tom deignan on reading the irish - america magazine | the ... · tion, the anchor never swayed far...

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 M A R C H 1 9 , 2 0 1 2 $ 3 . 5 0

TOM DEIGNAN ON READING THE IRISH

cross the years I have thoughtof myself as a settler, not a pio-neer. While I inhabited chal-

lenging positions in Jesuit higher educa-tion, the anchor never swayed far fromthe bank. I love international travel,always to come back to the security ofmy Midwestern roots and zip code. Ihave traveled and studied on six conti-nents and have come to believe MartinBuber’s observation, “All journeys havesecret destinations of which the traveleris unaware.” My recent migration toMidtown Manhattan is no exception.

This is not meant to be a “travelswith Johnnie” piece but rather validationthat opening new doors and doing newthings keeps us curious and that curiosi-ty keeps leading us down new paths.

One such experience was theDecember holiday season of Christmasand Hanukkah. It is a very festive timein New York City, when Christmastrees and menorahs vie for attentionand sometimes in very interesting com-binations and juxtapositions—like amenorah on top of a Christmas tree orlittle trees replacing candles in themenorah. I saw it all! I shared this sea-son with thousands of tourists, whomoved along Fifth Avenue like schoolsof salmon navigating locks.

The night they lighted theRockefeller Center Christmas tree amidtens of thousands of cheering onlook-ers, I walked home with great peaceful-ness, having discovered a new sense ofbelonging; that great tree was for every-one regardless of state or status. Back inmy room, I spotted my menorah, a giftfrom generous Jewish friends. I lit acandle. And as I watched the flamedance across the window, casting shad-ows on the walls, friendships across theyears embraced me. The season took ona dimension I did not plan or expect, aclear proof that God hides things byputting them all around us.

Then there is my parish experience.You all know Jesuits like to have a bullypulpit on the weekends. So I went in

search of such a space. I found a homeat a small, neo-Georgian church with along-standing music program and areputation for being a church of“singers.” They happen to sponsor aconcert series of “music before 1800,” soI knew Corpus Christi Parish washome!

My first service was an extraordinaryexperience for me. The congregationwas so diverse: Haitian, African-American, Caribbean, Italian and Irish,neighbors, Columbia University stu-dents and faculty. It was a treasurechest of life and livelihood. And couldthey sing, and, indeed, did they sing!Such a rich gathering of color and com-plexion I have not witnessed since mySan Francisco days. It was a pro-nounced sign of the church universal, agathering that spoke, or rather sangloudly of Eucharist. That morning onthe train home, I felt a deep sense ofgratitude for my priesthood and thosewho welcomed it. Again, God hidesthings by putting them all around us.

Another place God hides things is inthe density of cities. My previous digshad an expansive view of the MissouriRiver and an Iowa horizon. My presentroom has five windows, all with thesame view: brick walls—of variousshades, of course. An occasional shardof sunshine invades my russet canyon,much to the delight of my philoden-dron. Having never experienced such aninscape, my curiosity does engage myimagination. Who lives behind thosered drapes; why is that television set on24/7; and what is with havingChristmas lights in March? What dothey think looking my way? What dothey make of the dim light that marksmy morning prayer time? As I glance atshadowed bricks and casements, I recallthat the history of the Christian tradi-tion is inexorably linked to urban soci-ety. St. Ignatius loved the great cities ofEurope. I suspect he knew what I amdiscovering, that God hides things allaround us. JOHN P. SCHLEGEL, S.J.

PUBLISHED BY JESUITS OF THE UNITED STATES

AOF MANY THINGS

Cover: Rebel fighters gesture infront of burning vehicles belongingto forces of the Libyan leaderMuammar el-Qaddafi after anairstrike by coalition forces nearBenghazi, Libya, in March 2011.CNS photo/Goran Tomasevic,Reuters.

PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHERJOHN P. SCHLEGEL, S.J.

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

Raymond A. Schroth, S.J.POETRY EDITOR

James S. Torrens, S.J.

ASSOCIATE EDITORSKevin ClarkeKerry WeberART DIRECTOR

Stephanie RatcliffeASSISTANT EDITOR

Francis W. Turnbull, S.J.

BUSINESS DEPARTMENTCHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Lisa Pope

106 West 56th StreetNew York, NY 10019-3803

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

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

Web site: www.americamagazine.org. Customer Service: 1-800-627-9533© 2012 America Press, Inc.

www.americamagazine.org Vol. 206 No. 9, WHole No. 4965 MARCH 19, 2012

19

ON T H E W E B

11

17

ON T H E W E B

CONTENTS

A R T I C L E S

11 LESSONS FROM LIBYAThe case for a united front on crimes against humanityThomas G. Weiss

CO LUMN S & D E PA R TM EN T S

4 Current Comment

5 Editorial N.Y.P.D. Blues

6 Signs of the Times

9 Column Montessori Ministry Kyle T. Kramer

17 Faith in Focus My Sister’s DemonsJan Monaghan

27 Letters

31 The Word Covenants and CostsPeter Feldmeier

BOOK S & C U LT U R E

19 ART The images of Henry Ossawa Tanner BOOKINGS Reading the Irish

A video pilgrimage to the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old

Cathedral in New York. Plus, Thomas G. Weiss discussesthe responsibility to protect doctrine on our podcast. All at americamagazine.org.

ON T H E W E B

4 America March 19, 2012

CURRENT COMMENT

Minutes to MidnightThe famous doomsday clock of the Bulletin of AtomicScientists moved ahead last January to five minutes beforemidnight. With the news on Feb. 28 that the Israelis areready to attack Iran, in defiance of the United States, inorder to dissuade it from developing a nuclear weapon,there is reason to move the minute hand even closer tomidnight. The farthest the clock has been from midnightwas 17 minutes in 1991, after the signing of the StrategicArms Reduction Treaty between the United States andthe Soviet Union. The closest was two minutes beforemidnight in 1953, when both powers tested thermonuclearweapons.

Both Iran and Israel bear responsibility for the currentcrisis. The Iranian regime deserves considerable blame forits refusal to collaborate with the International AtomicEnergy Agency and for its overt anti-Semitism. But theObama administration is well advised to counsel theIsraelis that a preventive attack would be no more than ashort-term solution and that the unpredictable conse-quences of a bombing campaign could be disastrous.Israelis and Jews everywhere will be vulnerable to retalia-tion, as well as Americans. Oil prices, already high, wouldclimb further, resulting in a severe shock to the worldeconomy. A nuclear arms race could also take off in theMiddle East. Finally, an attack would also open an oppor-tunity for the black market in nuclear technology to reap-pear. Israel and Iran both need to step back from the brink.

The best hope for Israel and for the world is vigorousrenewal of efforts at nonproliferation, including a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East. Israel, an undeclared nuclearpower, will not like that. But an Israel-Iran conflict has themakings of a Samson-like scenario, in which the wrathfulgiant brings the roof down on all. The Iran-Israel crisisconstitutes “an existential threat” not just for Israel but formuch of the world.

Afghanistan BurningUnited States involvement in Afghanistan is at an end.Even if troop withdrawal continues as planned and jointoperations between international and Afghan forces stilltake place, the thoughtless burning of Korans at BagramAir Force Base and the ensuing rioting and killing ofAmericans reveal that the protracted U.S. stay inAfghanistan has been a failure. U.S. forces have failed toappreciate Afghans’ Muslim sensibilities, and the Afghansare past the point of tolerating offenses as the deeds of a

well-meaning but awkward friend. What’s more, the securi-ty institutions we tried to build have been penetrated by theTaliban and other Afghans who are now alienated from us.Like the British and the Russians before us, we willinevitably leave Afghanistan to sort out its own problems.

Post-mortems will have to be written by those closer tothe scene than we are. But they will need to be probing,because continued disorder in Southwest and Central Asiawill be a problem for the world. Some deterrent and dis-creet military options will have to be devised to preventAfghanistan from becoming a harbor for global terrorism.But Afghanistan and its neighbors, India, China andPakistan, will need to muddle through to the future withminimum involvement from the United States. In themeantime, the United States must consider whether themilitary is a suitable tool for dealing with such problems,or if in the years ahead it needs to invest more seriously insoft power.

A Masterpiece of Translation Before 2011 fades into the distance, it is worth noting the400th anniversary of what many consider the finest singlevolume of writing in the English language: the King JamesBible. Published in 1611 by a group of scholars charged byKing James I to oversee the translation, the King James isthe source of some of the best known and facund biblicalpassages. Thanks to the king’s men, we sing with thePsalmist, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Ps23:1) and feel the sting of Cain’s query to God, “Am I mybrother’s keeper?” (Gn 4:9). And is there a more elegantsummation of the muddle of this mortal life than St. Paul’sphrase, “We see through a glass, darkly” (1 Cor 13:12)?

The King James Bible is often referred to as the onlymasterpiece written by a committee. What is less oftennoted is that it drew on several existing translations,including the Geneva Bible and the work of WilliamTyndale, who was burned at the stake because he dared totranslate God’s word. Rather than begin the translationprocess anew, the king’s committee strove “to make a good[translation] better, or out of many good ones, one princi-pal good one.” They chose text that was both poetic andcompact and in many cases revealed new layers of mean-ing. Key to their success was a sense of humility: they didnot privilege their abilities above those who came beforethem. Through their judicious editing and dedication tothe larger good, they produced a prayerful work of transla-tion that endures to this day. Theirs truly was “a labor oflove” (1 Thes 1:3).

chieving a proper balance between security and lib-erty has never been more important, or more of achallenge, than in the years following the terrorist

attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Understanding the trade-offs andrisks of these competing public interests requires a robustand informed public debate. Unfortunately, the U.S. publiccontinues to operate in the dark about liberty’s losses andsecurity’s gains as domestic intelligence gathering has accel-erated over the last decade.

The latest evidence of the nation’s unhealthy lack ofdiscussion has come courtesy of a commendable AssociatedPress investigation into the surprising reach of the antiter-rorism efforts of the New York Police Department. Thecity’s “local” police department has branched out across thecountry and the world and within the walls of Islamic hous-es of worship and Muslim student groups in a vast terror-ism interdiction program. It has been assisted in its antiter-rorism fight with guidance and training by the CentralIntelligence Agency. This collaboration may not be techni-cally illegal—it comes close—but it clearly mocks legalrestraints on domestic intelligence gathering by the agency.

In an attempt to establish an early warning networkaimed at intercepting another 9/11-style attack, the policehave deployed surveillance teams in nearly all the city’s bor-dering states and even overseas. It must be acknowledgedthat the city’s police are in an unenviable situation. It is notlikely that concerns about the sanctity of privacy and theFirst Amendment will matter much if homegrown or inter-national terrorists stage another attack on New York. Allthe same, the complete lack of public scrutiny of theN.Y.P.D. program and a shocking lack of oversight from anycontrolling state or federal or judicial authority is troubling.

The N.Y.P.D. has dispatched undercover officers into“suspect” neighborhoods as part of a “human mapping” pro-gram, monitoring daily life in bookstores, bars, cafes andnightclubs. The program’s operating rules prohibit policefrom basing investigations on religion, but in practice it ishard to see how such a guideline has been or even can berespected. During a cultural moment when presumedthreats to religious liberty have been frequently cited, theseindisputable intrusions have persisted with little comment,as New York police dispatch informants into mosques tomonitor the sermons of religious leaders across theNortheast.

