remembering el salvador’s martyrs

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 N O V . 1 6 , 2 0 0 9 $ 3 . 5 0

Remembering El Salvador’s MartyrsWILLIAM REISER

Romeward Bound?ANGLICAN RESPONSE TO

THE VATICAN’S INVITATIONAUSTEN IVEREIGH

his last week the stories of twowomen brought home to methe pains inflicted by the

absence of an Israeli-Palestinian peace.One is is Sharihan Hannoun, a youngwoman who has been living on thestreet in Jerusalem after her home wasseized and occupied by Israeli settlers.The second, a student at BethlehemUniversity named Berlanty Azzam, wasperemptorily deported by Israeliauthorities to Gaza.

A third woman, Secretary of StateHilary Clinton, demonstrated how,when unmoored from history and expe-rience, American policy in the MiddleEast can cause pain to all those whohad come to hope for change from theObama administration. SecretaryClinton backed away from the adminis-tration’s demand for an end to Israelisettlement activity with a proposal forboth sides to take up peace negotiationswithout pre-conditions.

Pressed at a meeting of Arab foreignministers, she shifted her position onceagain, but not without praising pur-ported Israeli willingness “to restrainsettlement activity” as “unprecedented,”though it allows for the planned-forconstruction of 3,000 new homes.Agreeing to Israeli terms indicates adiplomatic innocence that is uncompre-hending of the history of the Israel-Palestinian struggle and the relentlessdispossession of Palestinians from theland.

Sheikh Jarrah is a neighborhood ofEast Jerusalem just inside the GreenLine, the old 1949 armistice linebetween East and West Jerusalem. Butin the late 1990s, Jewish settlers, withthe support of authorities, began grab-bing Palestinian land there. In a fewyears many once-Palestinian homeswere flying the blue and white Israeliflag, and empty lots were sprouting newconstruction sponsored by overseas“investors.”

In recent months, in contraventionof the Oslo Accords, the Israeli govern-

ment has been conducting expulsionsand home demolitions in EastJerusalem neighborhoods to consolidateIsraeli control of the city.

Ms. Hannoun told me how the set-tlers awoke her last Aug. 2 at 5 in themorning and gave her 20 minutes tomove out. Within two hours the set-tlers had moved in, and her family’s fur-niture was on the street. According toCatholic News Service, she said policetold her they were seizing the house“because you are Palestinian...” andadded, “We can take any houses wewant...without any papers...because weare Israeli.”

If you think this expulsion is arecent phenomenon, I recommendreading Ilan Pappe, The EthnicCleansing of Palestine (Oneworld); andAvi Shlaim, The Iron Wall (Norton).

On Oct. 28 Berlanty Azzam, aChristian fourth year business adminis-tration student at the Vatican-runBethlehem University, was seized by theIsraeli military, handcuffed, blindfoldedand deported to Gaza against theadvice of military lawyers. No chargeswere lodged against her. Her apparentoffense: She was born in Gaza City.

Like the settlers’ expulsion of Ms.Shanoun, the deportation of Ms.Azzam is an example of the arbitrarytreatment inflicted on ordinaryPalestinians at the hands of Israeli offi-cials. Any expectation that “unprece-dented” limitations on settlement con-struction, as Mrs. Clinton called them,will hold back Israeli expansion underthe leadership of the wily Mr.Netanyahu is a pipe dream. Overmany years he has used every availabletactic to evade restrictions on Israeliexpansion.

For now, hard pressure against set-tlements is a wiser, more realistic poli-cy than Israeli-Palestinian negotia-tions without pre-conditions. Better amodicum of justice than a phony, one-sided peace.

DREW CHRISTIANSEN, S.J.

PUBLISHED BY JESUITS OF THE UNITED STATES

TOF MANY THINGS

Cover: Partial view of the spot wheresix Jesuit priests and two assistantswere assassinated on Nov. 16, 1989, inSan Salvador. Reuters/Mark Stillon.

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www.americamagazine.org VOL. 201 NO.14, WHOLE NO. 4873 NOVEMBER 16, 2009

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O N T H E W E B

27

O N T H E W E B

CONTENTS

A R T I C L E S

13 THE ROAD FROM AGUILARESTwenty years later: remembering the martyrs of El Salvador

William Reiser

16 BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER TIBERWhat will come of the Vatican’s invitation to Anglicans?

Austen Ivereigh

21 BASKETBALL DIARYA Catholic coach, an evangelical court

B. G. Kelley

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

4 Current Comment

5 Editorial The Iron Pipeline

8 Signs of the Times

11 Column A Surge in Clarity Maryann Cusimano Love

24 Faith in Focus Birth Plan John J. Hardt

28 Poem Body Language Kathy Coffey

37 Letters

39 The Word Unmasking Kingly Power Barbara E. Reid

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

27 THEATER “Hamlet,” “A Steady Rain” and “Superior Donuts”

BOOKS Galileo Goes to Jail; Sestets; Honeymoon in Tehran

13

24

Kevin F. Burke, S.J., remembers Ignacio Ellacuría, right, andthe other martyrs of El Salvador on our podcast, and anarticle from 1993 calls for opening the papal door toAnglicans. Plus, Leo J. O'Donovan, S.J., revisits the art ofJohn LaFarge Sr. All at americamagazine.org.

O N T H E W E B

4 America November 16, 2009

CURRENT COMMENT

Artful DodgersEvery year the federal government loses some $100 billionin tax revenue to international tax cheating. That is a stag-gering sum, enough to pay for 27 months of the war inAfghanistan at the current rate of $3.6 billion per month. Arecovery of eight years’ worth of these losses could pay forthe entire health care reform package proposed by theHouse. Instead, year after year U.S. citizens hide their earn-ings abroad, and foreign firms earning money in the UnitedStates underreport or refuse to report their earnings.

Plugging the leak is the goal of a new bill sponsored bytwo Democrats, Charles B. Rangel of the House Waysand Means Committee and Max Baucus of the SenateFinance Committee. The proposed legislation wouldstiffen reporting requirements for foreign institutionsthat conduct business in the United States and those whoadvise U.S. citizens on investing abroad. The penalty forbusinesses that fail to comply would be a 30 percentwithholding tax on income from their American assets.The I.R.S. is also more diligently tracking overseasinvestments.

Collection will not be easy. International financialinformation is difficult to track; tax rates and laws differamong nations. So much of the money owed the U.S.government will never be recovered. Were theRangel/Baucus bill to pass, the expected recovery is apaltry $8.5 billion over the next 10 years—less than $1billion each year. Surely a better means of plugging thisleak needs to be found, and quickly, for global commerceand investment will likely increase, as will the number ofartful dodgers.

Resigned in AfghanistanOctober proved a cruel month in our eighth year of war inAfghanistan. Fifty-eight Americans were killed, the worstmonthly loss of life since the beginning of the war. It alsocould not have been welcome news to President Obamathat a senior foreign-service officer, Matthew Hoh, aMarine veteran of two tours in Iraq, resigned on Oct. 26 inprotest of the U.S. policy in Afghanistan, the first StateDepartment official to do so.

“I fail to see the value or the worth,” Mr. Hoh writes inhis resignation letter, “in continued U.S. casualties orexpenditures of resources in support of the Afghan govern-ment in what is, truly, a 35-year-old civil war.” Accordingto Mr. Hoh, the “Taliban resistance” the United States ispurported to be suppressing actually breaks down intohundreds of small local groups, who perceive themselves as

fighters not for the Taliban or an even more distant AlQaeda but against the current occupiers, the United Statesand Afghanistan’s central government.

In a marvel of understatement, Mr. Hoh calls theKarzai administration an “unreliable partner” and writesthat our Afghanistan strategy is destabilizing the entireregion while making little progress toward its primary goalof protecting the West from the terrorist conspiracies ofIslamic extremists. Mr. Hoh has thrown away what hadbeen a promising diplomatic career in an effort to force hiscountrymen to ask some hard questions about Afghani-stan: What are we achieving there? Do we have the ruth-lessness and patience to stay in this fight? With our nationprinting money to pay its bills, can we really afford tomaintain this long war? President Obama’s long-awaiteddecision on Afghanistan may not answer all of Mr. Hoh’sbrave but career-ending questions, but it should at leastoffer more than a general plan for muddling through in anancient land that shows signs of developing into aVietnam-style quagmire for the United States.

One Laptop Per Child “A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage.” Back in1928 Herbert Hoover successfully used this adage in hispresidential campaign. In this age of technology we have“One laptop per child.” The retiring president of Uruguay,Tabaré Vázquez, recently fulfilled his promise to give lap-top computers to the 360,000 primary school students and18,000 primary school teachers in his nation.

Making this possible is Nicholas Negroponte and his OneLaptop Per Child program. Over one million machines havebeen distributed worldwide and another million are planned.In Rwanda 100,000 laptops are going to schoolchildren.Peru, Nigeria, Portugal, South Africa and Haiti are involvedin supplying computers to their schoolchildren.

Challenges of cost, distribution, maintenance, trainingand content remain. But such challenges are part of anycreative, far-sighted new program. As groups and nationsargue the merits of One Laptop Per Child, the perennialdebate about “guns versus butter” arises. Should swords beturned into plowshares or into food to feed the world’shungry children? Why not into laptops? Might some smallpercent of the billions spent in Afghanistan and Iraq go tothe distribution of these inexpensive computers?

The movement continues to grow, not replacing concernfor child and adult literacy but expanding it to includetechnological literacy, which seems indispensable for suc-cess in the world of tomorrow. The One Laptop Per Childprogram is a welcome step in the right direction.

hould residents of local communities have the rightto keep handguns in their homes? This SecondAmendment issue is a question that the Supreme

Court will consider in 2010, perhaps as early as February.The specific case before the court is McDonald v. Chicago,in which a few of that city’s residents, strongly backed by theNational Rifle Association, are challenging Chicago’s strictgun control laws.

Setting the stage for this case was last year’s SupremeCourt decision in District of Columbia v. Heller. To the dis-may of gun control advocates, the court ruled then that thedistrict’s prohibition against the possession of handguns inthe home for self-defense violated the Second Amendment.But because the district is a federally governed zone, thatdecision applied only there and to similar federal enclaves,like military bases. To widen the impact of the ruling tolocal and state regions, gun rights proponents want toobtain a similar ruling in the Chicago case and thus eviscer-ate the stricter gun laws there and elsewhere in the country.Such a ruling would be a troubling development indeed,particularly for Chicago, a city that has an especially highrate of gun violence. Between September 2007 and April2008, two dozen teenage public school students were mur-dered there, most of them shot to death.

This year Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York,an ardent gun control advocate, who has enlisted the sup-port of mayors nationwide to fight gun violence through thebipartisan group Mayors Against Illegal Guns, initiated afour-month investigation of gun shows in three states withweak gun control laws. The report, Gun Show: Under Cover,describes how undercover investigators traveled to gunshows in Nevada, Ohio and Tennessee last spring and sum-mer. They used concealed video equipment to documentgun show dealers selling weapons, contrary to federal law, topeople who could not pass criminal background checks.They also proved that dealers frequently sold to straw pur-chasers, who had only to prove their residency in the stateand a crime-free background in order to buy arms, whichthey then turned over to the real buyer, who would in turntransport them back to New York and other cities along theso-called “iron pipeline.” Many of these weapons have beentraced to shooting deaths.

The investigators found that of 30 private sellers inthe three states, 19 sold weapons even when the under-cover purchaser said that he himself would probably notpass a background check. One seller replied with a laugh, “I

wouldn’t pass either, bud.“ Moreover,had the buyer later committed a crime,there would be no way to trace theweapon’s provenance, because privatesellers are not required to keep recordsof gun show sales. The investigatorsalso tested federally licensed gun showdealers, who, unlike private sellers, must conduct back-ground checks. Of 17 dealers videotaped, 16 sold guns tostraw purchasers.

Kristen Rand, legislative director at the nonprofitViolence Policy Center in Washington, D.C., pointed out toAmerica that such weapons all come from jurisdictionswithout strong laws like Chicago’s. “You can’t buy a hand-gun in Chicago or the District of Columbia legally, so traf-fickers go to states with weaker laws and then bring them tothe cities that don’t allow their purchase.” For Ms. Rand andother gun control advocates, one of the worst aspects of avictory by those who mounted McDonald v. Chicago wouldbe that it would remove what she called “the most effectivemeasures to prevent handgun violence.” She observed thatthe Supreme Court in both Heller and now in McDonald isexamining the issue solely as a question of constitutional law“and not in terms of the deadly effect on citizens of gun vio-lence.” The court should know better than most that, as for-mer U.S. Justice Robert H. Jackson said, “the Constitutionis not a suicide pact.”

Although most observers fear that the outcome of theChicago case will be similar to that of the Heller case, oneground for hope is a bill introduced by Senator Frank R.Lautenberg, Democrat of New Jersey. It would mandatebackground checks for all private sales at gun shows. In themeantime, states with bad records of gun violence continueto allow gun show loopholes to remain open. The implica-tions of the killing of 33 people at Virginia Tech in 2007 bya mentally deranged man who had no difficulty obtaininghis weapons has faded too quickly from public memory.Virginia legislators who are once more resisting pluggingthe gun show loophole for private sales seem also to haveforgotten. Closing this loophole could slow the deadly flowalong the iron pipeline.

