THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC WEEKLY AUG. 15-22, 2011 $3 · 2019-12-14 · Bittersweet Season: Caring for Our Aging Parents—and Ourselves(Knopf), ... applauds these helpmates for “caring

T H E N A T I O N A L C A T H O L I C W E E K L Y A U G . 1 5 - 2 2 , 2 0 1 1 $ 3 . 5 0

otting regional and nationalbestseller lists in recent sea-sons have been various mem-

oirs. Among this year’s notable entriesare: Reading My Father, by AlexandraStyron (Scribner), daughter of theacclaimed novelist William Styron(Sophie’s Choice et al.), who himselfwrote a memoir about overcoming aserious bout of depression at age 60;Joan Didion’s Blue Nights (due this fallfrom Knopf ), on the the tragic death ofthe author’s only daughter at the age of39 (Didion’s memoir of the year follow-ing her husband’s sudden death, TheYear of Magical Thinking, was publishedin 2005); Joyce Carol Oates’s AWidow’s Story (Ecco); and The LongGoodbye, by the poet and culture criticMeghan O’Rourke, on losing her moth-er to cancer at age 55 (Riverhead).

I have just finished reading ABittersweet Season: Caring for Our AgingParents—and Ourselves (Knopf ), by theaward-winning New York Times jour-nalist Jane Gross. It is not only anaffecting memoir of her mother’s lifeand slow decline but an informed andhelpful resource. It is always engaging,yet often brutally candid about theauthor’s relationship with her mother.(Her brother shared in care-givingresponsibilities.)

Gross’s mother originally lived onLong Island, then moved to Floridaafter her husband’s death. She managedwell for seven years until back painrevealed cancer of the spine. Herdaughter and son brought her to theMemorial Sloan-Kettering CancerCenter in New York, followed by rehab,relocation to assisted living and, finally,a nursing home. The author freelyshares the questions, frustrations, chal-lenges and lessons learned as she chron-icles a waning life (not to mention jug-gling her service tasks and responsibili-ties with work as a reporter for TheTimes). Having been a part-time care-giver for my own mother during herdecline, I felt a strong kinship with

Gross as I read her book. And we are not alone. A total of 65.7

million Americans, the author notes,serve as unpaid caregivers. Gross cameto see that as her mother’s needs werechanging during the latter phases of herlife, it was necessary to have reliable andknowledgeable back-up—social work-ers, nurses and other professionals and,ultimately, round-the-clock care. Sheapplauds these helpmates for “caringabout us as a family unit—[with] neu-roses, nastiness, unresolved issues….”

Gross emphasizes the importance ofdoing one’s homework as to whatexpenses are covered by Medicare,investigating nursing home conditionsand in general assuming the role of“advocates for their frail, elderly par-ents,” especially once they are in aninstitutional setting. She mentionsreports by advocacy groups that indi-cate, despite regulation and oversight,worsening conditions in homes, due inpart to worker shortages and increasedturnover, as Medicare and Medicaidreimbursements have gone down.“Nursing homes commonly, to my naïveastonishment,” she discovered, “physi-cally or chemically restrain patients,generally those with Alzheimer’s dis-ease, because behavioral methods are somuch more labor-intensive.”

Ultimately, the author’s mother—astrong-willed, stubborn, frugal formernurse—voluntarily stopped eating anddrinking. Death came a month later.Feeling orphaned, as she put it, Grossrevisited a photo album and found com-fort—just as I did and continue to do—in celebrating special moments with hermother, “with me beside her, cheek tocheek…smiling so hard [I thought] myface was going to break.” This is a sharpcontrast, the author notes, to the “slack-jawed, tilted-off-to-one-side brokenpuppet in a wheelchair.”

Bittersweet, indeed, is this memoir.I’m glad I didn’t have to write it, butgrateful that someone did.

PATRICIA A. KOSSMANN

PUBLISHED BY JESUITS OF THE UNITED STATES

DOF MANY THINGS

Cover: Men join hands duringprayers in Tahrir Square in Cairo onFeb. 8, 2011. Reuters/Suhaib Salem

EDITOR IN CHIEFDrew Christiansen, S.J.

EDITORIAL DEPARTMENTMANAGING EDITORRobert C. Collins, S.J.EDITORIAL DIRECTORKaren Sue SmithONLINE EDITOR

Maurice Timothy ReidyCULTURE EDITORJames Martin, S.J.LITERARY EDITORPatricia A. Kossmann

POETRY EDITORJames S. Torrens, S.J.

ASSOCIATE EDITORSKevin ClarkeKerry Weber

Raymond A. Schroth, S.J.Edward W. Schmidt, S.J.

ART DIRECTORStephanie RatcliffeASSISTANT EDITOR

Francis W. Turnbull, S.J.ASSISTANT LITERARY EDITOR

Regina Nigro

GUEST EDITORFrancis X. Hezel, S.J.

SUMMER INTERNSMichael Avery

Timothy W. O’Brien, S.J.Kevin C. Spinale, S.J.

BUSINESS DEPARTMENTCHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Lisa Pope

106 West 56th StreetNew York, NY 10019-3803

Ph: 212-581-4640; Fax: 212-399-3596

E-mail: [email protected];[email protected]

Web site: www.americamagazine.org. Customer Service: 1-800-627-9533© 2011 America Press, Inc.

www.americamagazine.org Vol. 205 No. 4, Whole No. 4941 August 15-22, 2011

21

O N T H E W E B

13

20

O N T H E W E B

CONTENTS

A R T I C L E S

13 THE PEACE FRONTReligious groups stake out a wider role in violent conflicts. William Bole

C O L U M N S & D E P A R T M E N T S

4 Editorials Out of AfghanistanAhead of the Story

6 Signs of the Times

10 Column Attention: Deficit Disorder Kyle T. Kramer

26 Letters

30 The Word Who Do You Say You Are?Findin g Your SelfBarbara E. Reid

B O O K S & C U LT U R E

20 MUSIC Lady Gaga’s fascination with Christian imageryBOOKS Convicting the Innocent; Peculiar Institution

Margot Patterson reports on the worsening crisis in Syria.Plus, America’s Book Club discusses the novel Faith, andBryan McCarthy reviews the film “Terri.” All at americamagazine.org.

O N T H E W E B

EDITORIALS

4 America August 15-22, 2011

ongressman Walter Jones Jr., of North Carolina,has undergone a thorough conversion. A Democrat,he became a conservative Republican; a Baptist, he

became a Catholic. He supported the Iraq and Afghanistanwars; now he sends hand-written letters of condolence tothe American families who have lost a son or daughter. Hetold George C. Wilson in The Nation (6/13) that he dealswith the guilt over having voted for both wars because hewas “not strong enough to vote my conscience as a man offaith.” Mr. Jones and his 13-member Out-of-Afghanistancaucus plan to push the war to the forefront in the presi-dential primaries. Public support for the war has fallen.Only 43 percent of Americans feel it is worth fighting,according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll (6/7). APew survey on June 21 found that 56 percent wanted troopsout as soon as possible and only 39 percent supported stay-ing until the situation stabilized.

In June, 40 religious leaders from all faiths wrote toPresident Obama that it is time to bring the war inAfghanistan to an end. What began as a response to the ter-rorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, they contended, has becomean open-ended war against a Taliban insurgency.

Since then President Hamid Karzai has replaced hisassassinated half-brother, the Kandahar tribal leader, withanother brother. U.S. investigators have uncovered a truck-ing scandal in which at least $3.3 million paid to eightAfghan contractors has gone through middlemen toTaliban insurgents as bribes in the form of weapons, explo-sives and cash. Night raids, now 300 a month, have killedboth Taliban men and their wives in the same bed.

President Obama’s address in June tried to placateboth political critics weary of the 10-year war and militaryleaders who wanted more time to form a well-trainedAfghan army, despite its overwhelming illiteracy and highturnover, and a stable government, in spite of its corruption.

The president promised 30,000 “surge” troops wouldleave Afghanistan by 2012, then 70,000 for a “complete”pullout in 2014. An unspecified force would remain, how-ever, for “support.” Translated, this looks like an indefiniteoccupation. The administration should reconsider its pri-orities. The first engagement in Afghanistan was to armthe mujaheddin to drive out the Soviets in the 1980s.After 9/11, although we replaced a pro-Al Qaeda Talibangovernment with Mr. Karzai and have driven out Al

Qaeda again, the United States has not “won” inAfghanistan because the goals of “nation-building” weretoo broad and U.S. troops are laboring in inhospitable ter-rain and a closed culture.

Meanwhile, the damage at home has been significant.According to a Brown University study, the war will cost $4trillion. Much of that money could have been used to createjobs, rebuild this country’s roads, bridges, schools, healthcare system and parks. The greater cost has been in humanlife, both American and Afghan. There have been 1,574U.S. casualties in Afghanistan. Add to that number the6,670 severely wounded by improvised explosive devices,including amputees. These numbers do not account for theemotionally wounded, suicides, fractured families, victimsof alcohol and drug abuse, accidents and sleepless nights.The question of civilian deaths—estimated at 11,700 to13,900—is not resolved by saying that the insurgents havekilled more people than NATO troops have killed. TheAfghan people blame NATO more because it representsthe intrusion of a foreign power.

Negotiations with the Taliban have not borne fruit. Inthe long run, only the Afghan people can determine theirown fate. The 40 U.S. religious leaders urge that the mili-tary be replaced by civilian organizations with relief anddevelopment aid experience. Al Qaeda no longer lurks in acompound in Pakistan but is spread throughout the MiddleEast in cells. Whatever the future, the “global war on terror”is no longer the appropriate term for dealing with the com-plex challenges introduced by the Arab Spring. If theCentral Intelligence Agency, now led by Gen. David H.Petraeus, imagines it can base a foreign policy in this volatilepart of the world on the failed strategies of the last 10 years,it is misguided.

As the United States withdraws, it must acceptresponsibility for the moral dimensions of the decision,which extend beyond the hardships endured by Americans.They include the specter of civil war among Afghan tribesand the possibility that the Taliban will return to power.The respect for human rights we advocated and the addi-tional roads and schools we wanted to build will not comeabout—a cautionary tale for future nation-building. After10 years, the costs of this war are too high. The UnitedStates has done what it could. It is time for a rapid with-drawal that will have all troops home by Christmas 2012.

Out of Afghanistan

C

obody likes reading about clerical sexual abuse. Yetfor well over a decade now, in diocese after diocese,the actions of abusive priests and negligent dioce-

san officials have been brought to light—and appropriatelyso. Unfortunately, these revelations have come not fromchurch leaders but from grand jury filings, governmentreports and press exposés. Almost without exception, theofficial response has lagged well behind reportage. Chancerieshave reacted as though stunned by accusations that they havein some cases known about for decades, appearing combativeand defensive while struggling to answer lurid allegations.

Recent weeks have proved no different, as the Irishchurch has been rocked yet again by a government report onclerical abuse. An investigation of the Diocese of Cloynefound that between 1996 and 2009—after national stan-dards were set for dealing with abuse allegations—suchreports were ignored, handled improperly or never reportedto civil authorities. Fallout in Ireland, traditionally one ofthe world’s most Catholic countries, has been severe. In arare public rebuke, the Archbishop of Dublin, DiarmuidMartin, chided his fellow bishops for withholding reportson sexual abuse of minors, telling them, “Hiding isn’t help-ing.” Ireland’s Prime Minister Enda Kenny, a Catholic,accused the Vatican of covering up the “rape and torture ofchildren.” The Vatican recalled its ambassador, ArchbishopGiuseppe Leanza, to Rome for consultation and to assist informulating the Vatican’s official response before moving tohis next post in the Czech Republic.

The sexual abuse crisis has devastated many, begin-ning with individual victims and their families. The moraleof laity and clergy alike has been severely undermined, ashas the moral authority of many bishops. Impressions ofcoverups and malfeasance have tainted the highest levels ofchurch governance, triggering frequent and justified calls formass resignations of bishops and, more recently, indict-ments of chancery officials. Lagging behind the story hasmade matters worse, fueling the impression that the churchis hiding something, shielding abusers to protect “the insti-tution” instead of vulnerable children.

