h\.:~5~ rStu~\cs RCHDIOCESAN REVIEW SUMM ER, 1965
NUMBER 2
CHICAGO
STUDIES
EDITORIAL STAFF General Editor George J. Dyer Archdiocesan Editor Facuity Editor Carl J. Moell, S.J. John F. Dedek Production Manager Business Manager Richard J. Wojcik Edmund J. Siedlecki Editorial Advisors Malachy P. Foley William P. Le Saint, S.J. Martin R. Borowczyk Charles R. Meyer Thomas F. Connery, S.J. T. Joseph Mohan Stephen E. Donlon, S.J. Thomas J. Motherway, S.J. Joseph M. Egan, S.J. William J. Quinn John F. Fahey Norbert E. Randolph Edward P. Fitzgerald Robert A. Reicher Thomas J. Fitzgerald William A. Shumacher John J, Foley, S.J. Peter M. Shannon John R. Gorman Thomas M. Shields, S.J. David J. Hassel, S.J. Edward J, Stokes, S.J. George G. Higgins Theodore C. Stone Julius F. Klose Thomas F. Sullivan Edward H. Konerman, S.J. William G. Topmoeller, S.J. Joseph T. Mangan, S.J. Robert F. Trisco Thomas M. McDonough Raymond J, Vonesh John P. McFarland, S.J. George E. Von Kaenel William E. McManus Gerard P. Weber CHICAGO STUDIES, edited by the faculty of St. Mary of the Lake Seminary and the priests of the Archdiocese of Chicago, with contributions by prominent scholars and authors, aims at an articulate presents·
tion of the best that modern scholarship has contributed to the profes· sional knowledge of the priest in the fields of scripture, theology, liturgy, catechetics, canon law, philosophy, sociology, and related sciences. The
Forum, a regular feature of CHICAGO STUDIES, presents brief com· ments based primarily on personal experiences in the apostolate. The editors welcome articles and letters likely to be of interest to our readers. All communications regarding articles and editorial policy
should be addressed to the editors. Subscriptions should be sent to CHICAGO STUDIES, Box 665 Mundelein, Illinois 60060. Subscription rates: $4.00 a year, $7.00 for two years, $12.00 for three years; to students, $3.00 a year. Foreign subscribers: add SOc per year. CHICAGO STUDIES is published three times a year with ecclesiastical permission and copyright, 1965, by Civitas Dei Foundation, Box 665, Mundelein, Illinois 60060. Third Class postage paid at Newark, Ohio. Views expressed in the articles are those of the respective authors and
not necessarily those of the editors or editorial hoard. Indexed in The Catholic Periodical index and New Testament Abstracts.
~~
~ }{f~&Y~~~
~1m
1&. IF& CO JHI J:rD II <0> CO JE ยงJA5.. 1m
SUMMER, 1965
VOLUME 4
ContentJ Articles A SEMINARY JUBILEE
ll5
I ohn Tracy EUis
THE CHURCH OF THE PooR
137
lean Danit!lou, S./.
THEOLOGY IN AN AcE OF CHRISTIAN RENEWAL
147 Hugh McElwain, O.S.M.
SARTRE, AQUINAS, AND THE LEMMINGS A CHANGING PARISH
A
161
Raymond/. Nagar, O.P.
171 Gerard P. Weber
REPORT ON
PASTORAL CouNsELOR Ta.uNING
181 Paschal B. Baute, O.S.B.
SIN AND THE DESTRUCTION OF COMMUNITY
201 Donald P. Gray
The Forum A GREAT TURNING POINT THE SPIRIT SAID "Go"
218 John E. Eichelman 222
Daniel /. MaUette
NUMBER 2
John Tracy Ellis
A Seminary Jubilee
Full eexe of an address delivered at ehe diamond jubilee dinner of Saine Paul's College, Wa.hingeon, D. C., January 25, 1965.
I should like, if I may, to coin a phrase which might be expressed something like this: "He who elects an historian to speak must reckon with coincidents!" There are few things relating to public address that appeal more readily to the historical mind than coincidents, and a little research revealed that the present occasion is rich in them. This day 206 years ago Robert Burns was hom in Alloway, Scotland, the poet whose genius gave our language so many inimitable lines that others would have liked to write, such as those composed for the epitaph of William Muir: "If there's another world, he lives in bliss; if there is none, he made the best of this." Fifty years ago today, speaking from New York, Alexander Graham Bell made the first trans-continental telephone call to his assistant, Thomas A. Watson, in San Francisco, an experience that was fraught, I dare say, with more problems than the call put through to San Francisco by Father F1ynn two months or more ago when he invited me to address this diamond jubilee dinner. But more 115
116 Chicago Studie.o
pertinent to this audience, eighty years ago this morning there took place the dedication of New York's Church of Saint Paul the Apostle, a ceremony admirably observed by reporters from the Times, the Freeman's Journal, the Catholic Telegraph of Cincinnati, and other newspapers of the day. In the vast assembly of nearly 5,000 people who gathered, as the Telegraph remarked, "careless of the slushy pools under foot," one reporter spied Mayor William R. Grace and General William S. Rosecrans, while another was more concerned with the moves and ecclesiastical raiment of the dedicating prelate, Michael A. Corrigan, Coadjutor Archbishop of New York. Still another reporter recorded what today would be regarded as an astounding feat of oratorical skill for a preacher, when he stated that Patrick J. Ryan, Archbishop of Philadelphia, "spoke for one hour, and all present gave earnest attention to his eloquent words and impressive appearance."'
A
NATIONAL CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY
The gathering of January 25, 1885, was memorable, however, for more than the dedication of the Paulist Fathers' mother church. It furnished the occasion during the two following days for the first meeting of the committee appointed seven weeks before at the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore to lay plans for a university for the American Church. And among the decisions taken at the New York meeting was the committee's assent to the suggestion of John Ireland, then Bishop of Saint Paul, that the prospective institution should be named the Catholic University of America. 2 It was approprite that the first practical steps to implement Mary Gwendoline Caldwell's generosity and the Baltimore Council's decree should have been taken in connection with the dedication of the Church of Saint Paul the Apostle. For the idea of a national Catholic university had no more persistent and intelligent advocate among the priests of the United States than Father Isaac T. Hecker, whose zeal was a match for that of the institution's principal founder, Bishop John Lancaster Spalding, as it was for that of the noble lay advocate, John Gilmary Shea,
Seminary
117
historian of the American Church. As early as April, 1871, in pleading for an improvement in clerical education, Hecker had urged the founding of a university, and to certain conservative churchmen of that day who feared that a university atmosphere might contaminate seminarians, he replied: "We have never heard that Louvain is considered in that light by the clergy of Belgium, and the glimpse we had of a large body of the Louvain students at Malines during the session of the Congress of 1867 gave us the most favorable impression of their virtuous character." 8 · Fortunately, the vision and courage of Isaac Hecker were shared by the man destined to succeed him, for the Paulist founder did not live to see the realization of his dream for a university. Augustine F. Hewit, second superior general, who by virtue of his office was called to execute a number of his predecessor's unfulfilled policies, was altogether equal to the role of a causa agitans in this regard. Trained at Phillips An· dover Academy and Amherst College, he was equipped with a love for learning that endured a lifetime, and his more than forty years as a Catholic had enabled him to observe at close range how deficient most institutions for the education of the Catholic clergy then were in academic standards and scholastic achive· ments. Hecker and Hewit were men who not only possessed the kind of alert and critical minds that made them discontent with the New York house of studies opened by the Paulists in 1860, but they likewise possessed the imagination and the resolve to set about finding a remedy. When, therefore, the hierarchy's committee published an appeal for support of the university four years before the opening here in Washington, Hewit re· sponded at once in the pages of the Catholic World where he scoffed at the objections and forebodings that some had ex· pressed, and characterized them as "only the refrain of an old song we heard thirty years ago when the project of a university was first talked about •.." He stoutly maintained that the com· mittee should move forward. ''Wailing for absolute unanimity, for the cessation of all objections, for the removal of all difficulties," said Hewit, "would bring us to doomsday with nothing
ll8 Chicago Studie•
done." • It was an echo, so to speak, of a view expressed by Newman a generation before when he said: "Good is never done except at the expense of those who do it: truth is never enforced except at the sacrifice of its propounders. At least they expose their inherent imperfections, if they incur no other penalty; for nothing would be done at all, if a man waited till he could do it so well that no one could find fault with it." • It was no surprise, then, that Father Hewit should have been the first superior of a religious order or congregation to propose a house of study for his community in the vicinity of the University. Nine months to the day before the University's formal opening he told Cardinal Gibbons, "It has been my desire ever since the plan of the University was approved, that our society should ask permission to establish a college for the education of our students under its aegis." 6 A few days later Gibbons assured him that far from opposing such a foundation in his archdiocese, "I am disposed to give you a cordial welcome." 7 Many other details concerning the Paulists' early days in this neighborhood would merit telling, but there is not time to tell them here. Suffice it to say, when on Monday, November 18, 1889, the University inaugurated its first classes, for the fortysix young priests and clerics who composed the original student body, nine were Paulists then housed in the old Middleton Mansion that still stands on the campus, where also there lived the two Paulist Fathers, Augustine Hewit and George Searle, who were among the University's pioneer band of eight instructors, the former as lecturer in church history, the latter in astronomy and physics. "ALL HONORABLE MEN"
To one acquainted with the American Catholic past an occas· sion such as this presents a temptation to dwell not only on names like Hecker and Hewit, but on those of former Paulists like Thomas O'Gorman, the University's first professor of church history, and Thomas Verner Moore whose long and distinguished career has not even yet drawn to a close. And this is to say
Seminary
119
nothing of the dozen or more members of the Congregation of Saint Paul who have served on the faculty since Hewit and Searle, including my own classmate, still "happily professing," Father Eugene M. Burke! Moreover, to call the roll of the staff members of the old Apostle Mission House, and of the eigh¡ teen successive rectors of this College, is to awaken memeories of exciting events that stirred the ecclesiastical world on both sides of the Atlantic as the nineteenth century passed into history and our own century was born. For example, in the eleven years between 1899 and 1910 three men ruled this Paulist house of studies: Walter Elliott, Joseph McSorley, and James M. Gillis. Is not the mere mention of their names sufficient to conjure up in one's mind the ghost of the so-called heresy of Americanism, the tense atmosphere that pervaded the Catholic learned world during the real heresy of Modernism and its unpleasant after¡ math; yes, and does not their mention prompt one to think again of the eloquent voice and the acute pen that expressed the sentiments of many conservative Americans as late as the 1940's? I did not personally know Father Elliott, although one of the vivid memories of my first days as a graduate student was seeing him wheeled out before the old Aposolic Mission House next door to Graduate Hall. Little did I then realize as I watched Father Lewis O'Hern gently direct the wheelchair back and forth, how much history had revolved about its venerable occupant at a critical hour in the life of the American Church. Nor did I know Father Gillis really well, my acquaintance being confined to a meal or two taken opposite him at table at 59th Street when business of one kind or another brought me to that hospitable board. But Father McSorley I knew quite well, and in the chats that I had with him from time to time about matters relating to certain aspects of the Catholic history of this country, I found invaribly a man of exemplary priestly bearing, of unfailing courtesy, of discernment and wisdom, and of a genuine integrity in which were embodied deep convictions that were not unsettled by a false show of authority or power. Among the many attractive qualities of Father McSorley was a quiet sense of humor which not infrequently was revealed in the telling of an
120 Chicago Seudie•
anecdote. For example, after attending a Mass celebrated sixty· eight years ago this morning in honor of the Paulists' patronal feast by Thomas J. Conaty, Rector of the University, he describ· ed for Father Hewit the sermon of Father Charles F. Aiken, then training for the chair of apologetics, and the effect it had on some of those present. "He spoke," said McSorley, "on the boldness & fairness & progressive character of S. Paul, com· mended this as a model for the University, & spoke a bit of the need of welcoming advances in science, & being careful of scientific men as well as of less harried children." Hewit's in· formant then continued: "Conservatism, Liberalism, Progress, Antiquated Notions, were mentioned somewhat freely in the sermon. Drs. [Charles P.] Grannan & Bouq. [Thomas Bouqillon] beamed with pleasure, the former especially, exhibiting his smiles of approval. Mgr. [James] McMahon wriggled uncomfortably & curled up in scorn -his critique as given out afterwards was that the sermon should be made into a bonfire, & I am not sure he would not have placed the preacher in a like position." 8 It reminded me of the account that Father McSorley once gave me of the stirring sermon preached by Bishop Spalding in October, 1899, at the dedication of Holy Cross College on yonder hill, delivered, as he said, amid the vigorously approving nods of the giant head of John Ireland, Archbishop of Saint Paul, and within a few feet of what he termed the startled gaze of Sebastiana Martinelli, Apostolic Delegate to the United States. It would be pleasant to say something about all the rectors of Saint Paul's College, as it would of other estimable men among those who composed the communities they governed, for as Mark Antony stated in more somber circumstances, "So are they all, all honorable men." • Time, however, will not permit that lati· tude, although it will, I hope, allow me to conclude this brief review of the Paulists' Washington past and to address myself to their present situation by a mention of him who is the living link that binds this fraternal company to the succession of seven· teen superiors who have directed the destinies of this house. I shall spare Father Flynn the embarrassment of tarrying over
