Standing with Unfamiliar Company on Uncommon Ground: The Catholic Church and the Chicago Parliaments of Religions by Carlos Hugo Parra A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Theory and Policy Studies in Education Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto © Copyright by Carlos Hugo Parra 2012 Standing with Unfamiliar Company on Uncommon Ground: The Catholic Church and the Chicago Parliaments of Religions Carlos Hugo Parra Doctor of Philosophy Theory and Policy Studies in Education University of Toronto 2012 Abstract This study explores the struggle of the Catholic Church to be true to itself and its mission in the midst of other religions, in the context of the non-Catholic American culture, and in relation to the modern world and its discontents. As milestones of the global interfaith movement, American religious freedom and pluralism, and the relation of religion to modernity, the Chicago Parliaments of Religions offer a unique window through which to view this Catholic struggle at work in the religious public square created by the Parliaments and the evolution of that struggle over the course of the century framed by the two Chicago events. In relation to other religions, the Catholic Church stretched itself from an exclusivist position of being the only true and good religion to an inclusivist position of recognizing that truth and good can be present in other religions. Uniquely, Catholic involvement in the centennial Parliament made the Church stretch itself even further, beyond the exclusivist-inclusivist spectrum into a pluralist framework in which the Church acted humbly as one religion among many. In relation to American culture, the Catholic Church stretched itself from a Eurocentric and monarchic worldview with claims of Catholic supremacy to the American alternative of ii democracy, religious freedom, and the separation of church and state. In relation to modernity, the Church stretched itself from viewing the modern world as an enemy to be fought and conquered to befriending modernity and designing some specific accommodations to it. In these three relationships, there was indeed a shift, but not at all a clean break. Instead a stretch occurred, acknowledging a lived intra-Catholic tension between religious exclusivism and inclusivism, between a universal Catholic identity and Catholic inculturation in America (and in other cultures), and between the immutability of Catholic eternal truths and their translatability into the new languages offered by the modern world. In all this the Second Vatican Council was the major catalyst. For all three cases the Chicago Parliaments of Religions serve as environments conducive to the raising of important questions about Catholic identity, the Catholic understanding of non-Catholics, and Catholic interfaith relations. iii To my beloved parents, Juan and Nelsa, my first and ongoing teachers, and to those in the Roman Catholic Church who have the freedom to be themselves, the courage to hold different opinions, the humility to accept their fallibility, and the love to embrace the Church in the totality of its complexity. iv Acknowledgments The author wishes to acknowledge In Toronto Professor Harold Troper, the thesis supervisor, for his academic maturity as a seasoned historian, his careful attention as an open interlocutor, his expedite responsiveness to the various demands of the dissertation process, and his wise flexibility to embrace with a positive attitude and a good sense of humor even the most transcendental questions and topics; Janet Somerville, former Editor of the Catholic New Times and former General Secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches, for her proofreading of the manuscript and her insightful Catholic and ecumenical feedback; Professors Mark McGowan, Rosa Bruno Jofre, Ruth Sandwell, David Levine, and Glen Jones for their helpful suggestions and/or questions; University of Toronto Robarts Library, Interlibrary Loan and Media Archives and Microform; University of St. Michael’s College Kelly Library, Special Collections; Victoria University E. J. Pratt Library, Special Collections; Regis College Library; Trinity College Graham Library; In Rome Bishop Luis Manuel Cuna Ramos, Archivist of the Propaganda Fide Archives; Dr. Marco Grilli, Secretary of the Prefecture of the Secret Vatican Archives; Archbishop Francesco Gioia, Vatican Delegate to the 1993 Parliament of Religions; Monsignor Andrew Vissanu Thanya-anan, Undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue; Rev. Francisco Egaña, SJ, Vice Rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University; Monsignor Gerald Cadieres Araujo, Officer of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith; Pallotini Fathers and Brothers, Basilica of San Silvestro