Informants and undercover officers have similarly

infiltrated Islamic student groups; policetrawl Web sites and blogs, eavesdrop onprivate conversations in hookah bars andcafes and maintain a database recordingwhere Muslims live and work, where theypray and how often, even where theywatch sports. In this world of meta-surveillance, investigators seek to filter out small threat indi-cators that can lead in turn to more targeted surveillance.This paradigm completely inverts evidence-based policework, converting all members of a targeted community,bookstore, coffee shop or mosque into possible criminalsand employing secret-police style practices.

In the past, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, theC.I.A. and metropolitan police Red Squads infiltrated andharassed political targets—U.S. socialists, Black Panthersand antiwar activists—in the course of intrusions on civilliberties that were eventually turned back by court decreesand Congressional investigations. The current N.Y.P.D.effort could not have been undertaken, in fact, without therelaxation in 2003 of elements of the Handschu agreement.That 1985 court decree prohibited police investigation ofpolitical expression in the absence of evidence of a crime.Legislative or judicial review of the current intelligence-gathering program—and others like it that may be runningsilently around the country—appears warranted. Targetsfor such a review should include parallel efforts by the F.B.I.and the domestic consulting and intelligence franchisingundertaken by the C.I.A.

Challenged last month by Columbia University stu-dents who wondered if they were still under police surveil-lance, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly would sayonly, “We’re going to continue to do what we have to do toprotect the city.” Defending the police department’s efforts,Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg repeated that the depart-ment’s monitoring of Muslims is “legal,” “appropriate” and“constitutional.”

Mayor Bloomberg seems to presume that the publicshould simply take him at his word, and PoliceCommissioner Kelly offers up a rationalization that doesnot appear to preclude, well, anything. This is unacceptable.The U.S. public has a right to understand what is beingdone in the name of its security. It needs to have a voice inestablishing an equilibrium between public safety and con-stitutional privileges clearly taken for granted for too long.

N.Y.P.D. Blues

A

March 19, 2012 America 5

EDITORIAL


World Bank report offers rare good news on global poverty. According toWorld Bank estimates released on Feb. 29, in every region of the devel-oping world the percentage of extreme poverty, people living on less than

$1.25 a day, and the total number of global poor declined between 2005 and2008. World Bank researchers add that despite the recent global economic crisisand associated spikes in commodity and food costs since 2008, recent analysisreveals that global poverty overall kept falling through 2010.

In fact, preliminary estimates for 2010 indicate that the $1.25-a-day povertyrate had fallen to under half of its 1990 value by 2010. This would mean that thefirst U.N. Millennium Development Goal of halving extreme poverty from its1990 level has been achieved before the 2015 deadline. An estimated 1.29 billionpeople in 2008 lived below $1.25 a day, equivalent to 22 percent of the popula-tion of the developing world. By contrast, 1.94 billion people were living inextreme poverty in 1981.

“reaffirms that it does not have hostileintent toward” North Korea.According to David Cortright, direc-tor of policy studies at the KrocInstitute for International PeaceStudies at the University of NotreDame, from the North Korean per-spective the aid was far less significantthan the establishment of direct con-tact with the Obama administration.“They’re not getting a lot” out of thenew deal, he said. “What they are get-ting is a one-on-one relationship withthe United States.

“What do [the North Koreans]want? They want to survive,” saidCortright, “and they want to be recog-nized as a normal state and have nor-

hile war drums contin-ued to beat toward a pos-sible confrontation with

Iran, progress was unexpectedly madein January and February in reducingtensions with another charter memberof the “axis of evil” and one “outpost oftyranny.” On Feb. 29, after a thirdround of direct talks with the UnitedStates, North Korea pivoted abruptlyand agreed to suspend nuclear weaponand long-range missile tests, to termi-nate uranium enrichment efforts at itsYongbyon nuclear facility and to allowinternational nuclear inspectors backin after a three-year absence.

In return, the United States is offer-ing a modest allotment of food aid and

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

P E A C E M A K I N G

Progress in North Korea and Burmamal relations with the United States.”Initiating direct talks was a crucial, ifrisky, decision by the administration,one which appears to have paid off sofar. But, Cortright said, after so manyfalse starts and broken commitments,success for the administration’s initia-tive cannot be declared until inspectorsfrom the International Atomic EnergyAgency are back on the ground. Andthe deal is still vulnerable, he added, tothe domestic shenanigans of a U.S.election cycle. “As with Iran,” he said,“no one in Congress loses politically bybeing tough on the bad guys.” Betweennow and November, he said, “there isplenty of time for Congress to worksome mischief ” that may torpedoongoing talks.

According to Cortright, the reversalin Pyongyang was somewhat unex-pected. The intentions of the nation’s

So are the improving poverty fig-ures cause for universal celebration?Not so fast, say some global develop-ment analysts. Paul Miller, a foreignaid advisor for Catholic Relief

Services, said the numbers overalloffered good news, but the problem ofpoverty “hasn’t improved enough thatthe commitments made for the devel-

W

A

Children play in a street inNairobi, Kenya'sKariobangi slum. Morethan half a million live hereamid dirt roads, open sew-ers and piles of garbage.

oping world should let up.“Some of these ‘victories,’” he said,

“are quite tentative.” And Miller isskeptical that the World Bank’s post-

H U M A N D E V E L O P M E N T

Are We Winning the FightAgainst Global Poverty?


success of such diplomatic talking cures,Cortright adds, may be a good modelfor the United States as it seeks to avoida confrontation with Iran.

world’s poorest people. He suspects amore accurate depiction of globalpoverty since the Great Recessionawaits a more comprehensive analysis.

Still, Miller believes it is importantto note progress on poverty when thatis possible. Citing the positive out-comes of antimalaria campaigns andtheir impact on poverty reduction, hesaid, “There is increasing evidence thatsome of these targeted interventionsdo make a difference.” Miller arguesthat global donors need to be confi-dent that their antipoverty disburse-ments are not “going down a rat hole.”

“If you made none of theMillennium Development Goals by2015, and certainly a lot of them won’tbe met, that would lead a lot of peopleto question our approaches” to fightingpoverty—particularly, he worries, theefficacy of foreign aid.

Aldo Caliari, director of theRethinking Bretton Woods project for

new leader, Kim Jong-un, were andremain unclear. But his leadershipcould prove more geopolitically pro-ductive than the frustrating and mer-curial regime of his father, Kim Jong-il,who died in December.

Likewise, progress with Burma’smilitary-based oligarchs was unex-pected, said Cortright. The much-denounced junta appeared strongerthan ever, enjoying an improving econ-omy and normalizing relations with itsSoutheast Asian neighbors.

But the new Burmese leadership,perhaps with an eye to the ArabSpring, abruptly favored greater open-ness toward democratic expression—releasing political prisoners, renewingefforts to find peace with ethnic rebelforces and allowing the Nobel PeacePrize winner Daw Aung San Suu Kyito participate in elections planned for

April. The Burmese moves have beenmatched by gestures from the U.S.State Department that could culmi-nate in the complete restoration andnormalization of relations.

Many challenges remain. For exam-ple, ethnic conflict in Kachin State hasactually grown worse since Burma’sPresident Thein Sein initiated greateracceptance of democratic processes.Still, relations seem finally to be headedin the right direction, according toCortright. And even though TheinSein’s new policies “are not by a longshot going to bring a completely free andindependent parliament,” saidCortright, “they are the beginning of aprocess.” He added that Secretary ofState Hillary Clinton, as with the NorthKoreans, has taken judicious risks forprogress in Burma in reaching out toThein Sein as his actions dictated. The

the Center of Concern in Washington,is worried that cheerleading reports onpoverty reduction merely providecover for first world donors to “declarevictory and go home.” That outcome isespecially tempting as industrializedpowers this year confront the kind ofdebt crisis better known to the devel-oping world.

Gross poverty measures mask iso-lated crises, Caliari said, and vastincome and wealth disparities. Headds that donor nations may focus onthe report’s overall positives withoutquestioning if the world could havedone more to reduce poverty. Caliaripoints out that during the time frameof the study, global wealth increaseddramatically, but a proportionalimpact on poverty was not realized.That suggests, he said, that “the poli-cies we are implementing are not nec-essarily the best ones because we couldhave done a lot better.”

2008 numbers can be trusted. He saidthe recent cost spikes in basic com-modities like rice, wheat, corn andsugar have been devastating to the

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clintonat Shwedegon Pagoda in Yangon


Containing Arms SalesThe unregulated sale and transfer ofweapons harms the poor and threatenspeace and security around the world.That is what Archbishop Francis A.Chullikatt, the Holy See’s permanentobserver at the United Nations, said toa committee preparing for the JulyU.N. Conference on the Arms TradeTreaty on Feb. 13. ArchbishopChullikatt said the Vatican believesthe aims of the arms treaty should notbe only regulating the sale of conven-tional weapons, but also “the disarm-ing of the international illicit market.”The treaty should include small armsand light weapons, which are easy toaccess on the black market and harmhundreds of thousands of people eachyear. It should spell out the threats tohuman rights, humanitarian law anddevelopment posed by illegal weaponssales; reinforce international coopera-tion and assistance; include provisionsfor assisting victims of the illegalweapons trade; and be flexible enoughto cover emerging weapons technolo-gies.

Tone Down War TalkIn a letter dated March 2 to Secretaryof State Hillary Clinton, BishopRichard E. Pates of Des Moines, Iowa,chairman of the U.S. bishops’Committee on International Justiceand Peace, said there has been “analarming escalation in rhetoric andtensions” regarding Iran’s nuclearcapacities. He expressed particularconcern about talk of a pre-emptivestrike by Israel on Iranian nuclearfacilities. “Discussing or promotingmilitary options at this time is unwiseand may be counterproductive,” hesaid. “Actual or threatened militarystrikes are likely to strengthen theregime in power in Iran and would

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

The Mayan human rights activistRosalina Tuyuc Velásquez ofGuatemala is the winner of Japan’sNiwano Peace Prize and will receive amedal and the equivalent of $250,000during a ceremony in Tokyo in May. • Churches and human rights groups inZimbabwe have issued an urgent appealseeking information about PaulChizuze, a human rights activist miss-ing since Feb. 8. • A suicide bomber from the Islamist militantgroup Boko Haram drove a car into the headquarters of the Churchof Christ in Jos, Nigeria, on Feb. 26, killing four people and injuring37 and provoking reprisal attacks that led to five more deaths,including that of a church member mistaken for the bomber’saccomplice. • Britain’s Journal of Medical Ethics generated interna-tional outrage after publishing online on Feb. 23 an article calling forthe acceptance of infanticide for social and medical reasons. • Achurch used since 1972 by a small group of Christians in Laos’sSavannakhet Province was confiscated on Feb. 22 by Communistauthorities bent on halting the “tricks of the enemy” and “operationsof the Christians.” • Catholic Charities USA continues to work withits local agencies in Southern and Midwestern states after threewaves of late February and early March storms produced scores oftornadoes and left 39 dead in more than 10 states.

N E W S B R I E F S

Rosalina Tuyuc Velásquez,right, with Mayan widowsof Comalapa, Guatemala

further marginalize those in Iran whowant to abide by international norms.”Before military options are considered,Bishop Pates said, “all alternatives,including effective and targeted sanc-tions and incentives for Iran to engagein diplomacy and cooperate with theInternational Atomic Energy Agency,need to be exhausted.”