As Ireland smolders in the report’s wake, a hopeful yetfar less noted development has emerged in Germany—anation also weighed down by abuse allegations. Germany’sCatholic bishops have begun taking steps to rebuild the trustthat has been lost in recent years. In July they voted unani-

mously to grant independent inves-tigators access to their files on sex-ual abuse by clergy—some cases asfar back as 1945. No doubt theirfindings will raise serious questionsabout how allegations were handled and will reveal systemicfailures in protecting children. Though prior damage cannotbe undone, the country’s bishops are acknowledging thatthey need outside help to combat this problem. In so doing,they are also being proactive, not reactive.

Bishops around the world should follow their example.If the church’s own claims about abuse are true—that it isdamnable yet distressingly widespread, infecting families andschools as often as churches—then there are certainly allega-tions against priests and religious that have yet to come tolight. To date, the crisis has hit hardest in North Americaand Western Europe. Far fewer allegations have surfaced inother regions, including Central and South America, India,Africa and Asia. But all of these have enormous Catholicpopulations, and it would be foolish to presume that theselocales have been free of abuse and mishandled allegations.Indeed, this is one instance in which the catholicity of thechurch will likely prove a liability, not an asset.

Recent years have shown that as a topic in the news,sexual abuse by clerics is resilient. Once in the headlines, itremains there indefinitely. Unless the church begins torespond differently, as the German bishops are trying to do,sexual abuse will continue to be the main story about theCatholic Church for years, even decades, as accusations sur-face around the world.

Countless bishops, including Pope Benedict XVI, havespoken of the crisis as an opening for repentance, conversionand purification in the church. We continue to hope that itwill be so and pray that the many victims of abuse will behealed in the same measure that they have been harmed. Forthis hope to be well founded, however, church leaders muststop playing defense around the issue of abuse. Rebuildingrelationships of trust between the hierarchy and the faithfulwill take more than promises from church leaders that theyare trustworthy. They must prove it. This will require resig-nations in cases of mendacity and negligence. In more cases,it will demand that bishops be the bearers of their own badnews about abuse. This will be an act of humility, even apainful one. But there is no alternative.

Ahead of the Story

N

August 15-22, 2011 America 5


he Rev. Antonio Mora ministers to a town under siege, where maskedmen guard checkpoints, the charred remains of logging trucks blockroads and a banner in the town square demands a military presence. Set

in the misty hills of Michoacán State in Mexico and surrounded by pine forests,Cherán is a place where loggers armed with chainsaws and assault weapons onceclear-cut trees with impunity. The local mayor and police department werealleged to be in league with the criminals, and community leaders who resistedwere assassinated.

The local population finally lost patience when the loggers encroached on thetown’s water source. Armed with two-by-fours, hatchets and bottle rockets, theychased off the loggers in mid-April and, later, the police department and themayor. The uprising of April 15 failed to surprise Father Mora, although he andothers in the community say the actions were spontaneous and unplanned.

“They’d tell me, ‘Father, we’re scared. We’re arming ourselves. We’re tired ofthis,’” he said. “It was a response to the anger, rancor, helplessness and sense of

panied by an amendment that “allowsreligious institutions that offer insur-ance to their employees the choice ofwhether or not to cover contraceptionservices.” The agency invited publiccomment on the “interim” policy, sug-gesting revisions may be forthcoming.

Both the U.S.C.C.B. and theCatholic Health Association haverejected the wording of the religiousexemption. “As it stands, the languageis not broad enough to protect ourCatholic health providers,” the C.H.A.complained in a statement posted onits Web site. “Catholic hospitals are asignificant part of this nation’s health

he U.S. Conference ofCatholic Bishops has sharplycriticized new guidelines for

“preventive services” for women issuedby the U.S. Department of Health andHuman Services. Among other provi-sions, the new guidelines, released onAug. 1, require private health plans tocover female surgical sterilization andall drugs and devices approved by theF.D.A. as contraceptives. The bishopsnote this includes “drugs which canattack a developing unborn childbefore and after implantation in themother’s womb.”

The new regulations were accom-

SIGNS OF THE TIMESM E X I C O

Indigenous Community Rises Up Against Crime

H E A L T H C A R E

Bishops Seek Broader ExemptionFrom Controversial Requirements

care, especially in the care of the mostvulnerable. It is critical that we beallowed to serve our nation withoutcompromising our conscience.”

Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo,Archbishop of Galveston-Houstonand chairman of the U.S.C.C.B.Committee on Pro-Life Activities,complained the exemption “is so nar-row as to exclude most Catholic socialservice agencies and healthcareproviders.” He called on Congress topass the Respect for Rights ofConscience Act to close such gaps inconscience protection.

Cardinal DiNardo said, “Under thenew rule our institutions would be freeto act in accord with Catholic teachingon life and procreation only if theywere to stop hiring and serving non-Catholics.” Cardinal DiNardo asked:

abandonment by the authorities.”The uprising in Cherán is one of

the few grass-roots revolts against thegrowing reach of organized crime,whose illegal enterprises and bloody

turf wars have claimed 40,000 livessince a government crackdown beganin December 2006. It also highlightsthe frustration with the failure of vari-

T

T

ous levels of government to protectcommunities against organized crime,which increasingly has moved in onsmall-time nuisances—such as logging

Father Antonio Mora, pastor of St.Francis of Assisi Church in Cheran,Mexico


lems before they start.’ But pregnancyis not a disease, and children are not a‘health problem’—they are the nextgeneration of Americans.”

pass along the problem to the federalgovernment,” said Father Mora.

Cherán unfolds across a hilly region250 miles west of Mexico City, andmany in the mostly indigenousPurepecha population of 14,000depend on the forests for their liveli -hood. A local combat committee nowhas teams manning checkpoints andpatrolling the forests and has called forthe military to intervene, but the mainfederal government response has beento send sacks of food and householdbasics.

“We don’t want them to militarizethe town, rather patrol the areas withillegal logging,” said one leader, who,like many in Cherán, declined to pro-vide his full name for fear of reprisals.The situation in Cherán had deterio-rated over the past three years to thepoint that locals recall animals leftwithout natural habitat roaming thestreets in search of food and truck-loads of logs rolling through town

“Could the federal government possi-bly intend to pressure Catholic institu-tions to cease providing health care,education and charitable services tothe general public?”

Under the new H.H.S. require-ments, as of August 2012 new healthinsurance plans must include women’spreventive services like well-womanvisits, breastfeeding support, domesticviolence screening and, most contro-versially, “contraception without charg-ing a co-payment, co-insurance or adeductible.”

H.H.S. Secretary KathleenSebelius called the new guidelines“historic” and said they were “based onscience and existing literature and willhelp ensure women get the preventivehealth benefits they need.” Accordingto an H.H.S. statement, “Family plan-

ning services are an essential preven-tive service for women and critical toappropriately spacing and ensuringintended pregnancies, which results inimproved maternal health and betterbirth outcomes.”

Covered under the new standardsare “all Food and Drug Administrationapproved contraceptive methods, ster-ilization procedures and patient edu-cation and counseling for all womenwith reproductive capacity.” The so-called abortion pill, RU-486, is notcovered, but “emergency contracep-tives,” including pills known as Plan Band ella, are.

Cardinal DiNardo said that ella “canabort an established pregnancy weeksafter conception.” He added: “H.H.S.says the intent of its ‘preventive services’mandate is to help ‘stop health prob-

with armed escorts in tow.The community’s uprising high-

lights the tricky situations parishpriests and diocesan officials must facein carrying out their routine duties andsocial ministries in conflict zones inMexico. Before the uprising, FatherMora worked on reconciliation pro-jects that began after a political feudtore the town apart during the 2007local elections. As the logging problemworsened, he celebrated a funeralMass for those killed by the criminalgroups protecting the loggers.

After the uprising, “People askedme to get weapons for them,” the priestrecalled. Instead he provided spiritualsupport for residents during an enor-mously tense time as thugs—mostlikely from the quasi-religious crimegroup La Familia Michoacána or asplinter organization, the KnightsTemplar—would threaten to returnwith guns blazing. The military andfederal police never showed up.

without permits—and turned theminto thriving illegal enterprises. “Theonly thing the state government hasdone is wash their hands of this and


Famine in SomaliaWith five regions in Somalia alreadydeclared famine zones, the the U.N.Food and Agriculture Organizationreported on Aug. 3 that famine is like-ly to spread across all regions ofSomalia’s south and that famine con-ditions may persist until December.Potentially more than 11 million peo-ple in the region could be affected bythe famine, brought on by escalatingfood costs and the worst drought inhalf a century. More than 3.2 millionare in need of immediate, life-savingassistance. According to the JesuitRefugee Service, the current crisis isthe consequence of the extremedrought and other overlapping prob-lems, including the lack of a function-ing central government in Somalia andthe inability of aid agencies to gainaccess to south central Somalia, whichis controlled by the al-Shabab militantgroup. In Ethiopia, a humanitarianeffort led by Catholic Relief Services isramping up; now feeding 400,000 peo-ple, it should reach one million laterthis month.

Israeli Policies Displace PalestiniansAccording to a new U.N. report,Palestinian families within the Israeli-administered Area C on the WestBank are being driven from theirhomes because of movement andaccess restrictions, settlement activity,restrictions on Palestinian construc-tion and insufficient law enforcementon violent settlers. Area C, a “tempo-rary” jurisdictional zone created by the1995 Oslo Peace Accords, includes 60percent of the West Bank. Israelretains control over security, planningand building in the zone, where anestimated 150,000 Palestinians reside.Palestinian families in Area C have

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Sri Lankan religious leaders and the United Nationshave called for an investigation into the killing ofPattani Razeek, a leading human rights activistwhose body was found on July 29, 17 months after hewas reported missing. • Archbishop Pietro Sambi,the apostolic nuncio to the United States since 2006,“enjoyed the highest respect and deepest affection” ofthe U.S. bishops and the nation’s Catholics, said NewYork’s Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, president ofthe U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. ArchbishopSambi, 73, died on July 27, apparently of complications from lungsurgery. • The ailing Rev. Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, 64, one ofVietnam’s best-known democracy activists, has been returned toprison more than a year after he was sent home to seek treatment fora brain tumor. • Currently 29,437 pilgrims from the United Statesplan to attend World Youth Day, Aug. 16 to 21, in Madrid, a recordnumber for U.S. participation in a W.Y.D. outside of NorthAmerica. • The collapsing détente between Beijing and Rome con-tinues as the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association prepares toordain seven more bishops without papal sanction.

N E W S B R I E F S

Pietro Sambi

difficulty gaining access to water, graz-ing or agricultural land and evenreaching basic services because ofmovement restrictions and lack ofinfrastructure. Violence and harass-ment by Israeli settlers is constant.The report states: “Irrespective of themotivation behind the various policiesapplied by Israel to Area C, their effecton the visited communities has been tomake development virtually impossi-ble, to impose living conditions thatare untenable for many and to preventresidents from earning a sustainablelivelihood.”

Christians Targeted In Northern Iraq A car bomb exploded in the earlymorning on Aug. 2 outside the HolyFamily Syrian Catholic church in thenorthern Iraq city of Kirkuk, leaving at

least 20 people injured. Police laterdefused two car bombs—one in frontof a Christian school and another infront of a Presbyterian church. LouisSako, the Chaldean archbishop ofKirkuk, said that the blast set nearbycars on fire and damaged not only thechurch, but also about 30 surroundinghomes. The archbishop visited theinjured in the hospital. He said bothChristians and Muslims were wound-ed in the attack. “We hope this is thelast act of violence,” Archbishop Sakosaid. “Christians are sad and in shock”because such a sacred place and inno-cent people were targeted, he said, and“because Christians play no role in thepolitical games” in Kirkuk—an oil-rich city rife with tensions betweenethnic Arabs, Turkmen and Kurds.

From CNS and other sources.

You’re armed with something more powerful than any weapon: Faith.As a chaplain in the National Guard, you can give strength

to the Citizen-Soldiers who serve our communities and country. You can help them succeed in their mission, whether they are protecting their hometowns during disasters or defending our freedom overseas. Your words, your wisdom and compassion are needed here. Learn how your faith can serve you well at NATIONALGUARD.com/chaplain.

