the national catholic weekly aug. 29-sept. 5, 2011 $3 · the f.d.a. classification of plan b and...

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 . 2 9 - S E P T . 5 , 2 0 1 1 $ 3 . 5 0

n the morning of Sept. 11,2001, I was working at mydesk at America. Around 9

a.m., my mother called from Philadel-phia to say that she had heard about aplane crashing into the World TradeCenter. I found it odd that she wouldcall; she knew our offices were uptown,not downtown. A few minutes later, Iturned on the TV. It was only then thatI saw the unfolding tragedy.

That morning I had a doctor’sappointment and so, still unsure aboutwhat was happening, I walked a fewblocks to his office. But as I peereddown Sixth Avenue (a few feet fromour office) I was horrified to see inkyblack smoke pouring from the tops ofthe twin towers. Panicked people werestreaming uptown, desperately trying touse their cellphones (many of whichhad ceased to work because of damagedcell towers at the Trade Center).

An hour later, after the doctor’sappointment, the scene was radicallydifferent. Everyone’s eyes faced down-town, people were weeping in thestreets, worriedly scanning the skies foranother plane, racing toward subwayentrances and desperately hailing cabs.

When I returned to our office, ourreceptionist said that one of the build-ings had collapsed. “That’s ridiculous,” Isaid. “What radio station is saying that?That’s impossible.” But turning on thetelevision confirmed the worst.

That evening, I put on my Romancollar and made my way to a local hos-pital a few blocks away, where victimswere to be brought. But the police offi-cers in the lobby suggested that I walkfarther downtown. So through theempty streets I walked to Chelsea Piers,a large sporting arena, to wait for vic-tims who never came. The next day wasspent at a counseling center, helpingfamily members pore through local hos-pital records of patients. In the end,there would be few survivors.

On Sept. 13, I returned to ChelseaPiers and asked a police officer if they

needed help downtown. He noddedsmartly, waved for a police cruiser, and Ijumped in and was taken down to “thesite.” It was an appalling sight, of whichyou’ve surely seen photographs. Tenyears later, I can still remember theacrid smell that pervaded everything.

After emerging from the police car,stunned, I wondered what to do. Ithought: I cannot bear to look at bodiesor to be in the morgue; but I can helpthe rescue workers. So I spent the nextfew days and weeks, in between work atthe magazine, ministering to firefight-ers, police officers, EMTs, nurses, con-struction workers, military personneland government workers. In time I wasjoined by my Jesuit brothers, many ofthem still in training.

In this hell I found grace. Workingat the World Trade Center was one ofthe most profound experiences of theHoly Spirit I’ve ever had. For there Iencountered an overwhelming sense ofcharity, unity and concord. Every per-son working at ground zero was other-directed. Every person was utterlyunconcerned for himself or herself.There I found great kindness.

Everyone’s work, of course, wasinformed by the sacrifices that had beenmade days before by the firefighters andrescue workers who gave their lives asthey raced into the burning buildingson Sept. 11. For me, it seemed as ifGod was offering us a new parable, theway Jesus had done for people of histime. I thought: “What is God like?”God is like the firefighter who rushesinto a burning building to save some-one. That’s how much God loves us.And I saw this love expressed in thecharity of the rescue workers who gath-ered at the American Golgotha.

My primary experience of 9/11, then,was not simply one of tragedy but also ofresurrection. For me, it embodied theChristian mystery of the cross: the placeof unimaginable tragedy can also be theplace of new life, which comes in unex-pected ways. JAMES MARTIN, S.J.

PUBLISHED BY JESUITS OF THE UNITED STATES

OOF MANY THINGS

Cover: “Reflections: The WTCCollapse (2),” oil painting by DanGheno

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 EDITOR

Patricia A. KossmannPOETRY EDITOR

James 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.

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www.americamagazine.org Vol. 205 No. 5, Whole No. 4942 August 29–september 5, 2011

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CONTENTS

9 / 1 1 A N N I V E R S A R Y I S S U E

11 LEARNING FROM 9/11Stories of love, heroism and courage David O’Brien

14 AMERICA’S MUSLIMS Mainstream and middle class John Borelli and Drew Christiansen

19 CATHOLICS AT WORK 5A Matter of Faith Thomas A. Cahill

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

4 Current Comment

5 Editorial Big Business’s Turn

6 Signs of the Times

9 Column Car Talk Thomas Massaro

28 Letters

30 The Word A Recipe for Reconciliation; Endless Forgiveness Barbara E. Reid

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

21 ART The 9/11 memorials, then and now books Mrs. Mattingly’sMiracle; Failure by Design

James Martin, S.J., returns to the site of the Sept. 11attacks to offer a video report. Plus, the Rev. Robert Robbinsand David O’Brien talk about their memories of Sept. 11 andits aftermath on our podcast. All at americamagazine.org.

O N T H E W E B

4 America August 29–September 5, 2011

CURRENT COMMENT

Commitment on ConscienceThe Department of Health and Human Services hasissued guidelines that will require private health insurers tooffer, without co-pay, contraception, sterilization andreproductive counseling as part of a package of preventivecare for women. The Catholic Health Association and theU.S. bishops agree that the religious exemption built intothose guidelines is too narrow. It may force Catholichealth, education and other institutions either to pay forhealth plans that violate their beliefs or to cease operationsto avoid a clash of conscience. Before selecting that drasticoption, however, there appears to be time to make reason-able adjustments. H.H.S. specifically invited comment onthe definitions it is using in its “interim” religious exemp-tion during a 60-day public comment period.

At some personal cost, Carol Keehan, D.C., the C.H.A.president and chief executive officer, played a pivotal role inthe passage of the Obama administration’s health reformpackage in March 2010. It would be a significant betrayalof Sister Keehan’s effort if a continuing dialogue does notproduce revisions of the guidelines more amenable toCatholic moral concerns.

The Obama administration is already in something of ano-win situation. If it commits itself to rewriting theexemption language to the satisfaction of Catholic leaders,it can anticipate a scorching from Planned Parenthood andwomen’s organizations. And since it is unlikely to reversethe F.D.A. classification of Plan B and ella as contracep-tives, pro-life groups will remain skeptical of the adminis-tration’s intentions on health care reform going forward,whatever it decides. But the administration should stand byits previous commitments on conscience protection. Libertyof conscience in the American tradition has survived histor-ical lapses and proved its worth as a cultural underwriter ofsocial harmony.

The Famine This TimeOn Monday Aug. 4, morning news commentators spokeglumly about two big stories that had hit over the week-end. First, in the ongoing financial crisis, Standard andPoor’s downgraded the U.S. credit rating. Second, in theunending slaughter in Afghanistan, Taliban fighters shotdown a U.S. helicopter, resulting in the loss of 38 lives, 30of them U.S. military personnel. These big issues costAmericans blood and treasure. They rightly demand airtime.

Almost lost in the day’s news was an item that crawledacross the screen while the commentators talked of other

things. A U.S. official in Kenya reported that 29,000Somali children under the age of 5 had died of famine inthe last 90 days. This was only the latest statistic in a landalready devastated by a lack of food and water. It is estimat-ed that 3.2 million Somalis, almost half of the country’spopulation, are in need of emergency aid. Almost half ofthem live in areas controlled by militants associated with AlQaeda, who have hampered international efforts to help.

The crisis in Somalia dates back at least 20 years, whenan earlier famine destabilized the government; the countryhas never recovered. For 20 years the people have beenhungry, and children have starved to death. Food that nowreaches Somalia as aid often does not go to those whoneed it most. Much is stolen and then sold in markets.Still, despite setbacks, assistance agencies are doing whatthey can to bring relief to those most in need. Perhaps theleaders of the world’s prosperous nations, even while suf-fering economic setbacks, could likewise give some creativethought and energy to saving the people of Somalia.

Without VisionIn recent weeks President Obama has taken some lefthooks from former supporters. Some say he is intellectual-ly shallow. Others object that he naïvely imagines he canbargain with enemies whose main goal is to destroy him in2012. Still others complain that he populated his staff withthe same money people who caused the 2008 financial cri-sis. But the loudest complaint warns that his opponents,who represent the tiny group who controls the wealth, aredetermined to undo the New Deal, the reforms from the1930s that prevented the crisis from worsening.

These sometime supporters advise that the presidentshould borrow a page from Franklin Delano Roosevelt’sleadership style: focus on one key issue—jobs—and fightback. Indeed, it might help, too, at a cabinet meeting, toplay a recording of Roosevelt’s first inaugural address, inwhich he challenged the climate of fear, as well as hisArsenal of Democracy speech, in which he woke up asleeping public to the threat of Nazism.

How did Roosevelt motivate Americans and mobilizethe country? He stressed the seriousness of the crisis. Heattacked by name the false leaders opposing hard decisions.He reminded the people that they had elected him to leadthem through this time of struggle. Then he enumeratedexactly what he proposed to do and called upon them tomake sacrifices so those goals could be accomplished.

After reflecting on the tapes, Mr. Obama should frameone line from Roosevelt’s inaugural address and hang it abovehis desk: “Without vision, the people perish” (Prv 29:18).

hen Standard and Poor’s lowered its rating onU.S. sovereign debt to AA+, a period of fright-ening volatility seized stock markets. Confusion

in the euro zone, rioting in Britain and a weak recovery in theUnited States sent stock prices plunging worldwide. As theincapacity of governments and international institutions tomeet the current crisis is openly debated, few have looked tobusiness leaders for the contributions they might make toeconomic stability and recovery. But they have the resourcesto play a significant role in reviving the U.S. economy.American banks and corporations hold between $4 trillionand $5 trillion in reserves. With government options limit-ed, the time has come for corporate and financial leaders totake some responsibility for the common good in a way theydid not during the 2008 crash.

In past financial panics, financiers like J. P. Morganpersuaded their peers to take steps to avoid catastrophe andcreate a structure of regulation to smooth out economiccycles in the future. Henry Ford understood that workersneeded decent wages to be able to buy his Model T’s; andDavid Packard and William Hewlett made their company amodel of equity where management and labor alike sharedin the profits and losses of the business cycle. For decadesprofit-sharing made millionaires of workers at Proctor &Gamble. And who did not take heart from AaronFeuerstein, the Polartec manufacturer, who paid his MaldenMills employees while their plant was rebuilt following afire? The recovery of General Motors and Chrysler, more-over, demonstrates that in collaboration with governmentand labor American enterprise can revive in ways that notonly save but create jobs. Enlightened business leadership ispart of the American story.