Afghanistan Burning“Respect for religious feelings is thekey to win the hearts of Afghans,” saidStanley Fernandes, S.J., director of theJesuit Refugee Service of South Asia,commenting on the mass protests thatfollowed the news of the burning of

Korans by U.S. soldiers. As many as30 people have been killed in violencerelated to the Koran burnings. FatherFernandes, after a recent trip to Kabul,called the situation critical. An officialapology from President Obama hasbeen issued, but, he said, “I think itwill take time before the situationreturns to calm.” Father Fernandessaid, “I do not think one risks a reli-gious war against the West, but inci-dents like this…do not help build con-fidence and a peaceful atmosphere. Inthese cases, then, the instinct of thecrowd prevails, opening the floodgatesto violence.”

From CNS and other sources.

cultural circumstances is a dauntingchallenge. Many bishops and diocesanpersonnel already squeeze blood fromstones simply to keep parishes openand staffed amid a serious shortfall ofcapital and clergy. Should it be any sur-prise that some adopt a mindset ofscarcity and defensive retrenchment,which would keep incapable ministersin their prescribed roles simply becauseno other options seem possible?

Other options arepossible. How mightthings have played outdifferently in Hannah’scase, for example, if herpriest had been givenmainly sacramentalduties, while the pas-toral and administrativetasks to which he wasill-suited were taken upby qualified lay ecclesialministers or permanent

deacons? The church can look to anumber of parishes, domestically andglobally, where creative, nontraditionalstaffing configurations work magnifi-cently.

Embracing new and inchoate formsof ministry requires a great deal oftrust that the Holy Spirit still abides inthe church and animates it. It requirestrust that ministry can be vibrant andeffective even when it does not conformto models we have known in the past.

Fear and fortress-building seem tobe the default approach of humannature, especially in our present age ofuncertainty and change. Trust, on theother hand, is always a leap of faith anda divine gift. In allowing human histo-ry to unfold freely, God has placed atremendous amount of trust in us.Perhaps it is time to return the favor.

s the director of a graduateprogram in lay ministry for-mation, I often serve as infor-

mal counselor or cheerleader for stu-dents who face inevitable and oftencrushing struggles in their ministry.Recently I found myself in such a con-versation with a student I will callHannah. In her midlife, Hannah gaveup a long and distinguished career as aMontessori school teacher and princi-pal because she felt strongly called to afull-time lay ministry position at aparish. I watched her come alive withexcitement about her ministry and hertheological education.

She called me recently, however,and tearfully related a story all toosimilar to others I have heard fromother ministry students: how herparish work had fallen apart when anew priest took over her parish.Though she spoke of him with charity,it became clear that the newly assignedpriest was an incompetent administra-tor who had become a wrecking ballamong the heretofore well-functioningparish staff. He had quickly undonemuch good work from the previouspastor and had strained relationshipsamong both staff and parishioners.

Long experienced with humanresource and leadership issues fromher career in school administration,Hannah attempted to approach thenew pastor about the problems. Whenshe and others on the parish staff gotnowhere, she turned to the diocese.Diocesan personnel made it clear thatunless this priest committed sexual orfinancial malfeasance, the severe clergy

shortage in the diocese made him“untouchable.” Ultimately, Hannahsaw no other option but to resign; sev-eral other parish staff members fol-lowed suit.

We spoke only a few days after sheleft. I have known Hannah to be astrong, contagiously enthusiasticwoman, but the depth of her grief andsadness was heartbreaking. She doubt-ed her church and wondered aloudwhether she had deludedherself in thinking that thechurch truly had room forthe gifts that she and otherslike her (especially women)so longed to offer in its ser-vice.

Hannah’s Montessoribackground has given me away to reflect on her experi-ence of parish ministrygone awry. The fundamen-tal premise of Montessorieducation is that children have aninnate capacity to learn, and that ifgiven an environment of freedom,trust and appropriate structure, theywill thrive and develop in their ownunique ways. The Catholic Churchhas affirmed the Montessori approachto learning, even adapting it for reli-gious education under the titleCatechesis of the Good Shepherd.

Might the church also embodyMontessori principles to create healthywork environments for its lay andordained ministers? How might min-isters be given the freedom andresponsibility to live in fulfillment oftheir baptismal call and offer their dis-tinctive ministry talents for the blos-soming of the church?

To create such ministry-nurturingenvironments in current ecclesial and

Montessori MinistryA

Give lay ministersthe freedom

to live their

baptismalcall.


KYLE T. KRAMER is the author of A Time toPlant: Life Lessons in Work, Prayer, andDirt (Sorin Books, 2010).

KYLE T. KRAMER

Smoke rises after NATO airstrikes inTripoli, Libya, on June 7.

ebels captured and executed Muammar el-Qaddafi in lateOctober 2011. This tarnished the human rights advance ofthe year: the international decision to protect Libyans fromtheir 69-year-old dictator’s murderous ways. A less author-itarian form of government is hardly guaranteed in Libya,

and blowback seems almost inevitable. But the positive outcomes thathave so far resulted from this successful and robust military action inLibya suggest that it is not quixotic to utter “never again”—no moreHolocausts, Cambodias and Rwandas—and occasionally mean it.

With the exception of Raphael Lemkin’s efforts to define genocideand the resulting 1948 Genocide Convention, no idea has moved fasterin the international arena than “the responsibility to protect” (R2P), thetitle of a report published in 2001 by the International Commission onIntervention and State Sovereignty. Friends and foes recognize the com-mission’s contribution to stopping mass atrocities, which it defined as athree-pronged responsibility—to prevent, to react and to rebuild.

Prevention and peace-building were not afterthoughts, but the com-mission’s primary motivation was to break new ground in reacting tomass atrocities. Unlike other blue-ribbon groups, its focus was narrow.After divisive and inconsistent “military humanitarianism” in the tumul-tuous 1990s in places like Somalia and Iraq, states sought guidance aboutintervening to protect war victims.

R2P’s central tenet is that state sovereignty is contingent rather thanabsolute; it entails duties, not simply rights. Sovereignty no longer offerslicense for mass murder. Every state has a responsibility to protect itsown citizens from mass killings and other egregious violations of their

LessonsFrom Libya

BY THOMAS G. WEISS

R

THE CASE FOR A UNITED FRONT ONCRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY


THOMAS G. WEISS is Presidential Professor of Political Science at the CUNYGraduate Center and director of the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies.

A new edition of his book Humanitarian Intervention: Ideas in Actionhas just been published.

CN

S p

Ho

to

/StR

iNg

eR

ViA

Re

ute

RS

rights. If any state, however, is manifestly unable or unwill-ing to exercise that responsibility, or is the perpetrator ofmass atrocities, its sovereignty is abrogated. The “responsi-bility to protect” devolves to the international community ofstates, ideally acting through the U.N. Security Council.

This dual framework—internal and external—wasembraced by over 150 heads of state and government at theU.N.’s 60th anniversary. The 2005 World Summit agreed toimplement a norm that embodied what the world organiza-tion had been mandated to do since its creation, ensure“freedom from fear.” Deploying military force is an optionafter alternatives have been considered and failed. In thisrespect R2P reflects just war doctrine.

The Military OptionDepending on one’s perspective, 2011 was either an annusmirabilis or an annus horribilis for the R2P concept. Libya’speople were protected from the murderous harm that Col.Qaddafi threatened in March 2011 when he promised tocrush the “cockroaches” and “rats” who opposed him (thesame terms used in 1994 by Rwanda’s murderous govern-ment). But multilateral success in Libya was matched by afamiliar impotence in Ivory Coast. The installation ofAlassane Ouatarra and the surrender of former presidentLaurent Gbagbo followed a half-year of dawdling as IvoryCoast’s unspeakable disaster unfolded. Three times inMarch 2011, the Security Council menaced the loser of theNovember 2010 elections and repeated its authorization to“use all necessary means to carry out its mandate to protectcivilians.” But the U.N. soldiers on the ground did little untilApril’s robust action by the French Operaton Unicorn.Until then, Mr. Gbagbo’s intransigence and the UnitedNations’ unwillingness to apply significant armed forcefacilitated a slow-moving humanitarian and political trainwreck in Côte d’Ivoire. The delayed intervention made pos-sible war crimes and crimes against humanity; it produced amillion refugees and a ravaged economy.

Military intervention to protect the vulnerable remains acontroversial option. In the summit’s language, the use offorce in R2P is restricted to “genocide, war crimes, ethniccleansing and crimes against humanity.” Using force inextremis resulted from observing international inaction in1994 in Rwanda—doing too little too late—and action in1999 in Kosovo—according to some, doing too much toosoon.

The original I.C.I.S.S. formulation sandwiched militaryforce between prevention and post-conflict rebuilding.These popular causes made military intervention for humanprotection purposes more palatable, especially to thirdworld critics. Nonetheless, to most state actors sovereigntyremained paramount, the deployment of military forceobjectionable and R2P thus a contested norm.


A New Standard for State LegitimacyIn addition to the usual attributes of a sovereign state com-monly identified in courses in international relations andlaw—people, authority, territory and independence—R2Pproposes one more: a modicum of respect for human rights.The interpretation of privileges for sovereigns has maderoom for modest responsibilities. When a state is unable ormanifestly unwilling to protect the rights of its popula-tion—and especially when perpetrating abuse itself—itloses its sovereignty. The principle of noninterference in theinternal affairs of other countries evaporates, or should, inthe face of mass atrocities.

Given R2P’s goal of making mass atrocities a distantmemory, how long can a norm be “emerging” before it “hasemerged”? The responsibility to protect has shaped interna-tional diplomatic, military and academic conversationsabout responding to conscience-shocking disasters, but ithas not always shaped actual international responses—forexample, ill-conceived or ineffective efforts in Sudan,Zimbabwe, the Congo and Syria.

Two specific challenges remain. First, R2P cannotbecome a synonym for everything that the United Nationsdoes. In addition to reacting urgently when civilians are atrisk, R2P’s value-added consists of requiring immediatepreventive measures before crimes against humanitybecome widespread; also it offers proximate peace-buildingto help mend societies and avoid beginning anew a cycle ofsettling accounts with additional atrocities.

But the responsibility to protect is not about the protec-tion of everyone from everything. As bureaucrats seek justi-fications for pet projects, there is the risk of an ever-expand-ing R2P agenda. It is emotionally tempting to claim aresponsibility to protect people from H.I.V./AIDS andsmall arms or the Inuit from global warming. If R2P meanseverything, however, it means nothing.

Second, the responsibility to protect should not be viewedtoo narrowly. It is not only about the use of military force.That became clear after Washington and London’s 2003rhetoric disingenuously morphed into a vague “humanitari-an” justification for the Iraq war; thereafter, any humanitari-an justification for military force became suspicious.

In record time, R2P has moved from the passionateprose of an eminent commission to become a mainstay ofinternational public policy. It has the potential to evolve fur-ther in customary international law and contribute to ongo-ing conversations about the qualities of states as legitimate,rather than rogue, sovereigns.

Military force is a blunt and bloody tool; its use is nocause for celebration. Deploying force for human protec-tion, however, had largely been dismissed from the interna-tional agenda after NATO’s 1999 intervention in Kosovountil the timely and successful military action against Libya.

Mustering the cross-cultural political will to protect civil-ians is never going to be easy, but Libya may prove a pivotalexperience. The central challenge to R2P now is not too lit-tle consensus, but a willingness to act.

The Security Council set precedents for R2P againstLibya. Resolution 1970 had unanimous support for a sub-stantial package of measures (arms embargo, asset freezes,travel bans and referral of the situation to the InternationalCriminal Court). No country voted against resolution1973, which imposed a no-fly zone. In addition, the HumanRights Council referred to R2P for the first time in resolu-tion S-15/1, which led the General Assembly to suspendLibya’s rights of membership in the U.N. Human RightsCouncil. Security Council decisions about Côte d’Ivoireevoked the spirit of the responsibility to protect. Critically,some 11 council decisions have involved the R2P norm, andsix of those took place in 2011 after Libya—for SouthSudan, Yemen and Syria.

