six or seven Masses every week- Fewer may come to Sunday Mass regularly. Rumors fly that end of the year. Our diocesan bishop has been known to the parish might close. The upside to offering fewer Masses do the same. One can think of other situations—a large is the greater likelihood of getting a “packed house” and the prison, rural areas with far-flung churches, mega-parishes feeling that each Sunday liturgy is special. The church is in- in the suburbs—in which priests might preside at more fused with new life: the singing is stronger, we avoid stretch- than three Masses on one day. Certainly “pastoral necessity” ing the same volunteer ministers too thin each week, and impels them to do so. But the distinction between church- packed pews inspire a sense of solidarity and hope. goer convenience and true pastoral need is often difficult to discern. People, Not Pews One weekend this past Lent I presided at the celebration Our diocese, like most in the eastern United States, is facing of six Masses within 24 hours: on Saturday a funeral Mass a shrinking supply of priests and is attracting fewer parish- at 12:30 p.m., then the two regularly scheduled Saturday ioners. It is projected that in six years we will have a third evening Masses and three more on Sunday morning. These fewer active priests. Our bishop has set in motion a multi- Masses were said in three different church buildings. I heard year process of extensive grassroots consultation to discern confessions, too, for an hour on Saturday. how many parishes we will need to minister to our smaller My two associate pastors were equally busy. One did five Catholic population. This is not, however, simply a process Masses (a funeral in our town and a wedding in Pittsburgh of graceful decline. Yes, we will manage the reduction in on Saturday, as well as three Masses on Sunday) and the numbers by maintaining fewer administrative units; but we other did four Sunday Masses plus a funeral blessing ser- can also take advantage of the period of transition to grow vice. Both heard confessions for over an hour at lunchtime as a more enthusiastic, hospitable and evangelizing church on Saturday. community. Together the three of us serve four parishes in one town. Many of these changes are still years away. In the mean- None of us is complaining about the workload. We are time, what of saying six Masses in 24 hours? I suspect no aware that in some dioceses only one priest is responsible canon lawyer would judge I broke the law. I did it for pas- for parishes of even greater size. Still, we have had discus- toral reasons, and will probably do it again soon, like many sions with the pastoral councils about whether we offer too other priests all over this country and beyond. But is this a many Sunday Masses. There are 12 services in all—four on pastoral best practice or for the spiritual good of those sit- Saturday evening and eight on Sunday morning—among ting in increasingly underpopulated pews? the four church buildings, which are no more than two miles At the end of “A Few Good Men,” Colonel Jessup (mem- from each other. About 3,500 souls on average participate in orably played by Jack Nicholson) confesses to ordering the these 12 Masses. Code Red, shouting to the courtroom those very famous We have not yet decided whether to change our schedule. lines of American cinema: “The truth? You can’t handle We priests are healthy and can manage our weekend obliga- the truth.” The truth in my diocese and in parishes across tions without much trouble and, I believe, with the joy and the country is that the pastoral practices we have taken for energy needed to lead an uplifting and holy celebration. And granted need to be changed, maybe even thoroughly refo- we are blessed with enough dedicated volunteers to supply the cused and reformed. Pastors and staff have to consciously full complement of liturgical ministers at all Sunday Masses. reject the “We’ve always done it this way” mantra; priests no longer can expect to minister prin- cipally from the rectory office or preach only from the pulpit. Catholics everywhere are being called to take risks and build new pastoral structures of outreach. But this is a challenge the church has heard before. It is as old as the great commission of Matthew’s Gospel and as new as Pope Francis’ call for priests to go out to the streets and live “with the smell of the sheep.” And our local churches can handle it. A

26 America September 29, 2014 Vatican Dispatch Bit by Bit, A World at War n the flight back from Korea “Today we are in a world at war, the level of cruelty at which we have in mid-August, Pope Francis everywhere. We’re in the Third World arrived. The level of cruelty of human- Odrew the media’s attention War, but bit by bit,” he stated. “It’s a ity at this moment should frighten us to the level of cruelty in today’s world world at war in which these cruelties a little.” and the widespread use of torture. He are done,” he said referring to the per- He also drew attention to the wide- urged reporters to reflect on this reali- secution of minorities, ethnic cleansing, spread use of torture, which has be- ty, which “should frighten us,” obviously massacres, kidnapping, rape and other come an “ordinary way of behaving” by wanting them to play their part in end- kinds of violence and destruction that intelligence and law enforcement offi- ing it. are war’s companions. cials. He was categorical in condemn- Francis is particularly sensitive to Seeking to awaken the consciences ing it: “Torture is a sin against human- this upsurge in cruelty and torture. of people worldwide from the slumber ity; it is a crime against humanity. And He knows from personal experience of indifference into which so many be- I tell Catholics that to torture a person what it entails. He was in Jerusalem lievers and people of good- is a mortal sin.” when the Yom Kippur War broke out will have fallen, Francis ‘The level The day after Francis in 1973 and lived through the “dirty highlighted the cruelty to of cruelty of spoke, the world was war” and the Malvinas/Falklands war children. rudely awakened to the under Argentina’s military dictatorship “Today children do not humanity cruelty to which he was (1976-83). As pope he is closely mon- count,” he stated. Unlike referring when ISIS be- itoring the escalating contemporary conventional war, “today a at this headed the American barbarities and is profoundly disturbed bomb is sent and it kills the moment journalist James Foley. by them and by the widespread “culture innocent, the guilty, children, In the same month of of indifference” and the unwillingness women, it kills everybody,” should August, Saudi Arabia, of governments to act decisively to pre- he said. His words reflected frighten us.’ America’s ally, which vent or stop them—except, of course, the fact that in today’s con- reportedly funds many when their national interests are at flicts humanitarian law, including the fundamentalist Islamic groups, pub- stake. Fourth Geneva Convention, which is licly beheaded 22 people. Few noticed. As Francis spoke with reporters on meant to protect the civilian popula- Francis wants to stop this downward Aug. 18, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict tion in times of conflict and occupa- spiral of inhumanity. He believes the in Gaza was still raging, while violence tion, seems to have been consigned to media can play an important role here. and terror were being visited on eth- the dustbin of history. Impunity reigns. They can awaken consciences to this ter- nic and religious minorities (including As he spoke, Israel’s bombing in rible reality by unmasking the political, Christian and Yazidi) in northern Iraq Gaza was killing an average of 10 chil- economic and financial interests—the and Syria by the Islamic State of Iraq dren and minors daily. Countless chil- actors and political supporters, includ- and Syria, forcing more than 830,000 dren were being killed in Iraq, with ing states, the manipulators of religion, people to abandon their homes or some dying from hunger and thirst as the suppliers of arms and the traders in face death unless they converted to they fled ISIS terror. Many too were be- the underground oil and mineral mar- Islam. Libya was in turmoil, and con- ing killed in Syria, the Central African kets—that are behind these conflicts or flict rocked South Sudan, the Central Republic, Nigeria and the Ukraine. benefit from them. The media can also African Republic, Nigeria, the Ukraine On July 27 he denounced the fact that help stop such barbarity by demanding and other places. children were “being killed, mutilated, respect for humanitarian and inter- injured, orphaned” and appealed for an national law in conflict situations, by end to the fighting in the Middle East fostering a climate of solidarity and by Gerard O’Connell is America’s Rome and the Ukraine. promoting a culture of encounter and correspondent. America’s Vatican coverage is sponsored in part by the Jesuit communities of the On the plane Francis told reporters, peace. But will they do so? United States. Twitter: @gerryorome. “We must stop and think a little about Gerard O’Connell