NATIONALGUARD.com

achs. Yet a Cornell University study in2006 estimates that U.S. agriculturalpractices erode soil 10 times fasterthan nature rebuilds it; in China andIndia soil loss is 30 to 40 times the nat-ural replenishment rate. Over the pastfour decades, almost a third of theworld’s arable land has become unpro-ductive because of erosion. Modernfood production is also an energy hog:it consumes between three to 10 calo-ries (depending upon howyou count) of nonrenew-able energy for every onecalorie of edible food it pro-duces.

Deficit spending of nat-ural capital is like heating alibrary with a furnace thatburns books. Unlike theFederal Reserve, which cancreate billions of dollars atwill, we cannot simply printmore soil, oil or other natu-ral resources. When they are gone,they are gone; mother nature alwayscollects on her debts. And although allof us will eventually feel the pain asthese resources diminish, the globalpoor feel it first and feel it worst.

The Catholic tradition speaks elo-quently about the need for faithfulstewardship of God’s creation. It alsoreminds us that our economy is simplya reflection of our values; our econom-ic decisions are always moral decisions,creating weal or woe for our fellowhuman beings, other creatures and theearth as a whole. Unfortunately, how-ever, most Catholics are just as com-plicit as others in deficit spending ofnatural capital. We often tend tobracket our religion off from our eco-nomic lives. Sometimes we even claimthat our prosperity results from God’s

s this column goes to press,there is a glimmer of hopethat American lawmakers, in

their debate about the national debtceiling, have reached a compromisethat charts a course between the dan-gerous Scylla of even greater budgetdeficits and the potentially catastroph-ic Charybdis of a national default.Aside from the self-serving politicaltheater, I have been especially frustrat-ed by the utter lack of attention paid toa large elephant in the room. Even if bysome legislative miracle we could cutgovernment spending and raiseenough tax revenue to balance the fed-eral budget, the U.S. economy (like theglobal economy) would still rely onanother sort of insidious deficit spend-ing: the natural capital on which alleconomic activity depends.

Examples abound, but two sufficeto make the point. Energy is the fun-damental engine of almost all moderneconomic activity. Try to think of anygood or service money can buy—Ikeafurniture, a Starbucks latte, a carwash—that is not subsidized at everystep by massive amounts of energyused to produce it, get it to you (or youto it) and keep it functioning. TheU.S. Energy Information Administra-tion projects global energy consump-tion will rise almost 50 percent by2035, but most energy will still comefrom finite and quickly diminishingsources like coal, oil and natural gas.

Economic activity also depends onfood production, since we cannot goabout our business on empty stom-

blessing rather than credit-bingeing onenergy and natural resources.

It need not be this way. In fact,when commenting about the church’srole in environmental concerns, PopeBenedict stated recently that thechurch is “often the only hope” when itcomes to summoning the moral moti-vation to address such large-scale andseemingly intractable problems. Asindividual Catholic households, as

parish communities, asdioceses and religiousorders and as a univer-sal church, we havetremendous potential tohelp fashion a differentsort of economy. How?

We would begin byadvocating for and try-ing to engage in honestaccounting of naturalcapital alongside mone-tary capital, so that we

know whether our books balance onnature’s ledger. Including the true costsof limited resources would likelyincrease the price of energy and goods.We in developed countries would haveto pare down our lifestyle, and wewould need to put special safeguardsin place for the poor. Overall, however,higher prices could usher in a moremodest, less growth-addicted econo-my, based on humility, prudence, effi-ciency and the preservation of naturalcapital. We could shift the core valueof our economy from consumption tocommunity, which is a truer form ofwealth.

All of this is necessary, all of it iscomplex and none of it is easy. But wemust address our deficit disorder,starting now. God’s creation hangs inthe balance of our budget.

Attention: Deficit DisorderA

Mothernaturealways collects on her debts.


KYLE T. KRAMER is the director of lay degreeprograms at Saint Meinrad School of Theologyin Saint Meinrad, Ind., and an organicfarmer.

KYLE T. KRAMER

Process Page

Limited-time Offer—Please Respond Promptly.

Signature

Mrs. Mr. Ms.Name (PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY)

Address Apt. No.

City State Zip Yes! Please reserve one Thomas Kinkade “Glory To The

Newborn King” Illuminated Nativity Tree Masterpiece Edition as

described in this announcement. I need SEND NO MONEY NOW.

9210 N. MARYLAND ST., NILES, IL 60714-1322

Certificate of Authenticity and 365-Day Money-Back Guarantee

The Nativity story comes vividly to life in a three-dimensional, fully sculpted, illuminated miniature tree inspired by the Painter of Light ™. This beautiful tree retells the blessed event step by step—from the Three Kings’ journey to Bethlehem, to the heavenly angels bringing good tidings and praise, to the night Jesus was born.

Superb handcraftmanship & hand-paintingHandcrafted, hand-painted scenes and figurines nestle cozily within its lush, sculptural greenery. Reflecting a warm, holiday glow, the tree and structures illuminate and it plays the cherished melody, Silent Night. The brilliant crystalline Christmas Star treetopper, beautiful mahog-any-finish base and brass name plaque make it truly a one-of-a-kind.

Urgent Notification! Availability Is Strictly Limited. Be one of the first to get this incredible Nativity tree, remarkably priced at $135.00, payable in 4 convenient installments of just $33.75*. Orders limited to one tree per customer. Send no money now. Your prompt response is critical. Simply complete and mail the attached coupon today!

Shown smaller than actual size. Powered by AC adapter (included) or 3 “AA” batteries (not included).©2009 Thomas Kinkade

An impressive 16” high with illuminated Crèche and

Nativity structures, and over 40 characters all hand-crafted!

*Plus $19.99 shipping and service, subject to change. All sales are subject to acceptance and product availability. Allow 4-6 weeks after initial payment for shipment.

©2009 Hawthorne Village 14-00101-001-BI2

Plays the

cherished

melody of

Silent Night

®

14-00101-001-E39414

Reserve Today!www.hawthorne.com/nativitysculpt


A Muslim girl chants slogans and holds up a Koran and a cross during a rally to demonstratethe unity between Muslims and Christians at Tahrir Square in Cairo on March 11, 2011.

Ph

oto

: R

eu

te

Rs

/Mo

hA

Me

d A

bd

el-g

hA

Ny

The PeaceFrontBY WILLIAM BOLE

n Sept. 11, 2001, a cadre of young Muslim men hijackedplanes and, perhaps with visions of black-eyed virgins inParadise, crashed them into the Pentagon and the twintowers of the World Trade Center, acting supposedly inthe name of their religion. Within hours of these atroci-

ties, Top 40 radio stations across the United States began playing JohnLennon’s anthem “Imagine,” which supplied what many saw as a sound-track of hope and harmony in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Thelyrics longingly envisioned “all the people, living life in peace.” But with adisquieting relevance to the suicide attacks, Lennon had also pondered,“Imagine there’s no heaven...and no religion, too.”

Since then commentators have fleshed out this contemplation of areligion-free world. “Imagine no suicide bombers, no 9/11...noCrusades...no Israel/Palestine wars...no Taliban,” wrote the prominentatheist and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins five years after thetowers crumbled. This past December, 30 years after the ex-Beatle wasgunned down by a deranged fan, the comedian and television personali-ty Bill Maher, alluding to religious strife in general, sent a message to hisfans on Twitter: “Remember Lennon said ‘Imagine NO religion.’ Honorwhat he wrote—it holds up.” These and other secularist screeds havetapped into a larger feeling that religion usually is a cause of violencerather than an agent of peace helping to resolve and heal conflicts.

This perception is not hard to substantiate. On any given day, religiousrivalry is likely to combust into deadly street violence somewhere. InMarch, for instance, Muslims and Christians clashed mercilessly inEgypt, leaving a dozen dead and 140 injured after the torching of a

O

RELIGIOUS GROUPS STAKE OUT A WIDERROLE IN VIOLENT CONFLICTS.


WILLIAM BOLE, a journalist in the Boston area, is a co-author, with DrewChristiansen, S.J., and Robert T. Hennemeter, of Forgiveness in International

Politics: An Alternative Road to Peace (U.S.C.C.B.).

Coptic church near Cairo. Apparently a love affair betweena Muslim man and a Christian woman sparked a feudbetween the couple’s families, which escalated into a streetfight between Copts and Muslims. Just a month after thenonviolent campaign that toppled the dictator HosniMubarak, religion wasagain dividing rather thanuniting. And yet some ofthe more profound imagesof the anti-Mubarakuprising were those ofMuslims and CopticChristians rallying togeth-er in Cairo’s TahrirSquare—young peopleholding crosses andKorans with raised handsjoined, Christians forminga circle around prostrating Muslims to protect them frompolice during their Friday prayers and other scenes of inter-religious amity.

Religious PeacebuildingIn struggles around the globe, religious believers are show-ing that they can bow in either direction: toward entrench-ment and extremism or toward solidarity and compassion.Untold numbers of faith communities are exploring the lat-ter option, using both spiritual and worldly tools to lessenconflicts and prepare a way for lasting peace and stability. Indoing so they are pressing their inherent advantages, whichinclude having a foothold in many fractious societies andadherents at many or all levels of those societies, as theCatholic Church often has. In her 2006 book The Mightyand the Almighty, Madeleine Albright, secretary of stateduring the Clinton presidency, went further to say thatfaith-based organizations “have more resources, moreskilled personnel, a longer attention span, more experience,more dedication, and more success in fostering reconcilia-tion than any government.”

Increasingly these religious works are being assigned tothe broader category of “peacebuilding,” a movement withno clear definition of itself but a growing movementnonetheless. The compound word came into play during the1990s, as the international community grappled with postcold-war conflicts in places like the former Yugoslavia andRwanda, which, unlike the superpower rivalry, derived fromcenturies-old religious and ethnic grievances.

The intractability of these conflicts called for strategiesbeyond simply hammering out cease-fire resolutions. In2005 the United Nations inaugurated its PeacebuildingCommission, an advisory body that seeks to improve inter-national support for countries emerging from violent con-

flicts, helping with peacekeeping, mediation, reconstructionand long-term development programs. Beginning in theadministration of George W. Bush, even the U.S. militaryspoke the language of peacebuilding in its “post-conflict”efforts to rebuild Iraq’s political institutions and physical

infrastructure, notwith-standing that president’sfamous aversion to“nation-building.” Non-governmental organiza-tions and projects withpeacebuilding in theirnames have proliferatedalmost as visibly as AK-47 assault rifles in Africanconflict zones.

According to its practi-tioners, peacebuilding is

different from traditional peacemaking, in part because thework is continual and not simply a reaction to the onset ofwar. “Peacebuilders strive to address all phases of...protract-ed conflicts, in which pre-violence, violence and post-vio-lence periods are difficult to differentiate,” writes R. ScottAppleby, director of the Kroc Institute for InternationalPeace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, referring tothe cyclical nature of long-running conflicts in countries likeColombia, the Philippines and parts of Africa. Anothermark of peacebuilding is that it “engages all sectors of soci-ety and all the relevant partners,” ranging from business andpolitical leaders to religious communities and even perpe-trators of violence, Appleby reports in Peacebuilding:Catholic Theology, Ethics, and Praxis (Orbis Books), a freshcollection of studies produced by the CatholicPeacebuilding Network at Notre Dame. Peace-treaty nego-tiators and “Troops Home Now” banner carriers are nolonger the only players in the peace arena.

“Peacebuilding is a growth industry” is a favorite expres-sion of Maryann Cusimano Love, a professor of interna-tional politics at The Catholic University of America and amember of the steering committee of the seven-year-oldCatholic network that has been identifying, studying andbolstering this work within the Catholic Church worldwide.She refers principally to the secular peacebuilding commu-nity, which features such heavy hitters as the UnitedNations and the U.S. Institute of Peace, a quasi-govern-mental body that promotes international conflict resolution.The faith-based component of this movement is less recog-nizable—more like a startup company or a multitude ofsuch ventures, often operating below the political radar. Bymost accounts, religious peacebuilding has barely begun togel into an international movement of its own, whether ecu-menically or within such a large and socially engaged insti-

Faith-based peacebuilding makesroom for a prodigious array of participants or actors—not excluding the people

holding the guns.