In short, decisions and actions have helped dispel mythsand reaffirmed R2P’s validity as a universal norm. Its legiti-macy is now approaching a tipping point. Although consen-sus is widening and deepening across the North and South,grousing has not disappeared. Indeed, it began anew afterLibya. “The threat to Benghasi was exaggerated” or “regimechange was not authorized.” Buyer’s remorse in the thirdworld resembles earlier versions that menaced the September2005 commitment. The Nicaraguan and former Maryknollpriest who was president of the U.N. General Assemby in2008-9, Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, suggested “a moreaccurate name for R2P would be…redecorated colonialism.”

Spoilers were disappointed in 2005, however, and will beagain, because of the discernible shift from antipathy towider public acceptance of R2P and its institutionalizationat various levels. The United Nations has established a jointoffice on the responsibility to protect, and a number ofcountries have established “R2P focal points.” Perhaps mostimportant is the establishment by President Obama of theAtrocity Prevention Board—an interagency mechanism tofacilitate a rapid reaction across the U.S. government to pre-vent mass atrocities.

Closer to ‘Never Again’?As the situations in Tripoli and elsewhere across the MiddleEast unfold, acute dilemmas will remain for humanitariansand policymakers. If the transition goes well, the R2P normwill be strengthened. If it goes poorly, the norm’s futureimplementation may be problematic.

A possible collateral benefit of the evolution of R2P isthat the nonviolent and democratic revolutions in Tunisiaand Egypt may have greater traction. Qaddafi’s autocratic“model” no longer seems inevitable. And, as American par-ticipation in Libya is one success of the Obama administra-


tion’s foreign policy, the policy is likely to continue to receivethe president’s endorsement. Speaking in Brazil after impos-ing the no-fly zone, Obama saw no contradiction with theviews that brought him the Nobel Peace Prize—one canfavor peace, but still authorize force to halt the “butchering”of civilians. The president’s decision prevented massacresthat would have “stained the conscience of the world.” Thescorned strategy of “leading from behind” led to new strate-gies of complementing U.S. military assets with those fromNATO partners backed by regional diplomatic supportfrom the Arab League, Gulf Cooperation Council andAfrican Union.

Violence in SyriaDespite all that progress, the international actions (or inac-tions) aimed at protecting noncombatants in Syria indicatethat a robust R2P response certainly is not automatic. TheU.N. estimates that some 7,500 people have been killed in thelast year as Syrian security forces deployed tanks, warshipsand heavy weapons against civilians—clearly crimes againsthumanity. The international response has been stymied bythe intransigence of the Security Council members Russiaand China, who have their own reasons to resist the U.N.’srobust international interest in a sovereign state’s internalaffairs. But the lack of action on the Syrian crisis so far doesnot mean that the R2P concept has been without effect.

A deafening silence followed the 1982 massacre byHafez al-Assad of some 40,000 people in an artillery bar-rage of the rebellious city of Hama. This time, however,his son’s brutal machinations have provoked hostile reac-tions from a host of actors: the U.N.’s Joint Office on thePrevention of Genocide and R2P called for a halt tocrimes against humanity; the Human Rights Councilcondemned the crimes by a crushing vote and has pub-lished a report detailing extensive crimes; the UnitedStates, the European Union and other states haveimposed sanctions; the Arab League has condemned theAssad regime, formulated a peace plan and sent humanrights monitors. The U.N. General Assembly condemnedthe violence and supported the peace plan with a two-thirds majority and by an even greater margin later con-demned Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown and specificallycalled for his resignation.

Despite a strong condemnation from the president of theSecurity Council, a decision on further intervention in Syirahas not yet proved possible, because China and Russiathreaten to veto or actually veto even the most watered-down resolutions. But the R2P principle remains intact inSyria, even if international action is less fulsome there thanit was in Libya.

“Never again” is not yet a reality in world affairs, but withU.S. leadership it has become a realistic aspiration.


A

A P R I L 1 6 – 2 0

APRIL 16–18

REAL PRESENCES: EUCHARIST, SOCIETY, AND GLOBAL CATHOLICISM

William Cavanaugh, DePaul University

Maria Clara Lucchetti Bingemer, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro

Rev. Emmanuel Katongole, Duke Divinity School

Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., Archbishop of Chicago

Rev. Virgilio Elizondo, University of Notre Dame

APRIL 17-19

TIME FOR GOD: WORKING CATHOLIC SPIRITUALITY INTO MY SCHEDULE

Rev. Thomas Rosica, C.S.B., CEO of Salt + Light Television

APRIL 20

SOLIDARITY ACROSS THE BORDERS: CATHOLIC EDUCATION IN THE AMERICAS TODAY

Rev. José Morales Orozco, S.J., President of Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City

Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., President of DePaul University

DePaul University’s Center for World Catholicism & Intercultural Theology proudly hosts World Catholicism Week 2012, celebrating the globally interdependent dimensions of the Catholic experience of faith at DePaul, in Chicago, across the Americas, and around the world. To learn more about the weeklong event, visit worldcath2012.depaul.edu.

ersity’aul UnivDePtholicism World Cats Whos

dimensions of the Ca

orld Caor Wer fents Cersity’elebr12, ceek 20tholicism W

e of fxperienctholic edimensions of the Ca

culturertholicism & Intorld Cating the globally intaelebr

aul, in Chicagot DePaith ae of f

oudly heology pral Tculturdependent erting the globally int

s the os, acraul, in Chicago

18APRIL 16–

REAL PRESENCES: SOCIETY,EUCHARIST

AL AND GLOB

dimensions of the CaAmericas, and ar

depaul.12.th20orldcaw

, TY Y,

19-APRIL 17

TIME FOR GOD: AORKING CW

ALIT SPIRITUUALITY INT

e of fxperienctholic edimensions of the Cao lea orld. T To learn moround the wAmericas, and ar

edudepaul. .

TIME FOR GOD: THOLIC AATHOLIC

O ALITY INT

APRIL 20

ARITY ASOLIDTHE BORDERS: C

AEDUC

aul, in Chicagot DePaith ae of feeklong ee about the wo learn mor

APRIL 20

OSS CRARITY ATHOLIC AA THE BORDERS: C

IN THE TION AA

s the os, acraul, in Chicagoent, visit veeklong e

THOLICISMAAC

anaughvilliam CaW ,ersityaul UnivDeP

chetti Bingemera LucMaria Clartholic Univontifical CaPoRio de Janeir

ongoleta. Emmanuel KveRe Divinity SchoolDuk

dinal Georancis CarFr

chetti Bingemer,

ersity of tholic Univ

ongole,

gedinal Geor .M.I. O

MY SCHEDULE

homas R. TveRCEO of Salt + Light T

MY SCHEDULE

osicahomas R , C.S.B.,visioneleCEO of Salt + Light T

AMERIC

. José MorveResident of UnivPr

oamericana, MeIber

. De vv. Dennis H. HoltschneidereResident of DePPr

YAAYODDAAS TAMERIC

oczoales Or. José Mor , . S.J ,ersidad esident of Univ

o Cityxicoamericana, Me

, C.M. ennis H. Holtschneider r, C.M.,ersityaul Univesident of DeP

dinal Georancis CarFrchbishop of ChicagoAr

ondogilio Elizir. VveR ,e Dameersity of NotrUniv

gedinal Geor , .M.I. O ,chbishop of Chicago

e Dame


The New York Times Bestseller Now in Paperback!

With a New Reader’s Guide—Perfect for the Classroom and Reading Groups

“A remarkable achievement.”—The Tablet (London)

“A read-along spiritual director.”—USA Today

“An excellent introduction to Jesuit spirituality for a general reader.”

—Commonweal

ALSO AVAILABLE |

[email protected]

e hT w YeNNe

mik T Tirrk Tow Y Yo

sem stse B

r elle

e hT w YeNNeoN

mik T Tirrk Tow Y Yopan Pw io

h a NtiWWifP

sem stse Bkcabrep !

redaew Reh a Nle Cht ff

r elle

—edius G’rd

frePaeR

eA r““A r

ale Chr tot fceffs puorg Gnid

eveihce albakrame—

d nm aoorssa

”.tnemtelbaTTaehT——T )nodnoL(

eA r““A r

n eA““Airips

l dautiripg snola-dae

cuodrtnt inelelcxn erener a goy ftilaut

”.rotceril dyaaydoTToASSAUUS—

t iuseo Jn toit”.redael ra

laewnommoC—

“ wteB

SLA

thriMMid nan evaeHHen eew w

ELABLIAVAOS

msr edaer ake aml li

| vaeHHeneewteB

eli ”

htriMMidnanev —

— kobooidue A Auht

wteB

DAERbaliavAsenraB

thriMMid nan evaeHHen eew w

ROHTUAEHTYBDnuTimorfdaolnwodrofelbisuMedna,moc.elboNdnas

msr edaery nny ake aml liT oDlanidraCyhhytomiT

YweNfopohsibhcrA

, moc.elbiduA,senmoc.c

.eli, nalo

krroYYo

H2


e were the bookends ofthe family: I the oldest bynine years, she the

youngest, my sister Maureen. As I stood by her

bed in the hospice,stroking her arm andwhispering what Ihoped were comfortingwords, I looked intoour family trademark-blue eyes and saw heras a child once again. Iremembered the chub-by 1-year-old rollingaround in her playpenon the family frontporch; the little girlwith blonde finger curls asking BigSister for help with spelling home-work; the teenager, lively and laughing,the best dancer in a family of gooddancers.

Marriage number one came at atoo-young age, along with a new fami-ly member, another sweet little girlwho loved baby Jesus and animals.Marriage number two brought sons—a light-hearted towhead like his moth-er and a second whose brown hair cov-ered a head bursting with brains. Allthe while mom tried to hold her littlefamily together with the cement ofdeep motherly love.

Darkness descended whenMaureen’s sons were completing gradeschool. After the death of her formerspouse, my sister retreated into thehazy world of addiction. Was it guilt, I

My Sister’s Demons

WBY JAN MONAGHAN

AR

t:

DA

RR

eN

Au

Ck

wondered, since she had insisted thather first husband leave because of hisdrug addiction? Or was life simply toohard and heroin a too easy escape? Or

was it the chronic depression andsocial anxiety she lived with through-out her adult life? Whatever the rea-sons, the results were catastrophic.Drugs rob a person of everything.Maureen lost her car, her house, hergood job and, worst of all, her self-respect. Several stints in rehab raisedthe family’s hopes, but a relapseinevitably came.

Throughout it all, Maureen neverlost her faith. Getting up for Masswhile stoned was unthinkable, but shecontinued to pray and read the Bible.One passage in particular took on pro-found significance: “When an uncleanspirit goes out of someone, it roamsthrough arid regions searching for restbut, finding none, it says, ‘I shall returnto my home from which I came.’ Butupon returning, it finds it swept cleanand put in order. Then it goes andbrings back seven other spirits morewicked than itself who move in and

dwell there” (Lk 11: 24-26).Why this strange passage, I won-

dered at first. I would never have beendrawn to it. Indeed, it struck me as

perhaps the most hopelessthing Jesus ever said. What dothese seven unclean spirits,these demons, mean to her?But it gradually became clear:addiction was her demon. Sheswept and tidied her house bygoing to 12-step meetings,entering rehab and findingsponsors. None of it workedfor long. The seven demons,stronger than the first, alwaysreturned to dwell in the houseof her soul.