Rights have correlative duties. When individuals andlocalities do not meet those responsibilities, it falls to govern-ment to do so. Thus, if there is a fundamental SecondAmendment right to bear arms, there is also, as there mustbe, a fundamental responsibility to regulate their sale and use.

The Iron Pipeline

S

November 16, 2009 America 5

EDITORIAL

Dr. Francis S. Collins

Director, National Center forHuman Genome Research

Dr. George V. Coyne, S.J.

Director Emeritus,Vatican Observatory

Dr. Michael E. DeBakey

Chancellor Emeritus,Baylor College of Medicine

Dr. Petrus J.W. Debye

Nobel Laureate in Chemistry

Dr. Peter C. Doherty

Nobel Laureate in Medicine

Dr. Paul Farmer

Chairman, Department ofGlobal Health and Social Medicine,Harvard Medical School

Dr. Victor A. McKusick

Founder, Human Genome Organization

Dr. Peter Raven

Director, Missouri Botanical Garden

Dr. Janet Rowley

Blum-Riese Distinguished ServiceProfessor, Department of Human Genetics,University of Chicago

Dr. Philip A. Sharpe

Nobel Laureate in Medicine

Rev. P.Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.

Paleontologist, National GeologicalSurvey of China

Dr. Charles H.Townes

Nobel Laureate in Physics

Dr. Maxine F. Singer

President, Carnegie Institutionof Washington

Dr. Ruth Patrick

Francis Boyer Chair of Limnology,Academy of Natural Sciences

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had been refused by the [Honduran]Congress and the Supreme Court.”

Zelaya’s populist push and explicitappeals to the poor laid bare deep classdivisions, and even deeper divisionsbetween the president and thecongress and the courts. “There wasalready an institutional train wreck inmotion,” Sabatini said.

According to Luis Cosenza, a for-mer minister in the center-right gov-ernment of the former Honduranpresident, Ricardo Maduro, the agree-ment between Zelaya and the interimpresident, Roberto Micheletti, marksa new beginning for Honduras. “I’moptimistic,” he said. “From a purelypragmatic political point of view, Ithink it’s a reasonable agreement. Ithink it preserves democracy.”Cosenza emphasized that the agree-ment stipulates there will be no consti-tutional congress assembled to draft anew constitution, nor any amnesty forthe restored president’s alleged crimes.

shaky political truce emerged late last month in Honduras, promising anend to more than four months of political turmoil that followed the earlysummer ouster of President Manuel Zelaya. The Central American

nation is almost certainly set for more short-term tension: Some form of unitygovernment must take shape; the issue of Zelaya's reinstatement for the briefremainder of his term must be resolved; and national elections are to be held onNov. 29. It is still unclear if the upcoming election will be as widely embracedinternationally as Zelaya’s ouster was widely condemned.

The roots of the conflict in Honduras go back long before the military’s guns werepointed at the democratically elected president as he was forced to leave his coun-try—still wearing his pajamas—on June 28. The manner of his removal began adebate throughout the region over its constitutional legitimacy. The U.S. StateDepartment, for its part, quickly condemned the events of June 28 as an unlawfulcoup and joined other members of the Organization of American States in demand-ing Zelaya’s restoration to office.

“But Zelaya is no saint,” said Christopher Sabatini, senior director of policy for theNew York-based Council of the Americas. “He had already overstepped the boundsof the constitution, calling for what was clearly an unconstitutional plebiscite, one that


Throughout the crisis, most elitegroups in Honduran society stronglyopposed Zelaya’s restoration. Thearchbishop of Tegucigalpa, CardinalAndrés Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga,signaled his support for Zelaya’sremoval in a letter dated July 3 signedby all Honduran bishops. But almostimmediately a split emerged in theCatholic leadership as Bishop LuisSantos Villeda of the Diocese of SantaRosa de Copán began expressing hisdispleasure with the de facto govern-ment. On Sept. 24 he issued a state-ment denouncing coup leaders, urginga return to “constitutional order” andsingling out “the unjust distribution ofwealth, which creates deep inequalitiesin Honduras.”

Robert Pelton, C.S.C., an expert onthe Catholic Church in Latin Americaat the University of Notre Dame, saidhe was “extremely surprised” by thesplit and particularly by Rodriguez’s

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

The upheaval caused by Zelaya’souster has been at times acute. Masspro-Zelaya protests on the streets ofTegucigalpa were met with counter-demonstrations. Eventually the Mi-cheletti government banned protestsand shut down pro-Zelaya media out-lets. Zelaya managed to re-enter thecountry on Sept. 21 and found refugeat the Brazilian embassy. From there,he continued to agitate for his returnto power, and more street confronta-tions followed.

The recent agreement, brokered inpart by U.S. Assistant Secretary ofState Thomas Shannon, allows forZelaya to serve out the remaining twomonths of his term, subject to congres-sional approval. “The Congress didoriginally approve Zelaya’s removal,”said Sabatini, “but the agreement givesthem an opportunity to unwind thatdecision.” He cautioned, “I’m worriedthat things could still fall apart.”

A

L A T I N A M E R I C A R E P O R T

Honduran Standoff Near an End?

A supporter of oustedPresident Zelaya


decision to support Zelaya’s removal.“[The bishops] ordinarily standtogether,” he said. He thinks that divi-sion prevented the local church fromserving as a mediator in the crisis.

“The divided nature of the churchadded to this confusion and disorien-tation of the populace that there’s noclear, moral center on this issue,” saidSabatini. In the future, he argued, theinternational community needs toaddress interruptions of democraticorder before they reach a crisis state.For now: “We need to close the chap-ter on both Zelaya and Micheletti,” hesaid. “What needs to be established isa new government of national unitythat can restore Hondurans’ faith ingovernment.”

The next several weeks are sure totest that faith.

DAVID ALIRE GARCIA is a journalist basedin Detroit, Mich.

ife issues from the test tube tothe deathbed are on the agen-da for the U.S. Conference of

Catholic Bishops’ fall general assem-bly. The meeting in Baltimore fromNov. 16 to 19 will also include whatthe bishops hope will be their finalconsideration of action items relatedto the Roman Missal. They will alsodebate and vote on a lengthy documenton marriage.

Health care. Up for debate by thebishops is a proposed revision to thedirectives that guide Catholic heathcare facilities. “As a general rule, there isan obligation to provide patients withfood and water, including medicallyassisted nutrition and hydration forthose who cannot take food orally,” saysthe revised text of the Ethical andReligious Directives for Catholic HealthCare Services proposed by the U.S.bishops’ Committee on Doctrine.“This obligation extends to patients inchronic conditions (e.g., the ‘persistentvegetative state’) who can reasonably beexpected to live indefinitely if givensuch care,” the new text adds.

Missal. With five votes on theEnglish translation and U.S. adapta-tions of the Roman Missal, the bishopshope to conclude nearly six years ofintense and sometimes contentiousconsultations. Each section of themissal must be approved by two-thirdsof the U.S.C.C.B.’s Latin-rite member-ship and will then be sent to theVatican for recognitio, or confirmation.

While awaiting Vatican approval ofall sections of the Missal, the U.S.church will begin “a process of catech-esis,” said Msgr. Anthony Sherman,executive director of the bishops’

Office of Divine Worship, “so thateveryone is ready to move along whenwe get the final text from the Vatican.”

Marriage. The 57-page proposedpastoral letter on marriage is to beissued in the hope of reversing whatthe bishops call “a disturbing trend”toward viewing marriage as “a mostlyprivate matter,” with personal satisfac-tion as its only goal. The letter, calledMarriage: Life and Love in the DivinePlan, cites four “fundamental chal-lenges to the nature and purpose of

marriage”: contraception, same-sexunions, divorce and cohabitation.Calling both contraception and cohab-itation “intrinsically evil,” the bishopssay that although couples who usecontraception “may think that they aredoing nothing harmful to their mar-riages,” they are in reality causingmany negative consequences, bothpersonal and societal.

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz ofLouisville, Ky., who chairs the bishops’Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense ofMarriage, also will report on efforts topromote and protect marriage as theexclusive and permanent union be-tween a man and a woman.

U.S. bishops hope to conclude theirwork on the Roman Missal this month.

B A L T I M O R E

Bishops to Consider Life Issues,New Roman Missal and Marriage

L


rights” in health reform legislation. “Ifthese serious concerns are notaddressed, the final bill should beopposed,” it read. The insert high-lighted an amendment sponsored byRepresentative Bart Stupak,Democrat of Michigan, which“addresses essential pro-life concernson abortion funding and consciencerights.” It stated: “Help ensure thatthe rule for the bill allows a vote onthe amendment.... If these seriousconcerns are not addressed, the finalbill should be opposed.”

Supreme CourtDeclines AppealThe Diocese of Bridgeport said it wasdisappointed that the U.S. SupremeCourt declined to hear its final peti-tion asking the court to overturn a

Respect Life: Welcome

Migrants, Says Vatican Catholics’ respect for human life anddignity must be clear in the way theywelcome the world’s estimated 200million migrants and 11 millionrefugees, offer them pastoral care andlobby their governments for fairertreatment of people on the move, aVatican official said. ArchbishopAntonio Maria Veglio, president of thePontifical Council for Migrants andTravelers, said globalization is not justan economic phenomenon. It also hasan impact on the movement of people,and people must be the focus ofChristian attention, he said.

Archbishop Veglio spoke on Nov. 3at a Vatican press conference before theSixth World Congress on the PastoralCare of Migrants and Refugees, whichis to meet at the Vatican from Nov. 9 to12. With globalization the church notonly has had to reach out to assist peo-ple on the move, it has also had toaddress situations that force them toseek a new life away from their home-land as well as attitudes and policiesthat make it difficult or impossible forthem to live with dignity in a new land,Archbishop Veglio said.

Bishops Issue

Health Care Alert The U.S. Conference of CatholicBishops distributed bulletin inserts toalmost 19,000 parishes across thecountry on Nov. 1 in an effort to urgeCatholics to prevent health carereform from being derailed by supportfor abortion funding. “Health carereform should be about saving lives,not destroying them,” the insert stated.It urged readers to press Senate leadersto support efforts to “incorporate long-standing policies against abortionfunding and in favor of conscience

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

On Oct. 30 Miami’s Archbishop John C.Favalora barred the Legionaries of Christfrom exercising any ministry in the archdio-cese • Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron ofDetroit descended 1,200 feet into the salt ofthe earth to bless a newly made statue andshrine to St. Barbara, the patroness of miners,at the site of Michigan’s lone rock-salt mine. • Representative PatrickKennedy, Democrat of Rhode Island, has accepted an invitationfrom Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence to engage in a discus-sion about the issue of health care reform. • A new Vatican exhibitmarking the 400th anniversary of the death of Matteo Ricci, anItalian Jesuit who spent 28 years in missionary work in China,opened Oct. 30. • Welcoming Iran’s new ambassador to the Vaticanon Oct. 29, Pope Benedict XVI praised the “deep religious sensibil-ity” of the Iranian people and called on Iran to strengthen guaranteesof religious freedom for the country’s tiny and ancient Catholic com-munity. • Authorities were awaiting results of an autopsy on Nov. 3to determine the exact cause of death of Marguerite Bartz of theSisters of the Blessed Sacrament, who was found dead in her Navajo,N.M., convent two days earlier.

N E W S B R I E F S

ruling by the Connecticut SupremeCourt requiring the diocese to releasedocuments from long-settled abusecases. “We continue to believe that theconstitutional issues presented,including the First Amendment rightsof religious organizations and the pri-vacy rights of all citizens, are signifi-cant and important for the court toconsider,” the diocese said in a state-ment on Nov. 2. The diocese is nowworking with the Connecticut courtsto assure the materials are “appropri-ately unsealed.” The decision meansthe diocese must release 12,000 pagesof depositions, exhibits and legal argu-ments in 23 lawsuits involving sixpriests. Four newspapers had sued foraccess to the documents.

From CNS and other sources.

Allen H. Vigneron (r)

Taliban, and Al Qaeda terrorists basedacross the border in Pakistan, and theychallenge attempts at legal governance.Fighting the opium trade is dangerous;deaths of poppy-eradication workersin Afghanistan increased sixfold in2008. If the United States wanted topay these fighters not to fight or growopium, the drug-money inflated pricetag could be beyond the reach of therecession-depleted U.S. budget. The

United States does nothave a good record infighting wars on drugs.

There are successstories in Afghanistan,from Catholic ReliefServices’ agricultureprojects in the north-west to increased accessto health care and edu-cation for women andchildren in areas whereTaliban influence has

waned. The costs are large. TheUnited States has spent over $228 bil-lion in combat operations alone inAfghanistan, with billions more to bespent on aid and veterans’ paymentsfor decades to come.

U.S. troop levels have increasedfrom over 5,000 in 2002 to more than68,000 today. Over 38,000 NATOtroops also serve. More than 1,500military service members have died inAfghanistan since 2001 (over 900 ofthem Americans). Afghan civiliancasualties are estimated at over 5,000since 2006; totals since the war beganmay be double that.