America still has wealthy businesspeople with a senseof justice and the public good, people like Warren Buffet,Bill Gates and Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength,who lobby for higher taxes for people like themselves.Unfortunately, the icons of the zeitgeist have been theextravagant and imperious Donald Trump (“You’re fired!”);and “Neutron” Jack Welch (General Electric) and“Chainsaw” Al Dunlap (Sunbeam), who were infamous forraising profits by cutting jobs. Then there are the no-showtitans of Wall Street who failed even to attend PresidentBarack Obama’s post-crisis speech on financial reform.

Conventional wisdom, however, is an obstacle toresponsible business involvement in economic recovery. The

public is told that banks do not make loansand businesses do not invest because thereis no demand. But there is little or nodemand because there is no liquidity. Weare told the housing market will notbounce back because of weakness indemand, but government funds to preventforeclosure go unspent, and lenders insist on foreclosing onhouseholders who are making full payments after the value oftheir homes has fallen. We are told businesses will not investbecause of economic uncertainty, but uncertainty is a vaguerationale; and the financial sector tends to bless as certaintyonly rules that are most advantageous to itself. Furthermore,certainty has also become a code word for lax regulation, thekind of careless oversight that led to the 2008 financial crisis.

Conventional wisdom is a defeatist oracle. It preventsAmericans from seizing the opportunities to rebuild theeconomy. What is lacking in many quarters of corporateAmerica today is goodwill and courage: the goodwill tospend and negotiate for win-win solutions, the courage toinvest, despite uncertainty, and be job-creators. TheAmerican story suggests that business can work for thecommon good.

The current economic impasse is due in no small partto business models with little or no sense of social responsi-bility as integral to the business enterprise. Pope BenedictXVI was right in identifying a deficit of trust as the rootcause of the 2008 financial crisis; and he was correct inarguing that the remedy lies in an economy where capital isutilized for the common good as well as for private profit.Bankers and business executives should heed his plea forinvestment in projects in which not just executives andshareholders but all the stakeholders profit.

Avenues are open for cooperation between privateenterprise and government. With some corrections,unspent federal funds to prevent home foreclosures could bemade into a workable program. A joint government-busi-ness infrastructure bank to rebuild the country’s failingroads, bridges, airports and power and water systems couldspur an economic upturn. Banking and business can makeother moves on their own. Loans to small businesses, whichhave been starved for cash, for example, could help revivethe sinking job market.

It is past time that business and capital play a respon-sible role in the new American story.

Big Business’s Turn

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August 29–September 5, 2011 America 5

EDITORIAL


Despite such assurances, the pro-gram remains controversial amongimmigration advocates. Clinic chargesthat according to the Department ofHomeland Security’s own data, 79percent of individuals deportedthrough Secure Communities wereeither noncriminal or were picked upfor low-level offenses. Kevin Appleby,of the U.S. Conference of CatholicBishops’ Office of Migration andRefugee Services, notes the potentialemotional and social damage to fami-lies in immigrant communities andasks, “Should the nation be deportingimmigrants who are invested in thecountry long term, or should we con-sider keeping them here, making thempay their debt and contribute to soci-ety?

“Certainly the bishops acknowledgethat the government has the right topursue this program,” said Appleby.“We just wonder if it is the most

he U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency reports that itsSecure Communities program has resulted in the deportation of thou-sands of migrants because of serious criminal offenses. But critics of the

program, including local government and police officials and immigrant advo-cates, say the reality on the street is that the effort has instead thrown a wide netover the undocumented community with little selectivity. The SecureCommunities program uses fingerprints collected by local and state police—afterarrest but prior to conviction—to assist immigration officials in identifying,detaining and potentially deporting undocumented immigrants.

More than 126,000 people have been deported through the program since itbegan in 2008. Because of continuing confusion over the status of the program,on Aug. 6 the Obama administration’s Department of Homeland Security issueda clarification that local cooperation was mandatory and that I.C.E. planned toinstitute the program nationwide by 2013.

That prospect troubles Maria Odom, executive director of the Catholic LegalImmigration Network Inc. (Clinic). “This is a short-sighted, bad faith approach,aimed at securing the highest numbers of deportations regardless of the desiresof the communities themselves or the human cost,” she said. “Clinic’s affiliates

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

across the country are going to seetheir waiting rooms overwhelmedwith mothers and fathers, sons anddaughters fighting for family membersin deportation proceedings.”Immigration advocates allege, forexample, that undocumented migrantspulled over for traffic violations orother noncriminal offenses are findingthemselves referred to I.C.E. fordeportation.

Clinic’s director of advocacy, AlisonPosner, is concerned that witnesses tocrimes, crime victims or victims ofdomestic violence may be unwilling tocome forward because they are wor-ried that any engagement with policecould end in deportation.

“We are hopeful that the adminis-tration’s policies will reflect the trueprioritizing for deportation that theylaid out in I.C.E.’s memo of June2011,” said Odom. That memo indi-cated that the Secure Communitiesprogram would seek to remove only

the most dangerous undocumentedoffenders and repeat immigrationoffenders from U.S. streets.

An I.C.E. spokesperson, NicoleNavas, says that is exactly what I.C.E.has achieved. Secure Communities hasremoved 86,616 criminal aliens. Ofthat number, Navas reports, 31,395were level one offenders “convicted ofaggravated felonies like murder, rapeand the sexual abuse of children.”Thousands of the other migrantsdeported under the program had been“immigration fugitives,” charged butnot convicted of immigration-relatedoffenses, including cases of multipleillegal entries. Navas also stronglydenied that the program deters crimevictims from coming forward. “I.C.E.continues to search its records and hasnot found a case where a crime victimor witness has been removed from thecountry as a result of the SecureCommunities program,” she said.

I M M I G R A T I O N R E F O R M

Advocates: ‘secure Communities’brings Fear, Not Trust

T


humane approach.” Appleby said thatthe bishops’ overall position remainsunchanged: that a comprehensiveimmigration reform would best servethe national interest. “The enforce-ment-only approach, which we’ve triedover the last 25 years, has not solvedthe problem of illegal immigration,”said Appleby.

S O M A L I A F A M I N E

Death Toll RisesAmong Children

eath rates among Somalirefugees escaping a devastat-ing famine has reached alarm-

ing levels, the United Nations refugeeagency reported on Aug. 16. The U.N.High Commissioner for Refugees saidthat while malnutrition remained thegreatest concern among camps of inter-nally displaced people in Kenya,

Ethiopia and within Somalia, out-breaks of measles were also responsiblefor many deaths. An assessment of themortality rate in one of the four refugeecamps in southern Ethiopia found thatsince June, an average of 10 childrenunder the age of 5 have died every day.

“The combination of disease andmalnutrition was what caused similardeath rates in previous famine crises inthe region,” said Adrian Edwards, aU.N. spokesperson in Geneva, addingthat a measles vaccination campaigntargeting children between the ages of6 months and 15 years is ongoing. Themajority of refugees arriving inEthiopia from Somalia are from ruralareas, and the camps may be the firsttime they have had access to healthfacilities.

The U.N. reports that the latestrefugees into Ethiopia are in very poorcondition and that 95 per-cent of them are women andchildren. A lack of shelterand health care, poor sanita-tion and overcrowding inthe camps could lead tomore outbreaks of disease.

As food aid landed inSomalia, U.N. workers dis-tributed some 500 emergen-cy assistance packages at acamp sheltering approxi-mately 13,000 people, morethan 2,000 families, close tothe Mogadishu airport. TheU.N.H.C.R. team describedthe conditions at the airportsite as “grim and dire.”Voices of crying childrenwere punctuated by heavycoughing. Small makeshiftshelters with no sleepingmats or bedding are charac-teristic of the congested set-tlement. A number of chil-dren lying helplessly on the

ground were suffering from measles,which refugees say are affecting manyin the airport camp.

U.N. relief workers reported thatthe streets leading to the camp werecalm, but that there was clear presenceof armed men in the area. Before thecurrent crisis, the Somali capital host-ed some 370,000 internally displacedpeople, who have now been joined byan additional 100,000 who fled intothe capital in search of food, water,shelter and medical assistance. Manysaid they were forced to leave elderly ordisabled relatives behind, fearing thatthey would not survive the arduousjourney to Mogadishu, which entailedwalking for days without food orwater. Some said they had been con-fronted by Shabab militants at road-blocks and discouraged from travellingto Mogadishu.

Danny Franco-Torres Jr. caresfor his baby brother while hismother, Raquel, makes dinnerat their home in Tulsa, Okla.When Danny Sr. was deport-

ed to El Salvador in 2008, heleft behind his wife and the

couple's five children.

DA mother cares for her severely malnourished 7-month-old son at a refugee camp in northeasternKenya.


north. Rebels in South Kordofan,mostly ethnic Nuba people organizedinto the Sudan People’s LiberationMovement-North, were once part ofthe rebel movement that is now inpower in South Sudan. On Aug. 7, theSPLM-N joined with three rebelgroups in western Darfur to form theRevolutionary Front Alliance. Thefront’s objective is to overthrow theNational Congress Party, the rulingparty in Khartoum, and create a newliberal and secular state.

Zimbabwe PilgrimsArrive in MadridHundreds of thousands of pilgrimsfrom across the globe descended onthe Spanish capital on Aug. 15 withan array of colorful T-shirts, blood-shot eyes and a unified spirit of excite-ment about World Youth Day. Sona

Mpofu of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and21 other pilgrims from southernAfrica were exhausted by their jour-ney but thrilled about being at WorldYouth Day. “When you come here,you feel at home,” said Mpofu, 27.“You don’t need to explain yourself.You are who you are. We understandeach other.” Said Fungai Mawada, 20:“It’s been an overwhelming experi-ence when you see that everyoneshares the same faith, despite color,race and upbringing and culture. Weall have that one thing in common. Toget here, it’s like coming home to abigger family.” For most of the groupfrom Zimbabwe, it was not only theirfirst World Youth Day, but their firsttime coming to Europe and even theirfirst time boarding an airplane orleaving their country.