I will always regret not exploringthat Scripture passage with her more.Had I looked at its context, I wouldhave seen that in the next verse Jesussays emphatically: “Blessed are thosewho hear the word of God andobserve it.” There is no place for hope-lessness in the kingdom of God—theinvitation is listen, turn to God and doour best to live our lives in the light.

And there was light: the light ofMaureen’s holding her first grand-child, an adorable little boy; the lightof watching her children mature intoadulthood; the light of spousal lovewith Bill, who understood her, pro-tected her and, best of all, loved herunconditionally.

Now, as I reflect on my sister’s lifeand death, I realize that the demonswere not confined to her. Theyreached out, as demons will, to harmothers, especially those who lovedMaureen. My first demon was despair

FAITH IN FOCUS

JAN MONAGHAN is a pseudonym. Nameshave been changed to preserve anonymity.

as I watched her life fall apart, helplessto do much about it. Another wasanger: anger that she was throwing herlife away, anger about the effect on herchildren, anger that she ignored thewise counsel I thought I was impart-ing. A third demon was obsessiveworry, the difficulty of falling asleepfor most of my adult life as I ponderedhow to help her.

Then came the grace. A friendinvited me to Al-Anon meetings.After a time, I grew to appreciate thewisdom of the 12 steps: I can controlonly my own life, not anyone else’s;addiction is a family disease; and it isutterly useless to worry about things Icould not change.

Now this. She had lain in a comafor five weeks, not induced by drugsbut by a rare virus that medical scienceknew nothing about, certainly not howto treat it.

As I stood by her deathbed, we hada few precious moments alone.“Maureen,” I whispered, “I understandnow. I understand what the Scripturestory about the seven demons means toyou. You did try, probably harder thanany of us realized. We just didn’t under-stand how strong the chains of addic-tion really are.” At that, a slight flicker ofher eyelids told me that she heard.

I continued, “Maureen, it’s O.K. It’sO.K. to let go. Dad is there waiting foryou.” I certainly did not mean at thatprecise moment, but my sister took meat my word. The hospice nurse lookedat her and said quietly, “This is hertime.” Her youngest son knelt by thebed, and she opened her eyes to hearhim say, “I love you, Mom.” Then therattle of death rumbled low in herthroat as her soul returned to God.

Her husband, her children and Isobbed and held hands around herbed. As we prayed her favorite prayer,the Memorare, I looked down at herbeautiful face, now serene. Was it myimagination, or were the demons leav-ing, defeated, as her soul slipped intothe eternal light of God?


Our priests are messengers of hope

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

A

messengers of hopeOur priests ar

friendship waits to be born between a family in Illinois

messengers of hopeeOur priests ar


messengers of hopee


A

All they need is a CFCA priest to bring them together

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

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

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

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


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

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

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


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

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

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


for CFCA, contact T

If you would like to learn mor

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

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


for CFCA, contact T

eachinge about prIf you would like to learn mor

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

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

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


eaching

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

ogram. They traveloss the country while sharing the good news

The priests who work with CFCA celebrate Eucharist in

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

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

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

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

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

en and Aging is an internationalChristian Foundation for Childr

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

g..orhopeforafamilyy.or, CFCA works with

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

en and Aging is an international

[email protected]

A

cated African-American elite. One ofthe first African-Americans to attendthe Pennsylvania Academy of the FineArts, he worked with the realistpainter Thomas Eakins, who greatlyadmired his student and even paintedhis portrait. After a failed attempt torun a photography studio in Atlanta,Ga., Tanner moved to Paris, where hestudied painting and exhibited at theprestigious salons. He remained in theFrench capital for most of his life andin 1896 began to focus on religious

enry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937) is celebrated for hisintimate paintings of African-

American domestic life and biblicalnarratives. The artist wanted to appealto viewers’ sense of shared humanity inhis works—as he puts it, quoting

Shakespeare, to “give the human touch‘which makes the whole world kin’ andwhich ever remains the same.”

The son of a former slave and anAfrican Methodist Episcopal bishop,Tanner was raised in post-Civil WarPhiladelphia as a member of an edu-


BOOKS & CULTURE

H

A R T | EMILY HAGE

MAKING THE MODERN DIVINEThe images of Henry Ossawa Tanner

pH

oto

Co

uR

te

Sy

of p

eN

NS

ylV

AN

iA A

CA

De

My

of f

iNe

AR

tS

“The Holy Family,” 1909–10, by Henry Ossawa Tanner

subject matter. In 1897 he took hisfirst trip to the Near East to examinethe architecture, dress and peoplethere in order to render biblical scenesmore convincingly. His landscapes andcityscapes from this time offer a fasci-nating glimpse into the region’s builtand natural environment.

Religion and TannerThe religious paintings by Tanner pro-vide empathetic, naturalistic interpre-tations of the Old and NewTestaments. One of his earliest, and

today most famous, religious paintingsis “The Annunciation,” from 1898.Mary sits on the edge of her bed,hands clasped, staring with a look ofattentive, concerned awe at Gabriel,who is portrayed as a glowing presencethat illuminates the room and haskicked up the rug at her bare feet.

Often this story is interpreted witha winged angel, cherubs and a demure,haloed Mary surrounded by symbols ofher purity. Tanner, however, paints it asa realist. The arched walls, stone floorand screen behind Mary reflect theartist’s research in Palestine. Gabriel is

represented as a suspended pillar oflight made up of multiple layers ofthickly applied yellow and orangepaint. Tanner depicts the heavenlymessenger in a manner that conveys anunmistakable presence without intro-ducing an overtly celestial figure intoMary’s rustic abode. The artist achievesa powerful evocation of the divine assomething beyond what can be givenfigurative form. Tanner also shows theprofound transformation of Mary’sidentity in a manner that bringstogether the earthly and the divine.

Light as symbolic of God’s presencepervades Tanner’s work; it offered hima way to show biblical scenes withoutcompromising his commitment to nat-uralism. A shaft of light, for example,falling on Daniel in the lion’s den tellsus that he will survive, and the subtlebut unmistakable illumination ofJesus’ face conveys his divinity as hespeaks with Nicodemus.

In later paintings Tanner movedaway from realism toward an increas-ingly expressive, subjective and intensevisualization of sacred experiences. Inworks like “The Holy Family” (pg. 19),

light takes on a life of its own andseems almost supernatural, renderedin startlingly bright colors that create asense of otherworldliness. Mary kneelssolemnly before a fireplace, her childlying swaddled at her feet, as Josephstands in shadow. Set against the darktones of the interior, her bright blueveil, the same color as the baby’s headshroud, seems to radiate light ratherthan simply reflect the blaze. Tanner’simaginative rendering of this inventedscenario highlights the subjectivity ofthe figures, particularly Mary. At thesame time, as in most of his works, theartist invites viewers to interpret theimage from a personal perspective andto gain deeper insight into the paintingand the story.

The domesticity of many ofTanner’s scenes makes them accessibleto viewers. As Marcus Bruce writes inhis essay in the exhibition catalogue,such settings allowed Tanner to “sym-bolically construct forms of kinshipthat were both familiar and yet strangeto viewers,” while subverting “the limi-tations of the racial and religious dis-courses of his time.” Tanner used hisworks to communicate and teach.Throughout his career, the artist’s sen-sitive, psychologically probing compo-sitions of biblical figures manifest hisfaith and call on viewers to examinetheir own beliefs.

Tanner’s genre paintings subvertthe racist stereotypes of his times.Works like “The Banjo Lesson”(1893), a sympathetic depiction of anAfrican-American man teaching hisgrandson to play the banjo, is a directresponse to the common characteriza-tion of African-Americans as comicmusical entertainers. Tanner wrotethat in his paintings he wanted toshow “the serious, and pathetic side oflife” among African-Americans.

Tanner had many reasons for paint-ing religious subjects. Certainly hisupbringing and abiding spiritualitymotivated him. His biblical imagesevoke experiences common to every-


“The Annunciation,” 1898, by Henry Ossawa Tanner

pH

oto

Co

uR

te

Sy

of p

eN

NS

ylV

AN

iA A

CA

De

My

of f

iNe

AR

tS

photographs, sculptures, studies and acopy of Ladies’ Home Journal, thatfeatures one of the many drawings hemade for the magazine. A stunningsketch for “The Annunciation” hintsat figuration in the Gabriel depictionthat the artist ultimately rejected.Exhibited together, these various

media provide athorough account ofTanner’s work andlife, reinforced byhelpful wall textsand an audio guide

that interweaves the insights of eightindividuals, including Tanner, theartist Faith Ringgold and Tanner’sgreat-nephew, Lewis Tanner Moore.(The show will be on view inPhiladelphia until April 15. Then itwill travel to the Cincinnati ArtMuseum and the Houston Museum ofFine Arts.)

The exhibition catalogue includes14 essays that explore Tanner’s workin the context of other African-American artists; Paris in the late 19thand early 20th centuries; religion, pop-ular culture, modern art and technolo-gy. By analyzing Tanner’s paintings inthe context of Paul Gauguin, MauriceDenis and the American photogra-

pher Alfred Stieglitz, the cataloguepaints a portrait of Tanner as fullyimmersed in the artistic currents thatsurrounded him—symbolism,Orientalism, pictorialism. Tanner’sinterest in light may be linked to devel-opments in lighting technologies,specifically the work of the inventorNikola Tesla, who revolutionizedcommercial electricity in that era, aswell as that of the dancer Loïe Fuller,who designed an “underlightingdevice” for her performances. The cat-alogue features an unprecedented sci-entific analysis of Tanner’s materialsand techniques, explaining how he lay-ered oils, resins and tempera in com-plex ways to create the desired effect.

David Morgan, a religion scholar,has explained the “sacred gaze” as whattakes place when we look at a religiousimage and project our beliefs onto thepiece. Tanner was mindful of theimportant role of paintings. His worksinvite us to affirm, question or dismissour perceptions of biblical stories andthus to renew our own understandingof ourselves as viewers and as partici-pants in the revelation of the divine.

EMILY HAGE is assistant professor of art his-tory at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

one and have been interpreted as sym-bolizing hope for African-Americans.On a practical level, religious subjectsallowed him to broaden the scope ofhis work beyond African-Americangenre scenes and appeal to a wideraudience.

Tanner’s focus on spiritual themeshas earned him aunique—and prob-lematic—place inthe history of art.Although religiousthemes were popularin the United States and France in thelate 19th century, modernism increas-ingly emphasized the formal charac-teristics of art—color, light, line andcomposition—and largely dismissednarratives, including biblical ones.This shift led to a general dismissal ofreligious art as conservative and unso-phisticated, as Sally Promey, a profes-sor of religion and visual culture atYale, has pointed out. Many still cele-brate Tanner as a religious painter,however, while others concentrate onhis African-American identity.Ironically, both approaches marginal-ize his work.

The Traveling Exhibit“Henry Ossawa Tanner: ModernSpirit,” currently on view at thePennsylvania Academy, aims to correctthis marginalization. The showdescribes Tanner as a highlyacclaimed, international modern artistwho reinvigorated genre paintings andreligious art through innovative artis-tic techniques—loose brushwork,evocative colors and a distinctive mas-tery of light. The exhibition takes thevisitor on a journey through Tanner’slife, from his earliest days inPhiladelphia to the Salon in Paris andfinally his depictions of Palestine andEgypt. It presents over 100 works,including “Resurrection of Lazarus”(1896), which has never been seen inthe United States before; Eakins’s por-trait of Tanner; as well as drawings,


ON THE WEBVictor Stepien reviews

Oscar-winner “The Artist.”americamagazine.org/culture

In Amy Waldman’s celebrated recentnovel The Submission (Farrar, Strausand Giroux), controversy ensues whena Muslim-American namedMohammad Khan is selected to designa memorial at ground zero to victims ofthe terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

One of Khan’s opponents is SeanGallagher, whose brother, Patrick, wasa firefighter killed that awful day.