To assess any of this accurately, wemust remove our “Iraq-colored glass-es” to see Afghanistan as it is andmore effectively calibrate U.S. foreignpolicy.

s President Obama and theCongress consider what poli-cy options to pursue in

Afghanistan, we must understand thatAfghanistan is not Iraq, and thatAfghanistan is not a failed state.

In the current policy debate,Afghanistan is repeatedly and erro-neously compared to Iraq. People whoought to know better argue that anadditional surge in U.S. troops inAfghanistan will quell the rising vio-lence there and allow the Afghan gov-ernment to take over, as supposedlyhappened in Iraq. U.S. military forcesinvaded both Iraq and Afghanistan;the comparison between the twoshould end there.

Prior to the U.S. invasion, Iraq hadan industrial and prosperous oil econ-omy and an urban, literate population;life expectancy was 70 years. Iraq hasbeen a player in global trade from theMesopotamian era until today. Iraqnow has the fourth largest proven oilreserves in the world.

Iraq was run for decades after colo-nialism by a brutal centralized govern-ment. The Bush administration invad-ed to impose “democratic” regimechange. But Iraq had functioning cen-tral governance and a modern econo-my before the U.S. invasion; afterwardthe United States “merely” tried toreconstitute and recreate these. TheUnited States did not disarm or demo-bilize insurgents in Iraq but boughtthem off; it paid the Sons of Iraq andthe Awakening movements not tofight. With U.S. forces pulling out,

these programs are ending, but theIraqi government is not eager to hirethese former fighters, who numberover 110,000. This is why many, likeRyan Crocker, former U.S. ambas-sador to Iraq, believe the worst vio-lence in Iraq may lie ahead.

The Afghan case is quite different.Afghanistan is not a failed state, but afictional state. As in many regions ofthe world, there has never been asovereign state here in prac-tice, but only in unexaminedWestern default assump-tions. Afghanistan neverhad a strong central govern-ment or economy. Af-ghanistan is the world’ssixth poorest state, with oneof the worst infant mortalityrates. Afghanistan is notindustrialized and lacksinfrastructure.

The people are largelyilliterate, rural and poor, with a lifeexpectancy of 44 years. Afghanistan isan assemblage of often fiercelyautonomous tribal areas. Insurgencyand violence are quite local, as are therural economies whose products arelargely cut off from global trade, withthe exception of a minority of thecountry, the southern seven (of 34)provinces, which grow most of theworld’s opium.

Afghanistan supplies over 93 per-cent of the lucrative global market inopiates. Heroin is one of the world’smost valuable commodities, more valu-able than oil or gold by many orders ofmagnitude. The opium trade accountsfor an estimated 97 percent ofAghanistan’s gross domestic product.

These illegal narco-profits fundlocal and regional warlords, the

A Surge in Clarity

A

Afghanistan is not

a failed state, but a fictional

state.


MARYANN CUSIMANO LOVE, during hersabbatical from the Catholic University ofAmerica in Washington, D.C., is a fellow atthe Commission on International ReligiousFreedom.

MARYANN CUSIMANO LOVE

A procession at the Central American University in SanSalvador on the 10th anniversary of the 1989 massacre there.


group of highly trained Salvadoran soldiers entered the campus ofthe University of Central America in San Salvador shortly pastmidnight on Nov. 16, 1989. While their primary target was thepresident of the university, Ignacio Ellacuría, S.J., they murderedand mutilated nearly the entire Jesuit community—Ignacio and

five others. A seventh member of the community, Jon Sobrino, S.J., was inThailand teaching a course on Christology. The soldiers also murdered Elba andCelina Ramos, the Jesuits’ housekeeper and her daughter, who slept on campusthat night to escape the anxiety caused by the bullets and artillery around theneighborhood where they lived.

What happened that night brought home grimly yet powerfully the propheticdimension of teaching and research, when these activities are informed by anoption for the poor. The 32nd General Congregation of the Society of Jesus,which met in 1974-75, put the entire order on record: “The mission of theSociety of Jesus today is the service of faith, of which the promotion of justice isan absolute requirement.” The 33rd General Congregation (1983) reaffirmed thatdirection and insisted that “we wish to make our own the church’s preferentialoption for the poor.”

A Weak-Willed CongressThe civil war in El Salvador lasted 12 years, from 1980 to 1992, and claimed75,000 lives. The incompetence of American foreign policy with respect to theconditions that led to the conflict and in understanding who benefitted fromthe U.S. support of the Salvadoran military was appalling. As a result of theassassinations at the university, a weak-willed U.S. Congress finally began toface the problem of U.S. complicity in the Salvadoran situation.

A

The Road FromAguilares

BY WILLIAM REISER

TWENTY YEARS LATER:

REMEMBERING THE MARTYRS OF EL SALVADOR

WILLIAM REISER, S.J., is a professor of religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross inWorcester, Mass.

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Representative Joe Moakley, Democrat of Massachusetts,was appointed to lead an investigation that turned out tobe as courageous as it was eye-opening. El Salvador wasnot the only place in Latin America where the poor werebeing abased. Nine years earlier, four North Americanwomen who were returning to El Salvador—twoMaryknoll sisters, an Ursuline nun and a co-worker—were raped and murdered on their way from the airport.And two days before Archbishop Oscar Romero wasgunned down at the altar on March 24, 1980, anotherJesuit, Luis Espinal, was ambushed in La Paz, Bolivia,and silenced for his defense of the rights and dignity ofthe poor.

The stories of such “martyrs for justice,” as Father JonSobrino calls the slain Jesuits and many others, do not beginwith the martyrs themselves but with the people on the bot-tom—the victims of poverty, miscarriages of justice andclass prejudice; the throwaways and the “disappeared.” Thestory of the Salvadoran Jesuits, for example, takes us to thepolitical, social and economic oppression endured by peas-ants so poor that they needed to be catechized before theycould imagine that the world could be different. Whatwould El Salvador look like if God’s will were done onearth, just as it is in heaven?

Father Ellacuría and his companions understood that themission of a Christian university as an apostolic instrumentis not disconnected from the economic and political condi-tions of the society in which it is located. On the contrary,the university’s mission derives directly from its awarenessof the everyday reality that poor people endure. But asFather Sobrino explains in his essay “The University’sChristian Inspiration,” because a university needs resourcesit is almost by necessity implicated in a world of economicand political power, and “this incarnation amid power tendsto distance the university from social reality as lived by thepoorest and most marginalized.” Indeed, even the churchhas to be careful never to lose sight of the world of the poor,and contact with it. Preachers and teachers whose heartsand intelligence are immersed in that world are moreattuned to the deeper rhythms of Scripture. Distance fromthe poor leads to distance from God.

Aguilares and Rutilio GrandeAguilares was the village where Rutilio Grande, S.J., hadbeen working and the place to which his close friend, OscarRomero, rushed when he heard the news of Grande’s assas-sination on March 12, 1977. It was also where Romerolater, as archbishop, experienced a profound spiritual awak-ening. The bishop’s “place,” he came to understand, is withhis people; he is never more bishop than when walkingalongside the poorest and most vulnerable of his diocese.Aguilares was also where the Jesuits, so suspect in the eyes

of El Salvador’s elite and of Archbishop Romero himselfearlier, came to be of one heart and mind. The poor werepowerless. Christ became poor, which means that he alsobecame powerless. And the reason for the impoverishmentboth of Jesus and the people? Because, in El Salvador, oth-ers had become rich and privileged at their expense.Poverty is visible, but the oppressive forces that createstructural violence are usually hidden. One needs the lensof solidarity to perceive those forces, and Aguilares gave thearchbishop the lens that enabled him to identify what hesaw as crucifixion.

Father Ellacuría and the other Jesuits in his communi-ty had already undergone their “Aguilares moment,” theflash that shatters the familiarity hiding the underside ofeveryday life. What immediately grabs attention is thatthey were murdered, not the conversion process that ledto the radicalization of their vision. In the case of thearchbishop, however, it is less his murder that fascinatesus than the story of how a conservative churchmanbecame prophetic.

By contrast, Ignacio Ellacuría’s conversion, his embraceof the central categories that came to be associated with thetheology of liberation, unfolded gradually, largely throughreading, study and discussion. His theological orientationwas rooted in the Second Vatican Council. He had fullydigested Paul VI’s encyclical Populorum Progressio (1967)and the documents from the Second Conference of theLatin American bishops in Medellín, Colombia, in 1968.His doctoral work in philosophy sharpened his ability todecipher the historical reality that was El Salvador.Apostolic activity without a vision of the kingdom of Godtends to validate itself in terms of helping people into thenext life but at the risk of meekly acquiescing to the waythings are now. Apostolic activity with a vision of the hori-zon wants to transform the world. It is a faith that does jus-tice, which means that the church—especially its pastorsand teachers—tries to make its voice heard in the politicalarena. As a result, Romero encountered severe oppositionamong the Salvadoran elites and their military, and in somecorridors of the Vatican.

Because the demands of social justice often requirestepping into a country’s political life, Father Ellacuríafound himself immersed in negotiations between the gov-ernment and the revolutionary resistance during thecourse of the country’s civil war. What is intriguing is howhe came to his view of justice and liberation by reading andstudying and through the clarification of thought andexpression that results from conversation and argument.As they fulfill their mission, Christian universities facili-tate such a shift in perspective. Some people actually doread their way into conversion. St. Ignatius did so whilerecuperating after the battle in Pamplona, although even


forceful church documents and living models. More likely ithad to do with fear and insecurity: not a fear of death somuch as a fear of hostility, violence and failure, of not know-ing how to respond to circumstances and backgrounds sodifferent from my own and so greatly beyond my control.

The next step is obvious. We develop friendships withthe very ones who have made us unset-tled and afraid. While we might not beas free as Jesus when it comes to seek-ing the company of those at the mar-gins, at least as a start these friendshipsenable us to move beyond fear and

insecurity, defensiveness and hostility. These relationshipsreshape how we observe, interpret and respond to theworld. The lesson of the martyrs is that whether we think ofthe world in local or global terms, there is no way to escapethe route toward the mortal conflict that tears society intwo, except by what Paul called “this ministry of reconcilia-tion.” Working for justice is absolutely essential. But if sus-picion and estrangement are not overcome, the kingdom ofGod remains only partially realized. We may be able to readourselves into the horizon of justice, but we cannot readourselves into freedom from fear. The way to that liberationpasses through the villages and homes of the poor—theroad that leads from Aguilares.

in his case some spiritual lessons were learned only fromexperience and not from books.

Ellacuría’s Aguilares MomentI suspect, then, that Ellacuría’s Aguilares moment was infact extended over some time. While he read, studied andtalked, the world in front of him never lostits political and social immediacy. His abili-ty to imagine was not insensitive to “the joysand the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties ofthe people of this age, especially those whoare poor or in any way afflicted,” as the open-ing line of Gaudium et Spes put it, by class loyalties or eccle-siastical privilege or doctrinal mindset. Since fear keepstruth at bay, it closes our eyes to hard realities we need toface. The Jesuits’ Central American Province newsletternoted: “When people would ask Ellacu if he were not afraidhe would say no, but, he added, he no more took credit forthat than for lacking a sense of smell. He just didn’t haveone.” The world of the poor and of victims was not outside,awaiting full access to his mind and heart. It was alreadywithin him.

Jesuit colleges and universities become effective instru-ments insofar as they have a critical mass of faculty mem-bers and staff who share the same Christian inspiration thatEllacuría and his companions brought to the Catholic uni-versity in San Salvador and by which they transformed it.The hard part is not assembling the critical mass, however;it is discovering that inspiration and keeping it alive. Here Idraw on personal experience. By 1988 I had been teachingtheology for 10 years. The theology was in line with VaticanII. I drew widely and appreciatively on liberation theologyand Catholic social teaching; the forceful words of theSociety’s 32nd General Congregation about justice and faithstruck a deep chord. To this point, I could follow Ellacuría.But then, over the course of a weekend, I came face to facewith poverty among families no more than a mile from thecampus in Massachusetts where I was living and working.

A Late Personal DiscoveryWithin weeks I was looking at the underside of life in run-down apartments, where shadows and shouts awakenedlong-buried fears about violence, about different lifestyles,about brokenness and isolation. The memory of Romero—not his martyrdom but his enlightenment—enabled me tomake sense of what was happening. I myself was passingthrough an Aguilares moment, and the people I met wereLatino. It was a moment of feeling terribly disoriented andunmoored, yet at the same time untied and excited. Evennow, more than 20 years later, I cannot figure out why thediscovery took so long in coming. Its delay was not for lackof better training or critical reflection, nor was it for want of


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ON THE WEBKevin F. Burke, S.J., remembers the

martyrs of El Salvador.

americamagazine.org/podcast

A

apal Gambit Stuns Church” was how TheTimes of London headlined its front pageOct. 21. Inside, an editorial thundered thatRome’s newly announced legal structureallowing Anglicans to join the Catholic

Church without giving up their rites and traditions had“dangerously weakened” Anglicanism. The editors said thatPope Benedict XVI stands accused of damaging churchunity and ecumenical cooperation.

