A REVIEW OF CATHOLIC AFFAIRS March 2020
Issue 538 €3· £2.50· $4
“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” MARK 4:38
1
SUBSCRIPTION FORM If you would like to subscribe or donate to Position Papers (10 issues per year) just fill in the form below and return it to: Subscription Manager P.O. Box 4948 Rathmines, Dublin 6 Name
Ireland: €35
UK: £40
Phone
Rest of the World: €40 / $45
Address
Payment Methods 1. Enclose cheque or money order. 2. Online at www.positionpapers.ie 3. Bank transfer to: Position Papers a/c no. 32485030 Bank Sort code 931187 (overseas: Swift AIBKIE2D and IBAN IE16AIBK93118732485030)
CONTENT
A REVIEW OF CATHOLIC AFFAIRS
Editorial 2 by Fr Gavan Jennings In Passing: The fourth horseman of the Apocalypse 8 by Michael Kirke The transforming grace of Christ’s Resurrection 11 by Rev. Donncha Ó hAodha The Coronavirus and sitting quietly in a room 15 by Bishop Robert Barron A Time To Plant, A Time To Be Born 18 by Jason Osborne All the Circumstances and Events of my Life 20 by Pat Hanratty Yes, I’d Become Catholic Again 23 by Michael Pakaluk The Contribution of L’Arche 27 by Tim O’Sullivan Books: The Demon in Democracy 31 by James Bradshaw Films: The unlikely message of hope in The Invisible Man 36 by Sophia Martinson Films: I am Patrick 38 by Sister Hosea Rupprecht
Editor:
Rev. Gavan Jennings
Assistant editors:
Michael Kirke, Pat Hanratty, Brenda McGann
Subscription manager: Liam Ó hAlmhain Secretary:
Dick Kearns
Design:
Dimo Publishers (Naas, Co. Kildare)
The editor, Position Papers, P.O. Box 4948, Rathmines, Dublin 6 Email: editor@positionpapers.ie Website: www.positionpapers.ie Tel: + 353 86065 2313 For new or renewed subscriptions contact: liamoha@gmail.com
Articles © Position Papers, who normally will on application give permission to reproduce free subject only to a credit in this form: ‘Reprinted, with permission from Position Papers, Dublin’. Please note: the opinions expressed in articles do not necessarily reflect those of the editor nor of the Opus Dei Prelature of which he is a priest. Printed by Digital Print Dynamics, Unit 14 Millennium Business Park, Cappagh Road, Ballycoolin, Dublin 11.
1
POSITION PAPERS
Editorial A
s I write I’m half way through a two week quarantine for a possible case of the coronavirus. The symptoms are very mild and the initial novelty of the whole situation has been replaced now with a certain tedium and I find myself increasingly looking forward to the day when this pandemic is something for “remember the coronavirus pandemic of 2020?” conversations in years to come. I find myself trying not to think of the possibility of this situation dragging on, not for weeks, but for months yet, and even less to think about loved ones who may not in fact make it through to see the end of this pandemic. We had thought that maybe there might be no point in producing Position Papers this month given everything that is happening, especially with the uncertainty that hangs over the shops and postal service. It strikes me, however, that our readers might well appreciate, now more than ever, receiving some faith inspired lights on the pandemic. To this end about half of our contributions deal with it. I would also like to use this editorial to share some personal thoughts on the crisis we are all passing through together, and also to draw on the reflections of Pope Francis in his special Urbi et Orbi homily of Friday 27 March. In a few short weeks the season of Lent will give way to the season of Easter, and the Church will once again teach us the crucial lesson that the cross – suffering – does not have the last word. The fifty days of Easter is a particularly significant number as it is meant to symbolise eternity: it is a week of weeks, or forty-nine days, plus an additional day added to give eight Sundays – all of which symbolises going beyond this present life into a time which has no end. Nature too will take up the chorus as those fifty days bring us from April into May, providing a living icon of the beauty of eternal life. Easter is the oldest and most fundamental feast in the Church’s calendar, and it expresses the core of our Catholic Faith. It reminds us that we have been created to enjoy an eternal Easter, but that we arrive at this Easter through Lent, and through Holy Week, in other words, 2
A REVIEW OF CATHOLIC AFFAIRS
through the Cross. During these difficult days of lockdown, of job losses, of illness and death, we Christians cannot lose sight of the Christian understanding of suffering. It is not to say that we have a facilely optimistic view of everything, a view which would downplay the cruel reality of suffering. No, we acknowledge that suffering is very real, and that it is mysterious; it cannot be rationalised away. And yet it is when faced with the reality of suffering that our Faith really comes into its own. Nothing else, no science or worldly wisdom, can make any sense of the cross. We know that this pandemic, like all crosses, would never be allowed by God if it were not to draw a much greater good. What that good might be is impossible for us to say with any certainty. We can perhaps surmise that it may be allowed in order to shake the modern world out of its materialistic sleep, to realise that “we do not have here a lasting city”. Christ has also revealed to us that God is a loving Father, not a cruel and arbitrary God who is indifferent to our sufferings. I think this is particularly important to remember when some begin to present this pandemic as a divine punishment of the modern world for its sinfulness. There are two dangers in this approach. First of all, who are we to know God’s motives? We would do well to remember the words of God in Isaiah: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). It is at best temerarious to presume to judge God’s actions in the world. But secondly, if we are to speak in terms of punishment we must be very careful to show how this is reconcilable with God’s infinite, paternal love for each and every one of us. He loves us with a love “which surpasses knowledge” (Eph. 3:19) and even his “punishment” must be an expression of this love. As St Paul asks, “What man among you would not chastise his son?”. We must beware of applying the all too human motives of vengefulness, or impatience to God. 3
POSITION PAPERS
St Francis de Sales has written one of the most moving descriptions of how God approaches the task of presenting us with our cross. He shows how there is nothing arbitrary about the cross; rather it has been most lovingly and carefully considered before God gives it to us: The everlasting God has in his wisdom foreseen from eternity the cross that He now presents to you as a gift from His inmost Heart. This cross He now sends you He has considered with His all-knowing eyes, understood with His divine mind, tested with His wise justice, warmed with loving arms and weighed with His own hands to see that it be not one inch too large and not one ounce too heavy for you. He has blessed it with His Holy Name, anointed it with His consolation, taken one last glance at you and your courage, and then sent it to you from heaven, a special greeting from God to you, an alms of the All-Merciful Love of God. These words can be applied now to almost the whole of mankind who are experiencing in one way or another the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Each person suffers in their unique way: some with sickness, some with a job loss, some have extra pressures placed on their marriage, some experience great tedium, and some even death. But in every case God knows that this precise cross is the best blessing for that person, and besides He also gives with the cross, the grace needed to carry it. And besides, if we are realistic, we must admit that already we have detected the silver linings on this cloud: there will have been material goods such as a much needed period of rest, or more time spent with one’s family, and spiritual goods such as a deepening in empathy with others, and so on. If we do not allow ourselves to lose sight of God’s loving providence in all this, we will not lose our peace and joy and will face these trials with an unfailing Christian optimism. To date one of the most striking thing about the coronavirus pandemic has been the incredible outpouring of heroic charity that it has evinced; we see all round the world how health care workers have rallied around to assist the sick, sometimes putting their own lives at risk in the process; we have seen how dozens of Italian priests 4
A REVIEW OF CATHOLIC AFFAIRS