Sean has found meaning in his cru-sade against Kahn—a non-observantarchitect who goes by the American-ized name “Mo”—and a not-so-subtleIslamophobia extends to Sean’s Irish-American family in Brooklyn. “It’s notenough to kill us,” one of Sean’s rela-tives says bitterly, “they have to humil-iate us, too.”

Waldman deserves immense creditfor the overall sensitivity of her por-trait. But a simple fact cannot beignored: such unsophisticated, evenreactionary, Irish-American charactersare remarkably prominent inAmerican history and literature.

There are the violent mobs of theNew York City draft riots and the vio-lent mobs of the South Boston bussingriots; there’s Father Coughlin and JoeMcCarthy; there’s Studs Lonigan andthe “ferocious Irishmen” who assaultAugie March’s pal in Saul Bellow’sclassic and the oppressive Dunn fami-ly from the book (and film) Looking forMr. Goodbar.

But wait: Aren’t the Irish also thefreedom-fighting folks so closely asso-ciated with labor unions and theDemocratic Party and anticolonialism?

And didn’t Irish Catholics enduresevere privation and bigotry from theera of the Great Hunger all the way upto the 1910s and 20s, when the U.S.government spied on and imprisonedIrish nationalists and Al Smith facedburning crosses on the campaign trail?

Ken Burns’s latest documentary,“Prohibition,” as well as two recentbooks—One Hundred PercentAmerican: The Rebirth and Decline ofthe Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s byThomas R. Pegram and The GospelAccording to the Klan: The KKK’sAppeal to Protestant America, 1915-1930 by Kelly J. Baker—attest to thepervasive anti-Irish, anti-Catholicismof the early 20th century.

So, were the Irish part of a domi-nant or of a disempowered culture?Were they the oppressors or theoppressed?

These and other thorny contradic-tions are tackled by James R. Barrett inhis important new book The IrishWay: Becoming American in theMulti-Ethnic City (Penguin Press).Barrett argues that “nativist hostilitytoward the Irish created a defensive-ness in their relations with later wavesof migrant peoples.” He adds,“Excluded from much of the city’spublic life, the Irish immigrants fellback upon their own communities andinstitutions,” including the church andthe Democratic Party.

This (along with the ability tospeak at least some English) helped adesperate people obtain some power ina hostile land, power that subsequentnewcomers to urban centers—Jews,Italians, blacks,Poles—would finddifficult to wrestfrom the Irish.

“Their mostcommon impulsewas to exclude,”Barrett writes, “to bar more recentimmigrants, women, and people ofcolor from jobs and unions, to discrim-inate against women and minorities,and to fight more radical groups in thelabor movement.”

No less a radical than DanielO’Connell, known as the Liberator,proclaimed that the Irish were a peo-ple naturally inclined to sympathizewith the downtrodden—until theycame to the United States, where they“learned to hate and despise the col-ored people,” as O’Connell put it.

They also, as Barrett adds, “oftenembraced a hyperbolic brand ofAmerican patriotism, as if wrappingthemselves in the flag might bringthem acceptance.”

Which, to a great degree, it did.And yet, Barrett—who teaches his-

tory and African-American studies atthe University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign—well knows that this isonly half of the Irish-American story.

For there are manyinstances of IrishAmerican radicalsand anticolonialistsand labor leaderswho embracedblacks and women

and more recent immigrants.Such tensions, in fact, have long

been present within the Irish-American community and are evidentin numerous other books released justin time for St. Patrick’s Day this year.


B O O K I N G S | TOM DEIGNAN

READING THE IRISH

ON THE WEBA pilgrimage to Basilica of

St. Patrick’s Old Cathedal in New York.americamagazine.org/video

ed from angry, anti-bussing forces intraditionally Irish enclaves.

Is there any way to resolve theseseeming contradictions? ProfessorBarrett’s The Irish Way attempts to dojust that. The book is broken up into sixchapters, with titles like “The Street,”“The Parish” and “The Machine.”Having argued that the Irish exhibitedgreat “tension between inclusivenessand exclusiveness, between cosmopoli-tanism and parochialism,” Barrett setsout to focus roughly on the years 1880to 1920, when the children of theFamine were assimilating, when moreIrish were still pouring into the UnitedStates and when immigrants fromother nations began settling in heavilyIrish cities.

“By carving the city into distinctethnic turfs and relentlessly defendingtheir own, Irish gangs developed astrong sense of territoriality that theytransmitted to later immigrants,”Barrett writes, a process he terms“coercive Americanization.”

To use language popularized byDavid Roediger, a scholar Barrettquotes and with whom he has collabo-rated, once the Irish “became white,”they encouraged later immigrants todo the same—at the expense of moremarginalized newcomers to the city.

Barrett takes a particularly interest-ing look at tensions among different19th-century Catholic ethnic groups.(One Polish-American dubbedProtestants and the Irish as “two

In Peter Troy’s Famine-era novel Maythe Road Rise to Meet You(Doubleday), Sean McOwen is aTammany Hall loyalist. Tammany—and most Irish—were not merely loyalDemocrats. They viewed Lincoln andthe Republicans as elitist, anti-Catholic scoundrels. And yet Sean’sambitious, free-thinking brotherEthan is star-struck when he seesHonest Abe after his famous CooperUnion speech in 1860.

“You have my full support,” Ethantells the future president, words thatliterally could have gotten himthumped in the nearby Five Points.

Meanwhile, in Kevin Fox’s thrillerUntil the Next Time (Algonquin), anF.B.I. agent flees the racial strife of1970s America for Ireland after ashootout with a member of the BlackPanthers. Hoping to find solaceamong family, the agent instead is dis-missed as a bigot no better than Nixonor the Brits by some I.R.A. men hefalls in with.

Finally, Gerard O’Neill’s Roguesand Redeemers: When Politics WasKing in Irish Boston (Crown) vividlyrecalls when Irish Americans likeJudge Arthur Garrity and TedKennedy had to be physically protect-


http://berrie.iie.eu

The Russell Berrie FoundationMaking A Difference

A NGE L I C V MRO M A

PONTIFICIA UNIVERSITÀ S. TOMMASO D’AQUINO

UP TO TEN FULL FELLOWSHIPSFELLOWSHIP AWARDS PROVIDE ONE YEAR OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO STUDY AT THE ANGELICUM IN ROME

APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 30, 2012

Russell Berrie Fellowship in Interreligious Studies

prongs of the same nativist fork.”)But Barrett stresses that Catholi-

cism also “taught social justice andespecially racial and ethnic tolerance.”

The political machine, vaudevillestage and union hall could be similarlyschizophrenic. Which raises the ques-tion: If you look at any group of peo-ple, wouldn’t you find both progressiveand conservative elements? Is it merelythe fact that the Irish came in suchgreat numbers that explains theirintellectual and political inconsisten-cy? And is this even inconsistency? Ormerely diversity?

Barrett’s observations about Irishinteraction with other immigrants arekeen, and his focus on the tenuouslyassimilated second generation is valu-able. But one group that is generallyabsent from Barrett’s analysis is what,these days, we call “the one percent,”the power elite, who were all too happyto look on as America’s ethnics went ateach other’s throats in the wards and


WISDOM HOUSE229 East Litchfield Rd.

Litchfield, CT 06759860-567-3163

www.wisdomhouse.org [email protected]

Seek WisdomSexuality & Spirituality

March 23-25, 2012Donald Bisson, FMS

Faith in Times of TransitionApril 20-22, 2012

Barbara Fiand,SNDdeN

Art & Spirituality Forum:The Journey of the Artist

April 29, 2012Jack Gilpin, Darko Tresnjak,

Linda Hoffman,Joshua Stone, Dani Shapiro

Soul Sisters: Women’s RetreatMay 4-6, 2012

Edwina Gateley

POETRY CONTESTPoems are being accepted for the

2012 Foley Poetry Award.

Each entrant is asked to submit only one typed, unpublishedpoem of 30 lines or fewer that is not under considerationelsewhere. Include contact information on the same page asthe poem. Poems will not be returned. Please do not submitpoems by e-mail or fax. Submissions must be postmarkedbetween Jan. 1 and March 31, 2012.

Poems received outside the designated period will be treatedas regular poetry submissions, and are not eligible for theprize.

The winning poem will be published in the June 4-11 issueof America. Three runner-up poems will be published insubsequent issues.

Cash prize $1,000

Send poems to:Foley Poetry Contest, America,

106 West 56th St., New York, NY 10019

In the end, the Irish survived by anymeans necessary. It was not alwayspretty. But the Irish did not only com-plicate things for those below them.Their very presence also compelledthose higher up the social ladder toaccept some social change, albeitgrudgingly. Otherwise, things mightactually have been much worse forlater immigrants and others.

Imagine if more children of Erinfollowed the bitter, fatherly dictate

offered in the ballad “Paddy’s Lament”:“Here's to you boys, now take myadvice./ To America I'll have ye's notbe going.” Whatever else they did, theIrish—to paraphrase LangstonHughes—forced “America to beAmerica.” Or at least to try.

The author of Coming to America: IrishAmericans, TOM DEIGNAN is a columnistfor The Irish Voice newspaper and IrishAmerica magazine. He is currently working ona novel about a New York City high school.

alleyways, battling over small slivers ofthe social pie.

It should be added that Barrett ishardly the first to express understand-able frustration with the ways IrishAmerica flexed its hard-earned mus-cle. Consider Daniel PatrickMoynihan’s famous assessment fromBeyond the Melting Pot: “The veryparochialism and bureaucracy thatenabled [the Irish] to succeed in localpolitics prevented them from doingmuch else.... In a sense, the Irish didn’tknow what to do with power once theygot it.… They never thought of poli-tics as an instrument of social change.”

The trouble is, when you’ve facedstarvation, disease and death, survivalvery much counts as a kind of socialchange.

Whether they did it as reactionariesor progressives, no one can deny thatthe Irish survived. Perhaps they couldhave done more or done it differently.But given their starting point, survivalis an understandable aspiration.

St. Patrick’s Day 2012 finds aKenyan-American president in theWhite House, whose maternal rootsjust happen to go back to Moneygall,County Offally, to which the presidentmade a triumphant visit last summer.Two of the leading figures in New YorkCity’s 2013 mayoral race are namedKelly and Quinn, and if they win theywill have to do battle with union leadersnamed Lynch, Cassidy and Mulgrew, ina diocese that just sent its 10th consec-utive Irish American archbishop since1842 to Rome as a cardinal.

On the other hand, the virulentlyanti-Irish, anti-Catholic cartoonistThomas Nast was recently honored asa candidate for The New Jersey StateHall of Fame. And there was no publicoutcry whatsoever when a witness dis-cussed the problem of “Irishmen whoare drunks and…get into bar fights”during recent hearings aimed at (waitfor it!) diversity in the New York CityFire Department.

And so it goes....



Catholic Education for Catholic Educatorsat the Institute for Catholic Educational Leadership

FR. STEVE KATSOUROS, S.J., DIRECTORWe’re shaping the next generation of Catholic school leaders. Join our supportive learning community and experience a fl exible master’s degree program that blends academic rigor, community service and Jesuit values that mirror your commitment to Catholic education.