September 29, 2014 America 27 FAITH IN FOCUS Prison Possibilities Hearing victims’ voices in a moment of silence By Valerie Schultz was seated at the back of the room means that I do the paperwork while present at the meeting: faces of loved as 60 or so inmates gathered for the inmates meet. It was National ones or random strangers, faces of ter- Ithe weekly Tuesday night meet- Crime Victims Week, and I had re- ror or shock, faces that may haunt their ing of Criminals and Gangmembers ceived some literature regarding Anonymous. Most of the members are commemorations and tributes serving life sentences, many with the around the state. Since the C.G.A. distant possibility of parole, although a motto is “One less crime, one less few are LWOPs, which stands for lifers victim,” I thought it would be ap- without that possibility. To begin the propriate to ask one of the group session one of the group leaders stood leaders to mention the week’s des- before his fellow inmates and asked that ignation and to call for a moment they pause for a moment of silence. The of silence for all who had been vic- room went quiet and heads bowed. timized by the perpetrators in the Moments of silence usually are not room. my favorite moments. They seem to be On that night, the moment a second choice, a watered-down op- was fully embraced. Thoughts tion when a prayer would be either ille- turned inward. Suddenly the air gal or politically incorrect. The person was weighted with a collective leading the meeting or the ceremony or heaviness of heart. Part of the re- whatever asks for a moment of silence, habilitative process is learning to and I confess that all I hear in the sol- develop empathy for what you, as emn hush are the unspoken questions a criminal, have put your victims echoing inside the speaker’s mind: How through by your actions. This long is a moment supposed to last? Is this means you must take responsibil- long enough? What shall I say to end it? I ity not only for your immediate hear the presider’s brain, counting and victims but also for their families, considering, One-Mississippi, two-Mis- your family and the greater soci- sissippi, three-Mississippi, four-Mississip- ety whose laws you have broken. pi.... O.K., that’s probably long enough. Is You must be able to walk in the it? Hmmm. Or maybe now. When the shoes of all of these, the people moment of silence is finally broken, all to whom you have caused grave I feel is relief. injury or death or disability or fear or dreams or inhabit their thoughts. The After that Tuesday night, however, material loss or psychological harm, pain of the victims of murder, kidnap- I took it all back. I am a staff facilita- before you can ask for forgiveness from ping, rape, molestation, robbery, cheat- tor for the Criminals & Gangmembers those you have harmed. You must learn ing, beating and mayhem of every kind Anonymous prison program rather the meaning of compassion before you was palpable as these men remembered than a participant in the group, which can ask for compassion. Above all, you the debts they will never really be able must never forget or try to minimize to pay. Those who suffered because of the impact and consequences to others the people in this room were young, Valerie Schultz, a freelance writer, is a of the wrongs you have done. old, male, female, beloved, unknown, columnist for The Bakersfield Californian and the author of Closer: Musings on Intimacy, I could thus imagine the many faces innocent, guilty, in the wrong place at

Marriage, and God. conjured in the minds of the inmates the wrong time—all their lives taken sean quirk art

28 America September 29, 2014 or forever changed by the felons, these men, who bowed their heads together. The moment was collective, but each man remembered separately. I could feel the regret rising to the ceiling of the chapel where we met. I could sense the past reaching with long fingers to tap each man on the shoulder: Remember me? Remember what you did? Victims and their families sometimes feel they are ignored or forgotten in the rehabilitative process. They often do not want to read letters of apology from men they consider mon- sters; they do not want to hear about the criminal’s rehabilitation; they do not want the offender ever to get a parole date; they do not want to forgive, possibly, in the case of families of murder victims, because they feel that forgiveness would be like forgetting their loved one or, worse, dishonoring him or her. But on this night, during this powerful, and surely prayerful, moment, the victims were present. This is small consolation to those who have been victimized, I know. But it is perhaps a place for healing to begin. Along with the regret, I could also sense, rising like incense, the promise to be better men. Some may consider me naïve, but I believe that each man’s slog through the C.G.A. program is a response to the holy call—the call to be the person God created him to be, to heal whatever is broken within him, to reach for redemption. People can do truly terrible things to one another, but every soul is sacred. Every human being is a beloved child of God, even the ones most of us have given up on ever reaching. Later, back at home, I took my own moment in the silent night to pray for this earth full of grief, for victims and perpetrators, for all of our sorry souls. Then, remembering God’s abiding love, which gathers all our wounded- ness like a mother to her heart, I gave thanks for that night’s moment of silence. A