have died, and in some cases they have literally given their lives for others; or initiatives to care and shop for the elderly have been put in action. While at the same time there has been less than edifying behaviour: panic buying, price gouging, and the like, the sheer numbers and heroism at the other end of the scale is impressive. And that is what we see reported; there are of course countless daily acts of care for the elderly and infirm which go unreported. In all of this of course, we are witnessing at least one of the blessings that God has wanted to give the world at this time. Surely for all of us this trial provides us with an opportunity to live the Communion of Saints in a particularly intense way: we can join in the Holy Father’s petitions for an end to the pandemic, a cure of those who are sick, and for the repose of the souls of those whose lives have been taken by it. For many people one of the great challenges of these days is to live charitably with those with whom they are sharing confinement. Spending day after day in close quarters with the same people in times of trial can be particularly demanding – we can think especially of parents now forced by the circumstances into home-schooling on top of all their other responsibilities. I personally have been quite inspired by the example of St Josemaría Escrivá during his months of semi-imprisonment from April to September 1937. (In his article below, Jason Osborne also mentions the timeliness of the example set by St Josemaria during his months of captivity). He and several of the young vocations to Opus Dei took refuge in the Honduran Legation to Spain, based in Madrid, in order to escape certain death at the hands of Marxist death squads roaming Madrid at the time. During those months the group of them were holed up in a tiny basement room, described by his biographer: Until the middle of May the Father and his companions did not have a room of their own. Then they were given one at the end of the corridor, next to the service stairs. In earlier times it had probably been a storeroom for coal. It was so small that at night its tile floor disappeared under the thin mattresses and the blankets. Rolled up and rested against the wall, the mattresses served as seats during the day. A narrow window looked out on an enclosed patio. The room was so dark that even in the daytime they had to 5
POSITION PAPERS
turn on the bare electric light bulb that hung from the ceiling. In this tiny, dismal room the Father organized life for himself and his companions. There were dozens of others holed up in similar circumstances throughout the building. Some found the whole experience so trying that it lead to their becoming mentally unhinged as a result. But the experience of the fellows in the company of St Josemaría was completely different. Amazingly they later spoke of months of captivity as a time of intense joy, on account of the kindly presence of the saint. The manner in which he spoke to them filled them with consolation and calm. One of the fellows there, Eduardo, later recalled: “Sometimes we thought, if only this could last forever! Had we ever known anything better than the light and warmth of that little room? As absurd as it was in those circumstances, that was our reaction, and from our way of seeing things it made perfect sense. It brought us peace and happiness day after day.” We could do well these days to attempt to imitate in our own confined milieu the wonderful example set by St Josemaria, seeing how much the warmth of charity can do to ameliorate the harshness of adverse material conditions. Finally, I would like to draw on the words of the Holy Father from his Urbi et Orbi homily of March 27. Those of you who watched must have, as I did, felt we were watching something both deeply historic and at the same time somehow beyond the confines of this world. I have to confess I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like it. We were watching Christ’s vicar on earth going face to face with God on our behalf. As the ceremony closed I felt, as many must have done, what a great gift of God it is to the Church, and to the world at large, to have the Roman Pontiff. His “analysis” of the crisis is especially valuable, as he shows us that more than a “punishment” it is rather an unmasking of false premises on which our secularised, materialistic culture has been built: The storm exposes our vulnerability and uncovers those false and superfluous certainties around which we have constructed our daily schedules, our projects, our habits and priorities. 6
A REVIEW OF CATHOLIC AFFAIRS
It shows us how we have allowed to become dull and feeble the very things that nourish, sustain and strengthen our lives and our communities. The tempest lays bare all our pre-packaged ideas and forgetfulness of what nourishes our people’s souls; all those attempts that anaesthetize us with ways of thinking and acting that supposedly “save” us, but instead prove incapable of putting us in touch with our roots and keeping alive the memory of those who have gone before us. We deprive ourselves of the antibodies we need to confront adversity. Our Golden Calves have been shown wanting by this virus: our frenetic system for acquiring wealth and comfort has ground to a halt and its frailty has been revealed. It is almost emblematic that the response of many to the impending disaster was panic buying, as if to underline the fact that we believe that we will be safe if our freezer is full, and our storerooms packed i.e we will be safe from all adversity. In this way we are only rehearsing the actions of the rich fool of Jesus’ parable: Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God” (Luke 12: 18-21). But at the same time, the Pope has reminded us of the words of Jesus to the apostles in their sinking boat: “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith”? The answer now is a complete faith in Christ: Let us hand over our fears to him so that he can conquer them. Like the disciples, we will experience that with him on board there will be no shipwreck. Because this is God’s strength: turning to the good everything that happens to us, even the bad things. He brings serenity into our storms, because with God life never dies.
7
POSITION PAPERS
In Passing: The fourth horseman of the Apocalypse by Michael Kirke
I
t was an eerie sight. The lone figure of the Vicar of Christ on earth standing under a canopy in the rain-drenched esplanade of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome addressing the world, Urbi et orbi. A little short of one year earlier he imparted the same traditional blessing to something in the region of a hundred thousand pilgrims gathered in the same esplanade. What apocalyptic event had brought this about? We know the answer well enough - and few will argue that the ‘A’ word is overstating reality.
mankind, the fear of death. But the message of hope was centred on the answer to that question asked by Christ of those fearful disciples in the sinking boat who called out to be saved from what looked to them like certain death. Why are you afraid? Have you no faith? The Scriptural apocalyptic vision of death describes it as coming accompanied by and through the three-fold agency of Famine, War and Pestilence. In the lifetimes of those of us present on this planet today the former two have been, sadly, familiar enough. The latter, in the terms in which it threatens us today and now - the prospect that it would bear away, as some experts estimate, forty million of us were it to get out of control - is a new experience. But in all this there is also an invitation to each one of us to reflect on the true nature of that fourth horseman is he friend or is he foe?
For some, perhaps for many, thinking and talking about death betrays a morbid obsession. For others it is a truly liberating preoccupation, for it is an engagement with a reality, a gate through which we enter on the Way to nothing less than Truth and Life itself. The message of that evening was about hope; hope in the face of fear - for fear is what now is pre- He is friend for he is the bringer dominantly in the hearts of of wisdom. Don’t be afraid of 8
A REVIEW OF CATHOLIC AFFAIRS
death. Accept it from now on, generously ... when God wills it, where God wills it, as God wills it. Don't doubt what I say: it will come in the moment, in the place and in the way that are best: sent by your Father-God. Welcome be our sister death! (The Way, 739) These are the words of St Josemaría Escrivá.
the turbulent events of his time. In doing so, with the help of his sister Death, he finally and peacefully saw the true measure of the significance of life, fame and human glory.