Seminary
121
his name; yet I should like to recall his days as a graduate stu路 dent when tweuly years ago t.\is coming spring he was putting the finishing touches to his thesis on the early life of Augustine Hewit. The intervening years have been kind to the present Rector of Saint Paul's College, and inasfar as I have been able to judge, they have done nothing to dull the edge of that bright geniality and kindly spirit that I found two decades ago in one of the first students to enroll in my courses in the history of the Church of the United States. fORCES IN A TUMULTOUS AGE
I should like now to speak of an aspect or two of the present moment in time that has a bearing on the lives not only of the Paulists, but of all of us who have made our commitment either to the diocesan priesthood or to one or other of the Church's re路 ligious orders or congregations. That being done, I would hope to conclude with a quick glance into the future for a word on what, in my judgment, may well he the most promising and fruitful aspect of the Paulist apostolate in the years ahead. To say that we are living in the most tumultuous age that the Church has experienced since the religious revolution of the sixteenth century, has become almost axiomatic. And what gives this period of profound change a value lacking in that of 400 years ago, is that the force that has engendered the current movement has come largely from the highest ecclesiastical au路 thority rather than from rebellious spirits who have departed from the fold. The factors that have produced this momentous quickening in the realm of the spirit have been numerous, varied, and complicated; but to no single person is more owed for it all than to the beloved John XXIII who six years ago today electri路 fied the Catholic world by announcing to the cardinals gathered about him at Saint Paul's Outside the Walls that he had determined to summon an ecumenical council. The knowledge and experience of the previous three months, he said, had encouraged him to initiate the gigantic undertaking, trustful, as he was, in the mediation of the Mother of God, of Saints Peter and Paul, of his special patrons, Saints John the Baptist and John the
122 Chicago Studies
Evangelist, and of all the heavenly court. "We entreat all of them," said the pontiff "to grant Us a good beginning and continuation and final success in these pwjects (all of which require hard work) to the enlightenment, edification, and happi¡ ness of the whole Christian world, and to the inducement of the faithful of the separated communities to follow Us amicably in this quest for unity and for grace, to which so many souls aspire from all comers of the earth ... " 10 I shall not tax your patience by attempting to assess the striking differences that the pope's action has ushered into Catholic life, as contrasted with that of less than a decade ago. They are as sharply limned in your consciousness as they are in mine, for they have intimately touched each one of us in a number of ways-to name only two particulars, in our daily worship and in our relationship to those who are not of our religious faith. That they have inspired a marvelous awakening in men's souls that has already been productive of much good, every Catholic attuned to the religious needs of this second half of the twentieth century recognizes and warmly welcomes. Yet the interpretation at times put on these new ideas and practices, and the innovations with which a small minority have on occasion accompanied them, have sounded certain disquieting notes that could, if widely adopted, do grave damage to the ideals envisioned by the late Holy Father when, in his own colorful phrase, he "opened the windows" to launch the Church's aggiornamento. Since we are marking here the jubilee of a major seminary, it would seem fitting to confine what I have in mind to several points that may have special relevance for priests and seminarians, points that can, I believe, be covered under two headings: first, the necessity of retaining respect for authority in the Church as we move forward in this era of change; secondly, the parallel need of holding fast to a sense of history if we are to escape the consequences of mere change for change's sake, or what I would call-if the term be allowedthe curse of "presentism." AUTHORITY IN THE CHURCH
No priest or seminarian acquainted with the history of the
Seminary 123
Church is a stranger to the fact that ecclesiastical authority has at times heen R hnsed by those to whom it has been entrusted; nor is he unaware that on occasion bishops and superiors of religious communities-to say nothing of popes and cardinalshave made a pretense of governing by reason and by rule, whereas authority in their hands has more frequently been a weapon by which they have arbitrarily threatened and intimidated in order to win their own way. Moreover, the prevalence of democracy and personal liberty that today pervade so much of the thinking of the free world lends a special pertinence to Saint Peter's exhortation to his fellow presbyters concerning their rule over the people of God, a rule which they should aim to execute, he said, by "governing not by constraint, ... nor yet as lording it over your charges, but becoming from the heart a pattern to the flock." 11 But the misuse of a moral power that is good in itself lends no warrant to deny the validity of that power, or to act as though one denied it, to flaunt it, or to forget that the ultimate integrity of both ecclesiastical and civil society depends on a hierarchy of persons as well as a hierarchy of values and ideas, if order in both Church and State is not to degenerate into anarchy. Perhaps I can best illustrate what I mean in the words of two internationally famous French Jesuits, both of whom have had more acute personal experience with ecclesiastical authority than most priests of our day, just as both have given more serious consideration than most of us to delineating the role of authority in the mystical body of Christ. In his wonderful book, The Splendour of the Church, Father Henri de Lubac is fond of describing the apostolic Catholic, be he priest or layman, as the "man of the Church." Speaking of the mission of this "man of the Church," he says that while obedience can never oblige him to do anything evil, it can cause him to interrupt or to omit the good that he is doing or wishes to do. This the "man of the Church" knows in advance, says de Lubac, and he knows it with what is termed "a conviction of faith which nothing can shake." The learned author then continues: "Even if this truth is in certain cases a hard one, it is, as
124 Chicago Studieâ&#x20AC;˘
far as he is concerned, first and fonnost a 'wonderful truth.' Certainly, as long as the order is not final he will not abandon the responsibilities with which he has been invested by his office or circumstances. He will, if it should be necessary, do all that he can to enlighten authority; that is something which is not merely a right but also a duty, the discharge of which will sometimes oblige him to heroism. But the last word does not rest with him. The Church, which is his home, is a 'house of obedience.'" 12 Here, surely, is no benighted discouragement to the priest and the seminarian from speaking his mind candidly to his superiors, nor does Father de Lubac suggest that they should refrain from criticism and from the thought of changing the established order of things in the Church. But by the same token, here, too, is the saving principle that provides ecclesiastical society with its ultimate safeguard, namely, that while the "man of the Church" may, indeed; voice his critical judgments, and that to the point where at times it may constitute a painful and heroic duty, "the last word does not rest with him," since the Church that is his home is, as de Lubac expressed it, a "house of obedience." THE OBEDIENCE OF TEILHARD DE CHARDIN
Still more widely known than Father de Lubac was his late confrere, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, whose name has become synonymous with the most advanced thought in both scientific and religious circles. In fact, it is hardly an exaggeration to to say that this man's scholarly achievements probably accom¡ plished more to repair the injury done to the image of the Church in the minds of the world's scientists by the Galileo case and¡ similar disasters, than any single Catholic of the present century. Upon the eve of Father Teilhard de Chardin's departure form South Africa in October, 1951, after several months of scientific investigation, he wrote a letter to the recently deceased General of the Society of Jesus, Johannes Janssens, in order to let him know, as he put it, "what I am thinking and where I stand.''. He went into considerable detail about his theories of
Seminary
125
the universe and his personal religious views, and he then closed with a paragraph that read as follows: "lt is on this important point of formal loyalty and obedience that I am particularly anxious-it is in fact my real reason for writing this letter-to assure you that, in spite of any apparent evidence to the contrary, I am resolved to remain a "child of obedience.' " 13 And as such, we may add, did he remain until death took him in New York three and a half years later. If so eminent a scientist and so distinguished a priest as Teilhard de Chardin felt it not personally demeaning to bear such striking witness to the worth of humility and to a steadfast dedication to an ideal to which he had pledged himself in his youth, is there not here something of value for you and me, true disciples of the aggioramento as we hope that we are? And might not the lesson be stated something along these lines: that at a time when a few of the Church's more restive sons would seem to have become a trifle intoxicated with the heady wine of the new-found freedom within her fold, to the point of almost suggesting that they are calling in question authority itself, that at such a time you and I might well post a guard over what we think, and say, and do? The posting of this guard, so to speak, may thus prevent us from lending support to a heed¡ less attitude toward the indispensable and sacred character of authority in human affairs, and likewise prevent us, perhaps, from unwittingly helping to hasten the return of a time about which Saint Paul warned Saint Timothy nineteen centuries ago when he said, "they will not endure the sound doctrine .â&#x20AC;˘. and will tum away their hearing from the truth and turn aside rather to fables." " THE VALUE VACUUM
Were one to seek a recent example of the extremes to which a cold irreverence or defiance of legitimate authority can lead, he need not look beyond the Berkeley campus of the University of California. As the Dean of the Pacific School of Religion stated less than three weeks ago in writing of the student riots, "At the heart of all this confusion lies the value vacuum . . . , the total lack of any moral authroity anywhere." And he went
126 Chicago StudieJ
on to say: "Surely this means that students enjoy the rights to which they are entitled, as they accept the legal penalties which they have earned. It must also mean ... a fresh establishment of the moral authority which alone can undergird any other authority â&#x20AC;˘â&#x20AC;˘." 10 It need hardly be said that I am far from suggesting that any individual priest or seminarian, or any group of such, has been guilty of the excesses perpetrated by the brash student minority on the Berkeley campus, even if last year one seminary chapel was the scene of a novelty called a "pray-in" to hasten the faculty's commitment to the aggiomamento of Pope John! What I am trying to convey is rather that the concept of authority is a delicate one, that ideas in general are subtle things, and that the human spirit is capable of startling reactions to influences that play upon it. I am reminded here of a famous passage in Taine where he drew a picture of how the French upper classes of the late eighteenth century played with the ideas of the Enlightenment as they would with a toy, little realizing the effect these same ideas were to have when they reached the level of those beneath them in social station. "On the upper story of the house," said Taine, "ideas, in rooms beautifully gilded, have served merely as an evening illumination, as parlor fire-crackers and pretty Bengal lights; the company have had their fun with them and then, with a laugh, have thrown them from the windows. Gathered up on the ground floor, borne off into shops, storehouses and counting-rooms, they have found in these plenty of combustible material, heaps of dry wood that have gradually accumulated, and here the flame kindles and spreads." 16 In our participation in the dialogue of our time-and participate we certainly should, whether that be with those outside or within the Church-it may prove helpful to remind ourselves now and then that to each of us God has given what Newman once called "a certain power of influencing others ... a certain circle of persons, larger or smaller, who depend on us, whom our words and our actions affect for good or for evil ..." 17 And the simple remembrance of that sobering fact should be sufficient to restrain us from ever betraying our trust by, as it were, light-
Seminary
127
heartedly tossing ideas out of the windows of our minds before their merit has been weighed in thfl halancfl of good sense and sound judgment.