September 29 , 2014 America 29 Books & Culture

film | John Anderson doned nationwide to be executed, im- prisoned and/or “re-educated” by the The Final Act North Vietnamese. There is among them a profound sense of failure, cou- Sad, solemn lessons from‘Last Days in Vietnam’ pled with humbling modesty about their own accomplishments in the face romises made in good faith, Kennedy’s more eloquent eye witness- of overwhelming odds and a task that promises broken. People being es to the panic and pandemonium that was impossible on its face—getting all hurt because we “couldn’t get befell Vietnam’s former capital as the P the imperiled South Vietnamese out our act together.” The whole execution northern forces concluded their inexo- of Vietnam. of the war being summed up, quite rable march south—refrains from any There is little anger exhibited by the rightly, by the chaos and ineptitude of such reflection. And yet a hair-raising men (yes, all men), even when it is war- its last act. And no, we are not talking sense of déjà vu is imparted nonethe- ranted. Although depicted as a south- about the Middle East. less. ern gentleman, and a man who had lost The director Rory Kennedy does But so is hopefulness about the hu- a son to combat, Graham Martin, the not, in fact, draw any of the obvious, man capacity for good and what hap- U.S. ambassador to Vietnam, seems to academic parallels that might be made pened when, as Herrington puts it, have been willfully blind to the terrify- between present day U.S. foreign pol- “good people rose to the occasion and ing advances of the North Vietnamese. icy and the events recounted in Last did what had to be done.” Kennedy He refused to countenance talk of any Days in Vietnam, her disarming doc- talks to a number of those people, who imminent invasion, or entertain the umentary about the fall of Saigon, a gives the lie to Richard Nixon’s claim need for a real evacuation plan, and movie that is as much about human of “peace with honor” and recall the forced the people around him to en- decency as diplomatic incompetence. fleeing helicopters and the 420 peo- gage in “black ops” (as ex-C.I.A. ana- Even Stuart Herrington, the ex-Ar- ple left stranded at the U.S. embassy lyst Frank Snepp puts it): Smuggling my captain quoted above—and one of compound, and the thousands aban- Vietnamese out of the country aboard cargo planes and into the Philippines THIS IS THE END. Vietnamese board an American helicopter a half mile from the U.S. Embassy, April 29, 1975. and facing career-ending reprimands if discovered. Kennedy, whose uncle accelerated the war and whose father eventually fought against it, provides a lot of astounding footage that was not on the evening news in 1975. One se- quence, shot from inside a departing World Airways jet, for instance, shows crew members hauling desperate Vietnamese into the plane as it taxies down the runway. That would have been unpalatable, to put it mildly, for political interests back in the United States. For those too young to remember it all, Kennedy provides solid historical shorthand. The Paris Peace Accords of 1973 called for a cease-fire between the north and the south; the North Vietnamese kept their end of the bar- P hoto: moxie firecracker films/ B ettmann/ C orbis

30 America September 29, 2014 gain largely because, as Snepp puts it, in the film (such as, “Don’t ask me any they considered Nixon a “madman” real questions”) makes some anodyne who would relaunch the war if he felt comments about President Gerald it necessary. Then, in August 1974, Ford’s attempt to get Washington to Nixon resigned in the wake of the appropriate $722 million to aid the Watergate scandal, and all bets were crumbling South Vietnamese govern- off. A year later, Saigon was on the ment (Congress to Ford: Drop dead). precipice. Martin, who succeeded Ellsworth According to Gerald Berry, at the Bunker as ambassador to South time a Marine pilot who flew exhaust- Vietnam and was, obviously, the last ing flights ferrying refugees out of the man to hold that post, died in 1990. Saigon embassy and onto Navy ships The people Kennedy does talk to in- waiting far offshore, there had been clude servicemen on both sides and four plans considered for getting peo- several Saigon civilians, not all of ple out: 1) commercial carriers would whom met pleasant fates after the last be brought right into the harbor, rela- helicopter blew town. But a young tively close to the embassy, and as many man named Miki Nguyen tells the people as necessary could be brought wonderful tale of his father, who com- aboard; 2) United, Continental and mandeered a Chinook copter, flew it other commercial airlines still able to and his family to a waiting U.S. ship, access Tin Son Nhut Airport could dropped his family one by one to the load passengers there; 3) fixed-wing waiting sailors and then ditched his aviation could use the airport and fly aircraft, surfacing only in his under- out hundreds; 4) helicopters, limited wear. in capacity and range, could airlift doz- One of the other interesting resur- ens at a time to those ships off shore. facings in “Last Days,” especially for This last contingency plan was “ab- those who associate him more with solutely the last resort” and of course, having blown the cover of ex-C.I.A. as anyone knows who has seen the agent Valerie Plame, is the former infamous photos, is also exactly what Deputy Secretary of State Richard happened. Armitage. He had done three and half How it happened, though, is be- tours in Vietnam as an Annapolis- yond fascinating. Kennedy and her educated officer, was the man who spir- editor, Don Kleszy, provide both visual ited the Vietnamese fleet away before momentum and a great deal of poi- it could fall into North Vietnamese gnancy through their reconstruction of hands and was eventually in command events, with certain moments achiev- of the U.S.S. Kirk, the ship that took ing a sublime sense of tragedy. On the on those last desperate helicopter morning of Aug. 29, for instance, the flights out of Saigon. citywide signal that an evacuation was Regarding all those violations of underway was to be a weather report protocol, procedure and law commit- over the radio followed by the playing ted by the operations officers at the of “White Christmas.” The irony and center of the Saigon exodus, Armitage agony achieved as Bing Crosby croons puts it pretty simply: “It’s a lot easier a Christmas carol behind the tortured to beg forgiveness than to get permis- faces of doomed Vietnamese is almost sion,” he says to Kennedy, who tells a unbearable. remarkable story, full of such timeless A sense of moral conflict informs all lessons. of “Last Days in Vietnam,” and not just for the participants. Henry Kissinger, John Anderson is a film critic for The Wall Street Journal, Indiewire and Newsday and a who must have attached all kind of regular contributor to the Arts & Leisure section conditions before agreeing to appear of The New York Times.