St John Henry Newman recalled – in The Grammar of Assent – that in the solitude of his imprisonment, The wisdom which the Christian and in the view of death, Napolife embodies encompasses both a leon was said to have reflected on glorious rejoicing in the gift of life the motivations of his years in and a peaceful acceptance of the pursuit of glory. inevitable moment in which we “I have been”, he said, “accuswill pass from this temporary so- tomed to put before me the exjourn to an eternal joy. What Pope amples of Alexander and Cæsar, Francis reminded us of emphatic- with the hope of rivalling their exally was that faith is the antidote ploits, and living in the minds of to fear. His words were also a re- men for ever. Yet, after all, in what minder and an encouragement to sense does Cæsar, in what sense fight together those three hu- does Alexander live? Who knows manly engineered real enemies of or cares anything about them? At mankind, War, Famine and Pesti- best, nothing but their names is lence. We know that Death came known; for who among the multiinto the world through the willful tude of men, who hear or who utfolly of our race. But we also ter their names, really knows anyknow that the act and witness of thing about their lives or their Christ’s death on a Cross, fol- deeds, or attaches to those names lowed by his Resurrection, has any definite idea?” totally changed its meaning for mankind and is now in itself a re- “But, on the contrary” he is reporminder to us of the true meaning ted to have continued, “there is and ultimate end of our existence. just One Name in the whole world that lives; it is the Name of Napoleon Bonaparte, approach- One who passed His years in obing death on the bleak South At- scurity, and who died a mallantic Island of St Helena, reflec- efactor's death. Eighteen hundred ted on his self-absorbed life and years have gone since that time, 9
POSITION PAPERS
but still it has its hold upon the human mind. It has possessed the world, and it maintains possession.” “Amid the most varied nations, under the most diversified circumstances, in the most cultivated, in the rudest races and intellects, in all classes of society, the Owner of that great Name reigns. High and low, rich and poor acknowledge Him. Millions of souls are conversing with Him, are venturing on His word, are looking for His presence. Palaces, sumptuous, innumerable, are raised to His honour; His image, as in the hour of His deepest humiliation, is triumphantly displayed in the proud city, in the open country, in the corners of streets, on the tops of mountains. It sanctifies the ancestral hall, the closet, and the bedchamber; it is the subject for the exercise of the highest genius in the imitative arts. It is worn next the heart in life; it is held before the failing eyes in death.” “Here, then, is One who is not a mere name, who is not a mere fiction, who is a reality. He is dead
and gone, but still He lives, – lives as the living, energetic thought of successive generations, as the awful motive-power of a thousand great events. He has done without effort what others with life-long struggles have not done. Can He be less than Divine? Who is He but the Creator Himself; who is sovereign over His own works, towards whom our eyes and hearts turn instinctively, because He is our Father and our God?” And it was to Him, two hundred years after Napoleon uttered those wise words, that Pope Francis once again drew the city of Rome and all the cities of the world to ask for help today as we face the rampaging Third Horseman of the Apocalypse, asking for help to deal with the multiple devastations he will bring in his wake. But the miraculous crucifix which was so central in the images relayed from St Peter’s on March 27 reminded us powerfully of the truth that death itself is not a fearful thing, but is the true beginning of all Wisdom and Life.
...the author Michael Kirke is a freelance writer, a regular contributor to Position Papers, and a widely read blogger at Garvan Hill (www.garvan.wordpress.com). His views can be responded to at mjgkirke@gmail.com 10
A REVIEW OF CATHOLIC AFFAIRS
The transforming grace of Christ’s Resurrection by Rev. Donncha Ó hAodha
“I
n the midst of isolation when we are suffering from a lack of tenderness and chances to meet up, and we experience the loss of so many things, let us once again listen to the proclamation that saves us: he is risen and is living by our side.” (Francis, Meditation, 27 March 2020). These words of the Holy Father were particularly poignant, not just because of the ominous emptiness of St Peter’s Square and the teeming rain, but above all because of the heart-breaking loss of life due to the coronavirus pandemic. Yet while acknowledging the drama and suffering of the hour, the Pope also proclaimed the Risen Christ who is always by our side and indeed always on our side. The celebration of Easter this
year will be somewhat muted in many parts of the world, yet the deep faith and joy of the Church will be no less real. Resurrection now But how does the resurrection of Jesus actually affect you and me? Is it just something we hope to share in at the end of our lives? Is it just a consoling thought? Is it the conviction that our Lord will, if we are faithful, raise us up in communion with his risen Life? Or is it something that actually transforms us now? “The joy of the resurrection renews the whole world” proclaims the liturgy in Easter time. But in what sense is the world, and each one of us actually touched, changed or renewed here and now by Christ’s resurrection? 11
POSITION PAPERS
Life in the Church, the life of grace is in fact nothing less than a real sharing even now in the life of the risen Christ. As St Thomas Aquinas put it: “Grace is nothing else but a certain beginning of glory in us”. The grace of God, and living in that grace, is so magnificent and deep that we tend to underestimate it. Living through, with and in Christ, especially through the sacraments, is already to participate in the resurrection. This participation will come to full fruition, please God, in the glory of heaven. As has been said: “Grace is glory in exile; glory is grace at home”. Dead and risen with Christ The life of the risen Christ is poured into us in the first instance at the all-important moment of our “recreation”, namely our baptism. As St Paul tells us: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:3-4). It’s as if a divine life has been lit in us at baptism, destined to grow stronger and brighter with God’s help and our response, until we enter the 12
kingdom of eternal light (cf. Col 1:13). This risen life of Jesus is strengthened in us by the grace of the sacraments, especially the holy Eucharist, which the Fathers called “the medicine of immortality”. The resurrection of Jesus was a historical event, taking place at a particular point of time, but it does not remain only in the past. Nor is Christ’s resurrection merely a hope for our future. Rather, the risen Jesus is the very life of the Church, in which we are intrinsically renewed through the baptism. This transformation is so profound that it transcends the boundary of death itself. If before Christ what mattered was being physically alive or physically dead, all that ultimately matters now is whether we are united to him, whether we are physically alive or dead. St Paul explains this in his Letter to the Romans: “If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (14:8). Proclaim the greatness of the gift Again, we need to be on our guard not to underestimate what Christ’s resurrection means for us here and now. To be a Catholic is not
A REVIEW OF CATHOLIC AFFAIRS
merely to agree to certain truths, or to belong to a particular denomination, or to behave in a certain way. All these are important of course, but what is essential to our identity is our life in Christ, being “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet 1:4), by participation in the resurrection of Jesus.
grandeur as well as its implications for daily life. We could, each in our own way and style, imitate the Apostle Peter who begins his first Letter with exultation: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection Here we are at the crux of the con- of Jesus Christ from the dead, and trast between Luther’s view of jus- to an inheritance which is impertification as being a merely im- ishable, undefiled, and unfading, puted salvation from the outside kept in heaven for you” (1:3-4). by virtue of a declaration of God Where heaven meets earth (extrinsic justification), as op- To seek to comprehend, savour posed to the Catholic faith that in and proclaim the resurrection of baptism we are profoundly trans- Christ: this is the constant invitaformed (intrinsic justification) to tion to us from the Eastertide the point of becoming a “new cre- liturgy. Faith in the resurrection ation” in Christ (2 Cor 5:17). has myriad implications in daily It seems to be the case that many of the baptised have a somewhat anaemic understanding of what it means to be a Christian, which may account for our lacklustre response to the grace which we have not really grasped either intellectually or existentially. This is great challenge for us all, to proclaim to the four winds, the wonder of Christ and his love which profoundly transforms each of us and in a very real way “renews the face of the earth” (Ps 104:30).
life. St Paul helps the faithful draw them out: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Col 3:1-2).
Clearly, as the example of St Paul’s own example shows, this does not mean floating through life naïvely abstracted from reality. On the contrary, faith in the resurrection leads Christians to sanctify the orIn proclaiming the reality and dinary and discover the eternal dipower of the resurrection we will mension in the most material and be lead to rediscover its immense practical realities of daily life. 13
POSITION PAPERS
“There is something holy, something divine, hidden in the most ordinary circumstances and it is up to each of you to discover it” (St Josemaría). The Christian life is simultaneously sublime and profoundly grounded in earthly reality. “Heaven and earth seem to merge on the horizon, but where they really meet is in your hearts when you sanctify your everyday lives”, teaches “the saint of ordinary life”. The saints are not shadows but real human beings of flesh and blood, with strong personalities. They are big players in the real history of this material world, because they live in communion with the God-man Jesus Christ who rose in the flesh to the glory of heaven. Easter Laughter In one of his writings Joseph Ratzinger recalls that in the Baroque period, Easter homilies had to include the risus paschalis (“Paschal laugh”). In other words there had to be something to
bring laughter to the congregation. A clear consequence of the resurrection is joy and cheerfulness, even in the face of suffering and difficulties. “Never let anything so fill you with sorrow as to make you forget the joy of Christ risen”, said St Teresa of Calcutta, who herself suffered a great deal, especially in her interior life, for many years. To deepen our faith in the resurrection is a very positive challenge since the only danger is to underestimate God’s love for us in his Son. We can ask the help of her who was surely the first one to share in the joy of the risen Christ on Easter Sunday morning. “O God, who gave joy to the world through the resurrection of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, grant we beseech Thee, that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, His Mother, we may obtain the joys of everlasting life. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.”