It was gloriously retro, as if out of an 1850 Punch car-toon showing a sinister pope and cardinal trying to forcetheir way through a door over the caption: “Daring attemptto break into a church.” The Times’s metaphors—Rome was“annexing” parts of the Church of England, parking its tankson Lambeth’s lawns, fishing in troubled Anglican water—glossed over important facts. The move was announced bythe archbishops of Canterbury and Westminster together;the pope was responding to insistent requests from disaf-fected Anglicans who had decided in conscience they couldno longer remain in the Church of England; he had notdone so before out of fear of undermining Anglican unity;and he was doing so now with an imaginative piece ofcanonical engineering that could do more to thaw relationsbetween the Catholic and Anglican churches than anythingsince their official unity talks began in the 1970s.

Still, the sense of violation was real—not least becausethe papal bombshell had dropped out of a clear blue skywith little warning. The former archbishop of Canterbury,George Carey, was outraged that his successor, RowanWilliams, learned of the move only two weeks previouslyand had been notified formally only when the prefect of theCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, CardinalWilliam Levada, visited London the weekend before. Buteven Lord Carey admitted that the proposal had vast poten-tial. “Straightforward ecumenism at the theological level isgoing nowhere,” he said. “This fresh initiative could havesurprising consequences.”

For his part, Archbishop Williams appeared noble butuncomfortable at the joint press conference he held in Londonwith Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, timed tocoincide with the announcement in Rome. Few believed themwhen they sought to reassure the world that it was “businessas usual” in relations between their churches. Although it isnormal for conversion and dialogue to be kept separate, com-mentators pointed to the absence of Cardinal Walter Kasper,head of the Vatican’s Council for Christian Unity, from thepress conference. This move outside typical Catholic-Anglicanchannels, made by the pope and his canonists in the C.D.F.,was some time in preparation—certainly since 2008, possiblysince 2006—and kept under wraps.

What Is a Personal Ordinariate?By announcing a forthcoming apostolic constitution thatwould allow the creation of quasi-separate canonical juris-dictions, known as personal ordinariates, for defectingAnglicans, the pope appeared to remove at a stroke thefences holding back Anglo-Catholics. He was doing so at atime when they faced being made homeless. The GeneralSynod of the Church of England voted in July 2008 to con-secrate women bishops without providing statutory protec-tion for traditionalists. Some Anglo-Catholic bishops wereseen leaving the synod hall in tears. At least two of themwent to Rome to plead for a means of corporate reception.

The delighted response to the pope’s offer by dozens oftraditionalist bishops, clergy and faithful seemed to demon-strate the wisdom of the move. Yet as the excitementrecedes—one should not overstate the story, which playedseventh on the main BBC television evening news thatday—the incoming tide swirls with difficult questions.What exactly is being proposed? Will it really lead to anexodus across the Tiber? If so, is it desirable for eitherchurch? If not, will the damage to Anglican-Catholic dia-logue be worth it? And what does it tell us about PopeBenedict’s priorities?

A personal ordinariate, according to Cardinal Levada,“will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion withthe Catholic Church while preserving elements of the dis-

What will come of the Vatican’s invitation to Anglicans?BY AUSTEN IVEREIGH

‘P


AUSTEN IVEREIGH, a journalist, was an adviser to Cardinal CormacMurphy-O’Connor, the former archbishop of Westminster.

Bridge Over The River Tiber


tinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony.” Itwould allow for their “pastoral oversight and guidance”under an ordinary to be appointed from among formerAnglican clergy—either an unmarried bishop or amarried or celibate priest. Within this structure, withboundaries like that of a bishops’ conference, Anglicansseeking Petrine authority without renouncing their tra-ditions can do so corporately, continuing to use theHigh Anglican liturgy, subject to Rome’s approval ofspecific texts. The ordinariate would have its own for-mation houses for seminarians, and if these seminari-ans will be able to marry, the proposal would guaranteein perpetuity the continuation of a distinct Anglican-Catholic structure.

It falls short of a uniate church, which has its owncanon law, rite and authority structure, but is a “cumu-lative jurisdiction” within the Latin Rite, much like amilitary ordinariate, Archbishop Nichols told journal-ists. The constitution would be an attempt to achieve a“balance between a corporate identity and the need tobe embedded locally,“ he went on, adding that thedetails could only be worked out once an ordinariatewere established following an application to the rele-vant bishops’ conference. Whole dioceses or parishescould transfer, but not with their buildings, which inthe British case would remain property of the church“by law established” in England.

Divisions and DialogueCardinal Basil Hume, archbishop of Westminster atthe time of the Church of England’s decision to ordainwomen as priests in the early 1990s, would not coun-tenance corporate reception at that time. He was happyto reordain Anglican married clergy but not to sanc-tion a distinct Anglican structure under a separatebishop. The four English and Welsh bishops who wentto negotiate with the C.D.F. at the time agreed that such amove would be divisive and would undermine the efforts ofthe official Catholic-Anglican dialogue process toward uni-fication. In the end, some 480 Anglican priests crossed over.Many became parish priests and bishops in the CatholicChurch. About 80 later crossed back. The married formerAnglican priests were generally parked in chaplaincies, awayfrom mainstream parish life. The path of conversion wasindividual, not corporate, leaving the Church in Englandand Wales enriched but unaltered.

The current proposal, by contrast, establishes a universaljuridical structure that could see ordinariates in Papua NewGuinea and Australia as well as England and Wales. It is aresponse as much to the 400,000-strong TraditionalAnglican Communion—which does not recognizeCanterbury—as it is to the Anglo-Catholics in the Church

of England (although no one doubts that the latter are thetrue prize). It appears to remove the difficulties that haveheld back hundreds of Anglo-Catholic priests from crossingthe Tiber; 600 recently gathered at a conference of the mainclerical group Forward in Faith, which claims more than1,000 members.

And what of the validity of Anglican orders? There wasa time when this question could have been revisited byRome, but the ordination of women made that impossible.The Anglo-Catholics have been careful to establish validityof orders by being ordained by certain bishops; but thatdoes not mean every Catholic-minded Anglican is includedin that effort. Rome remains skeptical. The Bishop ofFulham, John Broadhurst, chairman of Forward in Faith,says he thinks Rome is wrong not to recognize the validityof their orders, but he understands the need to be re- P

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Cardinal William Levada speaking at the Vatican on Oct. 20

ordained “for the avoidance of doubt.”For most, papal authority is not the issue, nor is it the

Catechism of the Catholic Church. The difficulty is with aban-doning the robed choir, the elaborate liturgy and the cadenceof the Book of Common Prayer; it is leaving behind tradi-tional English Catholicism and making the leap into the litur-gical and cultural world of postconciliar Roman Catholicism.When the C.D.F. quotes Pope Paul VI’sreference to “the legitimate patrimony ofthe Anglican inheritance” and the need tosafeguard it, Rome is speaking directly toAnglo-Catholic concerns.

Because of the possibility that wholecongregations, even dioceses, may find a home in the ordi-nariate, Anglo-Catholic priests need not abandon their flockswhen they enter into communion with Rome. Corporatereception meets the Anglo-Catholic need to be recognized asa body, an ecclesia, that over the centuries has established validorders and authentic communion. Their dream is unity of theChurch of England with Rome, and they have watched itshrivel. They want to be united, not absorbed.

Will the forthcoming apostolic constitution meet theseneeds? It is not yet clear. The two traditionalist Anglicanbishops who in July last year asked the pope for such ascheme say they are delighted by its scope and generosity.But they know that accepting the invitation is a journey, and

not all will want to uproot themselves. “Some Anglicans inthe Catholic tradition understandably will want to staywithin the Anglican Communion,” they said in a statement.“Others will wish to make individual arrangements as theirconscience directs. A further group of Anglicans, we think,will begin to form a caravan, rather like the People of Israelcrossing the desert in search of the Promised Land.”

Amid the gratitude and praise forPope Benedict’s offer are notes of caution.Bishop John Hind of Chichester told theForward in Faith conference that theannouncement begged the question ofwhether it was “an ecclesial proposal” or

“rather an opportunity for individual Anglicans organised ingroups.” Was the offer of “pastoral provision” an “honoringof Anglican ecclesial experience”? He said he wanted “to beassured that they will provide a real opportunity for a con-tinued ecclesial existence as distinct from a museum of nos-talgic items.” One Anglo-Catholic priest who has long con-sidered his position was unsure about who the ordinarywould be. “For us, being a Christian means being under abishop,” he told me. “A semidiocese not headed by a bishopwould be incomprehensible to us.”

Future EffectsYears of negotiation lie ahead. Although Cardinal Levadahas spoken of 20 to 30 Anglican bishops seeking such ahome, most will wait to see what an ordinariate looks likebefore they leap. But if dozens do, followed by many hun-dreds of priests and thousands of laypeople, what effect willit have on Catholic life and on the future prospects ofAnglican-Catholic unification?

Cardinal John Henry Newman was skeptical about anidea for an Anglican uniate church in his own time. In 1876he warned that “it would be very difficult to avoid perpetu-al collisions between the two bodies.... The Roman priestswould be complaining that the rich splendid AnglicanChurch in their mission was drawing away at least theyoung generation.” Imagine a visitor to London on a futureSunday choosing among Roman Catholic liturgies—one“Vatican II,” another “Tridentine,” another “Anglican”—andponder the effect of such market competition on our senseof church.

It is hard not to wonder, too, whether the existence of alarge number of married priests celebrating at the altar, withtheir wives and children in the pews, will hasten the ordina-tion of married men in the Latin Catholic church, especial-ly if the separate houses of formation envisaged in the ordi-nariate scheme allow future priests, as well as current ones,to be married. And what happens when a large group ofvery conservative clergymen enters the life of the CatholicChurch in England and Wales, a group defined by an


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embattled struggle against gay and female ordinations intheir own church? What happens when we solve our priestshortage with such men?

There are no easy answers to these questions. But onething is clear. The process of negotiating the terms of theordinariate—finding the balance between the local and theuniversal—will be crucial for future Catholic and Anglicanunderstanding. As the ordinariates come into being, RomanCatholics and Catholic Anglicans will begin to know andunderstand each other better: Anglican fears of Rome willsubside, and Roman ignorance of Anglican riches will beovercome. (One could loosely define those riches as themusic, rites and liturgical practices of the English Catholictradition, many of them dating from before theReformation.) Such cross-fertilization can only affect forthe better the long-term possibility of unification ofCatholics and Anglicans.

Progress in the dialogue between the two churches cancontinue. The current logjam is less over women priests orgay bishops than over the disintegration of Anglican ecclesi-ology. Rome has long complained that the official Anglican-Roman Catholic International Conmmission agreementsare worth little when the Church of England’s general synodlater repudiates them. Rome wants a church it can dealwith. That means backing Archbishop Williams’s attemptsto introduce a tighter ecclesiology into the Anglican


Communion while accepting that this necessarily meansthat the communion can no longer walk a tightrope betweenincompatible theologies and ecclesiologies. ArchbishopWilliams currently shows signs of succeeding in his effortsto persuade the fragmented members of his communion toadopt common structures, laws and agreed doctrines, whichmany have likened to an attempt to introduce a more“Catholic ecclesiology” but without a papal magisterium.The result of this “covenant” process, which is being resistedby liberals in North America and evangelicals in the devel-oping world, could be a smaller but more coherent commu-nion in which authority is more clearly defined—and withwhich Rome can do business. The departure of theAnglican Catholics would not adversely affect this processand could make it simpler.

Cardinal John Henry Newman disliked corporate unityschemes. In the end, all conversion is individual. But he alsoforesaw that the advance of secularization would cause theChristian bodies to converge over time and that part of thatprocess would necessarily be the integration of Christianscorporately into the life of the Catholic Church. Perhaps thepope had recently read Newman. At the London press con-ference Archbishop Nichols noted that the pope thinksChristians urgently need to unite in a rapidly secularizingWestern culture—hence this extraordinary move. Thepaths of the Reformation have never been stranger.

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A


His Holiness Benedict XVI

Address to the 35th General Congregation

of the Society of Jesus, February 2008

“As my predecessors have often told you, the Church needs you, counts on you, and

continues to turn to you with confidence, particularly to reach the geographical and

spiritual places where others do not reach or find it difficult to reach.”

Does someoneyou know have aJesuit vocation?

Responding to the Call of Christ.

The Society of Jesus

in the United States

Jesuit.org

®

Jesuit scholasticTravis Stoops celebrates Vow

Day with his parents.

am looking over a student’s transcript in the officesof International Christian High School, where Ihave labored for the last 10 years as a basketballcoach, writing teacher and counselor, when a new

colleague asks a question someone here asks me every year,“What church do you go to?” I pause, then look at her witha wry grin, knowing the answer is not going to be what sheexpects.

“I go to a Catholic church.” A momentary, awkwardsilence seizes her before she replies, “Oh.” I could hear herinner voice: He’s one of those.

Yes, I am. I’m the only Catholic at an evangelicalChristian, mostly minority school. I had never imaginedworking here, but then God has his ways.

One September day 10 years ago, my wife, Ellie, aProtestant who has been teaching French at InternationalChristian for 37 years, came home from school and said tome, “The principal wants to know if you would want to

coach the varsity basketball team.” The current coach hadjust quit—three weeks before practice was to begin. Theprincipal knew I had a basketball background, having beenan all-Catholic player at Roman Catholic High School inPhiladelphia, the first free Catholic high school in theUnited States (founded in 1890) and a two-year starter andhonorable mention all-East selection as point guard forTemple University.