Bishop Álvaro Ramazzini Imeri of San Marcos,Guatemala, will receive the Pacem in Terris Peaceand Freedom Award on Oct. 2 at St. AmbroseUniversity from Bishop Martin J. Amos ofDavenport. • Hundreds of Catholics gathered at theoldest cathedral in the Americas in Columbus Plaza,in Santo Domingo’s colonial zone, on Aug. 8 to markthe 500th anniversary of the first Catholic diocesesin the Western Hemisphere. • The diocese of DaNang in central Vietnam has pledged to continue giving material andspiritual support to people with AIDS despite the loss of fundingfrom several foreign charities. • Nine former soldiers in El Salvador’sarmy surrendered on Aug. 8 to authorities, three months after theirindictment in Spain for the killings in 1989 of six Jesuit priests,their housekeeper and her daughter. • Sister Florence Deacon, aFranciscan, is the new president of the Leadership Conference ofWomen Religious, elected at the closing of the organization’s annu-al assembly on Aug. 9-12. • The Princeton Review’s list of collegeswith the most and least religious students scored Brigham YoungUniversity at the top; the title of “least religious school” went toBennington College in Vermont.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

N E W S B R I E F Ssouth kordofan New sudan Hot spotA report released on Aug. 15 by theU.N. human rights office said that vio-lations of international law that arealleged to have taken place in Sudan’sSouthern Kordofan State in June“could amount to crimes againsthumanity or war crimes.” The 12-pagereport describes a wide range ofalleged violations in the town ofKadugli as well as in the surroundingNuba mountains, including “extrajudi-cial killings, arbitrary arrests and ille-gal detention, enforced disappear-ances, attacks against civilians, lootingof civilian homes and destruction ofproperty.”

Fighting broke out in Kadugli inJune between the Sudanese ArmedForces (SAF) and the Sudan People’sLiberation Army-North (SPLA-N).South Kordofan is emerging as the lat-est flashpoint in Sudan between theKhartoum government in the northand the newly independent Republic ofSouth Sudan. Thousands have beendislocated by the renewed violence, andthere is evidence of a campaign of eth-nic cleansing being undertaken by theKhartoum government, driving out thenative Nuba people and replacing themwith Arab tribes that support the

Álvaro RamazziniImeri

From CNS and other sources.

Besides employing disincentives forauto traffic, especially single-passengeruse, urban planners and transporta-tion officials should continue to enactpositive measures to enhance reliablepublic transportation and encouragepedestrian-friendly zones rather thanallow cars to dominate public spaces.Recent budget cuts in many regionshave reduced bus and rail service pre-cisely when we should be making pub-

lic transit more attrac-tive and affordable, notmore of a hassle. Weshould seize opportuni-ties to create truly walk-able and bikeable neigh-borhoods.

Of course, even for-ward-thinking publicofficials will need toaccommodate our exist-ing car culture. Ourpreferences will not

change overnight; piling into the fami-ly car remains the most convenientoption for most commuting, shoppingand vacationing. Indeed, some destina-tions are unreachable by other means.But does our need for mobility alwaysjustify maneuvering several thousandpounds of metal through town? Canwe muster up the collective imagina-tion to consider some practical alter-natives to unrelenting car use?

I hesitate to recommend breakingentirely with the automobile. But toavoid the folly of getting stuck inunsustainable patterns of living, wemust face up to the imperative torenegotiate the relationship. Sinceour reliance on gas-guzzling vehiclesis not serving us well, it is time tochallenge our overly car-centric cul-ture.

e hardly need another pre-dictable indictment of theautomobile or America’s

car culture. Plenty of social commen-tators have already weighed in with“feet good, wheels bad” assessments ofcurrent U.S. transport patterns. Butthe time does seem right to stir up ourcreative juices and reconsider contin-ued reliance on autos as our defaultmode of transportation.

Deep down, I am ambivalent aboutcars. On the one hand, like mostAmericans, I frequently drive aboutand actually derive considerable plea-sure from the experience. There isnothing like whizzing down an openhighway (if you can find one anymore)with some up-tempo music (I recom-mend early Bruce Springsteen or TomPetty) blasting from the speakers. Fulldisclosure: I am lucky enough to beable to walk to work each day and, as aJesuit, have never actually owned a car.But, typical of folks my age, I fondlyrecall the satisfaction of stepping outthe door of the Department of MotorVehicles on my 17th birthday with myfirst unrestricted driver license inhand, thus completing the final stageof that great American rite of passageinto adulthood.

On the other hand, for all the satis-faction and practical advantages asso-ciated with driving an automobile reg-ularly, I find it hard to deny the down-side of excessive car use. Owning andoperating a vehicle is expensive, eco-logically harmful and has a perniciousway of insulating us from our socialand natural environments. Burning

endless gallons of imported gasoline topropel our self-contained private vehi-cles on nonessential trips near and faris the very embodiment of self-indul-gence and unsustainability.

We are coming off a summer thatafforded automobiles a rather highprofile. The rollercoaster of gasolineprices had us buzzing. The media cov-ered the rollout of an impressive newgeneration of hybrid and electric cars.The Disney Pixar anima-tion feature “Cars 2”received plenty of attention.Depending upon your per-spective, the movie eitherdelighted and entertainedmillions or contributed tothe brainwashing of yetanother generation into adecadent car culture (see,my ambivalence persists).

One particularly reveal-ing spectacle was the LosAngeles Freeway saga widely dubbedCarmageddon. For an extended periodover a July weekend, north-south traf-fic in our nation’s second-largest citywas all but halted when road construc-tion shut down the 405 freeway.Ironically, the major purpose of thisroadwork is to widen and strengthenthe Sepulveda Pass in order to increasethe volume of traffic the road can carryin the future. Recall the “if you build it,they will come” principle from themovie “Field of Dreams.” Once again,an American public works project willserve to perpetuate gridlock, at a timewhen many European cities are active-ly discouraging the use of cars in con-gested areas through traffic-calmingmeasures, parking restrictions andhefty tolls on those who spurn publictransportation.

Car TalkW

We shouldmake public transit

attractiveand

affordable.


THOMAS MASSARO, S.J., teaches socialethics at the Boston College School of Theologyand Ministry, Chestnut Hill, Mass.

THOMAS MASSARO

August 29–September 5010 America 11

istorians know that there is History and history, that is, whatactually happened and our stories about what happened. In areference to photographs that caught the experiences of Sept.11, 2001, Garrison Keillor wrote: “The mainstream mediaseized upon inspirational and patriotic images, such as the pic-

ture of three firemen [placing the flag on the mound of rubble]; thus began a sortof mythification of the day into which George W. Bush and Rudolph Giulianientered, bearing spears and shields.”

But these were not the only stories. While national leaders prepared for war,many Americans paused in wonder amid the pain. We met people who lost lovedones, each with a story; we attended remarkable ceremonies and heard about oth-ers; there was a lot of silence. I recall a reflection session at the College of the HolyCross where some expressed strong political reactions, but William E. Reiser, S.J.,then a professor of religious studies, said quietly that he found it too overwhelm-ing to offer a thoughtful response quite yet. Later I read of ministers at the site,who simply listened to the anguish of stricken families and exhausted rescuers.Mychal Judge, O.F.M., a chaplain with the New York City Fire Department, whohas been called “the saint of 9/11,” asked his Lord to take him where he was sup-posed to go, then “keep me out of your way.” He died that day.

Although distressed by the quick, public talk of war, I was also absorbed bystories of the people of 9/11—people into whose lives history as actuality explod-ed that September day. I could not get enough of those stories, captured in thereporting of superb journalists like Jim Dwyer and in the profiles of victims pub-lished day after day, week after week, in The New York Times. And I could notstop looking at those powerful iconic photographs—images of sacrifice, deathand heroic generosity. In one image a young fireman, Michael Kehoe, a 9/11 sur-vivor, is ascending the stairs as office workers quickly descend. Later one of thoseoffice workers, John Labriola, an employee of the Port Authority of New York

H

LearningFrom 9/11

BY DAVID O’BRIEN

STORIES OF LOVE, HEROISM AND COURAGE

DAVID O’BRIEN is the University Professor of Faith and Culture at the University of Dayton inOhio, and emeritus professor at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. DAN GHENO,whose art accompanies this article, is a teacher of painting and drawing at the National Academy

School of Fine Arts and the Art Students League in New York City.

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and New Jersey, reportedly said: “The one conclusion Icame to on 9/11 is that people in the stairwell…really werein ‘a state of grace.’ They helped each other. They didn’tpanic. Most people are basically good. I know this, withcertainty, because I had gone through the crucible. What agreat example people left: be selfless, help the personaround you and get through it.”

From life stories of victims, unending stories of helpingand remarkable reports of mourning, I learned, mayberelearned, lessons of love. How many stories told of airline

passengers and workers at the twin towers, knowing theywould die, who called others to say “I love you.” I learnedthat American individualism is real and, for the most part,good; we Americans, at least among our own, value personsas persons, thank God. Selfish individualism is anothermyth, for when the chips of life were down, many endan-gered Americans thought not of themselves but of others. Ihave always cherished the line from “Lumen Gentium”(No. 31) that describes the many relationships we have infamily, workplace and neighborhood as a complex fabricfrom which “the very web of our existence is woven.” As fas-cinating stories of such webs were told, it became clear tome (Why had it been so dim?) how much love really doesmatter.

It is easy to dismiss these accounts as sentimental. But Ifound in people like Labriola, Dwyer and Judge a populistrealism, an awareness that we are all limited, that evil andsin are real, but that hope, faith and love happen right herein the middle of life.

The experience of 9/11 reminded me that I am anAmericanist. Growing up in a Catholic, cold war subcul-ture, I never understood that I might have to choosebetween being Catholic and American. I thus became anAmerican historian, not a church historian, interested in,worried about, taking responsibility for, as best I could, thepast, present and future of American Catholics, who wereAmericans as much as Catholics.

The events of 9/11 left me determined to contest thecountercultural, sectarian Catholicism increasingly domi-

nant in our church. ThisCatholicism thinks we Catholicscan define ourselves by our differ-ence and distance from otherAmericans. Such views are some-times challenging; more often theyare hypocritical, irresponsible,blaming of others while exempt-ing ourselves, standing apart. Incontrast, Father Judge stood withhis people.

On 9/11 this country was test-ed and, for a shining moment,found worthy.

That experience led me to arecommitment to the UnitedStates and Americans, and to theAmerican—and Christian—vision of a single human family.That vision was grounded inmemories of family and anti-com-munist Catholicism. It was chal-lenged and revised by encounters

with a diverse group of people, like John XXIII, NormanThomas, Martin Luther King Jr. and members of theCatholic Worker Movement. After 9/11, I found myselfdrawn to shared responsibility by history itself.

History is not made by somebody else in some othertime and place. No, we ourselves make history by ourchoices. The meaning of 9/11, an example of history asstory, will be constructed from the choices we continue tomake in its wake.

So far too manypublic choices havepromoted civic idola-try and empire, oreven death. But thestory is not over. Lookat all the love that day.Love can write another chapter and keep hope alive for abetter future. The meaning of 9/11 lies ahead. It is in ourhands and in our hearts.