September 29 , 2014 America 31 of other things | Kevin Clarke The Tangled Web have had some excruciating mo- something of this e-substrata at the dogged effort. The celebrity selfies ments as a parent explaining the movies. It has become a staple of spy were apparently hacked not by any el- Ifacts of life and the big world out thrillers or military dramas to offer some egant code, but by brute force. Hackers there to my children, but few of those nod to the obscure spaces of our parallel gathered information about celebrity conversations were as awkward as the cyber-verse—the handsome protago- targets, publicly available (where else) one I had recently with a senior Jesuit. nist, stymied in his action-packed inves- on the Internet, then ran through hun- He was trying to make sense of the tigation of Russian arms dealers or an dreds if not thousands of possible us- Internet leak of hundreds of explicit Al Qaeda terrorist network, is forced to ername and password combinations to photos of a crowd of young celebrity turn to a nebbishy sidekick who ties to- gain entrance to private photo deposi- women. The massive invasion of privacy gether some dangling plot threads with tories. generated so much attention that even a few well-placed key Another part of the folks who aren’t quite sure who Jennifer strokes. He’s scouting Celebrity Internet most users Lawrence and Kate Upton are had an for information on the may never wittingly idea that something unprecedented had “deep” or the “dark web,” ‘selfies’ were encounter is known as occurred. Now imagine explaining the he’ll tell our hero, as if hacked not the “dark web” or “dark- meaning of “sexting” to a bewildered that were all the expla- net.” These are pages or parent, and you have an inkling of my nation required. by any files deliberately inac- mortifying exposition. The rest of us may elegant code, cessible to link-crawl- The how of August’s epic photo want to familiarize our- ing search engines or hack remains to be determined, though selves with those terms, but by brute other prying e-services. many suspect the cracking of Apple however. Finding content on the iCloud usernames and passwords may When we surf the force. dark web requires us- be to blame, but the why of it is not net (do the kids still ers to have some direct too hard to fathom. The Internet has say that?), we are ven- foreknowledge of web become only the most recent forum for turing forth across addresses or private (mostly) men to view and trade titil- what is known as the databases that search lating-to-obscene visuals. About 2,500 “surface web,” those below-the-surface web years ago these same guys would have web pages and sites content and special en- been exchanging wine amphoras with that are readily search- cryption protocols in- nude drawings at the market. Today able by Google, Yahoo tended to lock out the they don’t even have to leave their par- or Bing. Those pages are designed to uninitiated. Sound phishy? It is. Within ents’ basements. be discovered. the dark web can be found many of the The explicit images apparently sto- Getting data or information from anonymous Internet travelers who trade len from private “cloud” storage servers the “deep web” is a little trickier. It re- in child pornography or stolen credit may have been traded privately among a quires “harvesting” data from content card numbers, conduct sales of illicit group of men for weeks, if not months that is not linked to the “surface” and is arms or hijacked corporate data and before the existence of this cache of im- often intended to be private, anything even organize, Hollywood style, com- ages became widely known and then from content pages in development at munication within a terrorist network. widely distributed. The episode pro- your favorite media site to your pho- I could go on. Suffice to say there is a vided a small glimpse into a little ob- tos of your child’s baptism—even data lot more to the Internet than meets the served world of celebrity cyber-stalkers gathered about you while you were eye. The whole enterprise sometimes and hackers who lurk in regions of the shopping at Amazon. seems designed to make the job of mod- Internet most everyday users are little To the people interested in harvest- ern e-parenting virtually impossible, aware of. ing information, for purposes both be- but familiarizing yourselves with some But they may have already heard nign and nefarious, it is the motherlode of these terms and communications of data. Getting to the material on the concepts should allow you to stay alert Kevin Clarke is senior editor and chief corre- deep web often requires more skill and to what your children are doing—and spondent for America. time; sometimes it just requires more learning—online. Kevin Clarke