“Do you?” my wife persisted. No, I didn’t. My life wasgood, so why would I want to risk my physical health (mypit bull drive to win would surely send my blood pressuresoaring) or my psychological health (a Catholic in an evan-gelical school!). Then, too, I had been away from the gamefor some 15 years. Coaching is an insane proposition in anycase; and, as my wife warned me, I would be coaching kidswho were “undisciplined.”

“Just for this year,” I said.

Teaching, Serving, CaringI admit I felt uncomfortable, perhaps even anxious, beingthe only Catholic, and because of the way I grew up in awhite middle-class Catholic neighborhood in Philadelphia.

Basketball DiaryA Catholic coach, an evangelical courtBY B. G. KELLEY

I


B. G. KELLEY has written for The New York Times, Sports Illustratedand other publications. He was a writer for the television movie “FinalShot: The Hank Gathers Story” and has written a book of poetry, TheWorld I Feel. P

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Not only were there no African-Americans or Hispanics inmy neighborhood, there were no Protestants. My wholeculture was carved in Catholicism. Not that I was sorry. Iwasn’t. Indeed, my Catholicism was my rock, my initiationinto a man’s world—Communion breakfasts with yourfather, hardscrabble C.Y.O. competition, high school dis-cussions with priests, Catholic buddies who always hadyour back. Yet there were those times I had a feeling thatchurch rulers reigned like an absolute monarchy, empty ofthe human touch.

I had felt a shift with Pope John Paul II, sensing that thechurch was moving away from its austere, distant personal-ity. With Pope John Paul, who laughed and sang and wrotepoetry and did not fearphysical contact, I beganto see the church more interms of teaching, servingand caring: a minister tothe poor, a healer to thedown and out, a fighterfor the essential rights anddignity of everyone, nomatter what religion orrace. It instilled in me aprofound hope that I could swing this only-Catholic thingat this evangelical school, even though I knew hope was nota policy. Hope is more like a prayer over a loved one’ssickbed; it would take savvy and a spine to keep hope alivefor me at International Christian High School.

Even if I could swing it, I knew my Catholicism wouldset me apart. The differences between my colleagues and mewould lie not so much in a set of religious beliefs, althoughthere would be differences, but more in a social and cultur-al way of life. The same experiences did not tie them inex-tricably to their faith as my experiences tied me toCatholicism—things like the profound meaning of transub-stantiation, or death as ritualized in the funerals of lovedones, or the birth and baptism of a child; things like thefidelity of school chums, the lighting of a candle, the honestzeal of a high school priest who teaches children to acceptboth challenges and suffering as part of the search for ful-fillment, a novena, the saints, the church beef-and-beersocials, bingo, C.Y.O. These connections to my conscious-ness sustain me, even save me.

One evangelical practice caused me much discomfiture. Ihave never been one to pray aloud and was reared to praysilently, more introspectively. At International Christian—in faculty meetings, in luncheon get-togethers, in the class-room, in chapel—long, extemporaneous prayers are alwaysoffered out loud. I hid behind silence. Then at the annualfaculty Christmas party this past December, as the affairwas ending the principal said, “Let’s pray. Mr. Kelley, would

you pray?” Gulp.I was paralyzed by silence for a long moment and then

said, “Would someone else please pray?” Let them fire me.They didn’t.

A Man of InfluenceThe school had put together an awards night in the smalllunchroom to honor the basketball team, which in my firstyear as coach had ripped off a 17-to-4 record, good enoughto be ranked 17th in the city—a surprise to everyone at theschool, including me. We did not recruit players like most ofthe private schools that we played, but drew only from apool of 70 boys who walked through the door. My evangel-

ical colleagues and stu-dents at the school playeda big part in bringing theawards night off. Thebusiness teacher decorat-ed the lunchroom withballoons and signs and setthe tables in blue andwhite, the school colors.The principal and theathletic director and their

wives cooked the meal. About 10 students volunteered towait tables.

I was ready to resign after the awards dinner. I hadcoached for gas money and knew that I was not going to becompensated at the rate other high school coaches werebeing paid. Our school worked on a bare-bones budget; itwas basically hand-to-mouth, what came in went right out.I reminded myself what Christ had said to his Apostlesabout accumulating money, “It cannot be that way withyou.”

At the banquet the mother of one of my junior players,Jake, approached me and said, “Coach, please don’t forgetabout my boy. You’ve had such an influence on him.” It wasindeed a moment in my life that seemed not only luminousbut also transformative. I loved Jake. He was our 6’7” centerwho was pivotal to our success. Jake’s mom’s plea had caughtme off guard, even rattled me somewhat.

I left the banquet that night haunted, Don’t forget aboutmy boy. I hesitated to hand in my resignation, then neverdid. Instead I went to the principal three weeks later andsaid, “I need to make more money to stay on.” I had sacri-ficed about $18,000 in what I would have earned fromwriting during my four months of coaching. I could notafford to do that for another year. After all, I had a sizeablemortgage.

The principal proffered, “O.K., how about teaching awriting course and helping the kids navigate their way intocollege?”

This little evangelical school has

given me a sense of place and

purpose, even though

this is more Billy Graham turf

than pope turf.


“Deal,” I said. More than many other professions, teach-ing (and coaching) demands, respects and celebrates thevirtues of hard work, tenacity and sacrifice, and lifts thesequalities to the level of God’s will. It is absolutely a commit-ment to get God’s children to care about the conduct of lifeitself: pointing out the differences between right and wrong,understanding that growth can feed from mistakes made,having a go at the mystery of ourselves, exploring the com-plex crossroads between what is and what ought to be,pushing to look inside the soul as well as the mind. Whiletrying to instill these virtues into the kids, I discovered I wasalso re-enforcing them in myself.

Vaughn brought that home to me. It is late one after-noon, and the streets outside of International ChristianHigh School are mean, scowling with anger. Drugs, crimeand gangs are a way of life in the neighborhood. There is areason for every war, a war for every reason. Here atInternational Christian High School, life seems a war ofsurvival.

Vaughn lives around the corner from the school. Hecomes from a family that struggles financially and health-wise. His brother needs a kidney transplant; his motherworks long hours to afford Vaughn’s tuition at our schooland to put food on the family table.

“Coach, thanks for helping me out,” he says. Vaughn isone of my former basketball players. I had just spent a cou-ple of hours in our tiny gym putting him through agilitydrills, defensive drills and shooting drills. He had beenaccepted at Valley Forge Christian College, a school justoutside of Philadelphia, and would be trying out for theteam come fall. But he was out of shape, too pudgy on a 5’9”frame. He had played four years for me and was a majorcontributor to five championships we had won.

I feared Vaughn would not stay in school if he didn’t havebasketball. He loved the game, and would be willing to puttime in on the books if there was basketball. I had alwayspreached to him—and all my players—that education istheir lifeline, not basketball; basketball is for a short timeand education is for a lifetime. I figured if I could help himstay in school, get his degree, get a good job to help out hismother, then I would be doing what God wanted me to do.

Indeed, I would be fulfilling a part of my Catholic train-ing: to carry out Jesus’ teachings about the poor and befaithful to the tradition of Catholic social thought thatviews respect for life as encompassing a strong commitmentto social justice.

Vaughn graduated from college this spring.

Soul CoachThere is good reason to have stayed all these years. I have noregrets. The little evangelical school has given me a sense ofplace and purpose, a sense of belonging, indeed a sense of the


humanity that Pope John Paul preached about, even thoughthis is more Billy Graham turf than pope turf. Teaching andcoaching at International Christian High School as the onlyCatholic has been, more than anything else, an experience ofthe soul. I willfully use the word “soul” and am not embar-rassed to use it. Mind you, though, I have not left all of mysoul during these 10 years, only pieces of it, because I knowthere will be another year to come back to and to give anoth-er piece. It is this experience of the soul that rejects leavinghere and offers me a still point of infinity.

Even with our differences, my colleagues have acceptedme more each year. I guess they realize we are on the samepage in one respect: We want to reach out and steer themostly underprivileged, minority kids we teach and minis-ter to into a more productive secular and spiritual life. I haveeven brought some of my Catholic school teaching along onthis journey and have given it to the kids: go on a rationalsearch for life—being before becoming.

This passage in my life as the only Catholic in an evan-gelical Christian school has offered me a presence in a child’slife. Jake called me a year ago. “Coach, thanks for your helpand guidance,” he said. “ I’m going to France to play profes-sional basketball.” Don’t forget about my boy.

Yes, I’ve grown accustomed to being the only Catholic atthis school. Maybe I feel too good to notice. I kind of like itthat way.

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endangering the child’s life after ‘via-bility’ as a result of the complicationsof prematurity.”

What follows is not meant as a con-tribution to the particulars of thedebate concerning how best to handlepregnancies with fatal anomalies.Instead, it is a sketch of one such casein a particular family. My purpose is tobear witness to the depth of humananguish that accompanies such a diag-nosis, the strength of a family thatpatiently bore it and the grace presenttherein. Some details have beenaltered to protect the identity of theparticipants.

A Fatal Absence

The diagnosis, at 21 weeks, was Pottersyndrome. Its clinical description,bilateral renal agenesis, bespoke the

regnancies in which there is adiagnosis of fatal, congenitalanomalies are rare but pro-

foundly tragic. There exists withinthe Catholic tradition a developedmoral debate about the appropri-ateness of inducing early labor insuch pregnancies. The debate haslargely focused upon whether,given the impending death of ababy upon or shortly after birth,labor may be induced when a preg-nancy reaches viability but prior tofull term in order to alleviate thepotentially grave psychologicalburden to parents that can accom-pany these diagnoses and theinherent physical burdens of preg-nancy that come to all expectantmothers.

In 1996 the U.S. Conferenceof Catholic Bishops contributedto the dialogue in a document byits Committee on Doctrine enti-tled Moral Principles ConcerningInfants With Anencephaly. Whileacknowledging the “profound andpersonal suffering of the parents” andthe “compassionate pastoral andmedical care” these realities requireof Catholic health care, the bishops,reasoning from the church’s teachingon abortion, concluded: “The factthat the life of a child suffering fromanencephaly will probably be briefcannot excuse directly causing thedeath before ‘viability’ or gravely

Birth Plan

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Chronicle of a brief life foretoldBY JOHN J. HARDT

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fatal, developmental absence. Thisbaby had no kidneys, a genetic wrinklethat demarcates a deadly run of defi-

ciencies: an insufficient amount ofamniotic fluid, underdevelopedlungs and the inability of the babyto breathe on his own at birth.There was to be no “genesis” forthis baby boy, at least no begin-ning as most of us think of begin-nings for newborn babies.

“There is no treatment,” thedoctor told her. “I’m so terriblysorry.” On hearing these words,the mother said, she became a liv-ing tomb. This doctor had deliv-ered the two children who werewaiting at home to hear abouttheir new brother growing insidetheir mother. But now her babywas going to die, and there wasnothing anyone could do about it.The diagnosis was taken in overthe course of several days of grief

and anguish. A “fatal anomaly,” the doctor had

said. Their baby had no hope of living.Excited discussion in the waiting roomabout when the pregnancy wouldreach “viability” was now renderedmeaningless, the word made brittleand empty when set against the realityof this life sheered off at its root. Thereseemed no viable hope of anything.

The decision was made to seek anearly induction, to end this pregnancyin which an infant was destined to dieminutes or hours after birth no matterhow long it remained in the womb.Everyone understood. But there was aproblem.

The doctor sat down with the par-

FAITH IN FOCUS

JOHN J. HARDT is an assistant professor ofbioethics at Loyola University Chicago’sStritch School of Medicine and assistant to thepresident for Mission and Identity at LoyolaUniversity Chicago.

ents. “As a Catholic hospital, our prac-tice guidelines preclude an early induc-tion in this instance. We cannot helpyou with an early induction. I’m sosorry to be adding to the burden ofwhat you’re going through.”

The mother wept. Minutes passedbefore the doctor spoke again. “Thereis another option I can offer you. If youwanted to stay here with us—and youdon’t have to—but if you did, wewould be privileged to bring this littlebaby boy into the world. We will mon-itor you and the baby closely for therest of your pregnancy. I promise thatI won’t let anything happen to you.”

They discussed this possibility atlength. They painstakingly returned tothe diagnosis. How did this happen?What could they expect for theremainder of the pregnancy? Whatwill he look like when he is born?What if he is not breathing?

The mother concluded, “We needto think about this.” A week passedbefore she called the office and anappointment was made.

A Viable Plan

The day of the appointment came.“We would like you to deliver ourbaby. We’ve put together a birth plan.We need to know that you and thehospital will agree to it.”

She held out a single piece of whitepaper, 12 typed bullet points runningdown its left margin with two inkedsignatures at the bottom of the page:

• If I don’t deliver prior to term, wewould like to induce delivery when thebaby reaches full term at a date setwith our physician.

• Please notify the chaplain inadvance of our arrival at the hospital.

• We would like our baby to be givenhospice care at birth. We are especiallyconcerned that he not be in pain.

• If the baby is not breathing uponbirth, we are requesting no medicalinterventions, no attempts at resusci-tation.