These local initiatives are often assisted by internationalgroups, including the New York-based World Conferenceof Religions for Peace and the Washington-basedInternational Center for Religion and Diplomacy. Oneimportant tool has been interreligious dialogue, a term thatto Westerners may suggest a prosaic activity, an obligationundertaken by theologians and local clergy associations. Inother parts of the world, however, there is drastically moreat stake in these dialogues, particularly where talking to oneanother is an alternative to mutual slaughter.

Interreligious DialogueOn the large island of Mindanao in the Philippines, whereIslamic insurgencies are scattered around the southernregion, distrust between Muslims and Christians is palpa-ble. In 1995 a Catholic peace group commissioned an opin-ion survey of Catholic priests and religious in southwesternMindanao. Most of these leaders would not trust a Muslimwith their valuables, would not want a relative to have an“intimate” relationship with a Muslim and would prefer toavoid physical proximity with Muslims altogether, accord-ing to the findings by the sociologist Grace J. Rebellos ofWestern Mindanao State University, who helped conductthe study for Peace Advocates Zamboanga. The Catholicgroup had been formed in 1994 by activist laypeople, reli-gious and clergy—as was a similar Muslim association, the

tution as the Catholic Church. Still, much is happening inmany places.

As Madeleine Albright intimated, religious peace-builders can do things their secular counterparts cannot do,like respond directly to the spiritual need for personal heal-ing and reconciliation. But the resources that religious com-munities bring to violence-wracked societies are more basic:they are there, on the ground, operating parishes, schoolsand social services. This is a significant asset because, asProfessor Love points out, one-third of the world’s nationsare failed states, meaning they have no central governmentto speak of and lack such institutions as educational andhealth care systems.

Peaceful Transition in South SudanThe Republic of South Sudan is now an incipient state, fol-lowing a referendum earlier this year in which voters choseoverwhelmingly to secede from the government inKhartoum, splitting up Africa’s largest country. Most ana-lysts had predicted that the referendum in January would bethwarted or tainted by violence and chaos, in a land wheremillions of people had been killed in decades of civil warbetween the mostly Arab and Muslim north and the most-ly black Christian and animist south. But Sudan’s churches,which have institutional assets in the south (including radiostations), spearheaded prayer campaigns for a durable peace,aimed especially at encouraging voters to turn out despitefears of northern-backed militia violence during the sevendays of balloting.

Parish volunteers confronted other obstacles by showingilliterate people how to cast the ballots. Faith-based human-itarian agencies like Caritas Internationalis helped foster asense of stability, providing a stream of vital services includ-ing potable water and sanitation. Against long odds, theelections turned out to be free, fair and relatively tranquil.The churches (Catholic and Anglican, mainly) not onlycarved out a nonviolent path, with guidance from the inter-national community but, in view of the institutional vacu-um, are considered the only indigenous institutions thatcould have done so. Reversing course, Sudan’s governmentin Khartoum accepted the outcome of the referendum.

In other countries, physical infrastructure and govern-mental institutions may be largely in place, but there mayalso be gaps in what Kenneth R. Himes, O.F.M., a theolo-gian at Boston College, calls the “human infrastructure forpeaceful communal life.” As he has described in several arti-cles, such an infrastructure would include the requisite“social space” for people to come together and contribute tostability and reconciliation. In dozens of countries rangingfrom Colombia to Sri Lanka to Uganda, religious leadershave attempted to fill this particular vacuum by formingcivil-society organizations to address common concerns.


is the NEW ONLINE newsletter of ideas and images designed to help homilists develop their own brief reflection on the daily Gospel reading. Because time is a factor at weekday liturgies, each of-fering focuses on a single point or idea, drawn from the everyday world of the parish community.

The resource for the homilist who preaches with one eye on the Gospel —

and one eye on the clock.

Salam Peace Foundation. Soon after, the two faith contin-gents merged into Paz-Salam, which has since facilitated aplethora of low-profile, small-group conversations involvingChristian and Muslim young people, schoolteachers andeven soldiers. Paz-Salam has made its biggest splash withthe Mindanao Week of Peace, which began in 1997 as alocal interreligious peace festival in the town of Zamboanga.It was taken islandwide a few years later by a larger inter-faith partnership, the Bishops-Ulama Conference, spon-sored by Catholic prelates and Muslim ulama, or clergy andscholars. The sheer numbers are impressive. The peaceweek, held annually in late autumn, opened grandly thispast year with a parade through Zamboanga that bandedtogether 20,000 Catholics, Protestants, Muslims andLumads or indigenous people.

Less peaceable forces, however, are contending. Therehave been bombings in shopping malls by Islamic sepa-ratists and harsh crackdowns by the Filipino military, con-stantly countered by acts of interreligious solidarity. TheU.S.-based Catholic Relief Services and its Mindanao part-ners have added materially to the goodwill by setting upinterfaith economic ventures in Mindanao, including acooperative Christian-Muslim bakery. (In Indonesia, theworld’s largest Muslim nation, C.R.S. took particular careto distribute prayer rugs and veils to Muslim women fol-lowing the devastating tsunami that struck off northernSumatra in December 2004; it was an interfaith gesture anda deliberate first step toward building trust betweenChristians and Muslims there.)

In almost every region with a major conflict, faith-basedagencies, including the evangelical-sponsored group WorldVision, have mounted peacebuilding initiatives that rangefrom grass-roots mediation and trauma healing to econom-ic development and the resettling of child soldiers in placeslike Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Suchprograms date to the 1990s, when relief agencies saw theirbest-laid plans for development in Rwanda unravel in thegenocide there and realized that peace work had to be incor-porated into humanitarian work. C.R.S. is running peace-building programs in 50 countries.

Armed ActorsFaith-based peacebuilding makes room for a prodigiousarray of participants or actors, as they are called in thisfield—bishops, priests, lay staff, catechists, scholars, reliefworkers, regular parishioners and others. Not excluded arethe people holding the guns, who are, in the nomenclature,armed actors.

One participant is General Raymundo Ferrer of theArmed Forces of the Philippines, which has waged coun-terinsurgency campaigns in the southern islands since the1970s. During the past decade he concluded that a final mil-


Symposium on the Priesthood

October 5, 2011The Catholic University of America

On the occasion of the publication of

Why Priests Are Happy: A Study of the Psychological and Spiritual Health of Priests

by Monsignor Stephen J. Rossetti

SPEAKERS INCLUDE:

Monsignor Stephen RossettiAssociate Clinical Professor, CUA

Archbishop Wilton D. GregoryArchbishop of Atlanta

Joseph White, Ph.D.Associate Professor, American Catholic Church History, CUA

Monsignor Robert PankePresident, National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors

For more information or to register, please visit cuatoday.com/symposiumpriesthood2011

or call 202-319-5683.

This event is co-sponsored by Associated Sulpicians of the United States; Saint Luke Institute, Silver Spring, Md.;

School of Theology and Religious Studies, CUA; and Theological College.

itary victory was unlikely and began repairing ties withlong-aggrieved Muslims in little ways. He ordered histroops to point their guns down and smile at Muslims whenpassing them on the streets, as Professor Love spotlighted ina detailed case study of military-religious peace collabora-tion in the Philippines she conducted for GeorgetownUniversity’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. GeneralFerrer himself began striking up conversations on thestreets near his post in Basilian, Mindanao, meeting thelocals, among them a Catholic social worker who wasted notime linking him up with interfaith peace activists. They, inturn, persuaded him to sign up for peacebuilding trainingconducted jointly by C.R.S. and the Mindanao PeaceInstitute, a Mennonite-Catholic collaboration. He did so in2005, in the face of resistance from both the army’s topbrass and church human-rights activists who distrusted themilitary.

Since then the general has enrolled his colonels in classesdealing with nonviolent communications, mediation, reli-gion and culture, community relations and more. ProfessorLove reports that the training has helped enlighten mem-bers of the army command while also teaching officers prac-tical skills that can be useful, for example, in mediating dis-putes between feuding Muslim clans. Disunity amongMuslims is a complicating factor. The Filipino governmenthas frequently made conciliatory strides together withIslamic insurgencies, only to see members of those groupssplinter off to renew fighting.

Sometimes peacebuilders refer to “bad actors,” like theso-called narco-guerillas in Colombia or the Maoists fight-ing in the Philippines (usually separately from theMuslims). These are extremely violent characters who, nev-ertheless, have been engaged in dialogue by church repre-sentatives through peace-and-justice offices. Peacebuildersare not purists.

The roles of armed actors throw light on a soberingdimension of peacebuilding—that the work is fraught withrisk, pitfalls and ambiguity, as John Paul Lederach of theKroc Institute emphasizes. (Many of the “bad actors”appear on the U.S. terrorism watch lists that have prolifer-ated since Sept. 11, 2001, which could make dialogue withthem illegal.) Prominently situated within the messiness isthe Catholic Church, which, as Lederach points out, tendsto be the only institution with adherents on both sides ofpolarizing divides. As a result, church representatives oftenfind themselves building relationships with different groupsof armed actors, including bad ones, many of whom areaccessible in part because they cling to the symbols andimagery of the Catholic faith in which they were raised. Mr.Lederach, who has facilitated peace training in 25 countries,is one of the most influential figures in both the secular andfaith-based peacebuilding communities. “The church has an


Invites applications and nominationsfor the post of

DEAN OFTHEDIVINITY SCHOOL

Candidates must be able to work effectivelyin a university context and an ecumenicalsetting, and be committed to theologicalscholarship and to preparation for diverseministries in church and society aroundthe world. Applicants and nominees musthave demonstrated capacity to provideintellectual, spiritual, and administrativeleadership. The search committee isactively seeking nomination of womenand minority candidates.

The position becomes availableJuly 1, 2012.

Applications and nominations withcurriculum vitae and other supportingmaterials should be sent by

September 30, 2011 to:

Professor John J. CollinsChair, Dean Search Committee

c/o Ilana DanilowitzYale University

c/o Office of the ProvostPO Box 2083651 Hillhouse Avenue

New Haven, CT 06520-8365([email protected])

YALE UNIVERSITYYale University is anAffirmative Action,

Equal Opportunity Employer.


ubiquitous presence” in many societies, he says, meaningthat its representatives can reach out to co-religionists atsociety’s higher echelons as well as into local communities.A Mennonite, Mr. Lederach jokes that he has a case of“hierarchy envy.” He marvels at the ability of bishops tomobilize the church for peacebuilding purposes across vari-ous sectors of society (when they are so inclined).

Secularist BlindspotThe global scale of faith-based peacebuilding is difficult tomeasure, partly because of definitional questions about whatqualifies under the heading. A fair indication of the scopewould be C.R.S. and its peacebuilding operations in 28 ofthe 35 conflict-weary nations, programs conducted almostalways in collaboration with other groups, Catholic and non-Catholic. The impact is real, but reality has not changed per-ceptions within the “imagine no religion” choir or among sec-ular experts in international relations who tend not to dis-cuss religion except as a source of intergroup violence. “It’sthe skunk at the garden party,” as Ms. Love puts it, referringto religious intrusions into those discussions. Attitudes arebeginning to shift (one sign being former Secretary of StateMadeleine Albright’s contention that religion is part of thesolution), “but it’s a slow movement,” Love adds.

This is not to say that faith-based peacebuilding is a coher-ent, well-conceived enterprise. Many of its practitionerswould admit they are making up much as they go along andthat there is a shortage of moral and religious reflection toguide them. Catholics in the movement seem especially con-cerned about the missing theological frameworks. TheCatholic Peacebuilding Network has been bringing ethicistsand theologians together with grass-roots peacebuilders in anumber of countries togenerate a cleareraccount of this work inlight of Catholic faith.Gerard Powers, thenetwork’s coordinatorand a noted international affairs analyst at the University ofNotre Dame, explains that Catholic just-war doctrine mayspeak robustly to questions about when it is right to go to warand how to conduct the intervention morally, but the teach-ing is far less incisive when it comes to wars that are seeming-ly without end and to post-conflict situations.