� Summer programs leading to a Master of Arts in Catholic School Leadership or Catholic School Teaching

� All classes taught by renowned Catholic educators

� Supportive, community-focused environment rooted in Jesuit educational tradition

� Option to add Preliminary CA Administrative Services Credential

� Doctoral program and professional development courses also available

� Reduced tuition for Catholic school educators

SummerWest 2012SESSION I: JUNE 18 � JULY 6 ■ SESSION II: JULY 9 � JULY 27

PLEASE CONTACT US TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SUMMER COURSEOFFERINGS AND ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS.

: www.usfca.edu/icel : 415.422.6226


Religious Liberty Chair RespondsThe March 5th America editorial(“Policy, Not Liberty”) takes the UnitedStates bishops to task for entering toodeeply into the finer points of healthcare policy as they ponder what theslightly revised Obama administrationmandate might mean for the CatholicChurch in the United States. Thesedetails, we are told, do not impinge onreligious liberty. We are also told thatour recent forthright language borderson incivility.

What details are we talking about?For one thing, a government mandateto insure, one way or another, for anabortifacient drug called Ella. Here the“details” would seem to be fertilizedova, small defenseless human beings,who will likely suffer abortion withinthe purview of a church-run healthinsurance program.

What other details are at issue?Some may think that the government’sforcing the church to provide insur-ance coverage for direct surgical steril-izations such as tubal ligations is amatter of policy. Such force, though,feels an awful lot like an infringementon religious liberty.

Still another detail is ordinary con-traception. Never mind that the diresocietal ills which Pope Paul predictedwould ensue with the widespreadpractice of artificial contraception havemore than come true. The governmentmakes the rules and the rules are therules. So, the bishops should regardproviding (and paying for) contracep-tion as, well, a policy detail. After all,it’s not like the federal government isasking bishops to deny the divinity ofChrist. It’s just a detail in a moral the-ology—life and love, or somethingsuch as that. And why worry aboutother ways the government may soonrequire the church to violate its teach-ings as a matter of policy?

More details come to mind. Many if

LETTERS not most church entities are self-insured. Thus, Catholic social serviceagencies, schools, and hospitals couldend up paying for abortifacients, steril-izations, and contraception. If the edi-torial is to be believed, bishops shouldregard it not as a matter of religiousliberty but merely policy that asproviders they teach one thing but asemployers they are made to teachsomething else. In other words, we areforced to be a countersign to churchteaching and to give people plenty ofreason not to follow it. The detail inquestion here is called “scandal.”

Then there is the detail of religiousinsurers and companies that are notowned by the church but which existsolely to serve the church’s mission.The new “accommodation” leavesthem out in the cold. And if I reallywanted to get into the weeds I’d men-tion the conscience rights of individualemployers.

Have I forgotten any other detailswe bishops shouldn’t be attending to?Well, I guess we’re policy wonks forwondering if the government has acompelling interest in forcing thechurch to insure for proscribed ser-vices when contraception is covered in90 percent of health care plans, is freein Title X programs, and is availablefrom Walmart (generic) for about $10

a month. Pardon me also for wonder-ing whether the most basic of free-doms, religious liberty, isn’t being com-promised, not by a right to health care,but by a claim to “services” whichregard pregnancy and fertility as dis-eases.

And didn’t President Obamapromise adequate conscience protec-tion in the reform of health care? Butmaybe it’s inappropriate for pastors ofsouls to ask why the entirely adequateaccommodation of religious rights inhealth care matters that has existed infederal law since 1973 is now beingchanged.

Oh, and as Detective Colomboused to say: “Just one more thing.” It’sthe comment in the editorial aboutwhen we bishops are at our best.Evidently, it’s when we speak generali-ties softly and go along to get along,even though for the first time in histo-ry the federal government is forcingchurch entities to provide for thingsthat contradict church teaching. MaybeMoses wasn’t at his best when he con-fronted Pharaoh. Maybe the GoodShepherd was a bit off his game whenhe confronted the rulers of his day.

But those are just details.MOST REVEREND WILLIAM E. LORI

Bishop of BridgeportChairman, Ad Hoc Committee

on Religious Liberty

TO SUBSCRIBE OR RENEW

� New subscription � RenewalYearly rates are $56 for each subscription. Add $30 for postage, handling and GST on Canadian orders.Add $54 for foreign subscriptions. Payment in U.S. funds only.

� Payment enclosed � Bill me

On occasion America gives permission to other organizations to use our list for promotional purposes. Ifyou do not want to receive these promotions, contact our List Manager at our New York offices.

For change of address and renewal: Please attach the mailing label from the front cover when writing aboutservice or change of address. Allow 3 to 4 weeks for change of address to take effect. Thank you

Name:

Address:

City: State: ZIP:

E-mail:

Mai

l to:

Am

eric

aP.

O. B

ox 2

93

05

9, K

ette

ring

, OH

45

42

9-9

15

99

or c

all 1

-80

0-6

27

-95

33

or v

isit

ww

w.a

mer

icam

agaz

ine.

org

EB0909

America (ISSN 0002-7049) is published weekly (except for 14 combined issues: Jan. 2–9, 16–23, Jan. 30–Feb. 6, April 23–30, June 4–11,18–25, July 2–9, 16–23, July 30–Aug. 6, Aug. 13–20, Aug. 27–Sept. 3, Sept. 10–17, Nov. 26–Dec. 3, Dec. 24–31) by America Press, Inc.,106 West 56th Street, New York, NY 10019. Periodical postage is paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mailing offices. Business Manager:Lisa Pope. Circulation: (800) 627–9533. Subscriptions: United States, $56 per year; add U.S. $30 postage and GST (#131870719) forCanada; or add U.S. $56 per year for international priority airmail. Postmaster: Send address changes to: America, P.O. Box 293059,Kettering, OH 45429.


CLASS IF IEDPositionsASSUMPTION SCHOOL in Pasadena, Calif.,seeks an elementary school PRINCIPAL.Assumption is a vibrant school in a growing parishwith a stable enrollment of 300. The Principalreports directly to the pastor and is responsible forfostering the spiritual and academic growth of thestudents, in collaboration with the ConsultativeSchool Board, the Parish Finance Council and thePastor. Applicants must be a knowledgeable andpracticing Roman Catholic with a thorough under-standing of and commitment to the Catholic phi-losophy of education; have received an M.A./M.S.degree in school administration or another relatedarea; hold a California teaching and administrativecredential; have completed three to five years ofsuccessful administrative experience in Catholicschools; exhibit excellent communication and tech-nology skills, budgeting and finance experience.Résumés to: [email protected].

The Theology Department at ASSUMPTIONCOLLEGE invites applications for a full-time,tenure-track position at the ASSOCIATE PRO-FESSOR level to begin in the fall of 2012.Applicants must have a proven record of excellencein undergraduate teaching, possess administrativeability, have established a notable record of schol-arly research and appreciate and support theCatholic and ecumenical mission of the College tointroduce its students to the Catholic intellectualtradition and to help them acquire a love for truthas the integrating principle of all their studies. The

days, year-round in a prayerful home setting.Contact Joyce Diltz, P.H.J.C.; Ph: (219) 398-5047; [email protected]; bethanyretreathouse.org.

NEED SILENCE AND PRAYER? Come to OneHeart, One Soul Spirituality Center, Kankakee,Ill. Peaceful wooded river front setting with her-mitages, private rooms and meeting facilities. Ph:(815) 937-2244; www.sscm-usa.org/ohos.html.

Web SitesTO PROMOTE AND DEFEND the vision ofVatican II: www.v2catholic.com.

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

America classified. Classified advertisements are acceptedfor publication in either the print version of America or onour Web site, www.americamagazine.org. Ten-wordminimum. Rates are per word per issue. 1-5 times: $1.50;6-11 times: $1.28; 12-23 times: $1.23; 24-41 times:$1.17; 42 times or more: $1.12. For an additional $30,your print ad will be posted on America’s Web site for oneweek. The flat rate for a Web-only classified ad is $150for 30 days. Ads may be submitted by e-mail to:[email protected]; by fax to (928) 222-2107;by postal mail to: Classified Department, America, 106West 56th St., New York, NY 10019. We do not acceptad copy over the phone. MasterCard and Visa accepted.For more information call: (212) 515-0102.

department also supports a modest number ofmajors and minors. The successful candidate willassume the chair of the department to shepherd itthrough its transition toward a foundational rolewithin a revised core curriculum. The area of spe-cialty is open, but applicants in systematic or his-torical theology will be given preference.Responsibilities include teaching at the various lev-els of the theology curriculum (at a reduced courseload during service as department chair) and even-tually developing new courses in the area of exper-tise. Applicants must be willing to contributeactively to the mission of the College as well asshow respect for the Catholic and Assumptionistidentity of Assumption College.

Send letter of interest, C.V., graduate schooltranscripts and three letters of recommendation tothe chair of the search committee: Prof. QuidNomen Eius, Assumption College, 500 SalisburyStreet, Worcester, MA 01609-1296. Review ofapplications will begin immediately and will con-tinue until the position will have been filled.Assumption College, a Catholic liberal arts andprofessional studies college, was founded in 1904by its sponsoring religious community, theAugustinians of the Assumption. AssumptionCollege is part of the Colleges of WorcesterConsortium and an Affirmative Action employerencouraging candidates who would enrich theCollege’s diversity.

RetreatsBETHANY RETREAT HOUSE, East Chicago,Ind., offers private and individually directed silentretreats, including dreamwork and Ignatian 30

Social Democrats Unite!Re “Doubt at Davos” (CurrentComment, 2/20): Given that the effectof neoliberal economics as practicedfrom the Reagan-Thatcher yearsonward has been to exacerbate incomeinequality greatly in the United States(and globally, in many cases), not tomention continuing the environmen-tally damaging “endless growth”model, it is indeed time for a re-exam-ination of capitalism. Perhaps, as Marxsuggested, its time in history hasindeed passed.

Our church study-advocacy grouphas become ever more shocked as welook at the net effects of a soulless,“profit as a god,” economic system nowin operation here. It is time for us toredesign that system and its effectsupon Congress, so that it becomes, tothe degree possible, devoted to the

national and global common well-being and to ecological sustainability.If capitalism cannot be turned to serveonly those goals (instead of ever morewealth concentration among the rela-tive few at the top), then it is time toupend our system and to adopt any ofa variety of other “social democracy”models forwarded by a variety of verybright authors/economists. For oneproven example of such a system,check out the experience to date of thegiant Mondragon Cooperative in theBasque region of Spain.

BOB RILEYAlbuquerque, N.M.

Drawn to ContradictionMargaret Silf ’s “Draw Near” (2/20)was such a wise reflection. We aredrawn and attracted to the light, butwe are also eager to draw lines and

make fine, even trivial distinctions.What a perverse lot we are: drawn tolight, love and peace and ready for afight.

WINIFRED HOLLOWAYSaratoga Springs, N.Y.

Credit CheckThanks to Drew Christiansen, S.J., forhis insightful, Roman and ecumenicalreflections (“Of Many Things,” 2/20).He did justly refer to the tremendouscontributions of Bishop FilipeXimenes Belo in East Timor and ofthe late Angelo D’Agostino, S.J., inEast Africa.

Bishop Belo is a Salesian of DonBosco, a member of the largest malereligious congregation in the CatholicChurch today, with more than 3,000schools and youth centers in 131countries today. We Salesians are very


CARTOON BY H

ARLEY SCHWADRON

proud of Bishop Belo, winner of the1996 Nobel Peace Prize with JoséRamos-Horta. As Father AngeloD’Agostino was justly identified byFather Christiansen as a Jesuit, I wishBishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo,S.D.B., had also been similarly identi-fied as a Salesian of Don Bosco.