ON THE WEBDan Gheno talks about his paintings

inspired by 9/11.americamagazine.org/video

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hy study the history of the Mass?

The Liturgy of the Eucharist, or Mass, is the most important liturgy we celebrate. Each time we celebrate it, we act in obedience to Jesus’ command to ‘do this in memory of me.’

But if you are like many intelligent Catholics, you have questions about how the first Christians celebrated this liturgy, how and why it has changed over time, and what has remained constant.

Where do current practices come from? What can we learn from New Testament scripture? How was the Mass celebrated in the Church’s first two centuries? Why was the practice of the liturgy changed after the Second Vatican Council? You will explore these questions and many more with one of America’s leading liturgy experts, Fr. John Baldovin of Boston College, as your guide.

This series differs from Fr. Baldovin’s previous Now You Know Media series, The Catholic Mass Today, which focused on the practice of the Mass today. The History of the Mass tracks the prac-tice and theology of the Mass from the earliest Christian liturgies through Byzantine period and Middle Ages and beyond. You’ll explore the challenge of the Protes-tant Reformation, the Catholic Response, and liturgical reform in the 18th through 20th centuries.

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Along the way, you will learn a great deal of wider Church history and the theological and cultural challenges which shaped current worship practices. We highly recommend this series for anyone interested in gaining a deeper understanding of Church history, theology, or liturgical practice.

About Your Speaker

"Perhaps no liturgical scholar of our time is better able than John

Baldovin to write with clarity and accuracy about the meaning of the church's liturgy and the history of its development in the last half century."

–Liturgical Press

Father John F. Baldovin, S.J. is a professor of Historical and Liturgi-cal Theology at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. He’s a leading expert on the Mass and has been teaching for 28 years. Father Baldovin is past president of the North American Academy of Liturgy and the international ecumenical Societas Liturgica. He’s currently president of the International Jungmann Society for Jesuits and the Liturgy. His previ-ous Now You Know Media series is entitled, The Catholic Mass Today.

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en years after the triple attacks on the UnitedStates on Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. Muslimpopulation is thriving. Their presence andsuccess are vastly underreported. Instead,headlines draw attention to homegrown ter-

rorists, protests againstmosque construction, thecontroversial hearings ofRepresentative Peter Kingand disputes overHomeland Security’s rat-ings of domestic terrorismthreats. But in the after-math of 9/11, AmericanMuslims are well integrat-ed into American societyand prospering. Two-thirds of Muslim house-holds earn over $50,000 ayear and a quarter of thoseover $100,000. Two-thirdsof Muslims hold a bache-lor’s degree or higher, com-pared with just 44 percentof Americans overall.

Today the AmericanMuslim population num-bers perhaps 4.5 million.(The exact total is hard todetermine because the U.S.Census does not inquireabout religious affiliation.)Of these, half identify themselves as Sunni; 16 percent asShiite. Sixty-five percent of American Muslims are foreign-born, and 39 percent have come since 1990.

Like Christian immigrants before them, Muslims orga-nize to build community centers and mosques to educate

their children, maintain their faith and foster communityadhesion. These institutions also draw non-practicingMuslims. Islamic centers do form loose affiliations withgroups like the Islamic Society of North America, IslamicCircle of North America, American Muslim Alliance,

Muslim Public Affairs Council or Council on American-Islamic Relations, though according to a poll released inAugust by the Abu Dhabi Gallup Center no more than 10percent of American Muslims regarded any of these groupsas representative. While they prize their local autonomy inAmerican society, American Muslims also typically main-tain spiritual connections with religious leadership abroadand in traditionally Islamic lands.

Muslims are integrated into the American mainstream.According to the Gallup poll “Muslim Americans: Faith,

America’s Muslims Mainstream and middle classBY JOHN BORELLI AND DREW CHRISTIANSEN


JOHN BORELLI, PH.D., is special assistant to the president ofGeorgetown University for interfaith relations. DREW CHRISTIANSEN,S.J., is editor in chief of America. A version of this article will appear inthe September issue of Choisir, a French-language Swiss journal and asister Jesuit publication.

TRep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., is sworn in, using anEnglish translation of the Koran, as the firstMuslim member of Congress by Speaker of theHouse Nancy Pelosi.

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Freedom and the Future,” Muslims more than other U.S.religious groups regard themselves as “thriving.” In earlierstudies they expressed as much satisfaction with the state ofthe nation as did other Americans. With the exception ofrecent immigrants, Muslims identify non-Muslims as theirclosest friends. Like other Americans, they reject extrem-ism; but a little more than a third worry about the growth ofIslamic extremism in America. Muslims support adaptationto American society over religious separatism. Two-thirdsfind no conflict between being a Muslim and a participantin modern society. Furthermore, 62 percent regard the con-dition of women in the United States favorably.

Religious Practice and PoliticsAmerican Muslims are more likely to regard religion as“very important” to their identity than are other Americans(72 percent versus 60 percent), but their practice of dailyprayer and weekly worship is somewhat weaker than that ofChristians (daily prayer—61 percent versus 70 percent;communal worship—40 percent versus 45 percent). MoreChristians than Muslims, however, are of the opinion thattheir religious institutions should express views about polit-ical and social issues.

The growing number of native-born American Muslimsare the offspring of Muslim immigrants, African-Americansand converts from a variety of backgrounds. Nearly 60 per-cent of converts are African-American; 34 percent arewhite. Converts are typically young, with almost half con-verting before age 21 and another third before age 35. Thefirst- and second-generation children of Muslim-Americans assimilate into American culture, attitudes andinterests, as the tens of millions of other immigrant childrenin the history of the American republic have done.

In the Gallup poll, American Muslims are more likelythan any other religious group to say that violent attacks oncivilians are never justified. Support for extremism is muchweaker among American Muslims than among their conti-nental European counterparts. More than half of U.S.Muslims express concern about Islamic extremism as com-pared with just 35 percent in France and 29 percent inGermany and Spain. Although younger American Muslimsare more likely than others to regard suicide bombing as jus-tifiable, the survey reports that 78 percent of MuslimAmericans say attacks against civilians are “never justified,”in contrast to a majority of American Catholics, Jews,Protestants and Mormons who hold such attacks as “some-times justifiable.”

Following 9/11 American Muslims were critical ofAmerican foreign policy, as they were of American MiddleEast policy for decades before. Only 26 percent see the waron terror as “a sincere effort to reduce terrorism,” and 75percent oppose the war in Iraq compared with 47 percent of

the general U.S. population. Only 48 percent regard the warin Afghanistan as “the wrong decision,” however, with asmany as 35 percent believing it was “the right decision.”Nearly 70 percent hold an unfavorable attitude toward AlQaeda, and only 5 percent report favorable attitudes towardit.

Prejudice and DiscriminationDespite the assimilation of the vast majority of Muslims inthe United States, attitudes toward Muslims and Islam onthe part of the general American population are not posi-tive. A slight majority of Americans (53 percent) hold neg-ative attitudes toward Muslims, with some 31 percentreporting attitudes “not favorable at all.” Yet nearly two-thirds of Americans say they have little or no knowledge ofIslam. Those admittedly ignorant of Islam are more thantwice as likely to have negative attitudes toward Muslims astoward adherents of other religions. Repugnance towardIslam, however, is greater than aversion to Muslims them-selves; 43 percent of Americans report feeling prejudiceagainst Muslims. Ironically, most Americans regardMuslims as unaccepting of people of other faiths. Even so, alarge majority (70 percent) believe Muslims want peace.

The August Gallup poll indicates that 48 percent ofMuslim Americans report experiencing either “racial or reli-gious” discrimination in the last year. Earlier reports indi-


cated that a much smaller number experienced “religious”discrimination. Among those reporting recent discrimina-tion, native-born Muslims, particularly African Americans,outnumber the foreign-born by more than 2 to 1. Theimpact of 9/11 and the war on terror on perceptions of dis-crimination, however, are noticeable. A small majoritydeclare it is more difficult being a Muslim in the UnitedStates since 9/11 and believe they have been singled out asMuslims for scrutiny by government security programs.Among those with advanced degrees and of higher incomelevels, two-thirds say it has been harder to be a Muslimsince 9/11.

Muslim-Catholic RelationsIn the United States a large percentage of the populationattends religious services regularly and an even larger per-centage self-identifies as religious. Because the nation’sfounders did not want the history of strife amongProtestant groups to repeat itself in their new republic, theywrote into the Bill of Rights two expressions that formedthe basis for religious pluralism: “Congress shall make nolaw respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibitingthe free exercise thereof.” Over time a variety of religionsflourished because of the equality of religious groups beforethe law.

Two other key conditions favorable to the growth of

Christian-Muslim relations date from 1965. First, theImmigration and Nationality Act of 1965 opened U.S. bor-ders to new immigrants from South Asia and the MiddleEast, which provided opportunities for dialogue betweenAmerican Christians and Muslim immigrants. Contactwith foreign-born Muslims also persuaded many African-American Muslims to conform to religious belief and prac-tice more like that of Muslims abroad.

Second, on Oct. 28 that year, Pope Paul VI and the bish-ops of the Second Vatican Council promulgated “NostraAetate,” a declaration on interreligious relations. Begun asan effort to reverse negative church teaching about Jews,“Nostra Aetate” affirmed the church’s respect for the otherworld religions as well. It offered reasons for the church’s“esteem” for Muslims and urged all “to make sincere efforts”for mutual understanding and cooperation.

In 1965 most people in the United States had never meta Muslim, though from the media they knew about “BlackMuslims,” members of the Nation of Islam, an African-American organization working for civil rights. In sharpcontrast to the nonviolent character of the civil rights move-ment, the Nation of Islam took a confrontational, anti-white approach to its mission. That winter, Malcolm X, oneof the best-known black Muslims, was assassinated becausehe came to believe that the Nation of Islam’s teachings onhate and violence were contrary to authentic Islam.Interestingly, the latest Gallup poll shows American Jewsleast suspicious of American Muslims, with 80 percentbelieving American Muslims are loyal to the United Statesand 66 percent believing they face prejudice.

World events after 1965—the 1967 Arab-Israeli War,the Yom Kippur War of 1970 and the Arab oil embargo, theterrorism linked to Muammar el-Qaddafi and the 1979Iranian Revolution—complicated American attitudestoward Muslims. Still, by the mid-1980s successfulCatholic-Muslim dialogues had been taking place in LosAngeles for 10 years, and similar efforts occurred regularlyin Detroit, Houston, Chicago, St. Louis, Boston, Buffaloand New York. In 1986 the U.S. Catholic bishops finallyvoted to fund staff and interreligious programming to pro-mote Catholic-Muslim dialogue, and a national dialogue ofCatholics and Muslims took place in 1991 and 1992.