• We reserve the right to change our


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mind about any intervention requestsupon delivery.

• We are requesting a private roomafter delivery.

• We would like to have the babybaptized.

• We have arranged for a photogra-pher to take pictures of us as a family.

• We would like to have footprintsand handprints made of him.

• I would like to hold him. • I would like to try to feed him. • I would like to give him his first

bath. This baby boy was born in the

dark of early morning. He died thatsame day, shortly after his first sun-rise, within three hours. He was pho-tographed and foot-printed, held andfed, bathed and baptized. He wasjudged to be beautiful and a blessing,and he died in his parents’ embrace,the blessed fruit of his mother’swomb.

If confronted with identical cir-cumstances, some of us would thinkthe choice these parents made wouldnot be best for our families. But thisstory is in many ways paradigmatic ofthe values present in Catholic teach-ing on this issue. In particular, in thiscase we see the processes of illness,birth and death move according totheir own determined time. The fam-ily seems to have moved along a simi-lar continuum: an unfolding of grief,acceptance and meaning over thecourse of the nine months. Thepatience they exhibited is in stark con-trast to our cultural instinct to takecontrol of a situation and facilitate arapid, almost immediate resolution.The life they baptized and loved isalso in stark contrast to our expecta-tions of what a new life “should be”—whatever that might be.

While we cannot deduce a universalconclusion from a narrative, such astory illustrates the beauty of the val-ues of our Catholic tradition. And, tosome extent, beauty is always a witnessto truth.


CHRONICLE OF FAITHFaith and Reason: Catholics, Science and Culture

A Conference Celebrating the Legacy of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition

IMMACULATA UNIVERSITYSUBURBAN PHILADELPHIA

Friday, April 30 and Saturday, May 1, 2010

Keynote Speaker: John F. Haught, PhDDistinguished Research Professor,

Senior Fellow, Science and Religion Woodstock Theological Center, Georgetown University

Lonergan, Darwin and Evolutionary Naturalism

Friday, April 30, 2010, 7:00 p.m.

CALL FOR PAPERSAccepted conference papers will be presented on Saturday, May 1, 2010

We welcome the submission of an array of conference papers examining issues relating to Catholicism, science and culture

broadly stated. Submission of conference papers from the following fields are welcome.

�History �Theology �Philosophy

�Social Sciences �Natural Sciences �Humanities

Abstract of 250 words is due by January 15, 2010. Please attach CV with abstract.Send electronically to [email protected].

Papers: Recommended length of 4,000 words, Chicago format, full contact information for the author(s). Conference volume for selected papers intended. Accepted papers should be sent electronically byMarch 1, 2010 to [email protected].

Conference Registration and Informationhttp://www.immaculata.edu/chronicleoffaith

A

Broadway, including Shakespeare’sgreat tragedy, take up the same dilem-ma: not only whether ’tis nobler to suf-fer or to take up arms, but also whetherdithering over the best course of actionconstitutes a moral peril in itself—pas-sive evasion at best, grave irresponsibil-ity at worst. Conscience threatens tomake cowards of weak protagonists inthe dramas “A Steady Rain” and“Superior Donuts,” a pair of gritty playsfrom Chicago. And Jude Law’s star-vehicle “Hamlet,” an import fromLondon’s Donmar Warehouse, reintro-duces us to the original un-decider,though the director Michael Grandage’sproduction has weaknesses unrelatedto its hero’s lack of resolution.

Set in a sleek, towering gray castleand draped in no-frills modern dress,

here is truth in the axiomthat movies move, while playstalk. Although there are

ruminative and discursive films (like“My Dinner With Andre”) and inordi-nately action-packed plays (like thedoor-slamming farce “Noises Off ”),the gulf between moving pictures anddialogic theater was probably best for-mulated by the English actor/writerStephen Fry, who wrote: “The perfectstage hero is Hamlet. The perfect filmhero is Lassie.”

“Hamlet” doesn’t just epitomize the

privileging of talk over action; this is,in fact, the play’s anguished subject.The famously wronged Danish prince,though he has ample cause for revengeand even a few ghostly reminders of it,spends the play considering and recon-sidering “enterprises of great pith andmoment.” When he does finally dis-patch his usurping uncle, Claudius, itis not the successful fruition of a planbut an act of desperate extremity,undertaken only after Hamlet knowshe has doomed himself.

Three plays that recently opened on


BOOKS & CULTURE

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Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Jude Law in “Hamlet”

T H E A T E R | ROB WEINERT -KENDT

THE UNDECIDERS‘Hamlet,’ ‘A Steady Rain’ and ‘Superior Donuts’

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Donmar’s respectable but ploddingHamlet must be counted a great, lostopportunity. For in Jude Law, animpossibly handsome Englishman witha restless, dancerlike physicality and adisarming lack of native British starch,

we could have had a great Hamlet forour time. We catch glimpses of whatmight have been amid the production’spallor, but we must fill in the blankswith our imagination. Law could haveeffortlessly embodied both sides, or twopopular interpretations, of Hamlet: thebrainy, irresolute, even effete cad whotoys with madness and the seething,barely contained, ever-thwarted action-hero Hamlet (Mel Gibson’s approachin his 1990 film).

Instead, Law gives an effortful, play-actor’s performance that manages tostrike few sparks off an indifferent, sub-dued supporting cast. Gertrude,Claudius, Polonius, Ophelia, evenHoratio—these may not be marqueeroles, but they deserve more than per-functory attention. They are filled here,instead, by decent but anonymous per-formers who seem to have been direct-ed mainly to stay out of the star’s light.But this lack of context does the star nofavors. Law seems hopelessly strandedin a showcase designed less to illumi-nate what he might bring to the rolethan to bask in his mere presenceonstage. To be fair, this seems enoughfor many admiring Broadway theater-goers, particularly those only glancinglyacquainted with Shakespeare; and noone will leave this “Hamlet” without aclear understanding of what happenedand what was said. But clarity is nosubstitute for urgency. The course ofaction that seems most appropriate forthis dissatisfied prince is not bloodymurder but a Bloody Mary on somesoutherly beach.

A few well-spent vacation dayswould also benefit Joey and Denny, theco-dependent cops of A Steady Rain.As in “Hamlet,” the heroes’ overthink-ing about how to respond to rampantcorruption causes as much grief as itaverts and only multiplies the heroes’complicity. In the playwright KeithHuff ’s self-consciously urban vision,these hapless flatfoots have much to becomplicit in: brutality, planted evidence,graft, casual racism, insubordination

and dereliction of duty. At its best, theplay evokes a sense of dread, despairand social determinism reminiscent ofthe novels of Dennis Lehane or thefilms of Sidney Lumet. But by the timeHuff introduces a pedophile serialkiller, he has lost hold of plausibilitywhile holding on, barely, to dramaticwatchability.

That last quality might be due inpart to the star actors in director JohnCrowley’s matter-of-factly intense pro-duction, both of them working hard attheir Chicaahhgo accents: the affecting,walrus-mustached Daniel Craig (a k aJames Bond) as Joey, a meek recoveringdrunk who feels compelled to betrayhis out-of-control partner, Denny,played by Hugh Jackman (yes, ladiesand fanboys, Wolverine himself—and,like Jude Law, another overly attractiveleading man sweating through aneffortful performance). In Huff ’ssomewhat formalistic construction,these two do not interact so much asperform interlocking monologues thatfreely mix omniscient and unreliablenarration. As with “Hamlet,” the merepresence of such film royalty, miscastor not, strutting and fretting their houron a Broadway stage seems to be thepoint of the exercise.

If Superior Donuts is a kind of starvehicle, then the star is the playwrightTracy Letts, whose last Broadway play,the shockingly entertaining dysfunc-tional-family epic “August: OsageCounty,” nabbed the Pulitzer and acluster of Tonys. That the playwright isthe driving force behind this exquisiteensemble piece from Chicago’sSteppenwolf Theatre may account forits considerable storytelling punch andits sense of homegrown authenticity.Michael McKean (of “Spinal Tap”fame) plays Arthur Przybyszewski, anaging hippie who barely keeps hisinherited donut shop open in a crum-bling North Side neighborhood.Haunted by a broken marriage, anestranged daughter and his Vietnam-era draft evasion—an approach dis-


Body Language

The birds of the hands:

feathery fingers, arms

arched in parentheses.

Breathing in rhythm,

a forest of branches,

a pod of dolphins,

steel-spined camels:

“we can be anything.”

The body a playground:

swings, loops, slides

winged postures like stars

yoga dance as of language

freed from stodgy syntax.

Breath crests; wave

spills its liquid silver.

Toes sculpt commas,

punctuate the sentence’s

coiled energy, verb-driven

to the quiet pool of rest,

curled in balls like children.

Stillness hushes

eloquence: sweet period.

K A T H Y C O F F E Y

KATHY COFFEY is the author ofWomen of Mercy (Orbis Books). Lastsummer she taught writing at RingLake Ranch, an ecumenical retreat cen-ter in Wyoming.

entertainer who engages us directly onso many levels that we easily forgivethe familiar and contrived in his work.Actually, we welcome them almost asritual signifiers that prepare us for thetrue theatrical communion at work inhis plays. Though the show’s retro sit-com rhythms may lull us into thinkingwe’re in TV Land, the play does not

live there. Instead,sneakily but surely,Letts addresses thebattle-worn buttrue-hearted hope-fulness, in matters

racial and otherwise, that characterizesthe still-aborning age of Obama.

The play’s final words offer a brac-ingly optimistic and timely answer tothe most famous existential questionin literature, Hamlet’s “to be or not tobe,” as Arthur sits at a table in hisgreasy donut shop, bruised butunbowed, and begins Franco’s ambi-tious novel by stating its title:“America Will Be.”

ROB WEINERT-KENDT is an arts journalistwho has written for The New York Times andTimeOut New York. He writes a blog called“The Wicked Stage.”

reporting, popular presentations ofscience and most recently the “newatheism” of Richard Dawkins, DanielDennett and Sam Harris. It is an ideathat many academics and students stillswallow whole.

But Ronald Numbers, the emi-nent historian of science at theUniversity of Wisconsin-Madisonand editor of this enjoyable andinformative collection of essays, willhave none of it. A self-styled agnostichimself, he states bluntly that“White’s and Draper’s accounts aremore propaganda than history.” Theaccomplished younger generation ofhistorians of science and otherexperts Numbers has assembled hereagree. Galileo Goes to Jail lays baresome of the many “myths” (in thesense of false claims) associated withthe belief that science and religionare essentially irreconcilable ways ofunderstanding the world.

One of these myths is that Galileowas physically tortured and throwninto a dark prison cell by theInquisition. Not so. Although threat-ened with the typical instruments oftorture, Galileo was not subjected tothe rack, nor was he incarcerated inRome (with the possible exception ofthree days in 1633). While awaitinghis trial, he was put up in his prosecu-tor’s six-room apartment, attended allthe while by a servant. Later he movedto the Villa Medici, the grand duke ofTuscany’s sumptuous Roman palace.On his way back to Tuscany after thetrial he dallied for five months underhouse arrest at the comfortable resi-dence of his good friend the archbish-op of Siena. Thereafter he paid for hisheliocentric heresy by becoming a per-manent guest in his own villa inArcetri overlooking Florence.

So writes the eminent Galileoscholar Maurice Finocchiaro, refutingVoltaire’s claim that Galileo “groanedaway his days in the dungeons of theInquisition,” and challenging GiuseppeBarretti's equally influential assertion

tinct from draft resistance, as hepainstakingly points out—kindly, pas-sive Arthur is as checked out as a per-son can be and still be breathing.

He perks up, reluctantly, when acocky young African-American namedFranco Wicks ( Jon Michael Hill, a realfind) fast-talks himself into a job as hisassistant, and the two settle into anamiable, bickeringrapport that slowlyedges into a kind ofwary friendshipunder Tina Landau’ssympathetic direc-tion. Their connection grows thickenough that when it is threatened, thefaultlessly nonconfrontational Ar-thur—whose disappointed father’s lastword to him was “coward”—feels com-pelled at last to take decisive action in atouchingly absurd but deadly serioussecond-act brawl.

While this scenario—aging whiteliberal spars and bonds with youngblack livewire—barely skirts cliché,and while the gangsters who arrive tosharpen the conflict seem to haveentered through a door marked “stock1970s villains,” Letts is a sure-handed


B O O K S | JOHN F. HAUGHT

RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES

GALILEO GOES TO JAIL And Other Myths About Science

and Religion

Edited by Ronald L. NumbersHarvard Univ. Press. 320p $27.95

ISBN 9780674033276

“The history of science,” John WilliamDraper wrote in 1874, “is a narrativeof the conflict of two contending pow-ers, the expansive force of the humanintellect on one side, and the compres-sion arising from traditionary faithand human interests on the other.”That science and religion are locked in

a fight to the death, and that sciencewill eventually be victorious, is themain message of Draper’s influentialbook, History of the Conflict BetweenReligion and Science. In 1896 AndrewDickson White, president of CornellUniversity, published a two-volumework whose title makes explicit thesame thesis. He called it A History ofthe Warfare of Science With Theology inChristendom.