How does the church engage the bad actors while alsodemanding accountability for their crimes? Mr. Powersasks, articulating one moral quandary. “That’s a peace-building question, not an ethics-of-war question,” he says.These are the issues faced by a religious community thathas entered the fray and that is searching for a waythrough the ambiguity, intractability and belligerence tomake peace possible. A

FORDHAM CENTER ON RELIGION AND CULTURE

Since 1976, the conference of America’s Catholic bishops has issued statements—titled “Faithful Citizenship”—before each presidential election year to help Catholics apply their faith to their political choices. Over the decades, “Faithful Citizenship” has become increasingly controversial, criticized both for being too vague or too partisan.

How have the statements evolved? What have they achieved? How have they been used—and abused? Can the bishops do better for the 2012 presidential election? The forum will look at voters, bishops and presidential elections from the perspective of recent Catholic history, the bishops’ conference, and conservative and liberal Catholics.

MODERATORPeter Steinfels, Co-director of the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture

PANELISTSJohn Carr, Executive Director of the Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Robert George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, Princeton University

Stephen Schneck, Director of the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies, the Catholic University of America

SAVE THE DATE | 18 OCTOBER Faithful Citizenship II:

Keeping the Faith in a Season of Spin

F R E E A N D O P E N T O T H E P U B L I C

R S V P: [email protected] | (212) 636-7347

For more information, visit www.fordham.edu/ReligCulture.

Faithful Citizenship I

Voters, Bishops and Presidential Elections

Tuesday, 6 September 2011 | 6-8 p.m.Pope Auditorium | 113 West 60th Street

Fordham University | Lincoln Center Campus

ON THE WEBA video report from Religions for Peace.

americamagazine.org/video


Our priests are messengers of hope

All they need is a CFCA priest to bring them together.

A

messengers of hopeOur priests ar

friendship waits to be born between a family in Illinois

messengers of hopeeOur priests ar


messengers of hopee


A

All they need is a CFCA priest to bring them together

help in Kenya.elationship with an elderly woman in need ofa blessed r

woman with grandchildrough the exchange of encouraging letters. In Idaho athr

oup in Connecticut argrlong a teenage boy in the Philippines and a parish youth

and a little girl living in poverty in Honduras. Beforfriendship waits to be born between a family in Illinois


elationship with an elderly woman in need ofen of her own will soon enter intowoman with grandchildr

ough the exchange of encouraging letters. In Idaho ae going to become acquaintedoup in Connecticut ar

long a teenage boy in the Philippines and a parish youthand a little girl living in poverty in Honduras. Beforfriendship waits to be born between a family in Illinois


elationship with an elderly woman in need ofen of her own will soon enter into

ough the exchange of encouraging letters. In Idaho ae going to become acquainted

long a teenage boy in the Philippines and a parish youtheand a little girl living in poverty in Honduras. Befor


for CFCA, contact T

If you would like to learn mor

fer just compensation.priests, and we offew assignments as they like. Wfor weekend assignments only and accept as many or asof our Hope for a Family sponsorship pr

oss the country while sharing the good newsparishes acrThe priests who work with CFCA celebrate Eucharist in


for CFCA, contact T

eachinge about prIf you would like to learn mor

fer just compensation.e especially need bilingualfew assignments as they like. W

for weekend assignments only and accept as many or asogram. They travelof our Hope for a Family sponsorship pr

oss the country while sharing the good newsThe priests who work with CFCA celebrate Eucharist in


eaching

e especially need bilingualfor weekend assignments only and accept as many or as

ogram. They traveloss the country while sharing the good news

The priests who work with CFCA celebrate Eucharist in

.All they need is a CFCA priest to bring them together

people of all faiths. Tacting on the Gospel call to serve the poorand the aging in developing countries. Founded by lay Catholicsmovement of people who support and encourage childrChristian Foundation for Childr

(800) 875-6564 or cfcaoutrfor CFCA, contact T

.hopeforafamilye, visit wwwo learn mor all faiths. T To learn mor, C he Gospel call to serve the poor r, CFCA works with

and the aging in developing countries. Founded by lay Catholicsmovement of people who support and encourage childr

en and Aging is an internationalChristian Foundation for Childr

[email protected](800) 875-6564 or cfcaoutrim Deveney atfor CFCA, contact T

g..orhopeforafamilyy.or, CFCA works with

and the aging in developing countries. Founded by lay Catholicsen, youthmovement of people who support and encourage childr

en and Aging is an international

[email protected]

JESUIT RETREAT HOUSE420West County Line Rd.Barrington, IL 60010-4043

“Come to the Quiet”Bellarmine offers a peacefulenvironment wherein silentretreats, based on the SpiritualExercises of St. Ignatius, enablepersons to experience a deeplysatisfying encounter withChrist and His word.

Give yourself a gift and “Cometo the Quiet” of Bellarmine andexperience the love of God inthe Light of Christ.

For more information call ouroffice at 847-381-1261 orvisit our website at

www.bellarminehall.org.

PLEASE REMEMBER

AMERICAIN YOUR WILL

OUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON YOU!

OUR LEGAL TITLE IS:AMERICA PRESS INC.,

106 WEST 56th STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10019

ere is what happenswhen you declareyourself a legend

before becoming one: any-thing you do as an artist isdestined to be anticlimactic.Lady Gaga’s newalbum, Born This Way,released in May, was highlytouted even before its release.A tweet from Gaga herselfproclaimed it as “the anthemfor our generation.” But per-haps she is too wrapped up inher own personal cocktail ofinfluences and passions tocreate anything trulyanthemic. Maybe her callingis to be a phenomenon forthis generation. The music isconsistently surprising evenafter the first few listens, andto Gaga’s credit, there is not aconventional moment on“Born This Way.”

The songs are an eclecticmix of manifesto-like intona-tions behind loud industrialbeats, risqué techno dancemusic, 1980s-style anthems,with a lavish use of foreignaccents and Catholic motifs.Overtly Christian imagerycrops up often, and two songstake Christian tropes as acentral theme: “Judas” and“Bloody Mary.” These bothtwist familiar Bible storiesinto metaphors that fit whatis presented as Gaga’s ownexperience.

The message of “Judas”

becomes clear in one line:“Jesus is my virtue/ But Judasis the demon I cling to—Icling to!” The singer wants tobe good and wants forgive-ness, but struggles to give upthe pleasure of sin. We’veheard this before, as early asSt. Paul and St. Augustine.Hers is a struggle that anyhonest Christian will recog-nize: to uphold one’s virtueand be “good” amid a realitybrimming with temptationsto be “bad.” Gaga personifiesthe dilemma in the charactersof Jesus and Judas—the sav-ior and the tempted, or herethe tempter—addressed aspossible lovers.

In the music video, Gagaswaggers around an overheat-ed party in the Jerusalemdusk with Jesus on her arm (ahandsome male model wear-ing a gold crown of thorns),exchanging charged glanceswith Judas, who movesaggressively through thecrowd, cozying up to everywoman on the floor. The dis-ciples are part of a biker gang,with Judas the meanest andscraggliest looking amongthem. The beautifully shotvideo has plenty of poeticmoments that take theirinspiration from fashion pho-tography.

Public controversy, howev-er, has centered around thefact that Gaga dares to use P

ho

to

: s

hu

tte

Rs

to

ck

/ch

iNe

llA

to

Ph

oto


BOOKS &CULTURE

M U S I C | JON M. SWEENEY

CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS DIVALady Gaga’s fascination with Christian imagery

H

Lady Gaga performs in Assago, Milan,Italy, in December 2010.

CONVICTING THEINNOCENTWhere Criminal Prosecutions Go Wrong

By Brandon L. Garrett Harvard Univ. Press. 376p $39.95

PECULIAR INSTITUTIONAmerica’s Death Penalty In an Age of Abolition

By David Garland Belknap/Harvard Univ. Press. 432p $35

As Marcus Lyons approached the

arched courthouse entrance in March1991, it was not his naval uniform thatdrew attention. It was the eight-foot-long wooden cross he shouldered.Curiosity turned to alarm when Lyonsattempted self-crucifixion, raising ahammer and pounding a nail into hisfoot.

Police saved Lyons. But that didnot even begin to set things right.Lyons had left an Illinois prison twoweeks before to serve out parole for arape he did not commit. His life inruins—a fiancée lost, a good job gone,

this subject matter at all, much lessmake it sexy and stylish. This shows,of course, the influence of Madonna,the first pop artist to use Catholicimagery to such effect in the 1980s.(She also was able to provoke bishopsand pastors to denounce her from thepulpit.) Many critics have dubbedLady Gaga a mere Madonna wannabe,and the recent amplification of herreligious imagery serves to strengthenthat connection.

The message of “Bloody Mary” issimilar to that of “Judas.” It is a soft,throbbing song with intriguingly briefstring parts, a few screams and aGregorian choir (perfect —can’t youjust imagine it, in stark gloom, a wor-ship service: “GA-GA... GA-GA...”).The song is sung as if by MaryMagdalene herself, which makes senseif you have ever read NikosKazantzakis’s novel, The Last Tempta-tion of Christ. For both Kazantzakis andGaga, Jesus and the Magdalene werelovers. Gaga’s chorus goes:

I’ll dance dance dance With my hands hands hands Above my head head head like Jesus said

I’m gonna dance dance dance With my hands hands hands Above my head, dance togetherForgive him before he’s dead because

I won’t cry for you I won’t crucify the things you do

I won’t cry for you When you’re gone I’ll still be bloody Mary.

This sounds like a cryptic personalconfession. Another lyric runs: “WhenPunk-tius comes to kill the king uponhis throne/ I’m ready for their stones.”There is plenty of wordplay on thisalbum, as well as foreign-languageplay. “Punk-tius” is a strange conglom-eration of the name Pontius Pilatewith punk spliced onto the front.


B O O K S | KEVIN DOYLE

WEIGHING THE EVIDENCE

There is no easy way to account forthis; sometimes Lady Gaga is toobizarre to be exactly irreverent. Butagain, Mary pines for Jesus in sensualways that go far beyond the biblicalevents the song describes. Anotherline goes, “And when you’re gone, I’lltell them my religion’s you.” There is afaithful passion in that voice, lookingfor meaning in all the wrong places.

What makes Lady Gaga consistent-ly interesting amongpop stars is her will-ingness to embraceunusual imagery andconcepts and to usethem successfully ina mass-marketable way. She has raisedthe bar for her diva rivals in ways thatecho the controversies sparked nearly30 years ago by Madonna. BothMadonna and Lady Gaga (her realname is Stefani Joanne AngelinaGermanotta) were raised in Italian-American Roman Catholic families.(Germanotta attended the Convent ofthe Sacred Heart school in New YorkCity as a young woman). Their trajec-tories are also similar. Madonna’s“Like a Virgin” album (1984) alsodripped with the artist’s self-recrimi-nations as well as self-comparisons to

the Blessed Mother. Gaga’s shape-shifting ability, like

Madonna’s, is a perfect one for market-ing. When she poses in a blessing pos-ture, with her hands outstretched (isshe praying the Rosary or reaching fora man?), it is simply another bit offashion. It is understandable that thesegestures can be viewed as irreverent.

But in the end, the best way toapproach such flirtations with

Catholicism may benot to considerwhether they areoffensive, but to askwhether the artist isusing them purely

for effect or as part of a personal dia-logue. Gaga is no longer a practicingCatholic, but she does profess aChristian faith. For this reason, andalso because her album is so fiercelypassionate, preaching honest self-expression ardently if somewhatheretically, it seems clear that Gagastill cares about her God.

JON M. SWEENEY, author of Verily, Verily:The King James Bible—400 Years ofInfluence and Beauty, wrote this reviewwith the help of his daughter, Clelia Sweeney,a sophomore at Bard College at Simon’s Rock,in Great Barrington, Mass.

ON THE WEBBryan McCarthy

reviews the film “Terri.”americamagazine.org/culture

a reputation shattered—Lyons hadmutilated himself in desperateprotest.