Interfaith Relations after 9/11The U.S. Catholic bishops inaugurated annual dialogues inseveral regions, beginning in 1996 in the Midwest with theIslamic Society of North America, in 1998 on the EastCoast with the Islamic Circle of North America and in2000 on the West Coast. Participants met in a retreat envi-ronment for two days. The purpose was to connect withboth national and local Islamic leadership and therebyengage the diversity of the Muslim population. In a separate


of Muslims and their religion. Controversies over the con-struction of a mosque and an Islamic center erupted inTennessee and Iowa.

Then the pastor of a tiny congregation-cum-business inGainesville, Fla., drew stern comments from some of thehighest political and military offices in the land, and fromfellow evangelicals, over his plan to burn copies of the Koranon the ninth anniversary of 9/11. This year more than twodozen states have considered “anti-Shariah” legislation,whereby Islamic law can never have standing in state courts;three states have passed such a ban. A recent exposé in TheNew York Times found that a Hasidic lawyer fromBrooklyn, N.Y., has orchestrated this movement with con-servative public policy institutes.

Meanwhile, Christians continue to engage in local initia-tives with Muslims to promote social jus-tice, community-building, dialogue andfaith-sharing. Muslims have begun toteach Islam and religious studies even atCatholic colleges and universities. Muslimsocial commentators have moved wellbeyond political analysis of the West and

Islam. With a stake in American social, economic, religiousand political institutions, Muslims are moving into posi-tions of civic leadership.

The economic downturn and costly settlements in casesof abuse have caused the U.S. Catholic bishops to cut backtheir programs of social cooperation and inter-religious dia-logue. As a result, local communities and interfaith councilsreceive less expert assistance. Ten years ago, help fromnational offices provided guidance and expertise in shapinginitiatives for mutual understanding and cooperation. Tenyears after 9/11, with interfaith engagement so widespread,no single national dialogue, relationship or program sets thetone for Christian-Muslim relations in American life.

initiative, African-American Muslims under the leadershipof Warith Deen Muhammad began meeting with Catholicleadership. These meetings led to a visit to Rome by ImamMuhammad in 1996 and many informal relationships.These dialogues and relationships continue today.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Catholic leadership already enjoyed adegree of trust and mutuality with Muslim leadership in theUnited States. That very week the bishops’ national inter-religious moderator, Bishop Tod Brown of Orange, Calif.,signed a statement with five Muslim leaders involved inthese relationships. The signers declared their commitmentto one another as friends, believers and citizens; their abhor-rence of all terrorist acts and hate crimes; and the immoral-ity of the crimes of 9/11. At its next meeting eachU.S.C.C.B. regional dialogue discussed the nexus of religionand violence.

No doubt complex layers of relation-ship, joint decision-making, trust andgoodwill served many religious commu-nities in the United States, especiallyMuslims, in the weeks after 9/11. Thenext year, the bishops’ conference spon-sored an institute on Islam and Catholic-Muslim relations,and the bishops’ Subcommittee on Interreligious Dialoguereceived a grant from the Catholic Near East WelfareAssociation to offer three short institutes for bishops onIslam and Catholic-Muslim relations. Nowadays, there arenumerous summer institutes and special workshops onChristian-Muslim relations geared for teachers, churchstaff, reporters and others. Georgetown University, the siteof the third bishops’ institute in 2005, has offered a week-long institute for Christian and Muslim leaders every sum-mer since that year.

When 138 Muslim religious leaders and scholarsreleased “A Common Word Between Us and You” inOctober 2007 to Christian leaders everywhere, a degree ofreciprocity was reached in the promotion of relations. Thisshort reflection, drawing from biblical and Koranic sourceson love of God and neighbor as a basis for dialogue, repre-sented the first broadly based theological response byMuslims to the Second Vatican Council’s “Nostra Aetate.”

Setbacks came in the summer of 2010. A proposedIslamic center for lower Manhattan gave rise to angryprotests and drew in national political leaders. Similarly,when a pastor on Staten Island agreed to sell a former con-vent to a Muslim group for a mosque, there were outcries.For New Yorkers, these incidents demonstrated the insuffi-cient attention by civic and religious leaders to public andprivate healing after 9/11, particularly among the families offirst responders, many of whom lived on Staten Island. Forall Americans, lower Manhattan and ground zero hadbecome a stage on which to vent suspicions and stereotypes


ON THE WEBRev. Robert J. Robbins on

interreligious relations after 9/11. americamagazine.org/podcast

SOURCESPublic opinion data is taken from the PewResearch Center’s (Muslim West Facts Project)“Muslim Americans: Middle Class and MostlyMainstream” (2007) and the Gallup/Co-existFoundation survey “Religious Perspectives inAmerica: With an In-Depth Analysis of U.s.Attitudes toward Muslims and Islam” (2009)and other sources. The latest findings comefrom Gallup’s 2011 survey,“Muslim Americans:Faith, Freedom and theFuture,” which wasreleased as this articlewent to press.

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ad I not followed the uncon-ventional career path towhich my Catholic faith ledme, I never would have been

standing next to the stinking wreckage ofthe World Trade Center in winter 2002. Ihad gone to New York City to testify beforea Congressional committee that the air sur-rounding the site was not “safe to breathe,”as the administrator of the EnvironmentalProtection Agency had stated, but insteadcontained materials that would inevitablyand seriously degrade the health of workersat the site, most of whom lacked respira-tors.

Decades before the terrorist attacks ofSept. 11, 2001, I had gradually abandonedthe fascinating field of nuclear astrophysicsto apply my physical techniques to air pol-lution, partially driven by the injustice ofenvironmental assaults on people unable toprotect themselves. Catholic moral and eth-ical teachings were far removed from myresearch and teaching then—a separation of faith and life Ihad learned at an early age.

Growing up in the 1940s in rural New England, I livedin a town with six Catholics (our family and one old couple).There was still a strain of Puritan anti-Catholicism there, sowe kept religion to ourselves. Later, when I began doctoralstudies in physics at the University of California, LosAngeles, immersed in a university and a discipline thatrejected God, I almost felt at home. My Catholicism, prac-ticed on (most) Sundays, held little relevance for my work.

This was, however, a time of massive development oflethal hardware, nuclear and otherwise, the military-indus-trial complex driven by fear of Soviet capabilities and inten-

tions. Moral issues abounded for physicists, but these wentunaddressed by the physics department, the university andacademia at large. The topics were being addressed, howev-er, by Elwood Kieser, C.S.P., and a small group of helpers ina television series produced by Paulist Productions in LosAngeles. I volunteered to help them get the science right ina few screenplays and scrounged up hardware fromU.C.L.A.’s surplus bins to make their sets look more scien-tifically credible. Yet that involvement, minor as it was, putmy Catholic faith in a new and relevant light. A further ben-efit from my revived faith came during a rare visit to thelocal Newman Center: I met my future wife.

As a professor at the University of California, Davis, in1967, I saw a faith problem emerge, not with my peers butwith my students. Some came from strict evangelical back-grounds and held values that conflicted with what I wasteaching. This led to many conversations, during which Itried to show that there was no conflict between my being a

A Matter of FaithA physicist reflects on his work at ground zero BY THOMAS A. CAHILL

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THOMAS A. CAHILL is an emeritus professor of physics and atmospher-ic sciences and former director of both the Institute of Ecology and theCrocker Nuclear Laboratory at the Univ. of California, Davis. He is cur-rently head of the U.C. Davis DELTA Group, which focuses on globalclimate problems.

CATHOLICS AT WORK 5

Thomas Cahill at the World Trade Center, February 2002

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Christian and a physicist and that truth is unitary, be it inscience or religion. The acceptance of modern science by theSecond Vatican Council and the church’s embrace of evolu-tion further weakened the artificial barrier between my faithand my physics.

My students and I began applying physical methods totest air quality along roadways and in residential areas, help-ing form legislation in California to eliminate lead emissionsfrom cars that is now copied around the world. While con-tinuing our work in environmental justice, we expanded thescope of our work into the natural ecosystem. A veteran ofscores of environmental battles, I also proposed, designed

and for 20 years ran air quality programs to protect visibili-ty at national parks and monuments, including a bitterlycontested victory protecting the Grand Canyon from a coal-fired power plant.

A decade later, when a colleague in New York asked meto send our unique air samplers to his laboratory after 9/11,I was willing and, luckily, able to help. Our World TradeCenter study angered both the New York City mayor’soffice and the Bush administration, because our air samplersproved that workers on and near the site were affected by airthat was unsafe to breathe in the months following 9/11, inspite of assertions to the contrary. My federal contacts were

suddenly cut, and I still receive nastycalls and letters for this study. Yet I con-tributed to a recent victory—a $750 mil-lion settlement to cover those workers’health care costs.

Physics itself has come full circle.Stunned by the discovery of the Big Bangand a one-way universe, physics has out-grown its “sophomore-engineering athe-ism” phase. Many of the 20th- century’sgreatest physicists came to accept theneed for a creative power, since the originof the Big Bang cannot be explained bythe laws of our universe (see Einstein’sGod, by Krista Tippett and AndrewSolomon). One successful contemporaryEnglish astrophysicist, JohnPolkinghorne, became an Anglicanpriest. And since 1985 physicists havecome to realize that the laws of physicsstrongly support the hypothesis that lifeitself is the reason for the universe, that itis not just an accidental, organic smearon this rocky planet. The implications ofthis hypothesis are still being argued anddeveloped, for both physics and theology.

As my work in physics evolved intoglobal-climate protection, I have experi-enced another benefit of Catholicism.Traveling to distant spots, some veryprimitive, I have nevertheless been ableto find a Mass being celebrated. Theexperience of these treasured Masseshas profoundly changed me, humbledme and made me grateful for the sacri-fices and faith of those who made thempossible. I have reached a concordance: Ibelieve, and my belief helps direct how Iuse physics, while physics itself lays arational foundation for my belief.


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snow, such as no launderer on earthcan whiten them.” This spontaneousoutpouring tugs at the heart, yet itsmessage is hard to decode. Why thatparticular verse? Why those shoes?We may never know.

Paradoxically, temporary commem-orations like the one made forMatthew Diaz sometimes achieve uni-versality by their specificity. Theyexpress raw emotion that typically islost by the time a permanent memori-al is erected. Ripped open by tragedy,we give ourselves creative and spiritualpermission to explore life’s big ques-tions—Why I am here? Where am Igoing? How will I be remembered?—that do not often come to mind onordinary Tuesday mornings. Thesesharp but evanescent insights illumi-nate our deepest yearnings to knowourselves and to know God.