The “conflict” approach to scienceand religion fostered by these two19th-century works has seeped intoscientific journalism, newspaper

ON THE WEBLeo J. O’Donovan, S.J.,

on the artist John LaFarge.

americamagazine.org/culture

in 1757 that the great scientist “wasput in the inquisition for six years, andput to torture, for saying that the earthmoved.” Although thefragmentary recordsavailable to Voltaireand Barretti may havesuggested torture andimprisonment, recenthistorical scholarshiphas put to rest the“myth” that Galileosuffered physicalpenalties and wastedaway in prison.

This is only one ofmany false claims andrumors that stillmake religion seeminherently hostile toscience in the minds of many scien-tists, scholars and students. Contraryto Draper and White, readers of thiscollection will learn from the historianDavid Livingstone that Christianity

was not responsible for the demise ofancient science. For example, unlikethe interpretation of history popular-

ized by Carl Saganand many others, themurder of theAlexandrian mathe-matician and philo-sopher Hypatia, sup-posedly by a mob ofChristian zealots,“had everything to dowith local politicsand virtually nothingto do with science.”Nor, as many previ-ous historians haveassumed, wereAugustine, Basil andTertullian opposed to

classical science, since they borrowedheavily from current views of nature insetting forth their own theologicalpositions.

Livingstone also rejects Charles

Freeman’s recent claim thatChristianity is responsible for “theclosing of the Western mind,” arguingthat “no institution or cultural force ofthe classical period offered moreencouragement for the investigation ofnature than did the Christian church.”

The historian of science MichaelShank likewise disputes Draper’sclaim that medieval Christianity’s the-ological worldview “became a stum-bling block in the intellectual advance-ment of Europe for more than a thou-sand years.” Medieval universities werenot fixated on theology anyway, andonly a few students were deemed qual-ified to study it. Instead most formaleducation focused on law, logic, natu-ral philosophy and mathematics, disci-plines that could hardly have impededthe rise of modern science.

Again, Lawrence Principe of JohnsHopkins University rejects Draper’sblanket declaration that RomanCatholicism and science are “absolute-ly incompatible.” Questioning narrow-ly Anglocentric theories about theemergence of science, such as the“Merton thesis” that science is a prod-uct of Puritanism, Principe points outthat the scientific revolution goes backto foundations laid long before theReformation. Medieval theories ofoptics, kinematics and astronomy,along with the establishment of uni-versities, the practice of intellectualdisputation and the rigor of Scholasticthought in philosophy and theology—all of these contributed to a climateessential to the birth and shaping ofmodern science. Principe characterizesDraper’s book, therefore, as “littlemore than a thinly-disguised anti-Catholic rant.”

Noah Efron of Bar-IlanUniversity in Israel, on the otherhand, disputes the equally one-sidedmyth that Christianity gave birth tomodern science. ObviouslyChristianity was a contributor, butso also were ancient Greek philoso-phy, Islam and other historical,


Be transformed by therenewal of your mind

— 12:2

is now making important corrections.Galileo Goes to Jail is not a defense

of theism, religion or Christianity. Infact, some of the authors are nonbe-lievers and have no stake in apologet-ics. The book is simply an honestattempt to set a distorted recordstraight. Its accessibility and franknesswill make it a valuable text for studentsof intellectual history, religion, the his-tory of science and those taking cours-es dealing with science and theology. Itwill also appeal to a wider range ofreaders. Let us hope these will includenot only subscribers to America butalso devotees of Scientific American.

JOHN F. HAUGHT is a senior fellow at theWoodstock Theological Center, GeorgetownUniversity. His most recent books are Godand the New Atheism and Christianityand Science.

The rust will remain in the trees,and pine needles stretch their

necks,Their tiny necks, and sunlight will

snore in the limp grass.

We are of, say these poems, all thatis—either made through our con-sciousness of ourselves with(in) theworld or through the mere matter ofmatter. The grief at the prospect ofparting is the recognition of ourselvesin every thing. Wright’s verse is haunt-ed by the longing articulated in thelonesome sound of the Carter Family,and his particular sensibility toward“what has past/ Or is about to pass”(echoing Yeats) is the drone of A. P.Carter’s baritone in such forward-looking sorrows as “Bury Me Underthe Weeping Willow Tree.” Death willcome, the willow will remain, it willbecome me.

The titles of these poems oftencarry the quality of Chineseideograms: “On the Night of the FirstSnow, Thinking About Tennessee.”Or this: “Like the New Moon, MyMother Drifts Through the NightSky.” The titles serve as a seventh line,a bonus, or they function like the titles

of abstract paintings( Jackson Pollock’s“Lavender Mist”), whichinvite our minds to driftin a certain direction andset up tension betweenthe language of imageand the language of syn-tax. In Wright’s case, thetension exists betweenthe “call” that comes fromthe title and the“response” that comesfrom the sestet.

To talk effectively about whatWright is doing in any particularpoem requires what Clifford Geertzlabeled “thick description”; one mustcome at the poem alert to all theoblique instructions that Wrightprovides. This approach seems espe-

political, technological and economicinfluences.

Other myths fall hard at the handsof the highly qualified stable ofauthors Numbers has gathered here. Asampling of topics includes the beliefsthat medieval Christians thought theearth was flat, that Islamic culture wasinhospitable to science, that GiordanoBruno was a martyr for modern sci-ence, that Newton’s mechanics left noroom for God or final causes, thatDarwin destroyed natural theology,that quantum physics demonstratesfreedom of the will, that creationism isa uniquely American phenomenon,that modern science has secularizedWestern culture and that Einsteinbelieved in a personal God. Althoughthere may be a fragment of truth inseveral of these myths, careful research


DAVID GARRISON

TAKE SIX

SESTETSPoems

By Charles WrightFarrar, Straus and Giroux. 96p $23

ISBN 9780374261153

Here is a small book of images, artfullyconstructed and melancholy, with onlyone story to tell, but a story with twoparts: the end is coming, life goes on.

As the title indicates, each poem inthis, the 19th volume from CharlesWright, contains six lines, but six linesvisually attenuated (always) by hischaracteristic use of the dropped line,or more precisely the dropped portionof a line. The effect is a more balancedpage, a greater use of the right-handside of things. The lines are meteredout in syllables, usually an odd num-ber, usually between 9 and 17 per line,but contracting or expanding to as fewas 5, as many as 21. These strategiesare not new; they are what readers of

Wright expect. This particular voiceand style and look were achieved asearly as 1981 in the lucidly musicaland highly visual volume,The Southern Cross. Thepoems in Sestets aresmaller moments of suchvividness.

The theme is the endof what we know. Thetheme is the ache at rec-ognizing now what willbe taken from us then.Wright, who is 73, hasalways eagerly directedus to see the numinouslight shining in the mostordinary of natural sights—clouds,water, snow, sunlight, starlight, mapleleaf, grass-blade—but now he nudgesus to recognize that after we are gone,such light will continue:

We won’t meet again. So what?

cially necessary with these six-linestanzas, which seem more fragmen-tary than much of Wright’s earlierwork. In the 1980s and 90s heexplored a “journal” form, longpoems that mixed baroque finessewith Whitmanesque possibilities ofexpansion (as if Bach had composedwith no sense of closed structure).But these new poems, while beingquick breaths, are not exactly gnomicor puzzling. Instead, they seem morelike slender brushstrokes, snatches ofan overheard aria, prayers of impre-cise and unspecified trust in thewhatever-will-be, as in the final linesof the final poem, “Little Ending” (aslanted allusion to Eliot’s “LittleGidding”?): “Someone will take ourhand,/ someone will give us refuge,/Circling left or circling right.”

Many poems seem on a first read-ing to be no more (or less) than land-scape poems with a familiar (thoughapparently inappropriate) title.“Return of the Prodigal,” for example,begins, “Now comes summer, waterclear, clouds heavy with weeping.” Thefinal lines refer to astrology: “Zodiacpinwheels across the heavens,/ bat-feint under Gemini.” There is no directreference anywhere in the poem toprodigality or to return. But the“notes” about the poem at the close ofthe book suggest, cryptically, anothersort of back-story: “Template of some-thing vaguely remembered in EzraPound some forty years ago, a Chinesecalendar. Actually about the return ofmy son from England, June 2006, aftertwelve years abroad. Second day ofsummer, June 22, also involved.” Whatis it exactly that is vaguely remem-bered from Pound? Many readers willcatch the echo from the first canto:“Bore sheep aboard her, and our bod-ies also/ Heavy with weeping....” Butthat phrase is neither template norChinese calendar (perhaps he has inmind Canto 85), so just what rolePound plays here is not clear.

That Wright’s son has returned


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from abroad might satisfy the notionof a prodigal son, and we recall that the22nd of June would be at or near thesummer solstice and so suggest thenotion of a prodigal sun, and we recog-nize that the astrological signs remindus of the great wheeling circle of theyear and of life and so on. The delicateattention to detail—“Tall grasses aresilver-veined” or “Lupine and paint-brush stoic in ditch weed”—mixedwith biblical and astrological andPoundian allusion—expand the sim-ple poem into a melody about thelargest wheel of all, the turning of lifefrom this to that, from here to nothere. Will the sun come back? Will theson? Will the Son? Will I? What do all


PETER HE INEGG

A LONG WAY FROM HOME

HONEYMOON IN TEHRANTwo Years of Love

and Danger in Iran

By Azadeh Moaveni Random House. 352p $26

ISBN 97814000664552

Perhaps Ms. Moaveni, a savvy youngIranian-American journalist, has spenttoo much time workingfor Time magazine—shehas a penchant for snap-py but misleading titles.Her previous book,Lipstick Jihad (2005),was not about seductivesuicide-bombers butabout her own quest foridentity during an event-ful stay (2000-1) in Iran.The title Honeymoon inTehran is similarlyunhelpful: Moaveni didfall in love, marry and have a baby dur-ing her second exploratory journey(2005-7); but she mostly continuesher earlier theme of finding herself

within the vexing confines of theIslamic Republic and against thesplendid backdrop of age-old Persianculture. (In any case, she went toShiraz and Persepolis for her actualhoneymoon, and, as it turned out, wasnever in any serious danger.)

Born in Palo Alto, Calif., and edu-cated at the University of California

Santa Cruz, Moaveni,who speaks Farsi, won aFulbright to study Arabicin Egypt en route tobecoming a widely pub-lished, Beirut-basedreporter on the MiddleEast. The on-location jobof explaining her ances-tral home to readers ofTime, The WashingtonPost, The New YorkTimes Book Review, TheL.A. Times and NPR—

as well as to herself—seemed ideal toMoaveni, until the pressures from theKhamenei-Ahmadinejad system over-whelmed her, and she wound up not

these signs tell us?Wright has never ceased to sing

about our mortality and the mysteriesthat attend it. As he has said manytimes in many places, his interest is inthe “quotidian,” the daily world medi-ated through consciousness. Thesesestets, the smaller, bottom half of thePetrarchan sonnet, continue thatmediation. The poet keeps his eyefocused on “beautiful, untalkbackablewise things.” The verse returns us lineby line by line by line to just suchthings.

DAVID GARRISON is professor of Englishand dean of the College of Arts and Sciences atGeorgia Southwestern University, Americus,Ga.

just leaving but fleeing to London,where she now lives with her husbandand son.

Coping with day-to-day life inTehran presents major problems,starting with the horrific polluted airthat sickens and kills untold thou-sands of the city’s 14 million inhabi-tants. Housing and the basic necessi-ties are now prohibitively expensive foreveryone except crony capitalists.Despite Ahmadinejad’s much-toutedpopulism, corrupt and clueless govern-ment bureaucrats make ordinary civicactivities—like getting married—infu-riatingly complex. But above andbeyond the hassles of paralyzed traffic,blacked-out Internet, seized anddestroyed satellite TV dishes and alunatic, randomly enforced femaledress code that all Tehranis endure,Moaveni was under constant supervi-sion by her minders, whose ploysranged from phone-tapping to relent-less grilling to threatening with arrest,trial and who-knows-what for even the

most harmless reportage. (HerAmerican passport was no safeguard,not since Canadian-Iranian photo-journalist Zahra Kazemi was rapedand bludgeoned to death in Tehran’snotorious Evin prison in 2003.)

It is one thing for a single woman toengage in this sort of rigged duel; it isquite another for a mother with a new-born. And Moaveni admits she is notmade of heroic stuff. In the late sum-mer of 2007 she and her husband andson simply added three more names tothe astounding list of about 150,000mostly young Iranians who emigrateevery year in what may be the biggestbrain-drain in the world. Among herother worries, she was distressed by apublic school system where parentshave to sign regular affidavits thattheir children are reciting their dailyprayers, and where children are askedwhether their parents drink alcohol athome. Increasingly, for all the joy shetakes in her friends and in the lovingextended family of her husband,

Arash (a German-trained computerexpert and businessman, whose truepassion was studying ancientZoroastrian texts), Iran strikesMoaveni as “an irretrievably failedsociety.” As Arash points out to hispregnant wife after an ultrasoundexamination, “Do you realize the babyboy inside you will be consideredlegally more valuable than you?”