32 America September 29, 2014 books | Michael Stogre up, without any hope and with no future.... I am going to take them out and What Makes a Martyr? bring them back to the land of Israel” (Ez 37:3, 4-6, 11-12). Like the exiled Israelites, the The Death and Afterlife Wendat Confederacy would return of the North American to their homeland—but only for a Martyrs few days. They would reclaim a small By Emma Anderson section of their former territory con- Harvard University Press. 480p $39.95 taining the original burial site that had been pillaged in 1947-48 by the In 1999, 350 years after the destruc- archeologist Kenneth Kid of the Royal tion of Sainte-Marie among the Ontario Museum. Hurons, an extraordinary event took Why this tangential preamble place in Ontario. At sites near the to a review of a book on the North original Jesuit mission remnants of the American Martyrs? There are two Huron (Wendat, sometimes written reasons. First, personal history affords Wyandot) Confederacy from Quebec, different vantage points for viewing the Oklahoma, Kansas and Michigan met same events. Second, as a Jesuit who to rebury their ancestors and rebuild worked for many years in native minis- their confederacy. try, I also came to the above mentioned I was present at the event and took events having just survived an aggra- part in the “feast of the dead,” a Huron vated assault by a native parishioner burial ritual that St. John de Brébeuf in my rectory on Manitoulin Island, in wrote about in 1636. His description Lake Huron. helped the modern Wendat follow the tal Man, can these bones come back to As Emma Anderson, the author ancient ways of burying their dead. life?… Prophesy to these bones. Tell and professor of North American This ceremony, as far as I know, had these dry bones to listen to the word Religious History at the University of not been practiced in recent centuries. of God.… I am going to put breath Ottawa tirelessly points out, many peo- The modern Wendat, like most na- into you and bring you back to life.... ple—mostly native—suffered and died tive peoples, are split between those Mortal man, the people of Israel are like in those early years of French, Dutch who have kept or returned to their these bones. They say they are dried and English colonization. Some of traditions, and those who have become Christian. Some Christians are also quite at home practicing their cultural traditions. There are also native people who have joined world religions like Islam and the Bahai faith. Before the events in and around Midland, Ontario, I was asked by Janith English, chief of the Kansas Wyandot, to accompany them to the Royal Ontario Museum where the bones of their ancestors had been stored. As a Methodist, she wanted a Christian prayer service. I agreed. In that somber setting between row on row of boxes of bones, our small group gathered to pray. There we read a passage from Ezekiel that seemed prophetic in a new way: “He [the Lord] said to me, mor-

September 29 , 2014 America 33 them were Catholic Christians. Why other hand, the appearance of these the Jesuits can change and evolve as was it that only French priests and two two books in close proximity might feedback has come in from natives crit- lay volunteers were canonized? also presage a new stage in the afterlife ical of their shrines in Canada and the In other parts of the world we have of the martyrs. Boyden, according to United States. It is a fascinating read, had mixed group canonizations. Recall the book jacket, expounds a founding especially for those in shrine manage- the Japanese Martyrs—a mix of mostly myth for Canada that rightfully in- ment and saint making. indigenous people and some European cludes its first nations. Anderson has missionaries. This pattern holds for masterfully traced the evolution of the China, Vietnam and the Philippines. martyrs’ “myth” to the present day. Michael Stogre, S.J., has long experience in native ministry. Presently, he is assigned to Individual native canonizations have Finally, her book is a relentless cri- St. Mark’s parish and campus ministry at the occurred in North America. St. Juan tique of the Jesuits and their role in the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Diego was the first, followed by St. North American cult of the martyrs. Canada. His main published work is That the World May Believe: The Development of Kateri Tekakwitha. Other candidates Much of it is justified. On the other Papal Social Thought on Aboriginal Rights have been proposed, including Rose hand, she also documents how even (1992). Prince and Joseph Chihoatenhwa on the Canadian side of the border. Is it too late to rectify not just a grievance Paul Moses but a glaring injustice? The case of Joseph Chihoatenhwa, A President’s Faith while supported by the Ontario bishops and popularized in a book by REDEEMER pragmatic world of politics has a way Bruce Henry entitled Friends of God, The Life of Jimmy Carter of trivializing the transcendent belief would make faster progress if he were By Randall Balmer systems of religion, and faith seems to proposed as a martyr. This could prove Basic Books. 306p $27.99 become just one more tool with which divisive, as the likely perpetrators were to win poll points or bludgeon an op- kin. A CALL TO ACTION ponent. What constitutes a martyr is also at Women, Religion, Violence, So perhaps historians can be forgiv- issue, especially in light of the Iroquois And Power en for so often disregarding religious protocol for enemy captives. All cap- By Jimmy Carter faith as a factor in understanding our tives would be made to suffer, but then Simon & Schuster. 224p $28 presidents and other political leaders. some would be adopted into the tribe But that does not mean they are right to make up for losses. Pierre Millet In recent presidential elections, it has to do so. (1635-1708), a Jesuit missionary and become obligatory for the candidates Randall Balmer, an accomplished captive, was adopted by the Oneida to talk about their reli- historian at Dartmouth and even made a sachem in that tribe. gious beliefs. This was College and an Episcopal He sat in councils of the Oneida and highlighted in the 2008 priest, demonstrates the Iroquois league (The History and interview Barack Obama this in Redeemer, his fine Culture of Iroquois Diplomacy). The rest and John McCain did with new biography of former would be ritually killed. The braver the evangelical pastor Rev. President Jimmy Carter. their deaths, the more these sacrificial Rick Warren, an import- At the outset he announc- victims would be revered. Brébeuf and ant moment in that cam- es that this book “attempts Lalemant met these standards. paign. Obama confessed to take Jimmy Carter’s This aspect of the martyrs’ deaths that selfishness was his religious commitments is more graphically told by Joseph greatest moral fault, while seriously as a means for Boyden in his historical novel, McCain acknowledged understanding his life and Orenda—a best seller in Canada for the failure of his first mar- character.” It may seem the past several months. At times riage. like the obvious approach Anderson’s history resembles Boyden’s These discussions can give voters toward understanding a president who fiction in its imaginative description useful insights into their would-be reveled in being a Sunday school teach- of the interior states of the martyrs. leaders, but even so, examining can- er but, as Balmer writes, he is the first This crossing of boundaries has been didates’ religious beliefs can quickly biographer to do it. questioned by some reviewers. On the slide into a cynical swirl of spin. The Balmer situates Carter in the tra-