9/11’s Immediate Memorials Beginning on the afternoon of theattacks, posters of missing personsblanketed New York City; they weremade in response to the initial belief,soon dispelled, that victims were walk-ing around in an amnesiac state orlying unidentified in hospital beds.The photocopied posters wereremarkably consistent in design—an8.5 inch by 11 inch sheet, with a fami-ly photo, minimal identification andsome contact information—yet theyrepresented an invention of mourningand remembrance at its most com-pelling. It was easy to identify with themissing, poised over barbeques, atweddings, on vacation, because varia-tions of those same pictures are gluedin our own photo albums. They wereus.

A second wave of posters gave addi-tional data about birthmarks, scars,earrings, shoes and tattoos to aid

n the days following Sept. 11,2001, Michael Diaz constructedan impromptu memorial in

Manhattan for his missing brotherMatthew, which I saw online. It con-sisted of a Payless shoebox holding a

pair of worn black shoes, neatly tied.The top of the box, propped up, servedas a kind of headstone. A verse fromthe Gospel of Mark (9:3) was scrawledon it in magic marker: “His clothesbecame shining, exceedingly white, like


BOOKS & CULTURE

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A R T | JUDITH DUPRÉ

TEMPORARY AND TIMELESSThe 9/11 memorials, then and now

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A memorial for Matthew Diaz made by his brother Michael Diaz

forensic identification, intimate detailsthat increased their familiarity furtherstill. The images evolved a third time,now marked “Remember me,” “Prayfor me,” or other words of release, intoposthumous Everyman memorialsthat were both germ and zenith of thevast photographic collage that wouldemerge from that day.

In a gesture that proved to be acathartic gift to the nation, The NewYork Times published “Portraits ofGrief,” more than 2,200 thumbnailprofiles of 9/11 victims that ran dailyfrom Sept. 15 to Dec. 31, 2001, andcontinued sporadically into 2003.Taking their inspiration from theposters of the missing, the profiles fea-tured stamp-size photographs andimpressionistic biographies thatrevealed those lost—traders, firefight-ers, new parents, gourmet chefs, liter-ary escapists and fanatical golfers—sometimes in all their lovable idiosyn-crasy. The “Portraits” section evolvedinto a national shrine of sorts. Readingthem became a daily ritual for many.As my brother said at the time, “I haveto read them. Every day, I meet moregreat people.”

Michael Arad’s MemoriesShortly after the attacks, the architectMichael Arad created a temporaryinstallation on the rooftop of his EastVillage apartment to express theemptiness he felt. The work consistedof water that flowed into two square-shaped cavities, giving the effect of twoblack voids floating on top of a ghostlypool. Those rooftop seeds of grief andhope, transmuted in Arad’s winningmemorial design of 2004, became thedouble inverted fountains of theNational September 11 Memorial andMuseum. Arad’s essential idea wasthat the most fitting response to theloss of so many souls and the skylineitself would be absence, not presence, avoid, not a solid. Although the designteam eventually included ideas fromthe landscape architect Peter Walker

and others, the fun-damental memorialconcept was in placewithin weeks of thetragedy.

Not all tempo-rary memorials haveequal weight—teddy bears and keychains are not thestuff of high art—but they all point towhat is to come.Unlike permanentmonuments that arebuilt to outlast thepeople who builtthem, temporarycommemorationsshow vulnerability.They express a deepneed to mark anevent, like Jacobplanting the Bethelstone. Such memorials shout, “Theymattered! And I matter too!” Evenpermanent memorials are not a finalstep, but rather one more stage in theprocess of reconciliation.

Names are also important, as is theway they are presented. The artistMaya Lin taught us this when sheinsisted this the names of fallenVietnam veterans be listed on theWashington, D.C., memorial in theorder of their date of death, instead ofalphabetically, which would have hadthe heartless anonymity of a phonebook. Given past commemorativedebates, the task of arranging the2,982 names of those who died was achallenge for the designer of thenational memorial at the World TradeCenter. (This number includes the sixpeople killed in the truck bomb explo-sion in the parking garage of the northtower on Feb. 26, 1993.)

As Arad explained it, the aim wasto “place the names of those who diedthat day [Sept. 11] next to each otherin a meaningful way, marking thenames of family and friends together,

as they had lived and died.” The namesat ground zero are organized by“meaningful adjacencies” that reflectwhere victims died, their work affilia-tions and their personal relationships.

A name-finder on the memorial’sWeb site combines aspects of the“Portraits of Grief ” and the posters ofthe missing, providing a photo, lifedates, birthplace and professional affil-iation. Like an inscription on a head-stone, these brief bios tell us some-thing, but not nearly enough to conveythe fullness of a life. Taken together,however, these snippets form a democ-racy that emphasizes what we allshare: namely, a creaturely destiny tobecome part, sooner or later, of aneternal continuum. Here, in the midstof names and portraits, I findMatthew Diaz, who is smiling broadly.He is far from those black shoes, hav-ing gone up the high mountain.

Finished and Unfinished Unlike their ephemeral cousins, per-manent memorials generate controver-sy because what is being argued is his-


Rendering of The National Sept. 11Memorial and Museum at the WorldTrade Center

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footprints. Water cascadesdown their sides and disap-pears into a still lower pool.The names of those who diedare inscribedin bronzepanels thats u r r o u n dthe poolsand stretchin either direction as far as onecan see. The names are stencil-cut, allowing visitors to lookthrough them to the waterbelow, or to run their fingersover each name, one of themost ancient forms of homage.At night, light will shine upthrough the letters, transform-ing each name. Matthew Diazand all of those who died thatday will become exceedinglywhite and shining, like snow,provoking reflection on what is

to come. While the horizontal name panels

locate the victims and those whomourn them within the human collec-tive, the vertical axis—the onestretched between the seemingly bot-tomless depths of the pools and heav-en above—engages our individual,

spiritual selves. By placing temporalconcerns in a larger, timeless context,memorials remind us that our truenature is not of this world. But it is

also not apart fromthe world.

As we approachthe dedication of thepermanent memori-al in Lower Manhat-

tan, a milestone event that will markthe closing of one chapter and theopening of a new one, it is importantto remember those promises we madeto ourselves in the autumnal days of2001: to meet more great people everyday, simply by deciding to see theirgreatness; to treat ourselves and otherswith kindness and compassion; to stopand consider the beauty of the world;to do those things that frighten usmost, whether offering an apology ormoving away from habits or habitualsituations that keep us stuck; to givethanks, often. The new 9/11 memori-al, a massive double baptismal font ofsorts, beckons us to immerse ourselvesand emerge into a new life.

JUDITH DUPRÉ is the author ofMonuments: America’s History in Artand Memory (Random House).

tory itself. The finished monumentdoes not tell us what happened butinstead represents how the majoritythought an event should be remem-bered.

The commemorative process isstrikingly similar, no matter what theevent or site: the overwhelming con-sensus that an event should be memo-rialized is followed by debate, some-times acrimonious, from which thememorial design emerges. On the ded-ication day, sometimes only a fewweeks later, the controversy is forgot-ten, the design extolled; most acceptthe monument narrative as “the waythings were.” One might say that whatis finally built is mostly a marker of thesoul-searching process that brought itinto being. Inevitably, the monumentwill fade into the fabric of the land-scape and attain the peculiar invisibili-ty of the familiar.

The New MemorialThe 9/11 memorial consists of twomassive pools, each an acre in size,which are placed in the twin towers’


Reflections of Father JoeBy Connell J. Maguire

Connell J. Maguire, author of Follies of aNavy Chaplain and Foibles of Father Joe,Ireland and came to the United States withhis family at age 11, settling with his familyin Philadelphia. He was drawn to the priest-hood and became a chaplain in the Navy,including a stint in Vietnam. Now 92 andliving in Florida, where he still ministers parttime to a community of Guatemalanimmigrants in Indiantown, Fr. Joe tacklesmany of the issues facing the Catholicchurch today in this, his third book.

Paperback, $13.95 +$3 s&h

Aaron Elson Publisher12 Washington Street, Unit 55

New Britain, CT 06051Ph: (1-888) 711-8265

Also available as aKindle eBook: $9.95www.amazon.com.

ON THE WEBMichael V. Tueth, S.J., reviews “The Help.”

americamagazine.org

Connell J. Maguire, author of Follies of a Navy

Chaplain and Foibles of Father Joe, was born in

Glenties, County Donegal, Ireland and came to

the United States with his family at age 11, set-

tling with his family in Philadelphia. He was

drawn to the priesthood and became a chaplain

in the Navy, including a stint in Vietnam. Now

92 and living in Florida, where he still ministers

part time to a community of Guatemalan immi-

grants in Indiantown, Father Joe tackles many of

the issues facing the Catholic church today in

this, his third book. Print: $13.95 +$3 s&h

however, points out that “for theCatholic clergy involved in debatesover the miracle, very few of their dif-ferences had to do with faith andbelief. They were far more concernedwith how reception of the miraclewould affect the developing AmericanChurch.” Schultz also cites Rome’s

concerns both for theauthenticity of themiracle and for thepope’s sensitivity toAmerican politicalculture.

Prince Hohenloheis an enigmatic figure,credited with hun-dreds of miraclesthroughout Europe.Yet there was always ataint of suspicionregarding his charac-ter. Accusations ofbeing a dandy, report-ed incidents of dis-

obedience to his superiors and rumorsof womanizing were leveled againsthim. Schultz quotes one ofHohenlohe’s early biographers, “To hisenemies, the prince was ‘an itinerantThaumaturgist, of blasted character.’To admirers, he seemed to lead asound life, though some negative accu-sations may have rung true.”

Some of the details of Mrs.Mattingly’s life—for example, the rea-sons for her separation from her hus-band and alienation from her son—are speculative on Schultz’s part butprobable based on the available data.She presents the possibility that bothsuffered from a form of Lou Gehrig’sdisease (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,or ALS) and chronic alcoholism. Shealso ventures that Mrs. Mattingly’s sonwas estranged from the family becauseof a miscegenous marriage presidedover by a Methodist minister. Bothwould have been taboo in Mrs.Mattingly’s world.

From Schultz’s research Mrs.Mattingly seems to have led an exem-


MRs. MATTINgly’s MIRACleThe Prince, the Widow, And the Cure that shockedWashington City

By Nancy Lusignan SchultzYale Univ. Press. 288p $30

This is the true story of AnnMattingly (1784-1855), a Washing-ton, D.C., socialite who allegedlyreceived a long-distance cure, and acharismatic Austrian priest, PrinceAlexander Hohenlohe (1777-1849),an acclaimed miracle worker.