Though Moaveni does not engagein much detailed political analysis—and outsiders have next to no accessto the country’s real movers and shak-ers anyway—she clearly demon-strates the utter folly of the Bush-erademonization of Iran. Talking aboutthe “axis of evil” and pumping $75million into regime-change propa-ganda only made life harder forenlightened Iranians like the humanrights activist and Nobel laureateShirin Ebadi (with whom Moaveniwrote Iran Awakening) and needlesslyantagonized a population that wasalready fed up with Ahmadinejad &


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Co. Whatever America’s fears aboutIran’s nuclear program, a country sodisgusted with the stupidity, venalityand puritanical hypocrisy of its (oftenunelected) rulers does not need to bestirred up any more against themthan it already is. The scores of ordi-nary Iranians, from cab drivers tofruit-sellers with whom Moaveni hastalked, take a far different line thanthe government stooges who show upfor officially sponsored rallies. Theyare furious, for example, over all themoney shipped abroad to supportHezbollah.

Of course, notwithstanding herfeelings of solidarity with such peo-ple, Moaveni opted out—and shequotes some powerful lines by Rumiin her epigraph by way of explainingher decision: “Why cling to one life/till it is soiled and ragged?/ The sundies and dies/ squandering a hundredlives/ every instant./ God hasdecreed life for you/ and He willgive/ another and another and anoth-er.” God may well have given Moaveniand her family a new life in London;but that was not, in her jaundicedview, the God of Islam, or at least notthe God of the Islamic Republic.Though she had been a vague sort ofbeliever and semi-devout enthusiastfor Sufi traditions, Moaveni becomesso revolted by Iran’s clerical dictator-ship and its apologists that she justgives up on religion.

Once relocated to “Londonistan,”Moaveni heaves a sigh of relief—andpromptly gets caught between Muslimextremists, like the Pakistani grocerwho refuses to touch her hand whenbeing paid, and the odd British racist.Soon she is as busy as ever trying todefine her place in a conflicted world,with a lot more freedom this time—and a lot less help. So long as she keepswriting about it, she’ll have manygrateful readers.

PETER HEINEGG is a professor of English atUnion College, Schenectady, N.Y.


God Drops and Loses ThingsKilian McDonnell, OSBThe biblical persons who inhabit these poems are jealous, weak and proud. They compete, lie, steal, cheat, betray, repent and despair; and God loves them.S978-0-9740992-4-8 Paperback, 88 pp., 6 x 9, $11.95

Autographed copies are available.Please call 1-800-858-5450 to request one.

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most of his views on what is good butwould also applaud public radio notonly for its coverage of the world butalso for what it brings us about localevents. This column, together withFather Thomas Massaro’s“Democracy on the Line,” should berequired reading for anyone who caresabout how the media inform us andour own responsibilities.

BOB NUNZ

Los Alamos, N.M.

No Danger: Laity Still at Work

Peter Schineller, S.J., raises the issueof having no provision in canon law todeal with the situation in which thepope becomes incapacitated (“PowerVacuum,” 10/12). But he says that ifthe pope were comatose for months oryears, “much of the work of the churchwould grind to a halt.” In fact, the“work of the church” is largely carriedon at the parish level by the laity,through their various ministries.

In any large organization, in timesof crisis people may look to the top forleadership, direction and reassurance.But the day-to-day activities of mostorganizations will continue to take

their news from television. The prob-lem is, it is high on entertainment andlow on analysis because it is all filteredthrough the sponsors and their corpo-rate interests. Our so-called freespeech is not so free. Two notableexceptions are Free Speech TV(www.democracynow.org) and LinkTV (www.linktv.org), both nonprofitand commercial-free. They can befound among the Public Interest chan-nels of your satellite TV and are aloneworth the subscription price.

I hope your magazine continues toreport periodically unbiased socialanalysis with a global perspective. Thepromotion of our national interests isnot a universal norm. As Americanswe need to see ourselves as others seeus. You are not going to get this bytuning in to Fox News.

(REV.) CHARLES A. HAMMOND

St. Joseph Church

Sandusky, Mich.

Required Reading

Bravo to Drew Christiansen, S.J., forhis Of Many Things column on Oct.26, especially for noting the deteriora-tion of coverage at CNN. I agree with

Family Reunion

Re “Rome Open to Anglican Return”(Signs of the Times, 11/2): We aretold that this promised apostolic con-stitution is a response to the many andfrequent knocks that our separatedbrothers have made at the door of theCatholic Church. This easily brings tomind the parable of the prodigal son.How many times did he have to knockat his father’s house, and what list ofconditions did his father put on himbefore he opened his door to him?And it remains to be seen how hiselder brothers would react to the cau-tious admission of their youngerbrothers!

GEORGE CALLEJA

Caloundra, Queensland, Australia

The Power of Forgiveness

“Art of Redemption,” by David PaulHammer (10/26), is a testament tothe singularly transformative power offorgiveness. It is also a moving testa-ment to the power of art to plumb theinestimable mysteries of the humanheart. As a Christian, an artist and thefamily member of a murder victim, Iam deeply appreciative of both.

MATT MALONE, S.J.

London, U.K.

Not So Free Speech

I was glad to see Drew Christiansen,S.J., (Of Many Things, 10/26)address the need for more inclusiveand global news coverage. Where Ilive, most people rely on Fox News astheir primary source of informationand consequently the basis for theirvalues and judgments.

The majority of Americans get


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WITHOUT GUILE

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“You won’t get away with this!”

place without the presence (or inter-ference) of the people at the top. Withdue deference to the leadership of thepope, let’s give credit to the hundredsof millions of workers in the vineyardwho make Christ alive in their com-munities.

RAY TURNER

San Jose, Calif.

A Question of Credibility

In “The Price of Death” (Editorial,10/26), the editors write: “TheCatholic Church in the United Stateshas long been opposed to capital pun-ishment. As early as 1980, the U.S.bishops voted to declare their opposi-tion.” Might one ask what the bishops’position was during the previous 200years of American history? Indeed, thechurch’s long, unfortunate history ofexecuting religious dissenters (when ithad its hands on the levers of secularpower) and supporting wars of reli-gion must be adequately addressed ifits current anti-capital punishmentstance is to have any credibility. Afterall, if the church erred then, how canone be sure that its new stance is cor-rect?

MARK KOLAKOWSKI

Fair Haven, N.J.

A Consistent Ethic of Life

I thought the death penalty (Editorial,“The Price of Death,” 10/26) in theUnited States might end shortly afterthe Catechism of the Catholic Churchsaid it is no longer a moral alternative.Yet a privately conducted poll inCalifornia recently found thatCatholics support the death penalty inhigher numbers than any other reli-gious group.

There is a lack of connection withour core belief in the unique value anddignity of every person. We will havearrived at consistency in our beliefswhen Catholic pro-life groups fight ashard against the death penalty,

euthanasia and war as they do againstabortion.

PAUL W. COMISKEY

Newcastle, Calif.

Don’t Miss This Article

If America ever printed an importantarticle, it is “Prudential Investment,”by Doug Demeo (10/26). In his siz-ing-up of the present investment poli-cies for institutions, Demeo hasoffered valid points that each of us, ifwe have holdings, can use to investi-gate environmental stewardship, laborconditions or executive compensationissues of the companies we invest in.

The examples he gives convince methat we all have a stake in persuadingcorporations to attain high standards.We need to make our individual voicesheard so that we will be taking part inbringing about change for the com-mon good.

JEANNE B. DILLON

Summit, N.J.

Parents at Fault

Re “Generation Text,” by MarkBauerlein (10/12): As a youth minis-ter who works full time with highschool adolescents, I think the authoris right, but for the wrong reasons.

This generation can be described asthe Dumbest Generation, to useBauerlein’s term. This, however, is notprimarily because of new technologyor the ever-broadening web that isyouth culture. Those are secondaryproblems. The root is this: Adults,particularly the parents of this genera-tion, have lost their authoritarianbackbone and no longer set the rulesthat are necessary for healthy adoles-cent social and family life. Parentsblame the culture or the technology,forgetting that the parent is the num-ber one influence in the lives ofteenagers today.

It is the parents and most otheradult role models today who allow and

teach our young people to become toobusy with school, work and extracur-ricular activities, connected to others24/7 by technology and never leavingadequate time for family relationships.Hoping to assuage their own guilt,parents buy them the latest gadgetsand forget their responsibility to takethose away when the time comes, orforget that a 12-year-old does not real-ly need a phone to begin with. Nordoes every kid need a car, a laptop or aBlackBerry. And when those thingsbecome obstacles to life, family andreal relationships, parents have theresponsibility to take those thingsaway. As a parent, I must recognizethat I am the problem or the solu-tion—the primary model for my kids.I must know for myself when it is timeto shut off my laptop and cellphoneand be present to my family.

MIKE BUCKLER

Ormond Beach, Fla.

A Questionable Hypothesis

While welcoming the prominencegiven to an important public healthproblem, I am surprised that your edi-torial “An Untreated Epidemic” (11/2)gives credence to the vaccine hypothe-sis. The evidence for a link has alwaysbeen vague, of poor quality, inferentialand tenuous; the evidence against alink is now devastatingly strong. In theUnited Kingdom we have seen an out-break of measles as a result of reducedvaccinations from the scare, which hasled to at least one death, a number ofcases of permanent disability in chil-dren, many hospitalizations for a pre-ventable illness, much unnecessarydistress—and no drop in autism rates.Reducing vaccination rates not onlyputs a particular child at risk; itreduces the number of individuals in acommunity who are immune. Thisraises the risk for everyone.

VICTOR PACE, M.D.

London, U.K.


To send a letter to the editor we recommend using the link that appears below articles on America’s Web site, www.americamagazine.org. Lettersmay also be sent to America’s editorial office (address on page 2) or by e-mail to: [email protected].


THE WORD

here’s something about royal-ty that fascinates us. PrincessDiana and Prince Charles

repeatedly captured the world’s atten-tion. In the United States we watchwith interest the doings of QueenElizabeth, even though our foundingethos is grounded in overthrowingmonarchical rule. It may be that thelives of kings and queens represent afairy-tale-like imagining of the goodlife that we just can’t help dreamingabout. For peasants in biblical times,the notion of a benevolent, kindly kingwho has the good of the people atheart and who would hear their criesfor justice and act upon them mayhave held just as much attraction.When one’s life is a constant struggle,believing in a powerful king—whocould with a pen stroke or a wave ofthe hand make everything go well forthe little ones—fuels hope and gives areason to keep plodding on.

It is not surprising then thatChristians would think of Jesus assuch a king, or of God in royal terms.Today’s feast has a double edge to it, asis brought out in the readings. Jesus isking, but in a most anti-imperial way.In the Gospel we see Jesus on trialbefore Pontius Pilate, who is theextension of the imperial arm inPalestine.

Unlike the Synoptic Gospels, in

John Jesus does not remain silentbefore the Roman governor. Rather,Jesus seems to be the one in power, asthough he were conducting thetrial of Pilate. Throughouttheir exchanges, Jesus doesnot directly answer Pilate’squestions. Ironically, thelatter ultimately con-demns himself by hisown responses to Jesus.Pilate takes on a mock-ing tone as he jibes atJesus about being a king:What kind of king is handed overby his own people and doesn’t have anarmy to defend himself? Pilate alsoridicules any nationalistic hopes of theJewish people for self-rule. This mock-ery continues in a subsequent scene asPilate’s soldiers drape a purple cloakover Jesus, place a thorny crown on hishead and imitate the greeting given theemperor, “Ave Caesar!”

When Pilate queries, “Are you theKing of the Jews?” Jesus shifts the dis-cussion away from himself as king andspeaks instead about his “kingdom.”By using imperial language to speak ofGod’s realm where love and fullness oflife reign supreme, Jesus subverts king-ly expressions of power that exploitand abuse others. By his actions andwords he has undermined monarchicalsystems of authority and obedience.He calls his followers “friends” andinvites them into a community ofbeloved disciples in which the leadersare the first to wash the feet of thoseleast regarded.

Later in his interrogation of Jesus,

Pilate boasts of his power torelease Jesus or to crucifyhim, but Jesus reminds the

Roman ruler that he wouldhave no power over him unlessit was given to him from above

(19:10-11). Moreover, Jesusalready has declared to hisdisciples that no one has

power over his life, he him-self lays it down freely (10:18).

Pilate has no desire to hear aboutthis kind of “kingdom,” and does not

understand the anti-kingdom message

of Jesus. Pilate is fixated on forcingJesus to admit his claims to being aking so that he has ground on which toeliminate this supposed rival with pre-tensions to his own throne. Jesus willnot give him that satisfaction and sim-ply points out that it is Pilate who isusing that kind of language, not Jesus.Jesus speaks of his mission not interms of a conquering king, but as onewho testifies to the truth. All it takesto belong to this kingdom where truthreigns is to listen to his voice.

BARBARA E. REID

Unmasking Kingly PowerTHE SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING (B) NOV. 22, 2009

Readings: Dn 7:13-14; Ps 93:1, 1-2, 5; Rv 1:5-8; Jn 18:33b-37

“My kingdom does not belong to this world” (Jn 18:36)

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PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE

• How does the image of Christ the King

comfort you?

• How does the image of Christ the King

challenge you?

• How do you emulate Jesus’ power in your

treatment of others?

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

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remembering el salvador’s martyrs

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