...the author Rev. Donncha Ó hAodha is the Regional Vicar of the Opus Dei Prelature in Ireland, author of several CTS booklets and a regular contributor to Position Papers. 14
A REVIEW OF CATHOLIC AFFAIRS
The Coronavirus and sitting quietly in a room by Rev. Bishop Robert Barron
B
laise Pascal said, “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” The great seventeenth-century philosopher thought that most of us, most of the time, distract ourselves from what truly matters through a series of divertissements (diversions). He was speaking from experience. Though one of the brightest men of his age and one of the pioneers of the modern physical sciences and of computer technology, Pascal frittered away a good deal of his time through gambling and other trivial pursuits. In a way, he knew, such diversions are understandable, since the great questions – Does God exist? Why am I here? Is there life after death? – are indeed overwhelming. But if
we are to live in a serious and integrated way, they must be confronted – and this is why, if we want our most fundamental problems to be resolved, we must be willing to spend time in a room alone. This Pascalian mot has come to my mind a good deal in recent days as our entire country goes into shutdown mode due to the coronavirus. Shopping malls, movie theaters, restaurants, school campuses, sports stadiums, airports, etc. – the very places where we typically seek out fellowship or divertissements – are all emptying out. This is obviously good from the standpoint of physical health, but I wonder whether we might see it as something very good for our 15
POSITION PAPERS
psychological and spiritual health as well. Perhaps we could all think of this time of semiquarantine as an invitation to some monastic introspection, some serious confrontation with the questions that matter – some purposeful sitting alone in a room. Might I make a few suggestions in regard to our retreat? Get out your Bible and read one of the Gospels in its entirety – perhaps the Gospel of Matthew, which we are using for Sunday Mass this liturgical year. Read it slowly, prayerfully; use a good commentary if that helps. Or practice the ancient art that has been recommended warmly by the last several popes – namely, lectio divina. This “divine reading” of the Bible consists in four basic steps: lectio, meditatio, oratio, and contemplatio. First, read the scriptural text carefully; second, pick out one word or one passage that specially struck you, and then mediate on it, like a ruminating animal chewing on its cud; third, speak to God, telling him how your heart was moved by what you read; fourth and finally, listen to the Lord, discerning what he speaks back to you. Trust me, the Bible will spring 16
to life when you approach it through this method. Or read one of the spiritual classics during this time of imposed isolation. Keep in mind that, prior to the rise of the physical sciences, the best and brightest people in our Western intellectual tradition entered the fields of philosophy, theology, and spirituality. One of the dark sides of our post-Enlightenment culture is a general forgetfulness of the astonishing richness produced by generations of brilliant spiritual teachers. So take up St. Augustine’s Confessions, preferably in Maria Boulding’s recent translation, which reads like a novel, or Frank Sheed’s classic translation. Though he lived and wrote seventeen centuries ago, the spiritual seeker of our time will discern in Augustine’s story the contours and trajectories of his own. Or read the Rule of St. Benedict, especially the section on the twelve degrees of humility. If you dare, follow St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises, preferably under the direction of a good guide (who doesn’t have the coronavirus!). If these texts and practices seem too dated, spend your quiet time with Thomas Merton’s splendid autobiography The Seven Storey
A REVIEW OF CATHOLIC AFFAIRS
Mountain, which, in compelling prose, tells the story of the twentieth-century author’s journey from self-absorbed worldling to Trappist monk. And of course, pray. When Merton was once asked what is the most important thing a person could do to improve her prayer life, he replied, “Take the time.” Well, now we have more time. Do a Holy Hour every day or every other day. Dust off your rosary, which I think is one of the most sublime prayers in the Catholic tradition. When we pray it well, we meditate on the mysteries of Christ; we call to mind, fifty times, the inevitability our own passing (“now and at the hour of our death”); and we entrust ourselves to the most powerful intercessor on earth or in heaven. Not a bad way to spend twenty minutes. Take the time at the end of the day to examine your conscience – and not in a cursory manner. Do it carefully, prayerfully, honestly. Ask yourself how many times in the course of the day you missed an
opportunity to show love, how many times you did not respond to a grace, how often you fell into a habitual sin. Now that we’re being asked to keep a certain distance from our fellow human beings, embrace the solitude and silence in a spiritually alert way. Go for that long walk on the beach, across the fields, up in the hills – wherever you like to go to be alone. And just talk to God. Ask him what he wants you to do. Pray for your kids or your parents or your friends who might be struggling. Tell him how much you love him and how you want greater intimacy with him. And please put away the iPhones! Open your eyes, lift up your heads, and take in the beauty of God’s creation and thank him for it. If Pascal is right, many of our deepest problems can be solved by sitting, with spiritual attention, alone in a room. Perhaps through God’s strange providence, the quarantine we’re enduring might be our chance.
...the author This article first appeared at: www.wordonfire.org. Bishop Robert Barron is an author, speaker, theologian, and founder of Word on Fire, a global media ministry. This article has been reprinted with the kind permission of the editors. 17
POSITION PAPERS
A Time To Plant, A Time To Be Born by Jason Osborne
L
ife has changed radically in the space of weeks, Lent being forced upon us this year. With our lives dominated by these unorthodox circumstances it would be easy to lose sight of the goal, and I have already seen this playing out in my own life. I have been reading too much news, partaking in too many “doom and gloom” conversations, and lamenting over all the opportunities I’ve lost. And without my realising it, God slips out of the centre, and the world and its present concerns slip in. Chaos has swept in and troubled many hearts, mine included. It seems as though life, our adventure with God, has been put on hold for the foreseeable future. It seems as though our sole concern at the moment is keeping our 18
heads above the waves. Where are you to look to, where can you go, when the floodwaters begin to rise? To the Ark, the Church in our case, “which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). While the world struggles to withstand the sea of panic, the faith upheld by the Church offers us the clarity that only God can bring. The Church ought to speak of the ark sitting peaceably above the chaos, confident in its God and his power to bring good out of every situation. How then, should this assurance appear in our restricted day-to-day lives? St. Josemaría Escrivá offers up an example of the Christian life successfully lived in exile.
A REVIEW OF CATHOLIC AFFAIRS
In April 1937, St Josemaría and five other young men were forced into refuge by the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. For four months they lived all together in a tiny and dreary storage room in the basement of the Honduran consulate, with a few mats to spread over the floor for bedding. They were facing an uncertain future, and this resulted in panic and depression, fear and hatred in those present. However, St Josemaría was wise to the opportunity God was granting him. He recognised that life had not stopped, it had only changed. He established a strict routine which was centred on God, and included study, language learning, and quality time with those he was confined with. His philosophy of the time was summed up in a meditation he later wrote: “The plants could not be seen, as they lay hidden under the snow. And the farmer who owned the land observed with satisfaction: ‘Now they are growing on the inside.’”
slows down, and as we are confined to our houses, we must move from the external to the internal after the example of this saint. As he said, “How can I bring God’s gifts to fruition in this forced retreat? Don’t forget that you can be like a snow-capped volcano (…). On the outside, yes, the ice of monotony and darkness might cover you; outwardly you appear trapped. But inside, the fire will not stop burning within you, nor will you tire of making up for your lack of external action with a very intense internal one…” The book of Ecclesiastes tells us that for “everything there is a season”. We’ve all seen the pictures of empty streets and shuttered shopfronts, and so we know that now is the “time to keep silence”, now is “a time to plant”, and now is “a time to be born”. God has granted us greater silence than ever before this Lent, and we have a duty to use it.