A
SENSE OF HISTORY
A further assistance in our fulfillment of that obligation will I believe, be gained from what I should like to call one's fidelity to a sense of history. Some years ago Barbara Ward stated, "Nothing is more dangerous to the survival of a free Western society than the increasing neglect of history in our teaching and our interests." She went on to explain that loss of interest in history is as fatal to society as loss of memory is to the individual man. And what she remarked in relation to civil society can, I think you will agree, be applied mutatis mutandis with equal force to the ecclesiastical society in which you and I dwell, for is it not as true in the Church as it is in the State that, as this gifted lady declared: "The record of the struggles and hopes and faiths and fears that have created our free society is as much a part of us as the experiences and beliefs and trials by which adult man reaches maturity of character and judgment." 18 That being the case, is it not evidence of the loss of a sense of the Church's historic doctrines-to use no harsher wordwhen a recently ordained priest is heard to voice his disapproval of an especially artistic tabernacle on the altar of a city church, because objects of this kind lend encouragement to what he styles the "blessed Sacrament cult"? Is there not a pathetic blackout-again to employ no more severe term-concerning the record of heavenly favors gained through well-nigh seven centuries, when a priest ordained less than four years greets the suggestion of a fellow priest that they recite the rosary with the retort, "No thanks. I consider that a repetitious and childish devotion"? Has not a priest or seminarian who would refer to the holy Sacrifice in the traditional Latin tongue of the western Church as the "mumbo-jumbo of the Mass" at least given cause for bewilderment and confusion to the faithful, to say nothing of his apparent ignorance of the hostile overtones of an expression used so frequently by enemies of Catholicism? Is it too
128 Chicago Swdieâ&#x20AC;˘
much to say that these men have been victimized by the vogue of "change for change's sake," and tha¡t the curse of "presentism," of which I previously spoke, has laid its hold upon them?" I should regret it, however, if what I have said in criticism of disrespect for authority and misguided zeal were to be misinterpreted as a suggestion that we should turn our backs on the gains made since October, 1962, in what the Abbot of Downside has called "this almost miraculous Council." 19 Nor do do I mean to imply that the examples cited and similar abberations are typical. Thanks be to God, they are exceptions to the rule. Moreover, it should be noted that they can be matched by comparable abuses on the part of some who--with less excuse because they are generally older and generally occupy positions of greater authority in the Church-show a lack of respect for authority by denigrating, for example, the council's decisions in matters liturgical or in the field of ecumenism, or who belittle or obstruct the admirably zealous efforts of younger priests to implement not only the letter but the spirit of these decisions. In other words, disrespect for authority is not synonymous with a youthful spirit of rebellion or a misguided hankering for change in pastoral practices. On the contrary, not only should we cherish the aggiornamento's achievements to date, but each one of us, of whatever rank or station, be he bishop, priest, or seminarian, should regard it as a sacred duty insofar as we are able, to hold high the hands of the conciliar fathers by our prayers and petitions that their labors may be crowned by ultimate success in the vital questions that are still to come before them. Among these, religious freedom, the reforms foreshadowed by the Commission on Seminaries and Catholic Education, the programs envisioned by the Commission on the Lay Apostolate, and above all, the supremely important schema by which, it is hoped, the Church will be once more made relevant to the contemporary world, have a direct relation to what I like to think may be the most significant aspect of the Paulist Fathers' future as a religious community. In singling out the Newman apostolate I trust that
Seminary
129
I will not be thought to have slighted the other good works of the Congreg~tion of Sain! Paul, a!! of which have made and, indeed, are still making, a valuable contribution to the Church's multiple and varied approach to souls both within and without her fold. THE NEWMAN APOSTOLATE
If justification were needed for speaking about the Paulists' ministry on the campuses of secular colleges and universities, it may be found in the length of time that they have been identified with this endeavor, as well as in their increasing preoccupation with this particular work in recent years, as witnessed by the thirty priests of the congregation's 259 members who are today the official voices of the Catholic Church in these centers of learning. From their birth as a distinct religious community the Paulists were of the mind of Newman who, in a moment of grave discouragement for those promoting Catholic chaplaincies in the English universities, told Robert Ornsby: "You cannot make men believe by force and repression . . . And your cut and dried answers out of a dogmatic treatise are no weapons with which the Catholic Reason can hope to vanquish the infidels of the day." 20 Since a history of the Newman movement in this country has yet to appear, one cannot speak with the certainty and fullness of detail that might be wished. Parenthetically, however, I am happy to say that this deficiency is on the way to being remedied by Father John Whitney Evans of the Diocese of Duluth, who is well on with a doctoral dissertation for the University of Minnesota that will treat this neglected and relatively unknown phase of American Catholic life. But what is obvious to all is that even in the Church of the United States, now only in its 175th year as an organized body, the Newman apostolate, so appropriately named, is but a youth. It had a faint adumbration in the establishment of a Catholic club at Harvard, in 1893, the same year that a handful of Catholic students at the University of Pennsylvania took the lead in adopting the name of the great English cardinal as patron.of their group. Thirteen years later the .Paulists first came. upon the scene
130
Chicago Studies
as a consequence of the action of a prelate of the Far West whose vision and courage were matched by those same· rare qualities in a superior general of the Congregation of Saint PauL In the summer of 1906, Patrick W. Riordan, second Archbishop of San Francisco, told Bishop Bernard J. McQuaid of Rochester: "No matter what we do or say, these secular Universities are going to be frequented by a large number of Catholics; both boys and girls, and. unless we provide for their religious necessities such as is done in. Oxford and Cambridge these students will drift away from us." 21 Indeed, seven years before that, Archbishop Riordan had taken the first step to prevent that kind of a drift on the campus of the University of California, when he appointed Father: John J. Cantwell, future Archbishop of Los Angeles, as part-time chaplain to the Newman Club that had been organized on the students' initiative in the autumn of 1898. But this was only an improvisation, ·and no one knew it better than the archbishop. He decided, therefore, to approach Father George· Searle, then Paulist superior general, with a request for one of his <subjects as a full-time .chaplain, having early acquired an admiration for the Paulists, to whom in 1894 he had entrusted· old Saint Mary's Church in his see city. Searle responded favorably !J.nd in August, 1906, appointed to the post one of his men just back from. graduate studies in Europe, a young priest whose name is held in honor in this neighborhood, Thomas Verner Moore . . GROWTH OF THE PAULIST .NEWMAN WORK
Thus was the Paulist Newman apostolate launched, Father Moore's appointment being of its kind in the United States second only io that of Father Henry C. Hengell, who a few months before had been assigned to the University of Wisconsin by Sebastian G. Messmer, Archbishop of Milwaukee. About two years after. Moore's advent to Berkeley, Archbishop Riordan asked the new Paulist ·general, John J. Hughes, for a second and ·seasoned man, a request which the latter was quick to·assure.him.would receive his sympathetic consideration since, he said; ~'We Paulisis can never. forget-that' you· were the first Prelate to extend our
, .. Seminary
131
Community beyond N.Y. [New York]" 22 In the sequel it was Searle hims~!£ who was sent to Berkeley, a choice that met v:ith Riodan's hearty approval who declared him, "just the one to have. charge of an institution of this kind."23 Meanwhile the Arch, bishop of San Francisco handsomely supported the new foundation,.and when his silver episcopal jubilee in 1908 brought a gift of $35,000 from his faithful people, he turned it over for the. construction of a student's chapel. At length his dream witnessed its fulfillment on March 10, 1910, with the dedication of Berkeley's Newman Hall, and as its activities multiplied and attracted more and more students, so did the archbishop's confidence· in its future rise, as he revealed when he told Father Elliott: "I look upon our institute at Berkeley as one of the most encourag· ing things of -the Pacific Coast, and I am confident that if we get·it.sufliciently manned it will prove a surprise to you good . :. ·. · · • · · .. people of tlie.east." 24
If I have dwelt on the Paulisl enterprise at Berkeley to the exclusion· of the thirty-two other campuses. where· these men sel"Ve, it is because its history -is better known to ·me, and, too, because in many .ways this pioneer undertaking set the pattern for Paulist·efforts that soon· followed elsewhere. For example, at the -University ·of Texas their Saint Austin's Chapel made history -when it became the first university chapel under Catholic auspices to lie made a canonical parish, and when in 1915 it was the first· such institution to have its courses in Catholic doctrine accorded- amademic credit by a state university .. It was here as well that Father J. Elliot Ross began to win renown in Newman circles, a man who in a number of ways was in advance of his time, for example, in a suggestion he. made in 1918 ·that the Pa ulists establish a seminary that would be affiliated with the University of Texas. As that time it was probably regarded as a quixotic notion; yet today the same idea has taken on an air of. genuine reality for a growing number of thoughtful seminary administrators, like the abbot and .the provincials of three religious:.communities iri the Middle West, who recently ap. pealed .to the ordinary· of a large. metropolitan see that they be perniitted to open· jointly a theological school in the. immediate
132
Chicago Studies
neighborhood of one of the country's leading secular universities. Without much delay, Newman foundations were opened by the Paulists at Toronto in 1913 and at Columbia eight years later, and gradually the stature of certain of their men engaged in the movement became fixed in the minds of secular educators. That was demonstrated in 1926 when Ora Delmer Foster, founder of the School of Religion at the State University of Iowa, seeking for the proper man to head the project, told Walter Albert Jessup, President of the University, "I wish our people were broad enough to consider Father [Theodore C.] Peterson [sic] of Berkeley, California-Newman Hall-to head up a School of Religion. He is a scholar and all I would want." 20 THE FUTURE OF THE NEWMAN APOSTOLATE
It would he an egregious case of "carrying coals to Newcastle" were I to attempt to inform this audience of present trends among Catholic students in higher education. It is a phenomenon that is well known to all of you, and I shall not, then, detain you further by any statistical array to lend emphasis to one of the most patent aspects of the current educational scene. Let the single statement suffice that students of the question predict that by 1985 over eighty percent of the Catholic college population of the country will be receiving their training on secular cam路 puses, a movement that gives every indication of continuing into the indefinite future. 20 In the light of this trend a very high proportion of the future leaders of the American Catholic com路 munity must be sought among those educated in these institu路 lions. That being true, it suggests the question: is there any feature or aspect of Paulist life throttgh the remaining years of the twentieth century that merits more complete dedication, or that can be said to outrank the Newman apostolate in urgency and importance? We are freq路uentl y told that ours is an age of extreme peril, and he would be a fool-hardy man, indeed, who would deny that there is an abundance of somber eveidence to substantiate that judgment. We are as frequently told that ours is the strongest nation in the world, but as President Johnson reminded all
Seminary
133
Americans in his inaugural address, "we have no promise from 1 ···'"'cl. h·dd-d •l.c G0~J 0 •'"~· UJal. o··Ui gre~-e·· a,,..U ::,:J ···'1 e-d··-e U UJ, • • " ' "•o c. nH1. I.'-' a. .., &..&ll further reminder that "fredoom asks more than it gives and the judgment of God is harshest on those who are most favored. " 27 That ours is an age of mounting danger for the entire human family, needs no more to sustain the belief than a momentary reflection on China's possession of the nuclear bomb. And to say that the Church moves in the midst of a deadly peril to her divine mission requires no proof beyond the visible effects of the pagan influences that have created contemporary society's malaise in nations like our own, that once knew and honored a Christian moral code. Yet overcast in so many ways as life is in this moment of time, and likely as it seems that it may grow still darker as the days move on, you of the Congregation of Saint Paul and we, your friends, who have come to wish you well on this jubilee day, will neither succumb to despair nor will we be depressed. Humbly grateful for the gift of supernatural faith, and for our vocation as priests and future priests, gifts that have been gratuitously betowed on you and me by a divine hand that has mysteriously withheld them from many who appear worthier than ourselves to fulfill their promises, we will not allow the possibilities for our doing good during whatever span of time may remain to us in this world, to be impeded by futile fears and frustrated by dark forebodings of the future. The new year is not as yet so far advanced as to render inap· propriate the sentiment with which a new year was greeted long ago, a sentiment that likewise embodies a ressuring act of faith, expressed in words that each one of us can make his own in these first weeks of 1965: "I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year, 'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.' And he replied, "Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way.' " 28 n'J,
i
U.
* * *
134 Chicago .Studies
NOTES
''I'
:
.
't:New York Tinu~ (Js.nu&ry 26,1885) 8; Freeman;s Journal (N~w York;"i'anuary 3I;ums) 4-5; CatMlic Telegraph (Ci~cinn&ti, JanuarY 29, 1885) 4. The Writer is indebted to );tis frien~, the Reverend John P. MarschalJ, _(:.S.V., fo'r having -the~enewspaper accounts xeroxed and_sent to him. . ~John Tracy Ellis, The Formalive Year.. of the Catholic University of A~erica, Ws.shbtgton, 1946, 125. This· Volume covers the story up to the formal' opening· ~n November 13, 1889. 3"0n the Higher Education," Cath~li<: World 13 (April, 1871) 122. 4 "The American CatboliC·Univereity, "Catholic World 42 (November,.l885). 226. 6 John Henry Newman, Lectures on th_e Present Position of Catholics ~n Er4gland, London, 1899,402~. 8 Archives of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, 85-R-l, Hewit to Gibbons, New York, February 13, 1889. . . . 7 Ibid.: 85-R-3, Gibbons to Hewit, BaltimOre, FebruarY 18, 1889, COpy; ·The ~ost of decorating their new church in New York, as welJ as providing ·a· parochial school for· Saint Paul's, were then draining the Paulists' revenues so heavily that the house of stUdies. Wa! no me~s certainty. As late. a8 mid-AP~. Hewit confessed to Gibbons ~at by reasOn o.f these exp~Dditures, "the prospect 0£ ~ing able' to make· a new foUndation which will not be self-Supporting, seems to be still in the distance" (Ibid., 85-W-8, Hewit to Gibbons, _New York, April 1~. ~~) .. For copies of these letters from the Baltimore archives the writer wishes to thank his friend,· th~ Reverend ]. JOseph Ga.ilaghe~·. archivist. and the laiter'e" ~sistaiit, John Quentirl Feller. · ' · SMcSorley.to Hewit, Washington, January 26, 1897,·Peter E.·Hogan, S:S.J.~
bY
a
The Catholic University of .America, 1896-1903. The Rector!hip of Thoma! J. Conaty,"Washington,l94-9, 101. 9 Juli.W Cae!ar, Act Ill; Scene II.. . 10 The EncycliCal! and Other Messages of John XXIII, Washington,"l964, 23. 111 Peter 5:2-4. 12 Henri de Lubae, SJ., The Splendor of the Church. New York, 1956, 194-195. 13 Teilhard de Chardin to Janssens, Cape Town, October 12, 1951, Bernard Wall (ed.), Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Leltt:T$ from a Traveller, New York,' 1962, 43. 14 2 Timothy 4:3-4. ·· . ·: · 1:1: Robert E. Fitch, "E:a:tremism in the Defense of . . . ," The Christian Century 82 (January 6, 1965) 15. . · 16 Hippolyte Adolphe Taine, The Ancient Resime, tr. John Duiand, new rev. ed., New York, 1896, 327. 17 Faith and Prejudice and Other Unpubli!hed Sermons o/ Cardinal Newman, edited by 'the Birmingham Oratory, New York, 1956, 101. · · ·.;, · IS "The Battle8;round Is ·Here," New· York Time! ·Maacuine (January 27, 1952) 7. 19 Basil Christopher Butler, 0.5.8., "Divine Revelation;'·' The Tablet 21a: (October 10, 1964) 1135. 20 Newman to Ornsby, n.p., n.d., Wilfrid Ward, The Life of John Henrr Cardinal Newman, New York, 1912,II, 49. 21 Riordan to McQuaid, San Francisco, July 24, 1906. The writer wishes to thank
his friend, the Reverend James P. GaHey, for penniuing him to li&e his manu!Cript biography entitled, "The Life of Patrick W. Riordan, Second Archbishop of San .franci&co~ 1814-1841," wherein are contained the archival cOrrespondence cited in this and the following three footnotes. Riordan 'and the Paulists may have_ .been influenced in part by the recent encyclical of Pope X, Acerbo nirnU, of April 15, 1905, which strongly urged tbe need for reJigiom instruction. 1n-ter alia the pontiff said: "In large towns, and especially in those whiCh contain universities, colleges, and grammar schools, let religious classes be founded, to instruct in the truthir of faith and in the practice of Christian life the young people who frequent those public schools from which all religious teaching is banned" ("The Teach· ing of Cathecbism," The Tablet 73 {April 29, 1905) 643. The text of the encyclical is given here, pp. 641-643.). 22 Hh·ghes io Riordan, New York, August 7, 1909. 28 Riordan to Hughes, San Francisco, DeCember 16, 1909. 24 ~io~an
to Elliott, San Francisco, January 26, 1911.