Mrs. Mattingly, in fact, received twomiracles. The first—and more dra-matic—was a cure for seemingly end-stage breast cancer, which wasattributed to the prince’s prayer formu-lary and intercession. Skeptics pointout, however, that the prescribedHohenlohe protocol called for him tocelebrate Mass simultaneously withthe priests in Mrs. Mattingly’s sick-room. This may not have actually beenthe case, since the prince was travelingat the time. Nancy Lusignan Shultzopines, “It is likely that the miracleoccurred without the prince’s knowl-edge or participation.”

The second miracle, the healing ofa gangrenous foot six years later, wasattributed to her personal devotionto the Virgin Mary. Both events arewell-documented and verified byecclesiastical and civil authorities. Asto the validity of the miracles, Schulzwrites:

Having spent a decade examin-ing the evidence, I believe thatsomething extraordinary didhappen in Washington city near-ly two centuries ago…. How thishappened, though, and whetherthe explanation is natural orsupernatural, pushes deep intothe realm of faith. This book

does not try to guide you there.

Schultz is chairperson of theEnglish department at Salem StateUniversity, Mass. In thecourse of the bookSchultz presents themajor players involvedin Mrs. Mattingly’s lifeand deftly weaves thestory within the contextof the social and reli-gious issues confrontingthe early 19th-centuryAmerican CatholicChurch.

Ann Mattingly was awoman of deep faith.Her family was one ofthe oldest Catholicfamilies in Maryland.At the time of her first cure, March 12,1824, she was living with her brother,Captain Thomas Carbery, mayor ofWashington, D.C. The healing madeAnn a celebrity. The publicity that hercure garnered, however, was not wel-comed by all. As Schultz tells it, theincident unveiled a deep tension thatexisted in American Catholicismbetween rationalists, who were moresolicitous to “the humanistic traditionof the French,” and continental roman-ticists, who emphasized a more sacra-mental view of reality.

The former group was representedby some Anglo-Jesuits and the moreGallicanized Sulpicians. They believedtheir Enlightenment approach wouldmake Catholicism more acceptable inthe largely Protestant nation. The lat-ter group was composed of continentalJesuits, who eventually gained hege-mony in the American church. In theminds of some, the ascendancy of sen-timentalism marginalized the churchfrom the American religious main-stream for the next 150 years. Schultz,

MICHAEL P. ORS I

TRAGEDY AND GRACE

Schultz’s feminist critique ofCatholicism during the era is basedon, as she puts it, “the graphicdescriptions of the gruesome illness[that] mark Mrs. Mattingly’s suffer-ing as extraordinary; …[in] her lackof complaint and offering up of hersuffering, she becomes the ideal sym-bol of Catholic womanhood, a ‘victimsoul.’” The author’s analysis of this,however, fails to note Catholicism’sbalanced view of reason and senti-mentality or the feminine and mascu-line contributions encapsulated in theevents portrayed. A question notbroached by Schultz is why AnnMattingly has never been proposedfor sainthood.

Mrs. Mattingly’s Miracle providesthe reader an invaluable insight intoearly American Catholicism. Moreimportant, Schultz succeeds in expos-ing the roots of an internecine battlebetween advocates for a publiclyengaged church and those who prefera more separatist mystical model.

REV. MICHAEL P. ORSI is a research fellowin law at the Ave Maria School of Law inNaples, Fla.

note that planning for Katrina wasnext to nil. In contrast, repeal of the1933 Glass-Steagall Act’s firewallbetween the insurance, banking andinvestment businesses was proposed inthe era of Reagan and was sneakedthrough Congress behind the smokescreen of the Lewinsky scandal yearslater.

Similarly, the responses to theGreat Recession were deliberate. ARepublican president threw $700 bil-lion virtually without strings at WallStreet. His Democratic successoroffered $800 billion recovery legisla-tion that was roughly a third tax cutsand a third business aid.

What about the rest of us? That isBivens’s focus. Since 2002 he has beeninvolved in the development of thebiennial The State of WorkingAmerica, the Economic Policy Insti-tute’s flagship publication, now availableonline at www.stateofworkingameri-ca.org. The labor market seems stuck ina net loss of jobs that will take years tomake up; economists debate whether itwill happen in 2016 or later.

Bivens argues that the employmentand gross domestic product growththat has taken place, small as it is, canbe attributed to the Recovery Act.Certainly, things would have beenmuch, much worse without it. He doesnot quite invalidate criticisms such asthose of Christina Romer, formerCouncil of Economic Advisers chair

and Paul Krugman:President Obama shouldhave pressed for twice aslarge a recovery packageand directed most of it tothe households most like-ly to spend it fastest, suchas those living on foodstamps and public aid.

He succeeds, however,at exposing the “crackedfoundation” of the econo-my that remains too weak

to sustain a widely felt resurgence:falling wages, assaults on unionism,

plary life. She placed herself underspiritual direction, maintained peni-tential disciplines and spent a gooddeal of time in prayer at Georgetown’sVisitation Monastery, where the sec-ond miracle occurred. She also had agreat desire to enter the monastery as anun, but this ran counter to the adviceof her spiritual director. Schultz positsthe possibility that she may haveachieved the unitive stage of the spiri-tual life. This assertion is bolstered bythis extract from one of Mrs.Mattingly’s letters to her spiritualdirector:

Yet I feel a longing desire to beunited to him, & who canexpress his infinite goodnessmercy & love when on receivinghim he is pleased as it was tooverpower me with a sweetnessinexpressible, it appears & reallyleaves in my mouth a licquor ofsweetness which I swallow as ifpoured in my mouth by largedroughts. My hands face & vailis [sic] sometimes perfumedwith the smell which to my heartand soul is inexpressible.


CECIL IO MORALES

A CRACKED FOUNDATIONFAIlURe by DesIgNThe story behind America’sbroken economy

By Josh BivensCornell Univ. Press. 120p $18.95

Think of the Great Recession as aHurricane Katrina brought on not bythe weather but by the hand ofhumankind. It was not inevitable thatunemployment would hit a 25-yearpeak—and stay high for the foresee-able future. The suffering inflicted hadto do with the way policymakers man-aged the economy before it happened.

That’s more or less the message of

the economist Josh Bivens of theWashington, D.C.-basedEconomic PolicyInstitute. He draws par-allels between the starkpicture of poor residentsof New Orleans stuck ina stadium for lack of acar, money for a motelroom or a place to go, andthe millions of unem-ployed without healthinsurance, kids goinghungry, facing evictionand bankruptcy.

Of course, a careful observer might

globalization for workers and insula-tion for elites, the rise of the nonpro-ductive financial sector and the aban-donment of full employment as a poli-cy target. In graph after carefully andsimply explained graph, Bivens walksthe reader through the historical tra-jectory of these and other economicdevelopments that have come to definethe current situation.

Health insurance coverage remainsstuck at 1971 levels. The value of theminimum wage has risen in the pastcouple of years to match its 1960 level.The number of union workers hasdropped from 26 percent of the laborforce in 1973 to 13 percent in 2009.

The historical sweep of those andmany more trend lines are the key tothe book, which is a light, convenientresource for anyone seeking to put thecontinuing crisis in context. Bivensillustrates again and again that thispast recession and the trends of thepast 30 to 40 years, when the postwargains that created the broad Americanmiddle class began to fade away, werenot mere happenstance.

“The economy that generated sub-par outcomes before the GreatRecession and that turned a housingbubble into an economic catastrophe,”Bivens argues, “was designed, specifi-cally, to guarantee that the powerfulreaped a larger share of the rewards ofoverall economic growth. And in thispurpose it succeeded.”

The author urges the reader tothink of the U.S. economy as “apatient suffering from chronic ail-ments driven largely by bad choices—smoking, eating unhealthy foods, andnot exercising.” To heal the immediatewounds is fine, but then the patientneeds to change overall behavior.“Clear economic remedies exist,” hewrites, “but politics and ideology lie inthe way.”

CECILIO MORALES has covered federal policyas a journalist in Washington, D.C., since1984 and is currently executive editor of theEmployment and Training Reporter.


FOOD COSTS ARE RISING. FAMILY FARMS ARE STRUGGLING.

Is our food system failing us?NCRLC’s new study guide offers a thought-provoking reflection on global and local hunger with a call to action based on our Catholic faith. Great resource for groups or individuals. Order your study guide and leader’s guide today!

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LectureLECTURE BY SANDRA SCHNEIDERS, I.H.M.,at Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind., onSaturday, Sept. 24 at 11:30 a.m. Schneiders’s lec-ture, titled “The Future of Religious Life,” is spon-sored by the Center for Spirituality and is free tothe public. For more information, see www.saint-marys.edu/spirituality or call (574) 284-4636.

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

PositionsDIRECTOR 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.Applications 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]; bethanyretreathouse.org.

TranslatorSPANISH TRANSLATOR. Luis Baudry-Simon,specialized in religion/human sciences, will trans-late into Spanish any book, article, essay, blog orWeb site. Also available for Spanish copywrit-ing/editing and S.E.O. Contact: [email protected], (815) 461-0321.

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

America classified. Classified advertisements areaccepted for publication in either the print version ofAmerica or on our Web site, www.americamagazine.org. Ten-word minimum. Rates are perword per issue. 1-5 times: $1.50; 6-11 times: $1.28;12-23 times: $1.23; 24-41 times: $1.17; 42 times ormore: $1.12. For an additional $30, your print adwill be posted on America’s Web site for one week.The flat rate for a Web-only classified ad is $150 for30 days. Ads may be submitted by e-mail to:[email protected]; by fax to (928) 222-2107; by postal mail to: Classified Department,America, 106 West 56th St., New York, N.Y.10019. To post a classified ad online, go to our homepage and click on “Advertising” at the top of the page.We do not accept ad copy over the phone. MasterCardand Visa accepted. For more information call: (212)


CLASS IF IED

2011 Saint Augustine Lecture

John C. Cavadini University of Notre Dame

The Mystery of Creation in the Teaching of St. Augustine:

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How to end WarsKudos for “The New Americanism”(8/1), especially its mention of theexpenses of the Pentagon and “warmaking.” I have heard that the UnitedStates has over 750 bases worldwide. Iwonder if the American people knowanything of the cost of running thosebases. Imagine what we could do withthe savings if three quarters of themwere closed. One partial solution tothe military expenses would be a con-stitutional amendment requiring thatin the event of war every son, daughter,niece and nephew of the president,congressmen and senators would bedrafted and serve in the combat frontlines until the war is over. “Necessary”wars would suddenly become unneces-

sary, even unthinkable. It will neverhappen, but we can hope a courageousreporter will raise that question duringthe coming campaign.