The protest did not bring immedi-ate justice. Eventually, though, Lyonsread about another man’s exonerationthrough DNA evidence. Lyons con-tacted the man’s lawyer, who agreed totake on Lyons’s case. In 2007, thanksto DNA testing, Lyons won official

exoneration from the state. In Convicting the Innocent: Where

Criminal Prosecutions Go Wrong,Professor Brandon L. Garrett, of theUniversity of Virginia School of Law,insists that the story of Lyons andother DNA exonerees should inciteand not reassure, should spur reformrather than engender complacency.The United States should not focuson the DNA evidence that liberatedthe innocent. It should instead turn itsattention to the non-DNA evidencethat put the wrong people in jail tobegin with.

Most crimes do not yield DNA evi-dence that will identify the real perpe-trator and exclude the falsely accused.Rape will ordinarily do this, but rob-bery, assault, arson, extortion andmurder usually will not. InnocentAmericans accused of the latter crimes

will, without benefit of the DNA deusex machina, be at risk for wrongfulconvictions. The risk arises from thesame things that allowed DNAexonerees to be convicted in the firstplace—sincere but mistaken eyewit-ness identifications, coerced confes-sions, shoddy forensic science andscheming informants.

Looking at the 250 people exoner-

ated through DNA as of February2010, Garrett aimed to determinehow often each of these malignant fac-tors had warped the criminal justiceprocess at the expense of an innocentperson (and to the benefit of an actualcriminal who went unpursued).Garrett tracked down court tran-scripts and dug into case files. He thensliced, diced, sifted and collated thedata.

Some law professors would take apass on this kind of grunt work.Garrett did not, and our justice systemcan be the better for it.

Garrett found that eyewitnessmisidentification helped jail the inno-cent in 76 percent of the false convic-tions he analyzed. No surprise. Littletests the presumption of innocence asmuch as a jury’s inability to distin-guish between certainty and accuracy

when a victim points at the defendantand tells the jury: “That is the man.”And little tilts the playing field somuch as pretrial police steering of aneyewitness; Garrett found that show-ups (one-to-one showing of a suspectto a witness), flawed line-ups and sug-gestive remarks paved the way tounjust verdicts in most instances ofeyewitness misidentification.

Forensic science evidence played arole, usually a pernicious one, in 74percent of the cases. Sometimes thisevidence centered on microscopic haircomparisons, at other times on bitemarks, shoe prints, fingerprints orserology. Some errors arose fromunreliable methodologies that werehigh in subjective judgment and low inaccepted quantitative standards (likemicroscopic hair comparison). Othererrors derived from testimony andargument overstating the significanceof findings reliable in themselves.

Faulty informant testimony infect-ed the proceedings in 21 percent of thecases. In 23 of 52 cases, the informantwas a codefendant. In 28, the infor-mant resided in the jail that housedthe wrongly accused. This latter situa-tion is spring-loaded for the mostegregious miscarriages of justice. AsGarrett points out, the unscrupulousjailhouse snitch looking to exchangetestimony for a break on his own casewill likely do so at the expense of thefellow inmate facing the gravestcharges. He understands that theprosecutor will most richly reward theinmate who helps him win the bigconviction for capital murder.

In 16 percent of the cases Garrettanalyzed, 40 of 250, the wronglyaccused himself confessed to a crimehe did not commit. Fourteen of thesefalse confessors were mentally retard-ed, three were mentally ill and 13 werejuveniles. Virtually all these peopleimplicated themselves after unusuallylong interrogations.

Of course, serious diagnosis with-out recommended treatment leads to


Though Garrett’s prescriptionsmostly track specific procedural orsystemic infirmities, one category ofcrime merits its own reform. Garrettwould endow the accused capital mur-derer with extra protections, such as astandard of proof effectively higherthan beyond-a-reasonable-doubt.

Garrett does not pretend that anyreform will absolutely ensure againstthe society’s killing the wrong person.That guarantee will come only whenwe abandon the death penalty.

Which brings us to DavidGarland’s Peculiar Institution:America’s Death Penalty in an Age ofAbolition. Garland, currently a profes-sor of sociology at New YorkUniversity, scants the problem of capi-tal innocence. This, along with hislight treatment of religion, might seemodd initially. Faith and fatal error loomlarge for death penalty opponents.

Garland, though, has not written agame plan for getting rid of the deathpenalty. One need not infer too wildlyto recognize that Garland would likeus to get rid of it. But for now he aimsto deepen our understanding of whywe still have a death penalty whennations toward whom we feel mostkindred do not. In the tradition of de

Toqueville, Dickens, Chesterton andGunnar Myrdal, Garland, who hailsfrom the Scottish Lowlands, casts thediscerning eye of the outsider on us.And to compelling result.

With minimal “Oh you Yanks” con-descension, Garland identifies thelegal, political and cultural factorsbehind our retaining a punishmentleft behind by neighbors and friendssuch as Canada, Mexico, Britain, Italy,France, Spain, Portugal, Austria,Germany, Holland, Belgium,Denmark, Poland, Australia and NewZealand.

The death penalty can survive inthe United States because Americadoes not lend itself to centralized, top-down reform, much less to central-ized, top-down reform that is contraryto popular sentiment.

In Europe, national parliamentary“elites” imposed abolition from onhigh. With the possible exception ofthe Irish, no European citizenryfavored abolition before the fact.

In 1972, with the U.S. SupremeCourt’s decision in Furman v. Georgia,judicial abolition (a species of top-down reform) seemed imminent, oreven accomplished, here. But, asGarland brilliantly recounts, by 1976 a

despair. So Garrett closes out his bookwith some very concrete prescriptions.Many of them were presaged a decadeago in the superb book ActualInnocence, by Jim Dwyer (disclosure: afriend), Peter Neufeld and BarryScheck. Yet each merits renewed con-sideration by legislators, judges, prose-cutors and police authorities. Here is apartial list:

• Police identification proceduresshould conform to written protocols,and each procedure should be docu-mented contemporaneously. Ideally,officers unfamiliar with the specificinvestigation should conduct the pro-cedures to prevent influencing wit-nesses with even unintended clues andcues. Judges should emphaticallyinstruct jurors not to evaluate an iden-tifying witness solely by the person’scertainty and not to imagine that thememory works like a camera.

• Forensic labs should stand inde-pendent of law enforcement and sub-mit to external oversight in the form ofperiodic blind audits. “All examinersshould be blind-tested for proficiency.The defense should have access tounderlying bench notes and laboratoryreports, and to their own defenseexperts.” Courts should stand guardagainst junk science.

• Before allowing a jailhouse infor-mant to testify, a trial court shouldrender a threshold judgment of mini-mal reliability. All police or prosecutorconversations with informants shouldbe recorded; this will ensure full dis-closure of deals struck and deter infor-mants’ ascribing to defendants detailslearned from the police.

• Interrogations should be record-ed, as 11 states and the District ofColumbia currently require or encour-age. Trial courts should scrutinizeresultant recordings for hints of coer-cion or of the police’s feeding a suspectcrime details the suspect then weavesinto his confession. Minors and thementally compromised should enjoyspecial safeguards.


Rekindle Your Spirit . . . The Journey Begins Here

SHALOM CENTER

A Residential Renewal and Treatment Center

for Clergy and Men and Women Religious

STRESS BURNOUT DEPRESSIONTRANSITION RELATIONSHIP ISSUES ADDICTION ISSUES

We offer:

For help, call Deacon William Hartman, Residential Program Coordinator281-399-0520

majority of Justices (deciding Gregg v.Georgia, which revived capital punish-ment) could not—or would not—sayno to the 35 state legislatures that hadreadied new death statutes over theprevious 48 months. Thinly disguisedracial backlash and calls for “law andorder” won out. Roughly a decadelater, the victory was solidified in a 5-to-4 decision in McCleskey v. Kemp toignore powerful statistical evidence ofcapital discrimination based on the“race of the victim.”

Today, barring fundamental changeon the Supreme Court, American abo-lition will have to occur in our “’hyper-democratic’” political arenas. Thismeans one state at a time against thebackdrop of a criminal justice systemdriven by local elected officials ratherthan, as elsewhere, appointed careerprofessionals.

The death penalty survives becausein the United States we suffer highhomicide rates; because the DeepSouth underfunds law enforcement;because the death penalty serves as aproxy for states’ rights, itself a proxyfor white hegemony; and because theillusion of our collectively controllingdeath holds some allure for our

Thanatos-phobic society. The deathpenalty “tames death and puts it towork.”

There is another reason the deathpenalty survives: American con-sciences rest easy in the notion thatcapital defendantsreceive elevated dueprocess. That, how-ever, is a lie, even ifGarland, for reasonsunknown, abstainsfrom calling it that.

Granted, I have a dog in the fight.Or maybe I have been a dog in thefight, having practiced law on behalf ofcapital defendants in Alabama andNew York. Still, I have no doubt thataverage citizens would be appalledwere they to watch what passes foradequate capital defense in most deathjurisdictions. (Only recently have Igiven up my Prince-and-the-Pauperfantasy of a disguised Chief JusticeRoberts slipping into a Death Beltcourtroom and comparing the advoca-cy there to that which he providedmoneyed clients when in private prac-tice.)

Even to attempt a halfway reliablecapital justice system costs an obscene

amount. Garland understates when hepegs at $170 million the cost (prose-cutorial, judicial, defense and correc-tions) of New York’s 12-year efforttoward a responsible death penalty.Were the Supreme Court even to

begin seriouslyenforcing the rightto counsel through-out the country,budgetary hellwould break loose.

Given the cur-rent fiscal climate, it might break looseanyway. Garland points out that inmany death states the death penalty isfar more a symbol and political cudgelthan a practice, “a resource for politicalexchange and cultural consumption”more than “a penal instrument thatputs persons to death.”

To be sure, we have executed over1,200 men and women since 1976.The overall national rate of execution,however, remains low. As of 2007, thelag between conviction and executionran 12 years on average. Most deathrows serve more as warehouses thanas hospices or on-deck circles for exe-cutions.

As towns and cities lay off policeand teachers, it may not be long beforenon-abolitionists take a more prag-matic look at the death penalty.California maintains the nation’slargest death row. A poll has alreadyfound that a 63-percent majority therefavor mass commutation as a cost-sav-ing measure.

Ideally, abolition should be a tri-umph of conscience, not of calcula-tors. It ought to spring from concernsover the human fallibility BrandonGarrett explores or the sanctity of lifeJohn Paul II proclaimed. Still, perhapswe are destined to emulate ourEuropean cousins and condemn thedeath penalty only after we are free ofit.

KEVIN DOYLE is a lawyer who has defendedcapital cases in Alabama and New York.


A Conference on Merton and Technology

September 23rd - 24th, 2011

Thomas Merton Center, Bellarmine University Louisville, Kentucky.

SSppeeaakkeerrss:: Albert Borgmann Daniel Horan, OFM Claire Badaracco Gray Matthews Paul Dekar Phillip Thompson

Kathleen Deignan, CND

CCoonntteemmppllaattiioonn iinn aa TTeecchhnnoollooggiiccaall EErraa:: --FFiirrsstt CCeennttuurryy

For Further Information or to Register: Thomas Merton Center, Bellarmine University,

2001 Newburg Road, Louisville. KY. 40205. Tel: 502 272 8177 / 8187 www.merton.org/technology/

ON THE WEBAmerica’s Book Club discusses

Jennifer Haigh's novel Faith.americamagazine.org/podcast


Winner of The Christopher Award

“A remarkable achievement. Enlivened with Jesuit humor and touching personal anecdotes… To read the guide is to be on an enlightening Jesuit retreat.”