23 foeter to Jessup, "In Texas," November 19, 1926, Archives of the State Uni· versitY of lo.w8. That the Paulist apostolate in the secular universities lias .likewise kept step with the advances in ecumenism was evident from an item in the San Francisco Examiner of January 22,_ 1965,. which told about Father James Fisher: asSistant chaplain of Newman Hall at the UniVenity of California, Berkeley, on the previous. day leading the singing of uA Mighty FOrtre~~ h Our God," in. the Church of the Great Commission on the Campus Of the Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, after which he offered M8.58 in English for the. Catholic "and Protestant audience. The Examiner stated, "It is believed to be the first time on the West COaSt thS:t· a Catholic Priest has cOnducted mass in' a Pr.otestailt church" {p. 58). The "ecuinenicaJ ·movement ·bas been strongly supported by the PauJists, and by none more than Father Thomas F. Stransky, who is attached to the .Secretariat · for the Promotion of Christian Unity at Rome. The ·wnier is indebted to his friend, the Reverend John Whitney Evans, chaplain of the·.NewrDan· Center at the Duluth Branch o£ the University of MinnesDta, for the information contained in· the paragraph that closed with Note 25, it being base.d on the data gathered for Father Evans' history of ·the Newman aposlolate. I likewise Wish to thank him for the reference to J. Eliiot Ross' article, ucatholics in Non-Catholic Colleges," in ReliBiow Education 21 (August, 1926) 399-405; where Ross reported his findings of a survey he had made of Catholic students in secular institutions· for the academic year 1923-1924. He stated that there were at that time 37,931 Catholics in these schools (p. 399), or about fifty-two percent of all Catholic$ then enrolled in AmeriCan colleges. The Paulist efforts in Auatiil ·won praise in another quarter when Charles Foster Kent of the Yale Divinity School sent a typescript essay [mailed May 3, 1922] to Lotus Delta Coffman, President of the Univenity of Minnesota, in which he spoke of denominational co~perarion in the teaching of religion at state universities and reinarked Of the University of Texas," . . . Christian ethics are taught most acceptably by a Roman Catholic priest ..•""This reference was also supplied by Father Evans. 26
For example, see Roben J. Oifiord and William R. Callahan, "Catholics in Higher Education," America Ill (September 19, 1964) 288-291, and in the same issue, Rudolph J. Gerber, "Religious Studies on Campus," 292-295.
136 Chicago Studies 21 New York TUMs (January 21, 1965) 16. 28 Quoted by GeOrge VI in a Christian message in 1939 from Marie Louis Haskins, The Desert, a book of verse published privately in 1908, John Wheeler· Bennett, Kins Georse VI. His Life and Reign, New York, 1958, 429-430.
AUTHORS IN THIS ISSUE John Tracy Ellis, is professor of Church history at the University of San Francisco. Jean Danielou, S.J., patristic scholar and ecumenist, professor of history
at Institut Catholique in Paris, an editor of Etudes and co-editor of Sources Chretiens, a series of patristic texts.
Hugh McElwain, O.S.M., dean of studies and professor of theology at Stonebridge Priory in Lake Bluff, Illinois; received doctorate m theology at the Marianum in Rome, 1959. Raymond J. Nogar, O.P., professor of the philosophy of evolution at the Aquinas Institute of Philosophy in River Forest, Illinois, is author of The Wisdom of Evolution (1963) and a forthcoming book, Evolution and the Future of Man. Gerard P. Weber, assistant at St. Carthage Church, Chicago, vice·president of ACTA, is co·author of Life in Christ and Beyond the Com· mandmenl$.
Paschal B. Baute, O.S.B., counselor and instructor in pastoral care at
Saint Leo College in Florida, has received a National Institute of Mental Health grant for special training at the Division of Family Study in the psychiatry department of the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Donald P. Gray teaches theology at Manhattan College, N. Y. John E. Eichelman, assistant at St. Carthage Church, Chicago. Daniel J. Mallette, a contributor to Ave Maria, Community, New City; one of three member team at St. Agatha's, the team approach was
initiated by Cardinal Meyer in 1963 to seek out new ways of reach· ing the urban population.
lean Danielou, SJ.
The Church of the Poor Iâ&#x20AC;˘ Chri.titmilr a religion. of the elite or of the masses?
People are talking a great deal today about the Church of the poor, but each one of them gives quite a different meaning to the expression. In point of fact there are mainly two views of the Church which are in confrontation. For some the Church is before all else a sign set up among the nations; she must bear witness in the world to that which reaches beyond the world. The essential thing is that she hear witness. Above all, these men will insist, the Church must he pure; and they will seek to disentangle her from the civilization in which they fear she is compromising herself. They are nostalgic for the age of the martyrs and speak enthusiastically of the end of the Christian epoch. They prefer to safeguard the Church's purity even at the price of abandoning those many baptized persons for whom Christianity is scarcely more than an external practice. In the face of this idea of the Church another view is arising, not as a defense of historical Christianity hut in the name of the exigencies of the gospel, in the name of a realistic view of the future. For those who hold this view, an essential characteris¡ tic of the gospel is that it be the religion of the poor, not in the
137
138 Chicago Studie•
sense of those who are disengaged from earthly concerns, but in the sense of the immense human tide. The Church appears to them, as to St. Augustine, as that net which gathers in both good and bad fish, but among whom we do not bave to make the distinction which is reserved to the angels. The authentic condition of the Church appears to them to be that of the ages of Christianity in which everyone was a Christian; and this is the condition which seems. de~irable to them. This view supposes that the Church is involved in civilization, for a Christian people is impossible in a civilization which is prejudicial to it. And they prefer this immense variegated people io a church which is purer but which resembles a chapel. THE POOR IN THE COSPEL
It seems obvious that the gospel message is addressed to all men and especially to the poor, obvious too that the Church, which is simply the community of those who have received the gospel message, should therefore be open to all. The· gospel has already made this clear. Christ applies to himself the words of Isaia: "l have come to announce the Good ·News to the "poor." The word poor can have many meanings. It can designate those who are· in misery; and Christ then alleviates their wretchedness. It can mean the poor in spirit, those who seek first the kingdom and its justice and risk everything for it. But it rrieans also those who are not in fact endowed with either money or intellectual gifts or h.onor. And this is the way in which we understand it here. · · Now this indeed is what the example of Christ shows us. The New Testament shows us that those who followed him were people of every station. There were prominent men like Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimethea. But there were publicans and"· sinful women too. One will note in particular that Jesus scandalized the pharisees in not observing the legal purifications a:nd in taking his 'supper with no matter whom. This means that the: kingdom demands nothing else but faith. If Jesus gathered about himself a: little group of disciples; he also addressed himself to the crowds in the first part of his ministry. And we are told
·.
•..
.
. Poor
139
that·• the crowds followed him; We will also note the ·way in which Jesus received the little·children-which, as Culhnann has :shown,: is also· the ·expression of- the primitive community. . If we study the first Christian centuries~ we see that one of the distinguishing· characteristics of the ·church is once ·again this· universalism: The most noteworthy text this point is that of the pagan Celsus who mocked the Christian communities among whom he saw a collection of vagrants and prostitutes. He contrasts these communities to the Pythagorean brotherhoods which were recruited from among the intellectual and moral ·elite. · Frorri this point of view, moreover, nothing is more inexact than to ·compare. the pre-Constantinian times to the time of Constantine. As early as the third century, in Africa or Alexandria, we see CYJ>~ian and Origen complaining ·about· the lessening of fervor that corresponded to a considerable growth in numbe.rs. And it is known that the persecutions were limited both in time and place: The sole truth is that this extension' of Christianity to an immense people, which is essential to it, was hampered during the first' centuries by the fact that Christianity developed within a socieiy whose social cadres and cultural structures were hostile to it. Belonging to Christianity. demanded a strength of character of which the majority of men were incapable. The conversion of Constantine, in removing these obstacles, made it possible for the :gospel to become accessible to the poor, precisely to ·those, that is; who were not part of the elite, to the man in the street. Far from falsifying Christianity it permitted its nature to be fulfilled in people. · It is this Christian people who still eXist today in Britanny or in Alsace, in Italy and in Spain, in Ireland and in Poland, in Brazil and in Peru. It is this people who feel themselves betrayed when they see certain Catholic· elite, layman or priest, much more preoccupied with engaging in dialogue with the Marxists than in working for their defense and their growth. Certainly missionary concern is an essential concern. But St. Paul asks us to think also of those who are our brothers in the faith. It would be a criminal calculation to abandon the
ori
140 Chicago Studuâ&#x20AC;˘
crowd of the poor entrusted to the Church on the pretext of lightening her burden in order to make her more missionary. It is this Christian people who have resisted the Marxist ideology in Russia. It is they whom the present-day persecution sets itself to destroy. And this persecution is particularly odious because it seeks to destroy that which is most sacred, the faith of the poor. The drama of Western Christianity today, that is, of that part of the world in which a Christian people has existed, is precisely the dechristianization of the masses. There have always been crises among the intellectual elite. It is no more dangerous for a Christian country to number some atheist intellectuals than for an atheist country to have some Christian intellectuals. But what is much more difficult to restore is the establishment of a Christian people because it is the result of long and patient labor. The problem, therefore, is to ask oneself what conditions make a Christian people possible. And to answer that question we must ask what were the conditions which once made a Christian people possible. It is strange that often it is those who speak most of the evangelization of the poor who are the most hostile to the conditions which make the gospel accessible to the poor. AN INCARNATE CHRISTIANITY
We would do well to speak first of one of the most certain conclusions of contemporary missionary theology. In the face of Christianity's retreat in the old colonial countries, in the Far East in particular, it became clear that this retreat was linked to the fact that Christianity there was bound to its western forms and was not incarnated in the structures of the thought, of the art, or of the institutions of these countries. Christianity appears, therefore, as a stranger to the national tradition, and its existence remains precarious. Conversion is made difficult because it seems a betrayal and because it is in some manner on the fringe of national life. From this follows the conclusion: the faith cannot be truly rooted in a country except when it has penetrated the civilization, i.e., when a
. Poor 141
Christendom exists. Christianity is accessible to the masses of a people as revelation only when it is rooted in this people as religion. This contemporary pastoral experience confirms the legitimacy of the Constantinian process. Because from the fourth cen路 tury Christianity penetrated western civilization, because thert was a Christendom, there was made possible the immense Christian people which is that of the medieval and baroque West. Undoubtedly this people manifests the faults which are those of every people. For many, Christianity was less a per路 sonal commitment than a social tradition, less a supernatural faith than a religious need. But the precise question is whether it is desirable that the gospel should he able to reach even these poor who still receive something of its salvation. Now this is indeed the problem of the present pastoral care of the masses. Experience shows that it is pratically impossible for a Christian who is not militant to persevere in a milieu which does not sustain him. How are they to .go to church in the village when they no longer go in the city? Shall we speak of sociological Christianity, and say that it is better to be rid of such Christians? This would be. completely false. For the Christianity of these Christians can be authentic, although it may not be personal enough to be able to assert itself in the face of its environment. They need to be Christians of an en路 vironment which helps them. There is no Christianity of the masses without Christendom. No
DIASPORA
There is the choice. For some will say that Christianity has no need of numbers, that a few fervent Christians are prefer路 able, that the demands of the gospel are clearly such that there will never be but a small number capable of it. Christianity must accept being salt or leaven and thus let itself be lost in the dough. The essential thing is that it keep its savor. The Church is a sign set up among the nations. It ought to concern itself with remaining intact rather than with recruiting numerous
·142
Chicago Studies
members. Moreover; the .question of·salvation is the .seeret of God. What the. Church must: do is to remain faithful to herself. Even though there is some truth in this position, it is ·none· theless unac<;eptahle. It is certain indeed that the demands of of the gospel will never be fully realized except by S: · small group of the elite: But is it necessary to reduce· the . Church . to this elite? Is it not essential that every man who. puts his faith in Christ be able to belong to him? Is it not something that it. should be under the Christian form that a man expresses his fundamental religious. need? Is it not essential that· the ·ec· desial institution he especially present in the word and in the sacraments so that all rna y be able to come and draw from it in .the measure of their thirst? Would one not otherwise. risk falling to a sect-Christianity, into a religion of intelleetuals? Therefore, the Church has the absolute duty of making herself accessible to the poor. And once again she can do it only by creating the conditions which make Christianity possible for the poor. This is what makes it incumbent on the Church to see to it that civilization makes the Christian life accessible to the masses. Now it is clear that many things today are opposed to this. Technical civilization tends to absorb men in material concerns. Socialization and rationalization leave little room for a personal life. The disorders of society place thousands of ·men in so wretched a situation that they are allowed no personal life. The laicization of society has exduded God from family, professional, or civic life. Thus is constituted a world in which everything turns men from their spiritual vocation. · It is quite clear that it is the whole of society which Christians must set themselves to transform in order to make a Christian life possible for all men. But it is also certain that such a transformation is slow in· every way, that at times circumstances may make it impossible. It will he necessary, therefore, to create partial environments in which the Christian vocation can . develop. Here we unavoidably raise the question of institutions (in the sense of service) which by their nature do not belong to the Church, hut which the Church. can be induced to erect: ·schools, societies, etc., ... which make Christianity present in
··Poor 143
social life; not only on the level of individual witness but on the level of. a· collective institution. ·· · This point is particularly important in a pluralist society, or when there is question of a religious minority. Religious liberty, which ought to be considered as a fundamental human right not only for individuals but for communities, implies _not only the right to. profess a cult publicly, but. allows a man to use the room he needs to order his life according to the demands of his religion. This right alone permits the maintenance of a popular tradition. Hence a religion has the right to create those institutions on the familial, educational,- cultural, .. and social level which it needs to. assure its continuation and jts development. SACRAL DIMENSION OF CIVILIZATION
This br!ngs us to a final question, the relation of the Church and public power. This question is often falsified· because envisaged. in terms of past situations in which the Church enjoyed privileges from certain states and where she found herself by this fact bound to certain political and social structures. At a time when these temporal structures have been overthrown, the sociological residue is often an obstacle which keeps the Church from fulfilling her mission. This explains why certain Christians preach a .radical separation of civil society and ecclesiastical institutions, rejecting as sacral any society which would.- again include an association between the two. But if this position is understandable, it is nonetheless' false and dangerous .. First of all, it does not understand ·the fundamental fact that religion is part of the temporal common good: Religion is not only concerned with the future life but it is a constitutive part the present life. The religious dimension is an essental· part of human nature, and as such society must recognize. it-as a constitutive· element of .the common good for which society has responsibility and over which it ·must stand guard. Full- religious liberty, therefore, ought to· be ·recognized by the States in a positive way; this is clear from the natura!'law.