LARRY N. LORENZONI, S.D.B.San Francisco, Calif.

Timely, UnfortunatelyThank you for “Athletes Dying Young”(2/20), a timely editorial. We have hadtwo high school students paralyzedduring hockey games in Minnesotathis year. There does seem to be somemovement here toward making thegame more humane—a direct result ofJacob Jablonski being paralyzed fromthe neck down after being checked bytwo players at once.

JEANNE DOYLESt. Paul, Minn.

Social Disaster AlertRe “Taking Liberties” (Editorial,2/13): This discussion continues togenerate more heat than light. Ofcourse the First Amendment coversmore than worship; otherwise therewould not be Wisconsin v. Yoder,which was a home-schooling decision.One might also argue that the protec-tion from court inquiry given the sealof confession is another example,unless one wanted to construe thisconfidentiality as essential to freedomto worship. The constitutional princi-ples, as I understand them, are thatreligious practice must be constrainedby a need to maintain public order andthat practices essential to a religion areprotected. Lay Catholic behaviornotwithstanding, a church’s sexualethics seem to be essential, and, yes,even those are not exempt from legis-lation (no polygamy). I do not see howthe public order is threatened by thebishops’ stand; rather I perceive aclever maneuver on the part of the fed-eral government and a social disaster

in the making.There are simply too many

Catholic hospitals, social agenciesand universities to dismiss the harm-ful effect on the country as a wholethat may result from H.H.S.’s insis-tence on its newly made rule. In law-making, consequences count. Therule was made because of whatH.H.S. thought the effect would beon women’s and hence public health. Iam not so sure it made a good calcu-lation.

JERRY VIGNACherry Hill, N.J.

Faith TravelsAs a priest who has visited, studiedand lived in 45 countries, I found TimPadgett’s recent article, “The EthicalTraveler,” (1/30) right on the mark inmany ways. But his comment that heleaves his religion out of the cantinasand homes he visits, as well as his trep-idation over “mixing charity and evan-gelization,” disappointed me greatly.Talking about the faith with peoplearound the world is the very best partof wandering about—one can plant

seeds everywhere for God to reap inhis own time. How can we say we real-ly love the places and people we visitand yet remain silent about JesusChrist?

(REV.) FRANCIS M. DE ROSA Colonial Beach, Va.

A Worthwhile WarI wholeheartedly endorse “A WarWorth Fighting” (Editorial, 2/27).The political climate in the UnitedStates today and in recent decades,however, has militated against anystrong efforts to combat poverty inAmerica. Instead of fighting povertymore strongly, our Republican politi-cians have been dedicated to helpingthe rich get richer. And ourDemocratic politicians have made lit-tle headway in opposing theRepublicans, their deregulation andtheir social Darwinism.

THOMAS FARRELLDuluth, Minn.

No Fence-Sitting AllowedI enjoyed “A War Worth Fighting”(2/27). We do our communities a dis-service when we lump addiction, men-tal illness and all the other causes of

WITHOUT GUILE


poverty together. Our children are theinnocent victims. As a society we haveallowed and rewarded bad behavior,such as single parent families and all ofthe other hot button issues of todaythat encourage the destruction of thefamily unit. When we do not promotefamily values, we help create poverty.

I pray that we all look for thingsthat cause poverty and do our best toget involved and eliminate the causes.Do not sit on the fence when societypushes something you know isdestructive to the family unit in thename of political correctness.Remember the family unit is thebuilding block of society. We can befirm in our convictions and still becompassionate and kind to others whodo not share our values.

VALENTINE R. O’CONNORPine Beach, N.J.

Not a One-Issue ChurchI want to support Ronnie D. Rubit forhis excellent article “Peer Pressure”(2/27). Catholics should not be one-issue people. I have encountered suchCatholics also. I remember a very nicelady who, I am sure, was close to Godbut could not get beyond this oneissue. She would spend long hours lis-tening to radio talk show hosts, whowould rant about right-wing causes,including abortion. The effect wasconservative politics mixed with a one-issue religious matter. That is not whatthe Catholic Church is about.

CHARLES P. LEYESSan Francisco, Calif.

-

eaching wit rreaching with the MPPreatetrreatence and RA Confer rence and R for

apidand R Rapidsrrand Risters ~ G Gominican S Sisters ~ Gy of D a ministr ry of D

dorrdWWoromen and the WWomen and the omanWWomant of a eares and H Hearyind, E Ey th the M Mind, E

oers of the ers and Dearrers and Deachers, H Hearrreachers, Hen, Pomen, M Men, PWWomen, Mfor une 11 - 15, 2012J

apids

d orrd WWoroers of the

eaching with the MrParbara RB

ri, 9 on-FFri, 9-noon. MMon-Ftance of womenimpor

and men to bring feminist perspectiv

udaism Misunderstanding JMhD -ill Levine, PAmy-J an VVanderbilt Uwish scholar locates JeA J

usted with the E

oWWomant of a eares and Hyind, E Eyeaching with the Meid, OP -arbara R nion Catholic �eological U

ri, 9-noon. ealities of womenxploring global rEe, and ways for women s insights on Scriptur’’ tance of womeneaching.es to prand men to bring feminist perspectiv

esus isunderstanding Jeans Mudaism Mivinity Schoolersity and Dnivanderbilt Uwish context. eesus in his Jwish scholar locates J

dWusted with the

oman

es, the s liv’ealities of womene, and ways for women eaching.

r ry C

pCost: $300.00 ($360.00 after A

isit: VVisit: http://domor call (616) 454-1241, O

usted ntrEathery CarM

ed for mission, gifted and authorizaptizB

kshops -orrkshops -noonWWorAfter on M Mon-�urs. ely deepening their ability to reativas a means of cr

ytelling, Ctor, Shotographyy, SP

g 9pril 15)Cost: $300.00 ($360.00 after A

ogram/?id=94p.com/prminicancenter for details; ption 5.or call (616) 454-1241, O

dorWWorusted with the t, OPilkerine Hherrine H - e Dotrersity of NnivU

y the Hed bed for mission, gifted and authoriz

on-�urs. ticipants in aresigned to engage parDe. (Me�ect on Scripturely deepening their ability to r

usic and Nt, Mcons, Arriting, IWWriting, Ie eativr

for details;

amee D . pirit.oly Sy the H

t forms ticipants in arement, voe. (M

e.)aturusic and N

DAILY PRAYER FOR TODAY’S CATHOLIC

LITURGICAL PRESS

Subscribe, view, or request a sample www.GiveUsThisDay.org

or call 1-800-858-5450

America readers — save $5 on a 2–year subscription. Use the promotion code TDAM2YR when you subscribe.

“Give Us � is Day has truly enriched my faith and prayer life.

Give Us � is Day”

K.W. St. Louis, MO

New! from

LITURGICAL PRESS New! from

LITURGICAL PRESS

Subscribe, view, or request a sample www.GiveUsThisDay.org

or call 1-800-858-5450

®

To send a letter to the editor we rec-ommend using the link that appearsbelow articles on America’s Web site,americamagazine.org. This allows usto consider your letter for publicationin both print and online versions of themagazine. Letters may also be sent toAmerica’s editorial office (address onpage 2) or by e-mail to: [email protected]. They should be briefand include the writer’s name, postaladdress and daytime phone number.Letters may be edited for length andclarity.

their master, says the Lord.” This newcovenant will be different. “I will placemy law within them, and will write iton their hearts…. All from theleast to the greatest shall knowme, says the Lord.”

The new covenant willbecome something interi-or, indeed part of theirhearts. And the peoplewill know him. Ezekiel(16:59 ff; 36:25 ff ) andIsaiah (55:3; 59:21; 61:8)also look toward a newcovenant, one of communionwhere the spirit of God would radi-ate from within.

Both Paul (2 Cor 3-5) andHebrews (8:8 ff ) see Jesus as thedirect fulfillment of this prophecy.Jesus’ Sermon on the Mountreflects this inner transformation.And when Jesus explicitlyannounces the new covenant at theLast Supper, we see its depth. Ittook a long time for the prophecies tocome to realization, but they did so ina way more glorious than anyone couldhave imagined.

For us Christians the new covenantboth inspires and challenges. Jesus andhis new covenant represent God’s finalword and absolute salvation. Thecovenant challenge is that it has to bepart of us, written on our hearts andsouls. I am reminded of the crucialconversation between the charactersSister Helen Prejean and the convicton death row, Matthew Poncelet, inthe movie “Dead Man Walking.”

Poncelet is an unrepentant, angry,arrogant man. He also thinks of him-self as a Christian and tells SisterHelen that he is not afraid of dying.He says: “Me and God, we got allthings squared away. I know Jesusdied on the cross for us. And he’sgonna be there when I appear beforeGod on judgment day.” Helenresponds: “Matt, redemption isn’tsome kind of free admission ticket thatyou get because Jesus paid the price.

You’ve got to participate in yourown redemption. You’ve got somework to do.”

That insight brings us to theGospel reading. Jesus, refer-ring to the cross and thenature of discipleship says:“Amen, amen, unless a grain

of wheat falls to the ground

Covenants and CostsFIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT (B), MARCH 25, 2012

Readings: Jer 31:31-34; Ps 51:3-15; Heb 5:7-9; Jn 12:20-33

“Whoever serves me must follow me” (Jn 12:26)


THE WORD

ovenants are not contracts. Acontract is a legally binding setof duties and expectations. If

the deal is fair, it is a win-win situation.But these agreements are hardly per-sonal. I have signed contracts for carloans without ever meeting the bankrepresentatives. And I have signedmany apartment rental contracts andnever met the actual property owners.Who cares? Covenants, in contrast, arepersonal. They define relationships, orat least they ought to.

When God made a covenant withIsrael on Sinai, it was intended to bequite personal. In fact, Moses took halfthe blood of the sacrifice that ratifiedthe covenant and sprinkled it on thepeople so they would be stained, liter-ally, with the blood of the covenant. Aswe know, some Israelites understoodthis, and the law formed their life withGod (see Ps 119). A brief tourthrough the First and Second Book ofKings, however, shows that as the gen-erations passed, many in Israel and itsleadership never made the covenantpart of them. It never bonded themdeeply with God.

This is the context for today’s firstreading. Jeremiah predicts a newcovenant between God and Israel: “Itwill not be like the covenant I madewith their fathers the day I took themby the hand to lead them forth fromthe land of Egypt; for they broke mycovenant and I had to show myself

C

PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE

• Meditate on the cross as a meetingplace.

• Ask Christ where you produce fruit forthe kingdom.

• Give thanks for your own self-offering.

PETER FELDMEIER is the Murray/BacikProfessor of Catholic Studies at the Universityof Toledo.

AR

t:

tA

D D

uN

Ne

and dies, it remains just a grain ofwheat; but if it dies, it produces greatfruit. Whoever loves his life loses it,and whoever hates his life in this worldwill preserve it for eternal life.Whoever serves me must follow me.”

For the new covenant to be fullypart of us, it must be fully personal.And for Christians that means we fol-low him to the cross; this so we canproduce “great fruit” both in the pre-sent life and the next. Here is a para-dox: the new covenant is given abso-lutely freely as gift, and it costs usnothing less than everything we are.

PETER FELDMEIER

tom deignan on reading the irish - america magazine | the ... · tion, the anchor never swayed far...

Documents