As jobs are lost, as the economy ...the author Jason Osborne studied English and Philosophy University College Dublin and is currently working full time on the mission team at Pure in Heart 19
POSITION PAPERS
All the Circumstances and Events of my Life by Pat Hanratty
F
or many years I in common with lots of other people have been using the prayer card to Saint Josemaría Escrivá. Indeed lots of us were using it when he was simply Monsignor, before being declared Venerable, later Blessed and in 2002, Saint Josemaría. One day recently as I was praying it silently the sentence “Grant that I too may learn to turn all the circumstances and events of my life into occasions of loving you and serving the Church, the Pope and all souls with joy and simplicity…” struck me like they never struck me before. All the circumstances and events! The sentence is, of course, totally attuned to the spirit of Opus Dei and the message God revealed to 20
its founder, St. Josemaría in 1928. All the circumstances and events of our lives typically meant our work, our family life, our leisure, even the more mundane things such as going to the pub, playing a round of golf and lots more besides. For some people, no doubt their lives did involve extremes – health care workers at the cutting edge of life and death, those living and working in war zones or attending to the needs of refugees and asylum seekers, Gardaí in special units fighting gangland crime, but for people like me who, I have to admit led a fairly sheltered life for three score and ten years up to now the circumstances were by most accounts, ordinary. But now it seems there is a new
A REVIEW OF CATHOLIC AFFAIRS
“ordinary”. A little virus, in diameter less than a millionth of a metre has caused worldwide havoc, firstly in China and in other Asian countries and then in Italy and other Western countries. In fact nowhere on earth seems to be immune to it, though at the time of writing parts of Africa seem to have been less affected. The scale of its impact on the lives of nations and individuals is frightening – businesses closing, people losing their jobs, airlines grounding their entire fleets, schools closing, examinations at risk. The list goes on.
hundred years ago, but there are vast differences too. Extraordinary advances in medicine, the speed of communications and the rise of the mass media make the world a very different place to what it was in 1918. But therein lie problems. We get so much stuff on our phones – mine is normally good for a full day between charging but lately by 5.00 p.m it’s beginning to show red. I’m probably using it too much, but much of it is incoming traffic. People sending advice, not always correct, others sending stories from the front line, For all sorts of reasons, the re- even some funny stuff. But I'm strictions and admonitions pre- very wary of forwarding most of venting gatherings including at- it – what some find funny might tendance at Mass are a huge body upset others. blow, particularly during the sea- When will it end? I can’t see anyson of Lent and as we approach one wanting to travel away from Easter. One presumes at the time home for a holiday until there’s of writing that attendance at pretty clear proof that the destinHoly Week and Easter ceremon- ation is safe. I can’t see us being ies will be impossible. One thinks let attend social gatherings e.g. also of the millions who normally dinners where we all sit close togather in Rome and Jerusalem at gether for a long time. And as for Easter. Nobody is booking flights shaking hands and giving bear to those cities now. Other reli- hugs, well as a certain advertisegions have been hit too – Saudi ment says, they're definitely gone Arabia has had to do the un- – for a long time to come! thinkable and close off Mecca In all of our needs we look for inand Medina. spiration. For Catholics and Parallels are drawn to the Spanish many others the example of Pope ’Flu pandemic of just over one Francis is inspirational. As well as 21
POSITION PAPERS
complying with the directives completely, the example of him walking in pilgrimage through the deserted streets of Rome to the Basilica of St Mary Major and the Church of St Marcello (in both of which predecessors of his prayed for an end to plagues in the sixth and sixteenth centuries) on 15th March, and the daily tweets (https://twitter.com/Pontifex) wherein he gives encouragement to all are just one example. The dedication of front line heroes all over the world is also remarkable. In Ireland too we must give credit to the government ministers and the HSE. Outstanding among these has been Dr. Tony Holohan, the Government’s Chief Medical Officer and Paul Reid, CEO of the HSE, neither of whom would have expected to be playing such a visible role in advising (and calming) the nation when they stepped into those roles.
to go to sources for spiritual guidance, - guidance to help us stay calm and pray. Simply googling the words “Covid-19 prayer” led me to a wide variety of links, including the very helpful “Prayer Resources for use during the Coronavirus pandemic” page on the site of the Irish Bishops’ Conference, to a whole host of prayers on the Church of England’s website, and a really uplifting report on a gathering (with physical distancing) of Christians, Jews and Muslims in Jerusalem to pray together. When will it end – when will we get back to “normal”? Who knows if things will ever be totally normal, as we understood them. Covid-19 has wreaked untold misery in several countries. One thinks of people dying in misery alone and their relatives being unable to give them a proper funeral. Let us ask God to spare the world any more of such scenes. Let us ask Him too to While there is no shortage of in- bring an end to the suffering formation (and disinformation) caused by Covid-19. on Covid-19, it will serve us well ...the author Pat Hanratty taught Science/Chemistry in Tallaght Community School from its inception in 1972 until he retired in 2010. He was the school's first Transition Year Co-ordinator and for four years he had the role of home School Community Liaison Officer. 22
A REVIEW OF CATHOLIC AFFAIRS
Yes, I’d Become Catholic Again by Michael Pakaluk
A
recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land with Saxum Holy Land Dialogues led me to think carefully about the question of whether today, given the crisis and confusion in the Church, if I were an eager “C.S. Lewis” Protestant – as I once was – I would become a Catholic, here and now, again. In part, it was because the young professionals I accompanied in Saxum YPS wanted to hear about my earlier conversion to Catholicism as a graduate student, I was compelled to re-examine my motives. In part, it was because a pilgrimage offers something like the fullest possible means to embrace Christianity for a Protestant. I prayed in Gethsemane and
stood atop Golgotha. I read the Beatitudes in my Greek New Testament, while looking out over the Sea of Tiberias. I sang Adeste Fideles in fellowship with other believers in the grotto of Bethlehem. But doing all that, what would I still lack, if I were a Protestant as before? So I took an inventory for myself, and here is my tally. First, I’d lack the Canon of the Mass. This may seem a strange item to place first. Yet I remember clearly that, as a Protestant, it was difficult to find proper expressions of worship. Almost always, the language used was merely emotional, or merely human, or lacking some essential element.Whatever the gripes of some Catholics about the Novus 23
POSITION PAPERS
Ordo, it remains true that each of the four versions of the Canon of the Mass gives wonderful expression to the essential truths of our faith, and the nature of Christian fellowship, in the context of giving God due worship. These prayers express quite suitably what one looks for and esteems in the Holy Land sites.
remain under Peter, and Andrew and James, and the other apostles, just as the first Christians were. We therefore live under the form of government that Jesus intended and established. I mean additionally that the Apostolic Succession – with its consistent teaching over time – and the Eucharist are the types of continuity that God clearly Second, I’d lack the Eucharist. cares about. Pilgrims are aware that a pil- This point is worth dwelling grimage obliterates separation in upon. When you visit a site in place. “Here” (hic, in Latin) be- the Holy Land, you often find comes the operative word. Here the Word became flesh. Here the precursor of the Lord was born. Here Mary placed the infant Jesus in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes. That is, after all, why one makes a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. But the Eucharist obliterates, as well, differences in time. Our group celebrated Mass in the chapel of the Cenacle. At that liturgy, it was not simply here but also now that the bread became his body and the wine became his blood. And those things, similarly, happen now at every Catholic Mass. Third, I’d lack the Apostolic Succession. In saying this, I do not mean merely the commonplace point, very true, that Catholics 24
The Conversion of St. Paul by Caravaggio, c. 1600 [Odescalchi Balbi Collection, Rome]
A REVIEW OF CATHOLIC AFFAIRS
there, today, a Church. And the guide will say something like this: “This church dates to the early twentieth century, on a site where archeologists have discovered signs of pilgrimage dating back to the first century AD. The Romans built a pagan temple over it. Under Constantine, a basilica was built there, which was destroyed by the Moors. The Crusaders recaptured the place and built a church, which was destroyed by Saladin. The Franciscans sought from the Sultan and gained approval to build a new church there.” And so on. No holy site has been immune to such revolutions of
destruction, rebuilding, and change of control. The identity of a place of pilgrimage seems incredibly left open to chance. Sometimes even a miracle is necessary, such as in Helena’s discovery of the True Cross. God’s providence in these matters looks genuinely puzzling. And yet, in contrast, God has clearly taken great care that two things be preserved over time, the Apostolic Succession, together with continuity of teaching, and the celebration of the Eucharist, as originally instituted. “The fullest possible means to embrace Christianity” for a Protestant is, as it were, left up to chance. But these other Visitor Center, Saxum
25
POSITION PAPERS
things, which a Protestant does not possess, are not left up to chance. (One must count Scripture among the latter – because the Bible does not verify its own canon, or carry along with itself its true interpretation.) Fourth, I’d lack miracles. As pilgrims, we stood beside the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus created bread and fish to feed the multitude. We saw the pools in Jerusalem of Siloam, where the blind man received his sight, and Bethesda, where the man sick for thirty-eight years was healed. I remember puzzling as a Protestant why there were no longer any miracles. Many hold that an “Age of Miracles” was necessary only at the beginning, so that Christianity could spread rapidly. (Doesn’t it need to be spread now?) But we Catholics live and move and have our being among miracles. We all know stories of miracles among our friends. We expect miracles.