of
144 Chicago Studies
The atheism of the State which stifles religious life and the laicism which ignores it are both contrary to the natural law. Moreover, it is certain that state recognition of religious communities as a public reality is an indispensable condition of their survival as communities of the poor, as religious peo· pies in a socialized society (as ours will increasingly become). In a capitalist society the churches can find in private assistance the material conditions of their existence. First of all, however, this procedure has the disadvanlage of tying them to financial powers, a liaison which is at least as dangerous as the link to public power and which leads them to do their recruiting among the social elite and to turn aside from the poor. On the other hand private resources will gradually disappear in a socialist society and institutions will be able to subsist only to the extent that they are recognized and sustained by the State. It is strange that often the same Christians preach socialism and laicism, for the two notions are contradictory. We must, nonetheless, make an important distinction here. What Christianity demands is not its recognition by the au· thorities insofar as it is Christianity, but the recognition of in· stitutions in general, of the reality of religion as a social fact. The civil power as such is not competent, in fact, to decide the truth of a religion. But it is bound by the natural law to recognize the reality of religion and to recognize it in the con· crete way in which it presents itself in a country at a given time. The problem, we see, is different from that of the relation of Church and State as it existed in medieval civilization and as it was later challenged. The characteristic of that civilization was the recognition by the State of the Catholic religion in op· position to other religions, pagan or Jewish. It was a question not of a sacral state but of a confessional state. The Church en· joyed privileges of which other religions were deprived. It is necessary to recognize, moreover, that this situation was general in that era. The State could not be disassociated from a particular religion.
Poor
145
Now it is not this conception of a confessional state which the Church presents in the conciliar schema on religious liberty. Certainiy the schema recalls first of all the sovereign rights of the truth of which it is the guardian. But the principle is stated not only that individuals cannot be prevented from following their conscience in religious matters even if that conscience is erroneous, but that they have the right to group themselves in a community and to demand all that is needed for its con· tinuance and development. Religious liberty in fact bas meaning only if it is made concrete, that is to say, if the material condi· tions of its existence are guaranteed. Now in a socialized world, those conditions can be assured only by the State. The position that this implies is clear. Far from asking a privileged status in regard to other religions, the Church insists on the contrary that the right to all necessary conditions for existence should be recognized for all religions. By the same token the Church agrees to renounce certain privileges which she enjoyed. On the other band she states as a fundamental principle the right, not only personal but social, of the religious fact to be a part of the realities whose existence the civil power ought to guarantee. This is a question of a natural right. And it is the sacral dimension of every civilization, if it is to be truly human, which is vindicated here, not the right of the Church as a unique divine institution. CoNCLUSION
The relation of Christianity and civilization is a question which is usually clouded over by those who discuss it in histori· cal situations. Those who emphasi2e the relation of the two would seem determined to keep Christianity involved in the structure of the world about it. Those who insist on the separation of the two express the determination to face up to new situations. There is truth in this perspective. It is certain that the relation of Christianity and civilization has been made up con· tinually of these ruptures and incarnations. If our meaning is to relieve Christianity of a certain sociological weight, we ex· press a correct idea.
146. Chicago Studus
But it is something else to transpose those historical views to a theological level. To accept this separation as a valid conception; to consider that the Church and the City ought to move in separate worlds, is an unrealistic and dangerous view. It is dangerous for the faith, for Christianity can be the faith of the poor only in a civilization which makes it normally¡ accessible to the poor and not the. privilege of a spiritual elite. It .is dangerous for the City that allows Christianity to be constituted in an incomplete and inhuman fashion. That is the problem which must be stated.
....
Hugh McElwain. O.S.M.
Theology in an Age of Christian Renewal
To be revelant to the modern world theologr must seek to renew itself .both internallr and externallr
"The substance of the ancient doctrine of the deposit of faith is one thing and the way in which it is presented is another. And it is the latter that must be taken into great consideration, with patience if necessary, everything being measured in the forms and proportions of a magisterium which is predominately pastoral in character" (Pope John XXIII, Opening address to Vatican II). Theology must be alert to the danger of becoming irrelevant. No matter how solid a conceptual structure a theological framework may present in itself, it is quite useless ultimately if it does not speak to the people of our time in the signs and symbols that they understand. The Church by divine declaration must be the constant Christian challenge to the world. On the specific level of dogmatic theology, that is, the systematic understanding and synthesis of divine revelation, the 147
148
Chicago Studies
cry of irrelevance seems to be heard most loudly and felt most acutely. In the study of Sacred Scripture years of research have made the realities symbolized in the Old and New Testaments available in a real and challenging fashion to our generation. In the field of moral theology, too, a core of scholars have braved considerable opposition to break out of their traditional formalism and to demonstrate quite convincingly that the moral life of the Christian is not simple submission to a set of precepts or to a pattern of impersonal laws, but a personal dedica¡ tion and commitment to the living God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in and through the Christian community. What has chraracterized the dogmatic aspect of renewal the whole while? It should be evident that dogmatic or systematic theology could not be unaffected by momentous developments in other fields, especially in the area of biblical studies; for it is precisely to Sacred Scripture that the dogmatic theologian looks for the principles of revealed truth, the basis of his science. Equally apparent is it that theology, the constantly developing understanding of the mysteries revealed by God, could not stand by passively as these mysteries became intensively alive in the renewal of the life and worship of the Church through renewal of the liturgy. Thirdly, the all-pervading spirit of ecumenism, active for some years at the grass-roots level and propelled so dynamically by Pope John and Vatican II, has interjected a decidely new theological attitude in issues colored by the jaundiced eyes of Reformation theology and by the by-products of the Tridentine reform. Finally, the inner core of scholastic philosophy, intent as it was on conceptual and essentialist analysis, had to brace devastating attack both from modern science and modern philosophy. A system of theological understanding wedded to essentialist patterns of thought must take stock of it¡ self in the face of analysis that is existentialist. Much of the vitality in present theological speculation is due to its response to the existentialist challenge ( cf. the impact of such theologians as Karl Rahner, Yves Congar, Edward Schillebeeckx, Hans Kiing, etc.). Any analysis of current developments and trends in dogmatic
theology would be a lengthy assignment. It seems advisable, therefore, to take each of four areas (Sacred Scripture, liturgy, ecumenism, philosophy) and trace very briefly their profound implications for dogmatic theology. l.
SACRED SCRIPTURE AND THEOLOGY
Sufficient attention has been given to recent developments in the study of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments; so that is outside the scope of this article. The element of concern in the present discussion is the relationship between biblical and scholastic thought. Over the past centuries a characteristic of scholastic theology has been its harmful separation-though not so willed by theologians themselves--from its necessary scriptur¡ al moorings. In keeping with its primitive notion, theology must be faith in search of understanding, that is, the desire of the believer to understand more fully God's word to and action among men. The undeniable presumption then is that the theologian, like every other member of the Church, must listen to the word of God, which is treasured in the Scriptures and kept as a living legacy in the Christian community. It is God's living word, received within and meditated by the Church, that is at the basis of all theology ( crede ut intelligas). It is from the theologian's profound reflections on the Chris¡ tian realities recorded in the Scriptures of the Old and the New Testaments and in relation to the Church's understanding of these mysteries through the centuries (tradition), that this theological synthesis arises. The theologian brings to bear on this process the various tools of his own religious, intellectual, and cultural formation. The absence of any one of these elements renders his theology (which must ultimately be the Church's) less than that which by nature it must he. THE IRRELEVANCE OF SCHOLASTICISM
Now, the present irrelevance of theology seems to have stemmed from a progressively noticeable neglect of the biblical record and understanding of God's word and action. In the
150
fShicago Studies
theological process over the centuries . man's search for and understanding of faith culminated at a .given ·moment in. the identification of understanding with· faith. itself. In retrospect it appears a gratuitous presumption that the scholastic systematic understanding was the ultimate adequate expression of Christian reality. The whole traditional process of theology was stifled effectively by a definitively formulated philosophical structure within which, and therein alone, Christian .revelation found adequate and full expression. In effect Sacred Scripture, rather than the absolutely indispensable starting point of theology (fides quaeren.s intelleceum), in actual practice came to be ancillary to· theology. And this lamentable transition found its ultimate formulation in the manual approach to thesis theology. Passages from the Old and the New Testaments, often taken out of context, and not less infrequently simply because of -coincidence of words, were used as vehicles to "prove" truths already formulated in accord with the Church's ·magisterium, or else deduced logically from other truths •already theologically ascertained and confirmed . .This theological method dominated the academic scene for Centuries and has not been eradicated yet. Its overtones were sensed also in virtually every phase of pastoral activity, the liturgy, catechetics, etc. This, of course, is not to deny the real advantage of the valid method of speculative or systematic theology, that is, its intellectually disciplined approach to understanding and analyzing the Christian realities. Yet its undesirable alienation from its life-giving principles (of revelation, desiccated the theology of the schools, making it ultimately a practically lifeless set of abstract truths. To imply that theology may be out-dated or irrelevant, however, is not to hint at anything approaching essential relativism, but simply to point up the hard fact that the expression of truth, and, indeed, of revealed truth itself, is a never-completed task; it must ever be attempted anew. In this particular regard Schille· beeckx makes a valid point: "no particular moment or phase in history can be tom loose from its context and·set up as a supratemporal, supra-local model for the Church for all time to come.