Community; In Chicago DePaul University Special Collections and Archives Department; Kathryn DeGraff, Department Head; Morgen MacIntosh Hodgetts, Archivist Librarian; Michelle McCoy, Bibliographic Assistant; Helen Fedchack, Archives Assistant; Ben Martorrel, Graduate Student Assistant; Kelle Gosa, Graduate Student Assistant; Rev. Thomas Baima, former director of the Office of v Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the Archdiocese of Chicago; Sister Joan McGuire, Director, Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, Archdiocese of Chicago; Mr. Jim Kenney, former Program Chair of the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions; Professor Robert Schreiter, Catholic Theological Union; In Berkeley and Big Sur, California Lucinda Glenn, Archivist, and David Stiver, Special Collections, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California; Rev. Thomas Matus, OSB Cam, Camaldolese Monastery of the Incarnation; Rev. Bruno Barnhardt, OSB Cam, New Camaldoli Hermitage; In Maracaibo, Venezuela Most Reverend Ubaldo Santana, Archbishop of Maracaibo; Maria Gracia Parra, Mariela Hernandez, and Maria Carolina Acosta; His supportive family and friends and thesis-related interlocutors His parents Nelsa Pirela de Parra and Juan Parra Vera, his sister María Gracia Parra, and his friends Alberto Dumit, Oscar Yánez, Rona McDonald, Frank Coffey, Charles Fensham, and Dr. Brian Bustard; Scholarships and Grants Ontario Institute for Studies in Education’s Guaranteed Funding Package (2007-2011); University of Toronto School of Graduate Studies Thesis Research Travel Grant (2010); Ontario Study Abroad Opportunity Award (2010); Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the Vatican (2010); Franciscan Friars of the Atonement’s “That Nothing Be Lost” Fund (2010); University of Toronto’s Doctoral Completion Award (2011-2012). All interpretations and opinions are solely the responsibility of the author. vi Table of Contents Point of departure: a frame of reference and a personal note “Can the Church afford not to be there?” Towards the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago First steps towards Catholic involvement The decision of the Catholic Church to participate A Pilgrimage to Chicago Catholic Educational Exhibit and Columbian Catholic Congress “It would seem more advisable to hold assemblies apart” The World’s Parliament of Religions Catholic delegates and Catholic Day A Catholic dissenter who was not invited Adjournment of the Parliament Mixed reactions A Methodist minister’s call to the Pope Toronto’s little Congress on Religion and Education European responses and Vatican discouragement The Parliament idea “on hold” vii “Let the fresh air come in”: From Anti-Modernism to Aggiornamento A new contemptus mundi: modernity as an enemy The enemy inside de house: the heresy of the twentieth century The Second Vatican Council: the Catholic Church embracing modernity The good Pope and Vatican II The Catholic Church and other religions John Paul II and the Assisi Event of 1986 “Your efforts deserve our most careful consideration” Towards a Centennial Celebration of the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions The 1933 Parliament of Religions in Chicago “We are both beneficiaries” Attempts of other potential stakeholders The decision of the Catholic Church to participate “Inexperienced, underfunded, understaffed and running out of time” “The most diverse celebration in history” The Parliament of the World’s Religions An almost totally inclusive program Conflict at the Centennial Parliament India-related issues Jewish withdrawal viii Greek Orthodox withdrawal Other issues “In omnia, Caritas” The Complexity of the Catholic presence Vatican II and parallel ecumenical developments Common ethical concerns Aboriginal-Catholic identity Buddhist-Catholic dialogue Hindu-Catholic interaction Catholic Women at the Parliament Catholic critics, dissenters, “apostates” and absentees The Declaration towards a Global Ethic The Assembly of Religious and Spiritual Leaders Closing Plenary and Aftermath Point of arrival, not a final destination: The Catholic Church and the Chicago Parliaments of Religions The meaning(s) of Catholic identity and the Chicago Parliaments of Religions The non-Catholic Other and the Chicago Parliaments of Religions Catholic interfaith relations at the Chicago Parliaments of Religions ix “What remains of the world of deeds is the world of words” (Historiography survey) The 1893 Parliament of Religions The 1993 Parliament of Religions Sources, Archives, and Bibliography x List of Appendices Appendix A: Timeline Appendix B: Catholics in Chicago’s 1893 Parliament of Religions program Appendix C: Catholics in Chicago’s 1993 Parliament of Religions program Appendix D: Alphabetic Gender