—London Tablet

Available for download from iTunes, Audible.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Borders.com, and eMusic.com

f Tr oenniWWi

otsirhe Chf T

e albakrameA r““A rid wenevilnE

gnihcuotdna

d rawr A Awehpo

. tnemeveihce ar omut h huiuseh Jti

etodcenalanosrepg

d

se

HYR H

gnihcuotdnaugehtdaeroTTo

gninethgghilne

TTUUAAEEHHTTYBBDDAAEERR fi oe flbaliaavvAA

ow d

Rad fl

R

etodcenalanosrepgn anoebotsiediu

”.taertertiuseJ— dnoL

OOid Au, AsseennuuTTm im ioord faaooolllnnnwwwooo dr do

,

… se

telbblan T Taod

moc.elb

dn dnasenrrBaBa

lb . , d

, Ad en, a, moc.sredoro B, Bmmoocce.eelllbbbboon

, moc.cisuMd e

Holy Land Franciscan Pilgrimages

1-800-566-7499 | For more information, visit www.HolyLandPilgrimages.org

HOLY LAND PILGRIMAGES

Bringing pilgrims to the Holy Land for over 100 years

OOLLLY LLY LH

Y Y A A AN D L L LAND PIL LAND PILLY LLY L

P PI GGRRIMIM L L

MAGAGEGESMMAGESMAGES

ear that ys this the yIIs this the ytheaathein F FaoJ

ou will walk in the footsteps of Jear that yFM, An en, Otheaathevid W War Da avid W

Egypt and the Holy Land

Holy Land

Holy Land, Jordan and Mt. Sinai

esu in the footsteps of J Jesus and Agrimd pilcenriexpeFM, An e


Holy Land

Jordan and Mt. Sinai

Holy Land


Easter in the Holy Land

mage lead

postles?us and A Apostles?r eage leadgrim

Holy Land and Mt. Sinai


Easter in the Holy Land

1-800-566-7499 | F

arraFdnaanLLayllyoH

ormae infor mor1-800-566-7499 | Fo the Hringing pilgrims tB

mirrigllgiPnaanccasicnaan

.HolyLandPwwtion, visit wormaearser 100 y yearsvver 100 yor oand f for oy Lolly Lo the H

segaagmma

g.orrimagesilg.HolyLandP

Holy Land(Spanish-speaking)

Taking Part in the Body Cynthia Reville Peabody’s article,“Staying Power” (7/18), found measking myself once again, why do I stayin the Catholic Church?

My answer to this question is, quitesimply, the Eucharist. Coming togeth-er as the body of Christ, we women inthe pews give thanks and receive thebread of life, which nourishes oursouls and sends us forth to love andserve. In spite of the investigations ofwomen religious, in spite of top-downchanges in the very language thatattempts to express our faith, in spiteof being denied a place at the table ofpower, we women come to take part inthe Eucharist. We prepare the table;we run the schools and hospitals; weraise children in the faith. We stay, andby doing so, we quietly attempt to cor-rect the evils we perceive.

Why do I stay? My answer wasgiven long ago: “Lord, to whom wouldwe go? You have the words of everlast-ing life.” This much I know for sure: Ifwe women did not stay, the churchwould die of neglect.

JANE W. URSOBridgeport, W.Va.

Pearl of Great Price Thanks so much for a wonderfullyclear and thought-provoking commen-tary, “Staying Power” (7/18). I thinkthe question is not why women areleaving the church, but why, in thename of everything that is good andholy, are we staying? I love the church.I grew up in it, thrived in it and deep-ened my spirituality and sense of ser-vice through it.

But the church I experience now isremote, controlled, power-hungry andso unlike Jesus that my prayer nowincludes a lament for the poor Christ.

When will we find our way backthrough the centuries to the simple,straightforward way to love God andall people that Jesus modeled for us?When will we be able to sell every-

LETTERSApplications deadline Sept. 15, 2011. All finalistswill be interviewed in Seattle. To obtain a jobdescription and application, please send yourrésumé to: [email protected]. Blessed SacramentParish is located at 5050 8th Ave. NE, Seattle,WA 98105.

POSITION IN SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY. YaleDivinity School seeks to make a tenure-trackappointment in the field of systematic theology, tobegin July 1, 2012. In an ecumenical environmentYale Divinity School prepares students for min-istry in diverse Christian churches and for a widerange of professional involvements, including high-er education, law, medicine, management and pub-lic service. A Ph.D. (or its equivalent) and strongpotential as a teacher are required. The successfulcandidate will have expertise in systematic theolo-gy informed by the history of Christian thought(including but not limited to the modern period).An interdisciplinary perspective, utilizing contem-porary academic approaches such as cultural stud-ies, critical, feminist, social or political theory fortheological study, is also a plus. A letter of applica-tion with curriculum vitae and a list of three refer-ences should be submitted by Oct. 15, 2011 to:Dean Harold W. Attridge, Yale Divinity School,409 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511-2167. Yale University is an AffirmativeAction/Equal Opportunity employer. Yale valuesdiversity in its faculty, staff and students and espe-cially encourages applications from women andunderrepresented minorities. Applications beginto be considered Oct. 1, 2011.

RetreatsBETHANY RETREAT HOUSE, East Chicago,Ind., offers private and individually directed silentretreats, including dreamwork and Ignatian 30days, year-round in a prayerful home setting.Contact Joyce Diltz, P.H.J.C.; Ph: (219) 398-5047; [email protected]; bethanyre-treathouse.org.

SabbaticalSABBATICAL PROGRAMS at the Boston CollegeSchool of Theology and Ministry, a dynamic glob-al academic community, during our SummerInstitute or fall semester. Theological updatingand spiritual growth with small group process.Information: www.bc.edu/stmsabbatical; e-mail:[email protected].

WillsPlease remember America in your will. Our legal titleis: America Press Inc., 106 West 56th Street, NewYork, NY 10019.

America classified. To submit a classified ad toAmerica, e-mail [email protected], fax(928) 222-2107 or mail to: Classified Department,America, 106 West 56th St., New York, NY 10019.Ten-word minimum. Rates are per word per issue. 1-5 times: $1.50; 6-11 times: $1.28; 12-23 times: $1.23;24-41 times: $1.17.We do not accept ad copy over thephone. MasterCard and Visa accepted. For moreinformation call: (212) 515-0102.

Parish MissionsINSPIRING, DYNAMIC PREACHING: parish missions, retreats, days of recollection; www.sabbathretreats.org.

PositionsASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR ASIAN ANDPACIFIC ISLAND AFFAIRS. The AssistantDirector is a practicing Catholic in good standingwith the church, who under the supervision of theExecutive Director of Cultural Diversity in theChurch assists the Executive Director in: coordi-nating and implementing the U.S. Bishops’ strate-gic plan for the Conference and the associated pas-toral efforts and priorities among ethnic and cul-turally diverse communities in the United States,especially Asian and Pacific Catholics; and devel-oping and strengthening the implementation ofapproved committee and subcommittee goals,objectives and activities.

The Assistant Director also assists in thepreparation of committee reports; represents theU.S.C.C.B., the C.D.C. Committee and theSubcommittee on Asian and Pacific Island Affairsin public forums; and serves as the voice of theU.S.C.C.B. when out in the field and as a strongin-house advocate for the communities served bythe department. Master’s degree or combination ofbachelor’s degree, major field/specialty: social sci-ences, pastoral ministry and formation, education,humanities or a related field. A minimum of 5 to-6years’ experience with pastoral ministry in an(arch)diocese, national Catholic organization orreligious community. Proficiency in any Asian orPacific language.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops(C.D.C.), 3211 4th Street N.E., Washington, DC20017-1194; Fax: (202) 541-3412; e-mail:[email protected]. EOE/M/F/D/V. No phonecalls, please.

DIRECTOR OF FAITH FORMATION ANDEVANGELIZATION. Blessed Sacrament Parish,Seattle, Wash. This Dominican parish of over1,000 families is seeking a Director of FaithFormation and Evangelization, who will enableparishioners to gain a greater knowledge andunderstanding of the Catholic faith and to deepentheir spirituality. The Director will take a leader-ship role in designing and implementing programsthat will enhance our parish vision as a center ofevangelization. In collaboration with the parishcommunity, the Director will develop and imple-ment curricula and opportunities for the spiritualformation of parishioners, from those who aretaking their first steps to those ready to manifestthe Gospel to the world. This position requiresenergy, commitment, courage and creativity.Successful candidates will be proficient in organiz-ing and teaching, with excellent leadership andcommunication skills. Preferred candidates willhold a master’s degree in religious education, the-ology or pastoral studies and have five years ofparish experience. The candidate must be a prac-ticing Catholic. The position is currently available.


CLASS IF IED

thing we have accumulated over thecenturies to buy back the pearl of greatprice that Jesus left us? I am not leav-ing the church. I am resolved to livesimply the model that Jesus left us.

PATRICIA NICHOLSONNewburg, N.Y.

Promoting the Common Good Your editorial “The New ‘American-ism’” (8/1) provides interestinginsights about the American dream.There is no one party that espousesthe concerns of the vulnerable and thecommon good. Republicans tend to bepro-life and pro-growth and rational-ize the common good to include, basi-cally, the protection of the freedom ofopportunity for anyone to succeed eco-nomically.

Democrats, on the other hand, tendto be more socialist and want to share

each party were more inclusive of theseviews, maybe the common good of allAmericans could be secured.

HANK LABOREBismarck, N.D.

Helping the Poor at the Parish Your editorial writer (8/1) is quitewrong to identify a “peculiarAmerican premise that the poor aregenerally better off left to their owndevices, lest their dignity be degradedby paternalism—a high-soundingslogan that can be used to abdicatecollective responsibility” in the rejec-tion of entitlement programs.

My grandfather refused to acceptgovernment assistance to feed hislarge family for over two years—notdue to the sin of pride, but due to hisconcern for the simple human dignityof his family. Ultimately, he found

the resources of the fortunate withthose who are less fortunate—withone glaring exception, the unborn.They are more concerned with therights and fair treatment of the com-mon good of us all, except for theunborn.

Both parties hold to a form ofexclusivism. The Republicans tend toexclude social programs for the poor,elderly and disadvantaged, while theDemocrats tend to exclude the busi-ness sector and the unborn. Hence, theidea of the common good cannot befully embraced by either party.

Maybe a third party could include asubtle socialist agenda for the poor,vulnerable and unborn, while, at thesame time, promoting growth in thebusiness sector. There are very fewpro-socialist Republicans and proba-bly even fewer pro-life Democrats. If


America

A JOB IN THE CATHOLIC SECTOR?

LOOKING FOR

HIRING AT YOUR CHURCH OR SCHOOL?GET THE WORD OUT WITH AMERICA!Job Listings are accepted for publication in America's print and web editions.

For more information contact Julia Sosa at [email protected] Telephone: 212-515-0102 or visit:

WWW.AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG

To send a letter to the editor we recommend using the link that appears below articles on America’s Web site, www.americamagazine.org. Thisallows us to consider your letter for publication in both print and online versions of the magazine. Letters may also be sent to America’s editorialoffice (address on page 2) or by e-mail to: [email protected]. They should be brief and include the writer’s name, postal address anddaytime phone number. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

PeacebuildingCatholic Theology, Ethics, and Praxis ROBERT R. SCHREITER, R. SCOTT APPLEBY, GERARD F. POWERS, Editors

“The audiences for this bookare multiple; the issues it confronts arecompellingly important; the message itoffers will be a sign of hope and asource of wisdom.” —J. BRYAN HEHIR

Harvard Kennedy School of Government

“Provides a well-developed theology,ethics and spirituality that will serveas a firm foundation for effectivepeacebuilding programs.”

—LESLEY-ANNE KNIGHTFormer Secretary General, Caritas International

John Paul LederachMaryann Cusimano LoveDaniel PhilpottWilliam Headley

Reina NeufeldtTodd WhitemorePeter-John PearsonThomas Michel

Kenneth HimesLisa Sowle CahillPeter PhanDavid O’Brien

Contributors

www.maryknollmall.org

From your bookseller or direct

Follow us on Facebook

ORBIS BOOKSMaryknoll, NY 10545

1-800-258-5838

978-1-57075-893-5 pbk $30.00

work and his family prospered. Yes,he did accept gifts from hisProtestant brethren at his church.This is where charity begins—with ahuman, neighborly, Christian connec-tion and not a faceless governmentbureaucracy.

I am not a wealthy man, but I ammoved to compassion for the long-term unemployed in my parish. I try todo for them what others did for mygrandfather many decades ago. Such isone’s Christian duty. When govern-ment spends other people’s money tocare for the forgotten in society, thisseems to be a good thing, but it is farbetter for government to enact policiesthat create conditions for fulleremployment in the private sector.Collective responsibility for the poormust be assumed by communities andparishes, not by tax-payers.