Theolbgy
151
If this were true at all, it might he applicable only to the pr:imi· tive scriptural documents... " .(c£. Theology Digest 11 (1963) 133); When, therefore, scholasticism became the general, if not ex· elusive, 'mode of expression of revelation for so many centuries, it wa's inevitable that its scholastic formulation· come to be identified with revealed truth itself, whereas in actual fact it was only one mode of expression (even though extremely adaptable in the hands especially of the Angelic Doctor). Once the virtual identification was made between its: mode of expression, that is, the theology of the schools, and Christian reality in itself, the next logical .step was to: suspect anyone who questioned the validity of scholastic philosOphy of tampering with Christian reality itself. Thus, to exemplify, one may question the definition of grace as an accident on the grounds that this latter term expresses something significantly less than the revealed reality itself (namely, that man becomes a new creature through God's gracious gift of himself, and that man is therefore lifted above himself into a whole new relationship to God through Christ in the Holy Spirit as a member of the Christian community, God's truly holy people). Does this question then mean a denial of grace as an accident? Must grace then be considered a substance? The answer to both of these questions is simply "no." The reality of God's gracious gift of himself to man simply, it may be said, does not find adequate expression in the scholastic categories of substance and accident.· Must one speak of grace in terms of these categories? It seems not, as long as his chosen expression does not distort this Chrstian reality, making it something other than that which God has revealed. THE MOl!AL 'OF THE HISTORY
· From this unacceptable but traditional identification of Christian reality·with its scholastic· mode of expression, we have come to learn a fundamental lesson; theology musi be the relevant or ineariingful understanding· and expression of ·revealed rea]. ities .. Absolute trutli (God's self-disclosure) is emphasized in contrast to .changing times; an accepted. theory ·:of relativism
152 Chicago Studies
can, and must, refer only to the expression of truth. Of itself truth is neither ancient nor contemporary; it is timeless and therefore relevant to every age. Its vehicle of expression effectively determines what response it shall receive. It is the task of the speculative or systematic theologian, therefore, to interpret all the fresh data of positive theology (Sacred Scrip¡ ture, liturgy, tradition, etc.) in relation to current demands and contemporary problems, and to formulate his understanding in terms that are understood by and challenging to the Christian community itself primarily, and ultimately to men generally, since the Christian message is for all men and for all time. Theology by its very nature is something dynamic, something vital. It is founded on the natural impulse of man to question, to seek reasons for things, and not simply abstractly, but in relation to his concrete existence here and now. It is to such questions, always, of course, within the context of faith (man's personal commitment to God), that answers must be sought. This is the substance of relevance. Relevance is the ultimate measure of theological endeavor. In view of what has been said, then, theology still must be defined as the search for an understanding of the Christian realities and the meaningful expression of them. Does this mean in practice the effective removal of the theolgy of the great medieval schools? This would be unrealistic. The western theologian depends upon it and has benefited from it. Even the Church has used it and still uses it. In present day renewal it would be haphazard and idealistic to bypass it. It is simply that contemporary man is out of tune with its categories of thought and modes of expression. The system needs revitalization. In its renewed vitality theology must seek its life-line once again in its return to God's living word, the message of Christ transmitted through the centuries by and within the Christian community. His full life in this community is the theologian's fundamental preparation for his charismatic calling. This takes us to the last point in the first question. The impression is given almost inevitably in theology that revelation, and ultimately religion itself, is essentially truths to be under-
TMowgy
153
stood and believed rather than a life to be lived. To be sure, God's revelation is nQt meant to be a cold., rational series of abstract truths. It is fundamentally the self-disclosure of God's intimacy. More than by words, God speaks to us through his living and loving deeds, which culminate in the Word-made-flesh for us and for our salvation, and finalized in the Christian community, the Church, the great sign of God's presence amongst men. REVELATION AS AN "EVENT"
It is against this background that Christian revelation has come to be understood as "event" or "action," specifically, of course, of God revealing. What was this event? It was simply (and mysteriously) God's founding or bringing-to-be of the Church. The Scriptures, both of the Old and New Testaments, record this event, this action, of the coming-to-be of the Church. It is within this precise framework that theology can speak of the cessation of revelation with the death of the last apostle, for it was at that time that the Church was finally, firmly, and fully established. Revelation, then, must be understood as God's free action amongst men, culminating in the mystery of Christ and the founding of the Church in the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier. God's ultimate revelation of himself as-he-is, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a community of love, is seen in the Church, the Christian community, whose unity is guaranteed primarily and essentially by love, trinitarian love, in which all Christians participate, and because of which the Church becomes the "great sacrament" (Comtitution on the Liturgy, 5), the final and full sign of God's presence among men. It is evident from this that man's response is not simply one of mind, of intelligence and understanding, but a personal response. It is the response of the entire person to the trinitarian life of love in the Christian community. Christianity in its ultimate analysis, therefore, is a Person, indeed three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And we do not enter into contact with persons through words or discourse alone, but by a phenomenon of communion. The people in communion with God,
154 Chicago Studies
sharing his very trinitarian life, is his chosen people, the Church, his presence in the world, his final self-disclosure, God-as-he-is, a community of love. It is the context of "event" and ~'action" that belief must be fitted. Theological understanding is necessary, but it gains vitality and validity through communion with God in his Church, his ultimate revelation of himself and the end-time·of the whole process of revelation, from the·.first word of Genesis to the last word of St. John. God's holy word, which we are constantly desirous of possessing and understanding, takes on its true meaning and life within the Church, the Christian community, the founding of which it records. His immersion into this community by his life of service to it is the theologian's most basic preparation arid most effective witness.
2.
THE SACRED LITURGY AND THEOLOGY
It seems entirely correct to 8ay that even ·before Vatican
II's ·Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy; some remarkable advances·in theology foundtheir·origiri in the renewal within the liturgy. The fundamental mystery of the mystical body, for· exam.ple, . found its rightful place a.s a core theological theme largely through the efforts of dedicated liturgiologists. The other gl·and themes of the history of salvation, the mystery of Christ and .the paschal mystery, all of which have injected' new life and vigor· into a slowly dying scholastic theology, although seen ·substantially by extended scriptural research, have been given Christian vitality within the living context of the liturgy and the · liturgical year. In general the Christo-centricity of the liturgy and the valid sense of community that it has captured have been responsible for a whole new orientation to theology. If one were to single out any one aspect of this direction which liturgy has given. to theology it would be the theology of the resurrection. The insistance of renewal built arund the paschal mystery has been a contribution of immeasurable value to the whole of Christian renewal. The dim beginnings of this renewal were .sensed originally on a universal plane, though perhaps not universally acceptable, when the new· Easter liturgy was .promulgated by
Theology
155
Pius XII in the restoration of the Easter Vigil. Since. that time the implicatiOn of the theology of the resurrection in virtually every phase of systematic theology has been incredible. The most immediate effect was felt in the theology of redemption, where astatic and juridically orientated theology gave way to a renewed approach based on the love of Christ,· whose life was characterized as salvific.- The core of these salvific acts was 'the paschal mystery, the passion, death and resurrection-ascension (death-resurrection event) ; for Christ in suffering and dying and rising again passed from· the order of sin and death, and with !tim all of humanity (radically), to the order of ·the divine, to the presence of God (grace and glory). It was this passage (pasch, transitus) which constihltes the central redemptive mystery. "By baptism men are plunged into the paschal mystery of Christ: · they die· with him, are buried with him, and rise with him': (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 6). Man, therefore, ·already begins through baptism to .live.the resurrection .. eRe has risen with Chrisf to God's presence through :grace to· be· ultimately present to God gloriously through the final resurrec· tion. What Christ did, enabling us to do, now constitutes thefundamental theme of redemption. It is this mystery which the lirurgy lives at every Mass. It is this mystery that has ·come to permeate the general theological synthesis. •· The lihlrgical renewal furthermore brings out forcefully a point. stressed earlier: Christian realities are not solely-or even primarily-·truths to be believed so much as a life to be lived. This life is· within the Christian community where God is present and active. But "the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the fount from which· all her power flows ..." (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy;.lO). And indeed'from the viewpoint of Christian doctrine itself, it must be affirmed that it is within the framework of liturgical life ultimately that the mystery· of Christ, the Church, and the sacraments gain their fullness of meaning and richness of. expression. In the words-. of the. Constitution: '~For the lirurgy-.· .. is the outsta;.,ding means whereby the faithful ·may, express iri -their lives, and manifest to others,
156 Chicago Studie•
the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church" (2). In sum, it would not be possible to speak of renewal in theology without referring to the advantageous interchange he· tween theology and liturgy, between doctrine and worship. The mysteries of Christianity, recorded in God's inspired word of the Old and New Testaments, are most opportunely mediated as they are lived, in the truest sense, in the liturgy of the Church through the year. It is, therefore, precisely because of the central place of the liturgy in the life of the Church (even though "the sacred liturgy does not exhaust the entire activity of the Church," Constitution, 9), that the Church's renewal and reform projected by the Second Council of the Vatican begins with the renewal of the liturgy.
3.
ECUMENISM AND THEOLOGY
Various times in this article the Church has been spoken of as the community of love, as the great testimony to men of God's presence and action amongst them. Christ so prayed at the Last Supper. One of the penetrating e:ffects of the spirit of ecumenism in Catholic theology has been the call of the Church to an awareness of the profound meaning of its oneness. It slowly becomes apparent that the fundamental note of Christian unity is not primarily external, that is, a unity that somehow dissolves into uniformity. Even in the context of doctrinal and hierarchical unity, the basic oneness of the Church must be founded on love, like the love of the Father and Son, that is, trinitarian love. Since God is Love, and the Church is the testimony to the world of God's abiding presence therein, unless the Church is seen as a community of people primarily and fundamentally who love one another, it loses its witness value to the world (the world must ask the primitive question, "Why do they love one another •.. ?"). And this is the. real and true spirit of ecumenism-to bring to pass Christ's earnest plea for Christian unity. Any renewal in systematic theology, then, must be shot through with this fundamental ecumenical spirit. Catholic the· ology must he as much concerned with those Christian elements
Theology
157
present in the separated communities of Christians as it is with those poin!Jl of doctdne where separation is still factual. The Church has long since shed its apologetic cloak. Not only has reformation theology, as it has been called, ended finally and fully with Vatican II, but every encouragement is given theologians (and Christians generally) to search out all valid avenues of approach to eventual Christian unity. In this connection adjustments in the "manual approach" to Catholic theology become all too evident. Such adjustments, however, are not limited to the realm of scholarship, though this is essentiaL Christians, according to Christ's prayer, must first be united in a community of love and prayer. It was in this spirit that Pope Paul addressed the non-Catholic observers at the Council: "No more than you, gentlemen, dear brothers in Jesus Christ, have we said: we do not expect miraculous and immediate solutions. The fruits that we hope for must mature over a long period of time, through study and prayer. The apparent or improvised reconciliations which dissimulate the difficulties instead of solving them, would only hold back our forward march."
4. PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY A protest of increasing volume is being raised that much of the scholastic methodology has proved inadequate to the requirements of our age. It appears that Pope John may have have had this in mind in a conciliar address: "This council is not to discuss one or other of the fundamental doctrines of the Church . . . but [to provide] the whole world with a step toward a doctrinal penetration and a formation of consciences in conformity with authentic doctrine . . . which is to be expounded and studied through the methods of research, and through the literary forms of modern thought." There is no question here of the validity of the systematic or speculative method in theology, but simply of what principles shall regulate this method. The very fact that God has revealed himself to us, ultimately through the risen Christ in his Church, in human words, in symbols and images, gives man not ouly the possibility but the evident challenge to reflect on the divine
158 Chicago Studies
Christian realities, and in his turn to proclaim them to the world. The· crux of the problem here is that it remains virtually im· possible for -each generation ·to proclaim the Christian message effectively to the world of its time without re-thinking the substance ·of this message. This process in turn creates almost necessarily a certain temporal-spatial-cultural coloring of that message: Yet the theologians must. not be deterred from a determined effort to capture the-fullness of Christ's message and· to proclaim it ever anew to his generation in words, symbols, and images that it understands and accepts. . Once again the subject of revelance is at issue. A· point was niade earlier in this article that the question of relevance becomes acute in the confrontation· between the essentialist approach to reality an·d its existentialist counterpart. When Jean· Paul Sartre is selected for the Nobel Peace Prize for literature, and when· plays by Camus and Ianesco (and Albee in this country) characterize much of the contemporary thea ire, the issue of relevance indeeds bears . close scrutiny. These meri are using the common art forms to portray the: human situation, 'from which unquestionably God must be absent. The challenge to the modem· theologian is to portray the human situation at whose cimter God must be found, indeed whose very center is God. In the essentialist or scholastic approach (not that scholasti· cism must be essentialist) one cannot ignore the proper,solid, and clear-cut insights that characterize its ultimate theological synthesis. In pronounced contrasi to false relativism and personalist vagueness, the ready-made, essentialist thought-forms present truth in-an impersonal over-powering manner.· At the same time, however, this abstract and impersonal approach needs. substantial adjustment to be relevant to our times. It must first of all provide for the factual, existential situation of the Chris· tian. before God. Its technical language must be translated into curr!)nt patterns of thought arid contemporary symbols .for the benefit ·oLall. We .must recognize that its a priori conditions for the-possibility of any given fact ·or truth. effectively convey · the idea of static immobility. . Existential analysis ·on the contrary "considers· man's ex-
T heologr
159
istence as a whole-as a matter of fact this preoccupation with the wholeness of everv situation is one of the first ch11racteristics ' of this way of thought-it considers our existence as a whole in its personal authenticity, in its dialectical tension between the spiritual unity of our personal liberty and the multiplicity of our existence in .time and space" ( cf. Piet Fransen, "Three Ways of Dogmatic Thought," Heythrop ]ournal4 {1963) 16-17). The adv~ntages of this approach to reality are many because of its fundamental adaptability to our ways of thought and language. Because of its direct reference to the problem of personal re· sponsibility it is readily adaptable to the theology of the Chris· tian life and suggests the pastoral approach that must regulate the Church's action in the modern world. Since, however," it is less ·rigid .in its thought patterns and less formalistic in its approach to the objective, it becomes a difficult tool to handle and ultimately frightens the Christian into becoming extraor· dinarily responsible.