34 America September 29, 2014 dition of progressive evangelicalism, Balmer, and sought to make amends as a conservative direction. Balmer argues which encompassed the abolitionist governor. that the shift was not a response to the movement. Like his progressive pre- Carter’s rise and fall on the national Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade, decessors—forgotten to political scene took place which legalized abortion in most cases, the point that evangeli- in the context of major but rather lashed back at federal oppo- cal Christianity is so of- changes in evangelical sition to tax exemptions for racially seg- ten wrongly assumed to Christianity, and Balmer regated private schools. be coterminous with the sets this out in an illumi- Balmer makes a convincing case that Religious Right—he was nating way. A resurgence most evangelicals were initially indiffer- concerned with pover- of progressive evangeli- ent to Roe v. Wade; abortion was seen ty and human rights and calism in the early 1970s, as a “Catholic issue.” He views legalized sought “a less imperial for- reflecting the concerns abortion as a pretext that right-wing eign policy,” as Balmer puts found in broad-minded operatives used to stir up evangelical it. quarters of 19th-century opposition to a president who was in Balmer writes that Protestantism, enhanced many ways a social conservative. Carter Carter embraced his faith Carter’s prospects. Balmer was, after all, the president who told a after losing the Georgia demonstrates how the group of federal employees: “Those of governor’s race in 1966, but faults moral tone of this movement echoes you who are living in sin, I hope you’ll him for temporarily betraying his reli- through the Carter presidency, from get married. Those of you who have gious ideals to win the 1970 campaign. matters like the Panama Canal treaty to left your spouses, go back home.” (And Pandering to George Wallace-type Middle East peace negotiations, nuclear some Carter aides with long-term rela- Democrats, he endorsed the segrega- weapons reductions and the emphasis tionships did marry.) tionist Lester Maddox for lieutenant on human rights in foreign policy. Balmer argues that race was the real governor and used campaign attack But evangelical Protestantism in the reason for evangelicals’ disaffection with ads with racial innuendo. Carter had United States underwent significant one of their own, but that this discon- “prostituted his integrity,” according to changes in the later 1970s, moving in tent about desegregation was chan-

September 29 , 2014 America 35 neled into dissent over other issues. He what is too often a blind spot in histor- practices.” Carter adds that when he describes the Republican strategist Paul ical and journalistic writing on politics. asked John Paul whether the church Weyrich as “nothing short of brilliant” had gotten stronger or weaker in the for turning opposition to abortion into Jimmy Carter, for his part, keeps reli- past five years, the pope told him that a cause that Protestant televangelists gious issues front and center as he con- it had dipped after the Second Vatican fervently espoused. By the time the tinues to pursue global peace, democra- Council because of changes in the litur- 1980 election rolled around, abortion cy, health and justice in his renowned gy and, in the opinion of many believ- was no longer simply a Catholic issue. post-presidency. That comes through ers, that it had become too liberal. The Carter’s loss of an energized evan- in his 22nd book, A Call to Action on pope added that the church was gaining gelical Christian electorate in 1980 was women’s rights. The book is a sort of strength as it again stressed traditional no doubt a factor in Ronald Reagan’s white paper that analyzes the many values, Carter writes. victory, but there is a giant “to be sure” injustices done to women around the Defining “traditional values” remains to add to this: Raging inflation, the world, with topics ranging from dis- of great interest to the former president, long-running Iranian hostage crisis crimination in the workplace to campus a Sunday school teacher for more than and the third-party candidacy of John rapes, genital cutting, slavery, spousal 70 years. In his new book, he is partic- Anderson were overriding reasons for abuse and “honor” killings. ularly interested in what he sees as the the outcome. Balmer acknowledges as The book is most effective when distorted use of the Bible and Koran much. Carter drops the think-tank tone and to subjugate women, and calls on male To do so does not negate his stron- offers anecdotes from his personal ex- religious leaders to support equality for gest theme, which is that we must con- perience. In one anecdote, he recounts women. sider the role of religion to understand his meeting with Pope John Paul II Carter builds a strong case that the Jimmy Carter and the political world he at the White House in 1979. Carter struggle for the rights of women has inhabited. Balmer has crafted a sympa- writes that he raised the topic of wom- barely begun. He cites in support mul- thetic and yet objective portrait of the en’s status in the church, and that the tiple sources of international data, his nation’s 39th president. By emphasizing pope was “surprisingly conservative con- own vast experience in exploring many religion, he provides a clear-eyed view of cerning any possible changes in Church parts of the world as president and as