GEORGE SWILLEYPearland, Tex.

Where Were the Rest of Us?“Ahead of the Story” (8/15) is acourageous editorial, for which wehave waited too long. The editorswrite, “This will require resignationsin cases of mendacity and negligence.”And we must add: Where resigna-tions are not forthcoming, there mustbe outright dismissals. There can beno true healing, no hope of truereform, until there is true accountabil-ity. The conspiracy of silence that hasdevastated victims of abuse and cor-roded our church from within can bestopped only when files are opened,abusers are revealed and leaders canbe called to account. The Germanbishops have provided an exemplarymodel for a clean break with the past.But this accountability goes beyondbishops and abusers to touch everyonein the faith community. What dideach of us do or fail to do to enablethis culture to flourish? How must weact differently in the church we wantto become? None are exempt from theexamination of conscience.

FRANCIS PIDERITNew York, N.Y.

Austria beats germanyIn response to “Ahead of the Story”(8/15), true reform must realignpower in the church. Sexual abuse isalways about abuse of power. The edi-torial looks in the wrong place formeaningful change. Do not look toGermany, where the “independent”investigation shared the weaknesses of


Vietnam and AfghanistanI could not agree more with your edi-torial, “Out of Afghanistan” (8/15). AVietnam veteran, I graduated fromeight years of Jesuit high school andcollege and spent three years on activeduty. While in Vietnam I had a clearconscience about our involvement inthat war. But now with hindsight Iwish we had never done it. The goodthat may have happened is that theUnited States inherited a wonderfulpopulation of Vietnamese refugees.We need to bring our men and womenhome, the sooner the better.

JEROME RIGGSDana Point, Calif.

LETTERS

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.

The Jesuit Center501 N. Church Road, P.O. Box 223Wernersville, PA 19565-0223

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the John Jay Report: the investigatorswere limited to examining only thosedocuments the bishops had purged.Look rather to Austria, where over300 of its 4,200 priests have pledgedto take part in a “Call toDisobedience” in which they will: prayfor reform at every liturgy; welcome tothe Eucharist all believers of goodwill,including those remarried outside thechurch; allow lay preachers; speakopenly about allowing married andwomen priests; oppose parish merg-ers. Rather than bring in visitingpriests to offer multiple Masses onweekends and holy days, they willoffer a Liturgy of the Word followedby distribution of Communion with awoman presiding. All these structureswould make abuse harder to commitand cover up.

MARY WELLSToronto, Ont., Canada

saving the PoorIn response to “The NewAmericanism” (8/1), I am a moderateconservative who has never read AynRand and never will; but I believe thatthe size and scope of the federal gov-ernment with its crushing debt is athreat to our communitarian ties. Thefederal government has encroached onhousing, schools, health care and otherareas and left them weakened. It has arole to play, but it cannot play that roleif it tries to do everything. It is hard tobelieve the poor and vulnerable will bebetter off if we ignore the spendingsprees of politicians in both parties.My critique of government spending isrooted, I believe, in my Catholic andJesuit education and spirituality. Whatis your plan on how to save the poorfrom runaway spending?

JOSH DECUIRBaton Rouge, La.


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To send a letter to the editor we recommendusing the link that appears below articles on America’s Web site, www.americamagazine.org. Letters may also be sent to Ameri-ca’s editorial office (address on page 2) or bye-mail to: [email protected].

harmed allows the hurt to fester andgrow by holding on to it andrecounting it to others. If, howev-er, the one hurt musters thecourage to speak to the other,and if the other has the courageto listen honestly and openly, rec-onciliation becomes a possibility.

What Jesus does not out-line here is that fortrue reconciliation tooccur, the one who ishurt must be willing tooffer forgiveness, andthe perpetrator of theharm must be willing toacknowledge it truthfully, amend thebehavior and make restitution, ifpossible. Then there is the possibilityof a new future of peaceable interre-lation between the two.

What if one-on-one confronta-tion does not work? Then, Jesus says,take one or two others along withyou. This is not so that you can gangup on the one who hurt you butrather to establish the truth of whathappened. In Jewish tradition, twowitnesses are needed for verification.Or, to use today’s language, an impar-tial mediator or two can help establishthe truth and can help bring the par-ties to an agreement.

Jesus anticipates that the discipleswill press him further: But what if thatdoesn’t work either? Then, Jesus says,involve the whole community, since anyrupture in relationships within theChristian community affects all themembers. Note that in verse 18 thewhole community has a role in binding

and loosing offenses (see Mt 16:19). Ifthis strategy fails as well, Jesusthen says to treat the offender as“a Gentile or a tax collector.”

At first this may seem tomean that the offender shouldbe excluded from the commu-

nity. But when we look at theway Jesus befriended and atewith such people (see Mt 8:5-13; 9:9-13; 11:19; 15:21-28),

it may be that Jesus is asking usto be willing to sit and breakbread together, even when we

have irreconcilable differences. It isimportant to note that the Gospel textdoes not indicate the nature of theoffense. The strategy outlined intoday’s Gospel would not work forevery kind of offense.

Finally, Jesus urges the communityto pray together for reconciliation. Theanimosity melts away when parties to agrievance can agree to pray for resolu-tion. When they can genuinely pray forgood for the other, their prayer isalready granted.

BARBARA E. REID

ome years ago one of the sisterswith whom I lived overheard avery hurtful comment made

about her by one of her co-workers.For weeks, the rest of us heard herreplay the remark again and again, andher hurt feelings grew exponentially.Finally, we urged her to go speak withthe person who had offended her totry to smooth things out. After apause, she confessed, “I think I’d ratherhave my grievance!”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus providesadvice to his disciples on how to movestep by step toward reconcilinggrievances within the Christian com-munity. This is not a recipe that can beapplied to all situations, but it givessome specific advice on how to resolvedifferences when one is hurt by anoth-er member of the community.

First of all, the initiative almostalways comes from the one who hasbeen aggrieved. Hardly ever do recon-ciliation processes begin with thosewho have done the harm coming totheir senses and asking forgiveness.The first step, says Jesus, is for theone who has suffered the hurt to con-front the person who has inflicted it.This is not as easy as it may sound.As my sister found, we often relishretelling the story to others, whilebeing reluctant to speak directly tothe one who has hurt us. But therewill never be peace as long as the one


A Recipe for ReconciliationTWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A), SEPT. 4, 2011

Readings: Ez 33:7-9; Ps 95:1-9; Rom 13:8-10; Mt 18:15-20

“If two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them” (Mt 18:19)

S

PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE

• Pray for the grace to start a process ofreconciliation with someone who hasoffended you.

• Ask Jesus to give you a listening ear to beable to repent of ways you have offendedothers.

• Has your faith community made a com-mitment to pray intentionally for peace?

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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.


survivor of domestic violencetrusted me with her strugglewith today’s Gospel. She felt

she could not forgive her husband forhis abuse toward her:

As a Catholic, I felt I had a moralresponsibility and obligation toforgive [my husband] for his vio-lence at the moment he wasabout to murder me. I believed Ihad to imitate Jesus’ final act oflove during his crucifixion. Iworried that rather than feelingforgiveness I might feel hatred inmy heart and that my last wordswould be to condemn [my hus-band] to hell for all eternity. Ifeared that if I failed to forgivehim completely before I died,then I might end up in hellmyself.

There is a dangerous side to Jesus’teaching to forgive endless numbers oftimes. What happens when we are notyet able to forgive? What happenswhen the offer of forgiveness is notmet with repentance and restitutionon the part of the offender? There aretimes, as in cases of domestic violence,when endless forgiveness fuels thecycle of abuse and does not bring peaceand reconciliation. Processes of for-giveness and reconciliation are com-plex and cannot be reduced to simpleformulas.

Today’s Gospel is a continuation oflast week’s, where Jesus outlines aprocess for initiating reconciliationwhen there are ruptures within the

Christian community. He speaksabout moving from one-on-one con-frontation to mediation to involve-ment of the whole community. It is inresponse to this that Peter asks howoften one must forgive. He rightlyrecognizes the difficulties and com-plications that accompany such pro-cesses. Jesus’ response is that there isno limit to the number of times onemust try to forgive. There are endlesshurts that require endless offers offorgiveness and endless acts of repen-tance. One must always be ready todo the difficult work of repairingand reconciling.

In the ensuing parable about theservant who is forgiven a great debt,Jesus shifts the emphasis away fromthe burden and the difficulty of thework of reconciliation, as he callsattention to the utter gratuity of thegift of forgiveness. The only way torespond adequately to such a gift isto pay it forward. The servant cannever repay the king, but he can actin the same forgiving manner tothose indebted to him. But as the sec-ond act of the parable unfolds, we findhim doing the exact opposite. Then, ina disturbing turn of events, the kingretracts his forgiveness. Most trou-bling is that this is likened to God’sreneging on forgiveness if we do not

forgive from the heart. This verserecalls the ending of the prayer thatJesus teaches his disciples—“Forgiveus our debts as we also have forgivenour debtors” (Mt 6:12)—with theadded admonition that our ability tooffer forgiveness is intimately relatedto our ability to receive it (6:14-15).

The point is not that God is fickleabout forgiveness, taking it back if wedo not do likewise, nor that God isvindictive if we fail to follow the divinelead. Rather, the parable is a starkwarning of the consequences of lettingour hearts become solidified in unfor-giveness. A heart hardened in revengesets in motion endless cycles of vio-lence. The parable exposes the waythat our choice to forgive (or not)redounds upon us. If we try to forgiveand pray for the ability to forgive evenwhen we are not yet able to, we open

ourselves all the more to the experi-ence of God’s tender mercy toward us,enabling us to extend that mercy andcompassion toward others. Nothingwe can do can take divine forgivenessaway from us, but we can do thingsthat hinder its powerful effect on us.

Endless ForgivenessTWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A), SEPT. 11, 2011

Readings: Sir 27:30–28:7; Ps 103:1-12; Rom 14:7-9; Mt 18:21-35

“How often must I forgive?” (Mt 18:21)

A

PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE

• On this anniversary of the terroristattacks of Sept. 11, 2001, pray for the abil-ity to forgive whatever seems unforgivable.

• Ask Jesus to open your heart even morefully to divine compassion.

• Pray to know when to leave an abusivesituation when offers of forgiveness arenot matched by repentance by the perpe-trator.

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

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