It would be a mistake to conclude that the Church, as it were, prefers existentialism or personalism to scholastic essentialism. Translating the gospel message, as she must do for all men of all time, into terms that challenge modern man, the teach· ing Church is not trying necessarily to build a "neo-philosophy," hut rather to bring men into contact with God. This she does ultimately by relying on the word of God and the liturgy. It so happens that the contemporary theologians, whose impact has been felt most forcefully, have been of the existentialist school. Their views furthermore have concorded most fully with similar views voiced by experts in the Scriptures of the Old and the New Testaments and the liturgy. It becomes graphically evident, then, that any renewal in theology cannot be unaware of the tremendous dynamism of the existential,. personalist method that has begun gradually to permeate the age-old curricular pattern of philosophical and theological studies. To ignore this method would be to hide from reality. Confrontation with its potentially vital contributions is as urgent as it is necessary.
160 Chicago Studieâ&#x20AC;˘ CONCLUSION
"This sacred Council has several aims in view: it desires to impart an ever increasing vigor to the Christian life of the faithful; to adapt more suitably to the needs of our own times those institutions which are subject to change; to foster whatever can promote union among all who believe in Christ; to strengthen whatever can help to call the whole of mankind into the household of the Church ... " (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 1). These very aims which characterize the Church's approach to the renewal of Christian life have been the guide in our a pproach to the renewal of theology: an internal renewal based on a more intimate relationship between theology and its sources, Sacred Scripture and the liturgy (and tradition generally) ; and an external renewal, as it were, grounded on the necessity of speaking to all Christians ( ecumenism) and to the world generally (philosophy).lt is ardently hoped that these aims have ben partially achieved.
Raymond ]. Nngar, O.P.
Sartre, Aquinas, and the Lemmings
Every authentic insight into reality whether traditional or conlemporary muse be brought eo bear upon the issue: lo fashion the future of man.
Jean-Paul: "It is a fearsome thing to watch the golden !em¡ mings gather for their dash to the Sea." Thomas: "Yes,¡ once the signal is given they must obey . . . They can do nothing but follow the plan of migration so deeply ingrained in their life-stuff ..." In 1914. the blue passenger pigeon became extinct. The wolverine is disappearing from the Michigan northlands. The giant shy condor, once a familiar shadow upon California's Sierra Nevadas, will soon die out. Such is the story of plant and animal species: they emerge, flourish for a time, pass away. What is the future of the human species? Man arose upon this planet about a million years ago. He now flourishes. Will he survive? Why should he be an exception to the rule of nature? Man is an exceptional species, unique in this. All other animals adapt, in a very limited way, to an environment which they did not fashion. Homo sapiens is a free and creative animal which survives by adapting to an environmental niche which he 161
162 Chicago Studks
designs for himself. Barring catastrophe like the bursting of our sun, and imbecillity like atomic warfare, are we designing a future to which we can hope to adapt? Or are we on the way to the Sea? The answer is as frightening as it is simple. If man discovers who he is and what is his destiny in time, he can blueprint his future. If not, he has no future. For the first time in human history, it is clear to all that intellectual and spiritual solidarity is absolutely necessary if free and creative man is to survive. Every individual has a grave responsibility to contribute to our survival; yet only a total world-wide solidarity of human understanding and love can meet the momentous issue which suddenly looms up before the entire species. Perhaps the most hopeful instrument of the con¡ solidation of mankind is the university. By definition, the university is the. storehouse of knowledge and understanding, conserving and projecting the finest insights of man. The university is the only available intellectual organization which can assume total detachment from local culture, a prerequisite to its in¡ valuable function of critical reflection upon the present age and future survival. In the university, the college shares this urgent responsibility by bringing forth its special unique contribution to the destiny of man. The college of law, of medicine, of fine arts conserve, create, and project the best of their professional traditions to the university. Nor is it necessary that the college be located on a university campus, though this is often desirable. The private college, whether secular or religious, whatever else may be its role in a free society, exists for the future of man by its contribution to the university of those living traditions which mankind cannot afford to lose. The existence of our species depends upon the living traditions which project man's best insights into himself, his universe, and his God. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE FUTURE
Man's future is in the hands of two agencies: his biological evolution and his psychosocial evolution. Genetic and natural environmental forces continue to influence the development of
Sartre, Aqui1UI3
163
man; yet there has been little biological change in our species in the last 30.000 vears. P~v<:hosocial control new dominates the . ' direction of human evolution. Population problems, inherited pathology, and other biological concerns certainly pertain to man's future, but the life-death issue cannot be reduced to an actuarial table. Preoccupation with the significance of death is the mere threshold of the thinking of Sartre and Marcel; even the naturalistic humanism of Muller and ¡Huxley presupposes a basic world-view. Man's personal potential is biologically based, but how he freely and creatively designs his future depends upon his understanding and attitudes toward reality, in a word, upon his psychosocial or spiritual ecology. The ¡prehistory and the history of man reveal that human survival depends upon his ability to face reality on three levels. The first level is the world of the timely, the cosmological, work-a-day world of sensation, the historically unfolding human existence of wonder, of work, and of interpersonal relations. The second level is that same universe of reality, now viewed in its entirety as a simultaneous whole. This timeless world of the human spirit responds to man's quest for ultimate meaning, for an answer to the question: "Why not just nothing?" as Heidegger puts it. The impingement of the world as timeless, though more difficult to isolate in human adaptation, is basic to all motivation, all decision, all commitment, all affirmation in the order of the timely. Man caunot long survive without underpinning himself with the "meaning of it all." Finally, the most illusive yet the most important level of human spiritual ecology (and man has ever judged it so) is man's openness to divine communication of the deeper meanings of the mysterious, unfolding reality about him. It is the condition of a free and creative human spirit to move swiftly and probingly in and out of these three distinguishable though not separate worlds. It hovers where it wills, yet tries to avoid fragmentation. Man seeks to blend harmoniously all his insights into reality, but he is suspicious of the tiniest illusion which might be imposed by unrealistic preoccupation with the timely, the timeless, or the divine. Because of the
-
164 Chicago.Swdies
danger of illusion, men have attempted, in the name of human freedom, to eliminate one or other of these three levels of experience. To no avail. They are irreducible elements of human adaptability. Man will be creative and free in projecting his future only if he can, at one and the same time, realistically immerse himself in the history of his age and culture, discover trans-historical meaning and affirm divine communication and adore. In the interest of man's survival then, the university must conserve, promote, and project the specialized insights of man into these three areas. For these experiences with reality, man formulates his world-view. To that world-view of reality, he must adapt all that he is-his art, his technology, his life. Man cannot afford to lose a single authentic intuition of reality, and it is the solemn responsibility of every college to contribute its unique tradition to the university. Today, it is no longer merely a question of sophistication; it is a matter of human survival. THE EXPLORATION INTO AUTHENTICITY
Most human insights are fragmentary. Not every tradition is wholly authentic. The role of intellectual criticism is perhaps the most important and the most difficult the university must assume. The ultimate test must be man's grasp of reality itself, and the illusions of any world-view can be smashed only by showing that "reality just isn't like that." Yet human survival feeds upon the insights which positively reveal what the world "is really like." Consequently, the university has a very valuable built-in intellectual attrition which tends to conserve the authentic insights and prunes away the illusions: the dialogue between traditional and contemporary thought. Interdepartmental attrition, like the recent clashes between the scientific and humanistic cultures, and intradepartmental attrition, like the philosophical reactions of phenomenology to all traditional metaphysics, work toward that purification so necessary for realistic thought and action. With the critical tool of intellectual attrition, the university has an invaluable instrument for preparing man's future with the best available design of the future.
Sartre, Aquiruu
165
In the American Catholic college's contribution to man's future, this intellectual attrition between tradition anJ cun~ temporary thought is dramatically illustrated by the current dialogue between existentialism and a major element of the Catholic tradition, neo-Thomism. In Europe, this confrontation has been underway for over a half-century in the work of Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Scheler, and others, but recently many American Catholic colleges have experimentally revamped their philosophy courses to fit the existentialist frame of reference. Relative strength and weakness are keenly felt by this edge-to-edge contrast of view, and both the promise of greater authenticity and the dangers of loss of insight have been clarified. Aside from polemics, which generate more heat than light, we are beginning to see the emerging value of this attrition to the role of the university and the survival of man. Keeping in mind that the aim of university criticism is to assess the realism of man's world-view, the Catholic college has brought two veins of thought into dialogue, the insights of Thomas Aquinas and those of Jean-Paul Satre. Although neither Catholic tradition nor contemporary thought are represented in toto by these two thinkers, from this confrontation examples of strength and weakness can be dramatically portrayed. Out of similar contrasts of representatives of tradition and contemporary thought should emerge the purified insights of both, those urgently needed bases for a blueprint of human survival THOMAS AQUINAS: STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS
The true philosopher is not preoccupied with the opinions of men, the needs of pedagogy, nor the polemics of the day. He is only interested in how the truth of things stands. From this detached vantage point, Thomas Aquinas penetrated the reality of the universe with remarkable, enduring insights. The first had to do with the timely, the cosmological. He acknowledged that the world of reality had its own light, that the human spirit could lay hold of the interior of things, not perfectly but securely enough to repudiate all forms of scepticism and agnosticism. He asserted that what a man thinks about creatures and the
166 Chicago Studies
timely conditions not only his estimate of the timeless but even what he thinks about the Creator and his revelation. Aquinas' second major insight was that the human spirit could transcend all the partial aspects of the universe of reality and grasp something of the timeless, the totality of existing things. Man can ask the question "Why not just nothing?" as Heidegger later formulated it; and he can understand something of the "meaning of it all." The human spirit, he asserted, was at home in the work-a-day world of sensible experience, but from this world it could simultaneously penetrate through and beyond the fragments of this world to pin-points of timelessness, the meaning of existence itself. This latter intuition threw open the human spirit to an even more transcendent light upon reality. Aquinas saw that man was open to affirmation and homage towards the very source of reality and could, with full freedom and creativity, hear divine speech and respond with belief and love. For him, this homage and adoration would, in its turn, open up meaning of reality in a way far exceeding the mere human efforts of the mind. But his strength was his weakness. The spirit of man ever hovers where its insights are surest. Thomas Aquinas; preoccupied with the divine revelation and deeply orientated in the theocentric thought of the Greeks, was surest in his contemplation of the timeless and the divine. The timely of the cosmos, the orientation of creation in time and space, did not enter substantially into his scientific thought. He insisted that man's understanding of the timeless and of God had to he drawn from authentic analogies to creation. Yet without a science of reality which laid open the cosmos sub ratione evolutionis (a fact totally unsuspected in 1250), space-time contingency remained incidental to this thought and his tradition. He too quickly (for our tastes) transcended creation with his world-view. He was precipitously caught up by the transhistorical, made ready by theocentric traditions, and sub ratione aeternitatis, abandoned the imperfections and the grandeur of a universe of space-time, the very being of which is unfolding contingency.