There is a Siloam and a Bethesda for any canonization. The Eucharist is a daily miracle. Fifth, and finally, I’d lack my mother as a Christian, Mary. When I converted, I did so in spite of “the Marian doctrines,” not because of them. But I see now that my heart was impoverished then, as well as my faith. A Protestant pilgrim might well wonder why the sites involving Mary, such as her home in Nazareth, where the angel appeared to her, are just as ancient as those involving Jesus and the Apostles. Why did Christians from the start sense that she was so central? But then reflection on the Word becoming flesh should dispel that wonder, and clarify the connection between Mary, and truth’s insertion into place and time. These realities abide. Yes, if I were a “C.S. Lewis” Christian, I’d become a Catholic again, today, by the grace of God, in a heartbeat.
...the author Michael Pakaluk, an Aristotle scholar and Ordinarius of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, is a professor in the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America. He lives in Hyattsville, MD with his wife Catherine, also a professor at the Busch School, and their eight children. His latest book, on the Gospel of Mark, The Memoirs of St Peter, is now available from Regnery Gateway. He is currently at work on a new book on Mary’s voice in the gospel of John. 26
A REVIEW OF CATHOLIC AFFAIRS
The Contribution of L’Arche by Tim O’Sullivan
E
arlier this year, the L’Arche community published revelations about “credible and consistent testimonies” from six adult women without disabilities about “manipulative” and “emotionally abusive” sexual relations between Jean Vanier, the founder of L’Arche, and these women. The findings were made on a “balance of probabilities” rather than “beyond any doubt” standard of proof but the testimonies of the women were reinforced by the documentary and archival research that L’Arche conducted (L’Arche International, Letter from International Leaders and Summary Report, February, 2020, larche.org).
both to him and to his work with people with an intellectual disability so these revelations caused much distress in the Catholic world and beyond. The revelations about Vanier followed similar revelations some years ago relating to his mentor and the person he called L’Arche’s “cofounder”, Fr Thomas Philippe. Many commentators have rightly underlined the courage of the women who have come forward in relation to these cases. In any issue of abuse, the abuse victims must be centre-stage and their suffering and courage need to be highlighted, and were indeed highlighted, in the report published by L’Arche.
When Vanier died last year, L’Arche also deserves credit for warm tributes had been paid facing up so promptly to credible 27
POSITION PAPERS
accusations about its founder and for the firmness of its response in “unreservedly” condemning his actions, “which are in total contradiction with the values Jean claimed.” I worked for several months as an “assistant” or full-time volunteer with the original L’Arche community in Trosly in France in the 1980s and met both Jean Vanier and Fr Philippe, though I didn’t know either of them well. My experience was relatively short and I don’t speak in any way for the community today but these are a few brief reflections on L’Arche and Vanier, on the basis of my personal experience. As a volunteer with L’Arche, I had direct experience of its positive contribution to the lives of many of its members. I am thinking particularly of the happy, home-like setting which it succeeded in creating for large numbers of people with an intellectual disability, some of whom previously had difficult or even anguished backgrounds. A French researcher used the word enracinement or “putting down roots” in relation to L’Arche – he suggested that the community helped people to put down roots or settle in a place of 28
love and solidarity. I recall one person, for example, who, on first coming to L’Arche, stood in a corner, with his back to other people, at meal-time. Some time later, he had become a smiling and joyful presence in his community. Such experiences could be replicated many times over as L’Arche did prove to be, in the words of one of Vanier’s books, a place of “community and growth’. Living in a L’Arche house provided assistants like me with a strong sense of the unique value and dignity and indeed mystery of each person, including the person with an intellectual disability. That sense of the mystery of the person seemed to be linked to the mystery of suffering but could also be expressed in reflective or thoughtful moments as well as in beautiful smiles or in unexpected gestures of welcome and friendship. During my life there as a volunteer, I also experienced L’Arche as a place of encounter and dialogue between those of different outlooks within the Church – for example, between those who emphasised pro-life and pro-family concerns and those who emphasised social justice concerns. While I appreciate that these
A REVIEW OF CATHOLIC AFFAIRS
terms can be somewhat reductive and are not mutually exclusive, I mean that people campaigning for the protection of the right to life of the unborn, including the unborn baby with a disability, respected a community which had at its heart people with an intellectual disability. Equally, people campaigning for justice for the marginalised also felt drawn to a community which was centred on persons with an intellectual disability, some of whom had previously languished in psychiatric hospitals. Along with many others, Jean Vanier spearheaded an extraordinary growth of L’Arche around the world in a short time, from the 1960s on. One might also mention, in that context, the contribution of Faith and Light, also co-founded by Vanier, along with Marie-Hélène Mathieu, in pushing for people with an intellectual disability to come on pilgrimage, in large numbers, and in an atmosphere of joy, to Lourdes. Strange as it may seem, this was not something that had happened previously, or certainly not on a large scale, before the 1970s.
centrality of the person with a disability rather than his own contribution to L’Arche. Given the recent revelations, however, I do acknowledge that there must now be considerable doubt about whether these writings will continue to be widely read into the future or even whether I will return to them myself. Anyone commenting on the transgressions of another person, and particularly perhaps when that person is deceased, should keep in mind the famous injunction of Jesus in the Gospel: “let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” Nevertheless, along with many other friends of L’Arche, I feel sadness that the posthumous reputations of both Jean Vanier and Fr Philippe, are now, because of their own actions, permanently linked to damaging experiences of sexual misconduct and abuse.
Both men came from faith-filled family backgrounds. Vanier’s father Georges was a former Canadian Ambassador to France and the first Catholic GovernorGeneral of Canada. His mother Pauline was also a remarkable woman of faith, who spent her I frequently found nourishment later years living with L’Arche in in the writings and talks of Jean France while Vanier’s sister Vanier, which highlighted the Thérèse did much-respected 29
POSITION PAPERS
work with the hospice movement in Britain as well as with L’Arche. Thomas Philippe came from a family of twelve children in the North of France, eight of whom became religious. Their uncle was a well-known Dominican priest and Thomas and three of his brothers joined the Dominicans. Thomas was a gifted lecturer and preacher while his brother Marie-Dominique, who also joined the Dominicans, became disconnected from that order in the turmoil of the 1960s, and subsequently set up the Community of St John. Sadly, since his death, there have also been revelations that he engaged in sexual abuse with women whom he was counselling, revelations which have also been faced up to courageously by the Community which he founded. The French Dominican order assisted L’Arche in its enquiry and has also been carrying out its own investigations into the Fr Philippe brothers, though they both lived quite separately from the
Dominicans in the later decades of their lives. As well as the serious wrong that they did, Vanier and the two Fr Philippe brothers also clearly did a lot of good. Moral theologians would be better equipped than I am to analyse how deeply flawed ideas about morality and particularly chastity affected the thinking of even committed Catholics in recent decades. What I feel that I can do today, however, is to pray both for those who had their trust betrayed by the cofounders of L’Arche and for those founders themselves. Most people will hope that the good work of L’Arche itself around the world, and its very positive contribution to the lives of its members, will continue to flourish. The prompt and transparent actions of its current leadership in the face of the recent grave revelations will undoubtedly be a very positive building block in that context.