36 America September 29, 2014 head of his Carter Center and the in- with an interest in the interplay of reli- said really it was a much worse experi- sights of many human rights activists he gion and politics. ence than what she had experienced in works with through the center. Warsaw during the war.” His vantage point is unique, and his PAUL MOSES is a professor at Brooklyn As I read these accounts on top of College/CUNY. He is writing a history of New ideas and his life story are well worth York’s Irish and Italians, to be published by New stories about the relentless Israeli ex- reading about, particularly for those York University Press. pulsion and deprivation of Palestinian Arabs, an image from Peter L. Berger’s studies of national development arrest- Drew Christiansen ed my imagination: the Pyramids of Sacrifice, the Mexican pyramids where building an ‘ethnocracy’ humans were killed and dismembered in order to preserve Aztec and other Contested Land, times admittedly, perpetrated by Israeli Mesoamerican societies. “Social suf- Contested Memory agents—had driven them to emigrate to fering stems so often,” writes Roberts, Israel’s Jews and Arabs and the Israel out of fear of persecution by their “from one group’s need to demonize Ghosts of Catastrophe Muslim neighbors. another in creation of its own identity.” By Jo Roberts The founders aspired, as Time mag- The pyramid of sacrifice is not the Dundurn. 304p $24.99 azine prophetically warned in 1948, primary message of Jo Roberts’s splen- to form a “little Spartan state.” A gar- did new study. But it is an image I just When reading Israeli history, one can- rison state, Sparta had its helots (a could not shake after reading her ac- not but be affected by the tremendous subject slave population). Israel has count of the New Israelis, the early cit- costs the establishment and survival of the Palestinians, the Lebanese, rounds izens of the Zionist state. One virtue the Jewish homeland have exacted from of immigrant workers who will be de- of her book is certainly that she shares generations of “other” people. The daily ported before they can make Israel their so many first-hand accounts and unfil- headlines about the latest settlement home and even those Jews whom the tered reports by participant observers construction or the shooting of un- Jewish National Agency of the decades-long strug- armed protesters tell us the price it con- regarded as “inferior ‘hu- gle between Israelis and tinues to exact from Palestinians. What man material.’” Palestinians that the read- I had not realized until I read Roberts’s In the early years not er feels extraordinarily in book was the costs it has imposed on even Holocaust survivors touch with the people and “other” Jews, who did not fit the found- were welcome. One Sabra their times. ers’ stereotypes of the strong, assertive historian describes the Again and again, I found “Sabras” (literally “cacti”) who were the psychology of the time. myself moved by Roberts’s heroes of the founding generation. “To put it bluntly, there interviews. The first-hand Jews from Arab lands, for example, were almost two races in accounts make the book known as Mizrahi, were not just the vic- this country. . . . And there compelling reading and tims of discrimination. They were bru- was, we can certainly say, infuse its arguments with tally treated, stripped of their own Arab an inferior race. People we unassailable authenticity. Jewish culture and aggressively indoc- saw as inferior who had Even for a knowledgeable trinated into secular nationalist values. some kind of flaw, some kind of hunch- amateur like myself, who has read nu- Men’s earlocks were shaved, and they back, and these were the people who merous histories of Israel’s founding, were forced to work on the Sabbath. came after the war”—the Holocaust Roberts illuminates well-known narra- One Knesset member protested that survivors. tives with fresh light. the treatment of Middle Eastern and One Polish survivor, who in hiding I read as if for the first time the story North African Jews was nothing less had been both hosted and cheated by a of the doomed refugee ship The Exodus than “the cultural and religious murder Christian family, found herself isolated and the history of Plan D (Dalat), David of the tribes of Israel.” and abandoned in Israel. An Israeli psy- Ben Gurion’s strategy for the expulsion The cruelty of nation building chologist recounted her experience. Her of Palestinians from their cities and vil- crashes in on the reader when Roberts arrival in Israel “was a catastrophe. She lages before and after independence. writes that the degradation of Arab was totally ostracized and she did not At the same time, Roberts’s formal Jewish immigrants was inflicted only know what was going on, no one was arguments have a lapidary quality that after bombings—allegedly, and some- interested in what she had to say. She makes them appear nearly self-evident.

September 29 , 2014 America 37 I thought more than once, “I knew that. Without a long history as a na- sympathy for Palestinian suffering. As She’s got that just right, and I couldn’t tion-state, with religion rejected as a the conscience-stricken Israeli soldier S. say it better.” burden of the persecuted Jewish past, in Yizhar wrote in his post-independence On the tragic link between trauma the absence of a set of ideas like those novel Khirbet Khizeh, “Everything for and repression, she writes, “A trauma- in the U.S. founding documents, how the refugees...our refugees, naturally. tized people is a people frozen by the did the first Israelis establish a national Those we were driving out were anoth- absolute imperative of ‘Never again!’ for identity? er matter.... We are the masters now.” whom security, and the control it neces- The answer was to construct a new Ram Loevy, a director and screen- sitates, is imperative.” collective memory as what Menachem writer who produced a cinematic ver- Again, she explains why ethnic iden- Begin called the fighting Jew. To this sion of Khirbet Khizeh, told Roberts tity precludes empathy for the other. day, new recruits in the Israeli Defense how demonizing the Arabs became “The wounds of the past loom in collec- Force travel to Masada, the site of essential to the existence of the state. tive memory, obscuring the suffering of the last defiant stand of Jewish rebels “And the Arabs continued to be our others: the land is a safe haven for Jews, against the Roman legions in 73 B.C., enemies.... ‘What if the Nakba hadn’t not the site of Palestinian catastrophe.” to pledge, “Masada shall not fall again.” meant sending into diaspora hundreds By Roberts’s account, Israel is not Though we, as Americans, are told of thousands of people, but they had the outcome of the Holocaust; that was Israel is “the only democracy in the stayed in Israel?’ That was the question a later justification. Neither was it an ef- Middle East,” the political geographer that everybody asked, but not too loud- fort to build a society on biblical values Oren Yiftachel told Roberts, Israel is ly....” in the historic land of the Jews, as Judah “an ethnocracy,” bound by blood ties. Bringing the story up to date, Magnes and Martin Buber had hoped. “A secured Jewish majority,” comments Roberts treats other topics, including It is a nation-state, built on the model of Roberts, “is perceived as more crucial to the so-called new historians’ discovery militant, 19th century ethnically based Jewish survival than is the equality of all of “the ethnic cleansing of Palestine,” the nationalism. Israeli citizens.” What has held Israelis work of the Israeli nongovernmental Assimilation in European soci- together, in the place of religion, as the organization Zochrot in memorializ- ety had proved a failure for Jews. The 1948 Time article foresaw, is “fear of the ing destroyed Palestinian villages and Dreyfus Affair demonstrated to the Arabs.” debates over the Palestinian right of re- early Zionists that for both Christian Unfortunately, the methodical expul- turn and the “transfer” of Arab Israelis and secular Europeans Jews were an sion of Palestinians from their homes out of the country or even beyond the alien people. “It has been established,” did not stop in 1948. For Palestinians, Jordan. Theodor Herzl wrote, “that justice the Nakba, the “catastrophe” of Jewish Because of the Israeli voices she has could be refused to a Jew just because victory and Palestinian dispossession, is aired in this intelligent and touching he was a Jew.” “a continuing process.” Israelis have no book—like those of Yiftachel, Yizar, the volunteers of Zochrot and new historians like Ilan Pappe, who recognize essays, pastoral letters, ministry resources, web- the role of denial of the Nakba in the CLASSIFIED sites and newsletters. Luis Baudry-Simon, luis- prolongation of the conflict—Roberts [email protected]; (815) 694-0713. sees possible hope for reconciliation. Books She quotes Meron Benvenisti, a for- Religion & Civility (faith & reason) Together; Want your ad here? www.wordunlimited.com. mer deputy mayor of Jerusalem and, Visit americamagazine.org. as they say in Yiddish, a (“real Email: [email protected]. Mensch Rosaries Call 212-515-0102. human being”): “Maybe we will come Rosaries. Beautiful hand-crafted and Italian to understand that the Other is not de- Ten-word minimum. Rates are per word per issue. rosaries are available at The Rosary Beads 1-5 times: $1.50; 6-11 times: $1.28; 12-23 times: monic, that he, too, is part of this place. Company. Visit http://rosary-beads.co. $1.23; 24-41 times: $1.17; 42 times or more: $1.12. Like the cypresses. Like these butansim. For an additional $30, your print ad will be posted on These fruit gardens. What the land Translator America’s Web site for one week. The flat rate for a I will translate into Spanish your books, articles, Web-only classified ad is $150 for 30 days. brings forth.” May it be so.