ROY CAMPBELLNyack, N.Y.

Dust Off the Catechism “Keep Holy Election Day,” byNicholas P. Cafardi (7/18), seems tobe a deceitful article. I am surprisedthat the magazine is still able to identi-fy with Catholic readers. My fear isthat the author soothed some souls onthe left with his article, which wasclearly his intention.

In the Catechism of the CatholicChurch, Nos. 2270-73, abortion isdefined as directly contrary to morallaw and manifests an abominablecrime along with infanticide. Nopresident before Mr. Obama has donemore to advance abortion and infanti-cide. While in the Illinois senate, heled the opposition to the “Born AliveInfants Protection Act” and as chairof the Health and Human ServicesCommittee in the same legislativebody, he kept Born Alive (ILSB1082) from coming up for a vote in2003. I hope neither Mr. Cafardi northe editors of America were aware ofthis.

RICHARD WILLITSConyers, Ga.


No Deliberation Needed Contrary to Professor Cafardi’s opin-ions about holiness, there are somereadily apparent answers to somecomplex issues. Abortion is not aquestion that allows for any discus-sion or deliberation. Mr. Cafardi citesa church teaching that error has norights. Death to an innocent child isnot the privilege of any person to calla right.

Our holiness as voters should notdepend on whom we are encouragedto support by the church. We may andshould be advised, however, to avoidsome candidates who do not recognizethat there is a hierarchy in law, whenor if there is a conflict as clear as abor-tion.

RAYMOND TIMMSt. Louis, Mo.

Violence and Legality of Drugs Drugs did not create Mexico’s orga-nized crime networks. Just as alcoholprohibition gave rise to Al Capone,drug prohibition created the violentdrug trafficking organizations behindall the killings in Mexico. With alcoholprohibition repealed, bootleggers nolonger gun each other down in drive-by shootings. It is worth noting thatMexico’s upsurge in violence beganonly after an anti-drug crackdown thatcreated a power vacuum among com-peting cartels.

Drug prohibition funds organizedcrime at home and terrorism abroad. Itis time to end this madness. Whetherwe like it or not, drugs are here to stay.Changing human nature is not anoption. Reforming harmful drug lawsis an option that Congress should pur-sue.

ROBERT SHARPEArlington, Va.


America (ISSN 0002-7049) is published weekly (except for 12combined issues: Jan. 3-10-17, 24-31, May 2-9, June 6-13, 20-27,July 4-11, 18-25, Aug. 1-8, 15-22, Aug. 29-Sept. 5, Nov. 28-Dec. 5,Dec. 19-26) by America Press, Inc., 106 West 56th Street, NewYork, NY 10019. Periodicals postage is paid at New York, N.Y., andadditional mailing offices. Business Manager: Lisa Pope;Circulation: Judith Palmer, (212) 581-4640. Subscriptions: UnitedStates, $56 per year; add U.S. $30 postage and GST(#131870719) for Canada; or add U.S. $54 per year for interna-tional priority airmail. Postmaster: Send address changes to:America, 106 West 56th St. New York, NY 10019. Printed in U.S.A.

Master of Arts in Religious Education (33 credits)Master’s Certi�cate in Religious Education (18 credits)Post-Master’s Certi�cate in Religious Education (18 credits)

Graduate Religious Education

ONLINE

201.559.6077 or [email protected]

STUDENTS FIRST

UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME

Campus MinistryCampus Minister and Program Director

Full Time, 12 months

Responsibili es Include:

Direct RCIA Program.

Assist with Retreat Programming .

Cateche cal and Faith Forma on Programming.

Pastoral Care and Guidance for Students, Faculty and Sta .

Candidate Requirements:

Master’s degree or Bachelor’s degree (5years) – M.Div. or M.A. in Theology or Pastoral Ministry preferred.

1 2 years experience in college campus ministry or ministry to young adults.

To view this opportunity further or apply formally onlineplease visit h p://ND.jobs (job #11311) or

h p://jobs.nd.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=57157.

The University of Notre Dame is commi ed to diversity in its sta , faculty, and student body. As such, we strongly encourage applica ons from members of minority groups, women, veterans, individuals with disabili es, and others who will enhance our community. The University of Notre Dame, an interna onal Catholic research university, is an equal opportunity/a rma ve ac on employer.

he question Jesus poses intoday’s Gospel reading is nota pop quiz for the disciples.

Since it comes halfway throughMatthew’s Gospel, at a critical turningpoint, we might be tempted to thinkJesus is giving a kind of midterm examto see how well the disciples are under-standing him and to test whether theyhave what it takes to go the rest of thejourney with him. But the scene mayalso reflect Jesus’ own development inunderstanding of his identity and mis-sion. Taking Jesus’ humanity seriouslyand recalling Luke’s assertion thatJesus increased in wisdom and inyears, and in divine and human favor(Lk 2:52), we might say that in today’sGospel and next Sunday’s, we see aglimpse of Jesus’ deepening under-standing of what it meant to be theChrist, the Son of the living God (v.16).

In contrast to modern Western cul-tures, in which individuals expendenergy trying to find their own uniqueidentity as persons distinct from otherpersons, in Jesus’ culture, characterizedby dyadic personality, a person under-stood himself or herself only in rela-tionship to the groups in which she orhe was embedded: family, clan, nationand religion. Paul, for example, identi-fies himself as a member of the peopleof Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, aHebrew born of Hebrews, and as to

the law, a Pharisee (Phil 3:5). Earlierin the Gospel, the people of Jesus’hometown identify him as thecarpenter's son, whose moth-er is Mary and whosebrothers are James,Joseph, Simon andJudas, and who also hassisters (Mt 13:55-56).In addition, in such aculture the perceptions ofothers help shape a per-son’s identity.

In today’s Gospel, Jesusseeks out others’ perceptions as hesolidifies his understanding of him-self. The disciples first report thatpeople align Jesus with reveredprophetic figures: John the Baptist,Elijah or Jeremiah. While there aremany parallels between Jesus andthese prophets, Matthew clearly dis-tinguishes Jesus from them. He isthe more powerful one coming afterJohn (Mt 3:11). And it is John whoembodies the returned Elijah (Mt11:14; 17:12).

As Jesus presses the disciples fortheir own response, Peter, thespokesperson for the group, rightlydeclares, “You are the Messiah” (chris-tos). This is a term used in the OldTestament for one who is set apart byGod for particular service, like kings(Ps 2:2; 89:20), priests (Lv 4:3, 5) andprophets (1 Kgs 19:16). That Jesus ischristos, anointed, is not a new revela-tion in Matthew’s Gospel (see 1:1, 17,18; 11:2). But the nature of Jesus’ mes-siahship as entailing suffering anddeath is articulated for the first time in

the ensuing verses (16:21-27), theGospel for next Sunday.

As Jesus’ identity emergesand solidifies, so too does that ofPeter. Verses 17 to 19 are

unique to Matthew, with awordplay on the namePetros and the Greek wordfor rock. Jesus exalts the

emerging, rock-like faith ofPeter and of the whole com-munity of disciples whose

identity is tied up in that ofJesus. Yet in the very next verses,

the rock will falter when confrontedwith the stumbling block (scandalon,18:6, 7) of Jesus’ passion. Nonetheless,as the Gospel progresses, Jesus contin-ues to call him Peter, enabling him tobecome what he is named.

Just as the disciples’ naming of Jesusas Messiah and partnering with him inhis mission enabled him to embrace allthat being the anointed one entailed,so too Jesus’ identification of thebelieving community as rock solidbrought forth that quality in them.Likewise, we are invited to let Jesusand our faith community call forth ourdeepest identity as followers of theanointed, whose solidity is sure.


Who Do You Say You Are?TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A), AUG. 21, 2011

Readings: Is 22:19-23; Ps 138:1-8; Rom 11:33-36; Mt 16:13-20

“Who do you say that I am?” (Mt 16:15)

T

PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE

• What is Jesus saying to you about youridentity as his follower?

• How are your gifts for mission identifiedby your faith community?

• Who do you say you are?

AR

t:

tA

d d

uN

Ne

THE WORD

BARBARA E. REID, O.P., a member of theDominican Sisters of Grand Rapids, Mich., isa professor of New Testament studies atCatholic Theological Union in Chicago, Ill.,where she is vice president and academic dean.


THE WORD

aving had the privilege someyears ago of listening toindigenous women in La

Paz, Bolivia, reflect on today’s Gospel,I can never hear it without remember-ing their interpretation:

We women identify stronglywith the crucified Christ and hissufferings. There is a strongsense of submission in ourAymara and Quechua cultures.Women submit to sexual abusefrom their fathers, uncles andhusbands, with a strong sense ofresignation, thinking that what-ever suffering they endure, theydo silently and heroically, as theirway of carrying the cross withJesus.

This particular group had comethrough a process of learning to inter-pret the Gospel differently, so thattheir consciousness of themselves aslovable and precious in God’s eyes hadbeen heightened; and thereafter theyquestioned the wisdom they hadreceived for generations about howsubmitting to abuse and injustice wasthe way to identify with the crucifiedChrist. Gradually, they tested newways of relating, as they claimed theirpower, uniting with one another tobring about change for themselves andtheir daughters.

What these women came to dis-cover was the way in which a mis-reading of today’s Gospel had obliter-ated their sense of self and kept themcowering in abusive relationships.

How could Jesus, who was so intenton lifting up those who were boweddown and on healing all who suffered,have meant it otherwise for them,they reasoned.

One does not have to go to Boliviato find abuse justified by such inter-pretations of the cross. Whetherimmediately visible or not, such situ-ations can be found in almost everycommunity. A closer look at the con-text of Jesus’ saying reveals that he isspeaking about a particular kind ofsuffering that his disciples must bewilling to embrace: that whichcomes as a direct result of follow-ing his manner of life and mission.Suffering that comes from abuseand injustice is to be resisted anderadicated as fully as possible, asJesus did throughout his ministry.

Moreover, the saying about denialof self is not referring to giving upcertain pleasures, like forgoingchocolate during Lent. Rather, itrefers to a disciple’s choice to lose him-self or herself entirely in Christ—totake on Christ’s way of life and missionand his very identity as one’s own. Thisidentity does not center on suffering,but on the love of God, expressedthrough loving service to one another,intent on bringing forth life to the fullfor all. But not all will welcome a man-

ner of living and loving that under-mines systems of domination and sub-mission. The repercussions one is will-ing to risk for the sake of living and pro-claiming the Gospel—that is the cross.

For the women in La Paz, a new-found understanding of the Gospelwas born in meetings in which theywere able to join in solidarity to sharetheir experiences and reflect togetherwith new eyes on the Scriptures. Fromthis grew their sense of being empow-ered, beloved by God and able togeth-er to confront and end the suffering

they and others they loved were expe-riencing.

True to today’s Gospel, thesewomen indeed found their lives. Jesusincreasingly came to understand whatlay ahead for him from his own denialof self in finding his true life. How doyou find yourself?

BARBARA E. REID

Finding Your SelfTWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A), AUG. 28, 2011

Readings: Jer 20:7-9; Ps 63:2-9; Rom 12:1-2; ; Mt 16:21-27

“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mt 16:24)

H

PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE

• What does “taking up the cross” mean inyour life?

• Do you stumble at the thought of losingyourself in order to find yourself in Christ?

• Ask Jesus to show you how to overcomethe fear of repercussions for living andspreading his liberating love.

NEED TOMORROW’S WORD TODAY?Visit americamagazine.org and click on “The Word” in the right-hand column under the “Print” heading.

udallas.edu/udmc/america

Diocese of Dallas

udauda

Diocese of FUniversity of DallasDiocese of Dallas

allas.edu/uallas.edu/u//u

orthort W WorthDiocese of F

udmc/amudmc/c/am

mericamerica

Documents

THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC WEEKLY AUG. 15-22, 2011 $3 · 2019-12-14 · Bittersweet Season: Caring for Our Aging Parents—and Ourselves(Knopf), ... applauds these helpmates for “caring