...the author Tim O’Sullivan has degrees in history and social policy and taught healthcare policy at third level. He is a regular contributor to Position Papers. 30
A REVIEW OF CATHOLIC AFFAIRS
Books: The Demon in Democracy by James Bradshaw
W
ith concerns about the Coronavirus ever-present in our minds, and many outdoor activities off limits, it is a good time to focus on some reading material which does not relate to the global pandemic.
Author: Ryszard Legutko
now lectures philosophy at Jagiellonian University in Kraków (where Pope John Paul II studied and taught) and also heads up the conservative Law and Justice party’s delegation in the European Parliament.
The Demon in Democracy, written by the Polish philosopherpolitician Ryszard Legutko, caused a minor stir when it was released in 2016. Four years on, the book’s central themes have only become more relevant, as the tensions between and within the democratic countries of the West have grown ever deeper.
From the time Poland joined the EU in 2004, Law and Justice governments and politicians have regularly been at odds with leaders of the European institutions as well as other European governments: a trend which has accelerated since they were returned to power in 2015. Given that he is an intellectual standard bearer for During the Communist era, his party, it is not a surprise that Legutko was among those dis- Legutko pushes back hard against sidents who challenged the So- this, and is scathing in his assessviet-backed regime which ruled ment of many trends in modern his country with an iron fist. He day liberalism. 31
POSITION PAPERS
Having personally struggled against Communism, Legutko sees strong parallels between the ideology of those who ruled Poland between 1945 and 1989 and the mindset which prevails in most of the Western world today. While he makes clear that there is no moral equivalence between Communism and modern-day liberalism/progressivism (a belief system which he refers to throughout as “liberal democracy”), he is not shy in pointing out similarities where he sees them. “Both communism and liberal democracy are regimes whose intent is to change reality for the better,” writes Legutko. “They are – to use the current jargon – modernisation projects. “Both are nourished by the belief that the world cannot be tolerated as it is and that it should be changed: that the old should be replaced with the new. Both systems strongly and – so to speak – impatiently intrude into the social fabric and both justify their intrusion with the argument that it leads to the improvement of the state of affairs by “modernising” it.” The author divides his book into five key chapters – History, Utopia, Politics, Ideology and 32
Religion – and analyses them in turn. The grim persecution he and his compatriots endured in Communist Poland are never far from his thoughts, and he makes a direct comparison between the socialist regime’s burning desire to completely dominate civil society and the growing intolerance shown by modern liberals. He cites several examples, but any observer of the political and cultural scene across Europe and North America will have no problem understanding what he is getting at. Every passing week brings with it fresh examples of challenges to freedom of conscience, expression and belief. Today it might be the cancelling of a conservative speaker’s talk at a college campus, tomorrow it could be legislation banning silent vigils outside abortion clinics, the day after that, another Christian minister might find himself being prosecuted for having views on marriage which conflict with newly passed and vaguelydefined “hate speech” laws. Those who call themselves liberal are rapidly becoming ever more intolerant of opposing viewpoints, and ever more willing to use the machinery of the state to bend individuals and
A REVIEW OF CATHOLIC AFFAIRS
organisations to their will. No dissent can be brooked. “Not only should the state and the economy be liberal, democratic, or liberal democratic, but the entire society as well, including ethics and mores, family, churches, schools, universities, community organisations, culture, and even human sentiments and aspirations,” Legutko writes. He argues that this intolerance of other viewpoints can in part be explained by how adherents to the liberal democratic viewpoint view themselves. Just as Marxists viewed their ideal state as the final step in the evolution of human history, many modern-day liberals have adopted an ‘End of History’ approach. It follows on from this that those who refuse to conform to the new consensus should be viewed with scorn. Legutko also argues that the liberal fondness for identity politics and the concomitant political measures to tackle perceived injustices represents a continuation of Marxist tactics, which are directed against the same enemies who opposed Communism in Poland and elsewhere. “Both sides – communist and liberal-democratic – share their dislike, sometimes border on
hatred, towards the same enemies: the Church and religion, the nation, classical metaphysics, moral conservatism, and the family.” It is strong meat, and the sort of analysis which leaves little room for discourse with the other side. Legutko sees that he is under attack. The values of his party and his Church are constantly being derided by political elites across Europe (and by a sizeable minority within Poland, it must be acknowledged) and his book is a powerful response. His contribution is valuable and necessary for a number of reasons. Firstly, Legutko’s insightful analysis of Polish society under Communism provides an insight into the attitudes of Poland’s controversial conservative government, as well as their counterparts in Hungary. Years of assaults on both countries’ reputations by EU figures, leftliberal media outlets and the usual Soros-funded NGOs have left a stain on the reputation of these great nations which is thoroughly undeserved. The words ‘Poland’ and ‘Hungary’ are now shorthand among European liberals for backwardness, authoritarianism, even fascism. 33
POSITION PAPERS
The alleged sins of Law and Justice in Poland and Orbán are too many to be listed, but include such antediluvian stances as opposing a further transfer of powers to Brussels, honouring the role of Christianity in shaping their countries’ identities, resisting abortion and gender ideology, and worst of all, opposing the sort of mass Muslim immigration which is designed to fundamentally and irrevocably transform whole societies. For all this, Poland, Hungary and the other Visegrád countries are despised. The facts that these governments are democratically elected and many of their policies are broadly popular is irrelevant to the political and cultural elite represented by figures such as Guy Verhofstadt, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel.
a new constitution.
Few in the West understand that many Communist-era politicians – who had played key roles in their respective dictatorships – later went on not just to participate in post-Communist politics, but to lead several governments. In Hungary for instance, Orbán’s predecessor as Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány had been a leading member of the Organisation of Young Communists in the 1980s. Gyurcsány’s Hungarian Socialist Party was the direct successor to the one-party state which a youthful Orbán once worked to overthrow. The fact that the Communist influence has not been fully removed from political life is jarring to many Polish and Hungarian conservatives, as is the (often accurate) belief that the EU’s governing class would The mutual distrust between the prefer that the former Communpopulist conservatives of both ist parties were in charge, given countries and the Western lib- how amenable they are to ever eral democrats who Legutko re- closer union. bukes has deep roots, and is to In addition to focusing on Posome extent attributable to the land’s road to freedom, this book desire of the Polish and Hun- also shines a much-needed light garian governments to make a on the perfidy of those European clean break from the Commun- liberals and socialists who did ist past, a process which can in- nothing to oppose Soviet volve contentious steps such as, tyranny in central Europe, but in Hungary’s case, the writing of who have since developed a 34
A REVIEW OF CATHOLIC AFFAIRS
strong aversion to democratically elected governments in that region which dare to oppose them.