America (ISSN 0002-7049) is published weekly (except for 13 combined issues: Jan. 6-13, 20-27, April 28-May 5, May 26-June Drew Christiansen, S.J., former editor in 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 chief of America, was adviser on Middle East af- Street, New York, NY 10019. Periodical postage is paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mailing offices. Circulation: (800) 627- 9533. Subscription: United States, $56 per year; add U.S. $30 postage and GST (#131870719) for Canada; or add U.S. $56 per fairs to the U.S. bishops from 1991 to 2004. He year for international priority airmail. Postmaster: Send address changes to: America, P.O. Box 293159, Kettering, OH 45429. is also a canon of the Holy Sepulchre (Jerusalem).

38 America September 29, 2014 THE WORD

then asked, “When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to The Vineyard Grows those tenants?” The chief priests and Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (A), Oct. 5, 2014 Pharisees answered, not knowing they Readings: Is 5:1–7; Ps 80:9–20; Phil 4:6–9; Mt 21:33–43 were condemning themselves, “He will put those wretches to a miserable “When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?” (Is 5:4) death, and lease the vineyard to other n biblical poetry a vineyard of- the whole world with fruit” (27:6). tenants who will give him the produce ten represents the beloved. The Jesus returns us to the vineyard in at the harvest time.” Jesus agreed, say- prophet Isaiah begins to “sing for his parable, and it seems that the vine- ing “therefore I tell you, the kingdom I of God will be taken away from you my beloved my love-song concerning yard was now producing good fruit, his vineyard,” a song in which God’s which the owner wanted to harvest. and given to a people that produces affectionate care of Israel is recount- Though there is no longer talk of the fruits of the kingdom.” ed. The love song quickly becomes a wild grapes, the vineyard faced Since the tenants do not lover’s lament, though, as Isaiah tells another problem. The own- stand for the whole peo- how the vineyard was prepared with er of the vineyard had ple, Israel remains the tenderness, but since it produced “wild “leased it to tenants and beloved vineyard of grapes,” it will now be abandoned. God went to another coun- Isaiah’s parable, but speaks: “I will remove its hedge, and it try. When the harvest the care of the vine- shall be devoured; I will break down time had come, he sent yard has been “taken its wall, and it shall be trampled down. his slaves to the tenants away from” the tenants I will make it a waste; it shall not be to collect his produce. “and given to a people pruned or hoed, and it shall be over- But the tenants seized his grown with thorns and briers; I will slaves and beat one, killed PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE also command the clouds that they another, and stoned another.” rain no rain upon it.” The vineyard, it seems, still rep- How are you helping to produce good fruit in the vineyard? What fruit should the vineyard resents Israel, which is now bearing have produced? Isaiah writes that good fruit, as Isaiah prophesied, al- a. dunne tad art: choice vines were planted, but they though Jesus also speaks of it more that produces the fruits of the king- yielded only wild grapes. The Hebrew broadly as “the kingdom of God.” The dom.” word for wild grapes has as its root a owner of the vineyard is still God, the These are the followers of Jesus, a word that means “to stink” or “to smell lover of Isaiah’s parable, but new fig- people made up of Jews and Gentiles, bad.” The Greek version of Isaiah has ures have emerged: tenants and slaves. but their tenancy is dependent upon instead of “wild grapes” the word for The tenants, according to Mt 21:45, how well they nurture the vineyard. thorns. Stinking, thorny fruit grew in are the chief priests and Pharisees, The accent in this parable is not on the the vineyard; God “expected justice, who are mismanaging the harvest, abandonment of the vineyard, but on but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but which is described not as bad fruit the care of the good fruits now grow- heard a cry!” This vineyard’s bounty but as a good harvest that is not de- ing there. Implicit in Jesus’ parable is was of no value. But farmers know that livered to the owner. The slaves who that the vineyard is bearing worthy land can be rehabilitated. Later Isaiah are sent to collect the harvest most fruit! Jesus is not singing a song of tri- speaks about a day in the future when likely represent prophets like Isaiah, umph, trumpeting the superiority of the vineyard will be pleasant again and whose love songs were not heeded by his disciples, but singing Isaiah’s love when “Jacob shall take root, Israel shall the tenants. After sending a number song to a broader audience. The vine- blossom and put forth shoots, and fill of other slaves, who are killed by the yard has been expanded, and all are tenants, the landowner sent “his son welcome to bring in the harvest, but to them, saying, ‘They will respect my something other than “wild grapes” are John W. Martens is an associate professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas, St. son.’” Instead, the tenants decide to needed to produce “the fruits of the Paul, Minn. Twitter: @BibleJunkies kill him and get his inheritance. Jesus kingdom.” John W. Martens

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