Orbán or a Kaczyński will. In this book, Letugko does a good job of explaining why that probably won’t change in future, “The liberal-democratic West either. did not fight the Soviet empire The enemy of your enemy is and – with few minor exceptions your friend. – never had such intentions,” Lejutko states, after beginning his book with an account of his exasperation at travelling through the West during the Cold War and discovering that many self-described liberals were deeply reluctant to criticise Communism, and in many cases openly sympathetic to its aims. That sympathy has never fully gone away, which is why the likes of Castro or Maduro never receive the same level of condemnation in liberal circles in the West as an ...the author James Bradshaw works for an international consulting firm based in Dublin, and has a background in journalism and public policy. Outside of work, he writes for a number of publications, on topics including politics, history, culture, film and literature. 35
POSITION PAPERS
Director: Leigh Whannell Stars: Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Harriet Dyer
Films: The unlikely message of hope in The Invisible Man by Sophia Martinson
I
f you are susceptible to bedtime spooks, you would do well to avoid watching The Invisible Man at night.
wicked through and through and the heroine fights for redemption against all odds.
The film opens on a dark, quiet night in which Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) finally makes her escape from her psychologically manipulative and physically abusive boyfriend, Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). We later learn that Cecilia, who describes herself as an ordinary suburban girl, met the wealthy optics scientist at a party. The two started dating, and over time Adrian gradually increased his influence over her life. Eventually, he took complete control But the film’s merits lie not just over her appearance, wherein its gripping storytelling. It is abouts, words, and even also an incisive study of good thoughts. versus evil, in which the villain is But even after Cecilia’s escape – The recent science fiction thriller from director Leigh Whannell, based on the novel by H.G. Wells and the film series from the 1930s to 1950s, is loaded with suspense, action, and surprise that will hold many viewers on the edge of their seats. The tight, fast-paced plot, eerie score, and stellar acting together produce a chilling masterpiece about a scientific genius who haunts his ex-girlfriend – without being seen.
36
A REVIEW OF CATHOLIC AFFAIRS
and Adrian’s subsequently reported suicide – she finds that she is far from rid of him. A series of mysterious events convince her that Adrian is still alive, has found a way to become invisible, and is stalking her. As the film unfolds, Kass gives an incredible performance of Cecilia’s transformation from a nervous wreck to a resolute warrior fighting for her life and those she loves. Her battle against the invisible man paints a striking image of the human person’s struggle against evil. The metaphor works in large part because Adrian himself is nothing short of evil personified. Jackson-Cohen’s performance demonstrates the very image of toxic masculinity, which makes him the perfect villain in the #MeToo era. He certainly scores the movie's progressive points, but it is not so heavy handed as to trumpet an ideological agenda. The structure of his villainy is simple yet potent: devilishly attractive and clever, he presents a facade of comfort,
honesty, and affection – all to mask his insidious attempt to dominate and destroy his victims. Cecilia was once under his grip, but she broke free. Still, her refusal to be part of his twisted life brings its own brutal consequences. She must repeatedly resist and fight his attempts to overpower her, and each trial is more difficult than the last. In one pivotal moment, she is even offered relief, a way out of the torture – if she returns to Adrian. In short, the film is a true illustration of temptation. The Invisible Man offers not only a thrilling sci-fi story but also a profound message for viewers enduring any kind of moral struggle. It reminds us that amid any temptation – and even after being sucked into a tormenting world of evil – one can always find the strength to escape, to resist, and to triumph. That, in spite of the blood-curdling scenes, makes this film a story of hope.
...the author Sophia Martinson is a writer with a primary focus on cultural and family topics. She lives with her husband in New York City. This article is published by Sophia Martinson and MercatorNet under a Creative Commons licence. 37
POSITION PAPERS
Director: Jarrod Anderson Stars: John Rhys-Davies, Moe Dunford, Toni O'Rourke
Films: I Am Patrick by Sister Hosea Rupprecht
T
he reasons the church continues to honor the Apostle of Ireland more than 1,500 years after his death shine forth in the film I Am Patrick (CBN), a docudrama that will be screened in theaters on dates to be announced. Screenings originally scheduled for two nights only, March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day – and March 18, were canceled due to government restrictions on crowd size and gathering places due to the coronavirus pandemic. Written and directed by Jarrod Anderson, the profile – subtitled “The Patron Saint of Ireland” – seeks to debunk many of the myths and legends that have grown up around its subject over the centuries. The goal is to capture who Patrick really was as a man and a follower of Christ. 38
John Rhys-Davies (Gimli in the Lord of the Rings trilogy) plays Patrick in old age. With his distinctive voice and stately bearing, he brings the patriarch to life as he reflects on his past and writes his Confession, laying out the facts about his work to refute the detractors who have arisen during his evangelization of Ireland. Anderson has brought together an impressive array of people to lay out what is known about Patrick. Those interviewed include historians Charles Doherty and Elva Johnson as well as authors Thomas O’Loughlin and Father Billy Swan. They weave a narrative that reveals Patrick for the amazing missionary he was. The exact dates of Patrick’s life are not known but the historical
A REVIEW OF CATHOLIC AFFAIRS
consensus identifies him as a fifth-century figure. Probably born in Roman Empire-controlled Britain, he was the son of a deacon, though his father’s position was more that of a civil servant than a Church leader. Because Patrick (played as a teenager by Robert McCormack) was also expected to enter the civil service, he was taught to read and write. But all the youth’s plans for the future came to an abrupt end when he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken to their homeland as a slave. In his Confession, Patrick describes his descent into slavery as a wake-up call from God. His duties as a shepherd meant that he was in danger from other raiders, but his solitude gave him ample time to reflect on God’s goodness. As he came to think of God as a father he could trust, he began to pray and developed a personal relationship with him. One night, Patrick heard a voice urging him to go home, “for a ship was prepared.” Traveling two hundred miles through lands where he was constantly exposed to the danger of being recaptured, he reached the coast and found safe passage back to Britain. During all that time, he was not afraid “because he had come to know God.”
Unsurprisingly, his family was thrilled to see him. But the Patrick who returned to them was very different from the Patrick who had left six years previously. He followed his desire to become a cleric, first, serving as an apprentice to the local bishop, and then being sent to Gaul (modernday France) to study theology. In explaining Patrick’s journey to ordination, the film falters a bit, failing to clarify the process by which he would have become a priest, and then a bishop in late Roman times. Simply saying that Patrick “worked his way up the ranks to become a bishop,” seems vague and inadequate. The film then fast forwards to the middle of Patrick’s life. After a decade in Britain, Bishop Patrick (now played by Sean T. O'Meallaigh), acts on a call from God to return to Ireland as a missionary. Of course, everyone thinks this is a crazy idea because, legally, he would still be considered a fugitive slave. But Patrick insists that it’s God’s will that he go. And go he does. It’s no spoiler to say that Patrick’s evangelizing mission was a great success. And the film does a splendid job of detailing just how much of a change it was for the Irish pagans to become Christian. 39
POSITION PAPERS
Some back in Britain, however, were uncomfortable with Patrick’s efforts and with the way the church was developing in Ireland. Even after decades of work, Patrick still had his critics. It was for them that he wrote his Confession, saying that his only motivation in all the preceding years of labor had been “to bring people to Christ.” The live-action and documentary elements blend well, keeping the pace moving along as the story unfolds with the help of Moe Dunford’s narration. The actors who portray Patrick at different stages of his life successfully capture the excitement, determination and zeal Patrick consistently displayed. Anderson gives moviegoers an opportunity to view this popular saint as the lover of Christ and proclaimer of the Gospel that he was. His screen biography thus makes especially apt fare for Lent. Perhaps in witnessing the radical way Patrick responded so fully to God’s calling, we might take a moment to reflect on how we live out our own
vocations. For a trailer and possibly theater and ticket information when restrictions are lifted, visit: fathomevents.com/events/i-ampatrick. The film contains brief stylized violence. The Catholic News Service classification is A-II – adults and adolescents. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association.
...the author Sister Rupprecht, a Daughter of St. Paul, is a guest reviewer for Catholic News Service. Copyright (c) 2020 Catholic News Service. Reprinted with permission from CNS. www.catholicnews.com 40
A REVIEW OF CATHOLIC AFFAIRS
41
POSITION PAPERS
42