Sartre, Aquina.t 167 This failure of space-time orientation proved serious. By Aquinas' on"Il insistence, it is fully to thiuk i.l1ui man's metaphy¡ sica! and theological views are not conditioned by his cosmic world-view. The tradition of Aquinas failed to respond to the space-time orientation demanded by scientific progress and as a consequence the sciences of every area of reality suffered: its cosmology, its psychology, its moral views, and even some of its theological expressions of revelation itself. By modem standards, the thought of Aquinas labors under the effects of the "myth of the eternal return" imposed by earlier philosophical cultures in which the epigenic unfolding space-time history of reality plays no significant role! His basic insights that the human spirit can and must confront the cosmic realities as the test of all understanding, can arise thence to realistic understanding of supratemporal meaning of existence, can and must remain open to divine communication of ultimate meaning of human existence, stand firm nnd must not be lost. But his realism must be brought into the focus of epigenic contingency of space and time. Upon this nerve contemporary philosophy has placed its :finger. JEAN-PAUL 5ARTRE: STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS
Like Aquinas, Sartre interrogates reality on three levels: the timely, the timeless, and the divine. But the whole thrust of his thought, like that of Hegel and Marx, of Heidegger and Dilthey, of Scheler, Merleau-Ponty, and Marcel, is orientated to the spacetime contingency of reality. The "worldhood of the world," the "facticity of things," the "immersion of being in history," all signify that new look at reality with "rinsed eyes" which crushes the illusions of traditional world-views ensnared by the "myth of the eternal return." Contemporary thought begins where traditional thought was weakest. It places created material being in time and space so securely that assertions about reality can no longer prescind from space-time and remain authentic. Within this century whole areas of science, philosophy, theology, the arta and humanities, even Scripture study itself, have been recast into the critical
168 Chicago Studies
mold of historicity. The epigenic evolution of created being has refashioned our fundamental thoughts about the universe, about man and his destiny. Historical orientation has altered the analogies for Divine Being and divine communication. With Sartre, unfolding creation has become the pruning knife,. the smasher of illusions, the remover of cultural accretions of traditional systems. Where Aquinas was weak, Sartre and the other contemporary philosophers are strong. But Sartre knows that total meaning of reality is not achieved merely by immersing oneself in the timely. It would be a mistake of the grossest kind to think that the ultimate considerations of contemporary space-time philosophies are history-bound. For Hegel, the destiny of a people preserved a transhistorical significance, a more perfect manifestation of the Universal Spirit. For Marx, the end of history was "salvation" which exorcises its terror. Dilthey tried to find a way to transcend mere historicity. Meinecke thought he found a way through the "examination of conscience." Nietzche said: " .â&#x20AC;˘â&#x20AC;˘ always one thing which makes for happiness: the capacity to feel unhistorically." The chief issue for Marcel is the "metaproblematic." In his autobiography The Words, Sartre slashes illusions right and left with his sword of the timely, only because he is searching for the timeless "meaning of it all." Sartre's strength, indeed the brilliant intuition of contemporary thought, is that the timeless in reality is guaranteed only through the iconoclasm of interrogating creatures in their spacetime contingency. Sartre discovered a means of separating what belongs to "the way things are" from mere cultural determinants. But his tool proved to be a double-edged sword. As in the case of Aquinas, Sartre's strength is his weakness. In order to get at existing reality without illusion, he cut away all tradition and closed himself off from divine communication by dialectical denial. In his consequent panic to take the terror out of history by restraining the movement of the spirit to the timeless, and by deliberate! y closing his ears to the possibilities of divine speech, he despairs. Absurdity becomes the theme of the timely, and in the name of freedom he finds no escape from the morass of
Sartre, Aquina& 169
space and time. He succeeded where Aquinas had failed; what au'n·· r•.. '-1 .u u.., h·-' u1u ga'-e-' au u, he 1--t. u~
BLUEPRINT FOR THE FUTURE
It is urgent that the timeliness of Sartre and the timelessness of Aquinas, the strength of tradition and that of contempo· rary thought, be harmonized. For man's future rests upon the fullness and authenticity of his world-view. We cannot afford to allow a single valid insight into man, his universe, and his God to be lost. Such a project of intellectual and spiritual solidarity can be accomplished only by the university' roundtable. Its critical role is to correct the myopia of world-views, smash illusions, and prune away dead wood without losing a single authentic insight into the future of man. The invaluable role of the college is to contribute the basic insights of its unique tradition to the university round-table which must ultimately propose a blueprint for the future of the species. The Catholic college has a unique living tradition which must not be lost. Yet to be of value to man, it must undergo the attrition, the pruning and renewal upon which the contemporary philosophies of space-time insist. Conversely, contemporary thought urgently needs the balance and enrichment which traditional insights into the timeless and the divine can give. Extinction of man, failure to creatively and freely adapt, can come from following blindly in the path of either traditional or contemporary intuitions, from following uncritically either Aquinas or Sartre. Failure to orientate man's world-view in space and time, to see how epigenic unfolding enters into all that man is and does will result in illusion. Total immersion in the timely without discovering the supernatural meaning of existence and without spiritual openness to the divine will just as surely threaten man's ability to survive. It is not simply a question of updating or providing bibliographies of Sartre. Polemics which barter a word from Sartre for a word from Aquinas are futile, and they make spiritual solidarity based upon authentic insight doubly difficult.
170 ChictJ&o Studies
Yet there is great .expectation. Man must look to the future of Homo sapiens. It is no longer simply a question of the .Greek Academy or Lyceum, of a scholastic synthesis, of cultivating manners, of technical ¡prowess or even a liberal education. It is a question of survival by creative, free, spiritual solidarity. The solution is to call forth every authentic insight into harmmiious bearing upon the issue: to .fashion the future of man. We cannot afford to lose a single insight into reality whether traditional or contemporary. Neither Aquinas nor Sartre suffices. With the best of both, we stand a chance of survival. Thomas: "Too late to change; the die is cast." Jean-Paul: "All the same, it is grim to watch the lovely lemmings scrambling with such glee, unaware that they leap into the yawning jaws of oblivion."
*
*
*
St. Thomas' scientific thought was constructed upon the Greek idea of archetypes and a cyclical history. He believed that individuals developed, came to be and passed away, but not species. Species differed like numbers, and time and space could not efface them. Thus time and space were incidental and could not enter into science. History could be abstracted from because time regenerated the species and cosmic natures remained perennially the aame. Camels are camels are eamcls . . . To this day the typological idea that natural "essences" are "eternal, necessary and immutable" forms the basis of Thomistic cosmology in the manuals. Cyclical history, tho eternal return, has been completely over¡ thrown by evolution studies, but in every area of the Thomistic tradition, whether it be about the cosmos, man, or God. the thought labors under the myopic, static, deterministic fi.:rity of ""the eternal return." The word epigenic U drawn !rom usage in the philosophy of biology. Epifienesis and preformation represent two different attitudes to the problem of biological development in the individual organism. Preformism is the view that in . the fertilized ovum there is present a fully actualized "little man"; it is just a matter of growing bigger. The epigenic view is that there is a real unfoldiD.g of being with novelty at every turn. It is dynamic and open to development depending upon' the contingent circumstances of space and time. Applied to the development not only of individuals hut of species, "epigenic unfolding space-time-history" is op. poaed to a view of the cosmos in which no new specific novelties arise, where history (time and space) is incidental, and where static, deterministic, finalized order admits of no basic development. 1
Gerard P. Weber
A Changing Parish
A •ocwlogical •truly of religi<>u. practice in. a pari•h and iu relevance to pa3toral methods.
What happens when a parish changes? Some phenomena are easily discernible. School enrollment usually stays high, but from one-third to one-half of the students are non-Catholic. Church attendance dwindles, but converts increase. Collections decrease, even though the per capita contribution increases. The entire socio-economic basis of the parish changes, and this change has serious effects upon the work of the parish. .· In 1961 a rather thorough census of St. Carthage parish was taken by seminarians, students from Loyola University, and members of the C.F.M. Dr. Frank Cizon of Loyola Uni· versity's department of sociology directed the census, tabulated and analyzed the results. The purpose of the census was to learn the religious practices of the new members of the parish and to seek other information which we hoped would throw light on how to interest converts and to keep them active in the Church. Nineteen hundred and sixty was the year of a federal census and the bulk of the parish was in census tract 899 and 900. This fortunate circumstance made it possible to make com· 171
172 Chicago Studieâ&#x20AC;˘
parisons between the 1950 census, when the area was all white, ¡and the 1960 census, when it was largely Negro. Tract 899 was almost completely Negro. Tract 900 was only 60% Negro, and this fact was reHected in the higher educational and income level of this group. THE CHANGES BEGIN
The change-over began in 1955. By 1961 the number of Catholics in the parish had dropped 60%. However, the income at this time had dropped only about 33%. Since then the population and income have dropped further because the parish was still 15% white in 1961. At the time of the census 14.8% of the households had one or more Catholics living in them, but only about ll% of the population was Catholic. The high per capita contributions to the Church by the Negroes is not surprising in itself, but it is surprising in light of the change of economic status of the people who lived in the area. The number of white collar workers dropped from 4l7o to 14%. Skilled workers dropped from 24.4% to ll %. This drop in skilled workers affected the parish because there were no longer members of the parish who could be called upon to do repair jobs at a time when the finances were getting into a precarious position. The result is that many small repair jobs are left un¡ done or men have to be hired at going rates to do them. The income level of the people dropped. The median income for a family in Chicago was $6738, but in census tract 899 it was only $5479 and in tract 900 it was $6528. Yet in spite of this fact the average contribution per envelope was $1.25. The greatest change was noticed in housing. In 1960 there were many fewer housing units in the area due to the construction of the Dan Ryan Expressway. Yet the number of people in the area increased by about 1,000. Housing deteriorated badly. Sound housing in the parish decreased by 28%, while throghout Chicago it increased by 30%. On the other hand, sub-standard housing increased by 168%, while it decreased by 32.6% in the city. The median number of people per housing unit increased from 2.9 to 3.5.
Parnh
173
The educational level of the neighborhood changed. In that 1 r~m ...... Adn""'"...... ..... t,"onal le.,el 'n decad ..... ... .......... modi v .............. u .. .. • .... rh'c"go ........ • ..... ..'"c~oa•od •• •'-' .,..... 9.5 years to 10 years. In census tract 899 it dropped from 10.9 to 9.4 and in tract 900 from 11.7 to 10.6. Perhaps the most significant change took place in the age groups in the area. The percentage of the population under ten years of age increased from 16.5% to 25.7%. This increase causes some of the problem now felt in the school systems. There was an increase of teen· agers and a significant decrease in the number of people over 60. These changes in the age ·composition of the neighborhood were even more striking in the parish. While 41'/n of the people in the area were under 20 years of age, 51% of the parish were in that age group. In fact, 23.5% of the baptized population were between the ages of 5 and 14. In the parish 41.3% were between the ages of 20 and 49, and only 7.8% were 50 or older. These facts help one to see the need for great stress upon the school in a changing parish. With this change the school must assume a different role. First of all, it must· cooperate very closely with the missionary efforts of the parish, and secondly, it has a new function. In a parish which is traditionally Catholic the school is the protector of the Catholic tradition. It rein· forces what is taught in the home and helps perpetuate Catholic teaching, customs, and practices. In a parish such as this, the school must inculcate Catholic ideas, traditions, and practices because the parents are often converts who have had no more than twenty-eight instructions. Therefore, judging children on the level of their religious practices, i.e., the number of times they receive Communion or attend Mass during the week ·or even on .Sunday, and especially during the vacation, is a bit unrealistic. And we shall see, the Church appeals to the Negro who shows signs of becoming ambitious and getting established. Therefore, the school must help the family in establishing stable norms and babi Is. It must foster a budding desire for education and for sound human values before it can do much about the child's religious values. These ligures also indicate the need for a solid and worthwhile parish youth program, aimed at developing the young people as human beings, good citizens, and Q
..... Q
~
.1.
....
il
174
Chie ago StudU.•
sound Catholics. As yet no one has an effective program of this type. The social, sports, or CCD .programs which are in effect do not seem to do the job• .THOSE TO WHOM THE CHURCH APPEALS
One of the most striking things brought out by the survey is the type of person to whom the Church appeals. Sociologists speak of two general groups of people in the lower income brackets. The anomie (hopeless) group, who are pretty apathetic, who go for. long periods of time without working, who have no real hope for the future, and who are totally frustrated. They have no job security, few goals, .and little or no stability in their personal or home lives. Those who do have some goals have little or no idea of what means are necessary to attain them. The second group of people are those who have relative stability even in lower income jobs, who have some hope for the future and for their children, who have an awareness of property and its value and care. These people have tasted some accomplishments and are aware of the need for some consistent values in society. They are the ones who are trying to better themselves and their children. They need help in developing means to attain these goals. · The figures show that we appeal overwhelmingly to the second group of people. The Negroes who moved into this area between 1955 and 1961 were those moving up in the soCial scale. They had a slightly higher education and a better income than the average Negro in Chicago. But the Catholics were better educated and in a higher income group than the average of those who moved into the neighborhood. Cradle Catholics were even better educated than converts [see chart 1). Chart 1 Years of schooling Peop&e 20 years or old• Chicago
8 years or less _____ _47.8 9-12 years _______ _41.2 13 years or over ____ ll.O
Tract 899
Puish
c•. -
45.3 43.2 ll.5
15.7 54.8 29.5
16.5 57.0 26.5
Cradle Cethol"rcs
14..1 50.3 35.8
175
Parnh
The occupational level of the Catholics was considerably h:ffhA. •hnn no•e•nffA [•A- ch•rt '>] .UO<>b'L""".o. _.. ......, •"·t ........... ~r •he n-'ghbcrh~~d .o '-".0.
.....
•
"-'""
U''U'
U
'f
.O.U.bV
~"-'
.OC&
61
•
Chart2 Occupation•! Group
Chicago
Professional and Managerial 7.1 Clerical ----------------14.3 Skilled _________________ 12.1 Semi-Skilled _____________ 31.7. Unskilled _______________ 16.5 Service ·-----------------18.2
Tract 899
5.6
13.3 15.0 39.0 14.7 12.3
Parish
8.1 . 25.0 20.6 19.4 12.5 14.4
We also found that we had an extremely high .number of married people compared to single people. Only 12.6% of the parish over the age of 20 were single compared to 22.7% of the neighborhood, while 69.6% of the people in that age group were married as compared to 54.9% of the general population. We also discovered that we had a very high percentage of husbands and wives living together. It was twice as high as in some sections of the city. The Church is very family oriented, and the anomie group is not so oriented. Therefore it is obvious that our stand on family values helps us with the group that is more stable. These figures on the type of people who are Catholic must be interpreted. Our interpretation is that the Church with· its structure, its more subdued liturgy, and its school appeals to the Negro who is relatively stable and who is trying to get ahead. He usually wants to get away from the shouting religion of the store-front Church. He wants a structured Church which preaches human and religious values and whlch appeals to the mind as well as to the emotions. We think that even in the poorest sections of the city this same trend holds true. The Church appeals to those who have some ambition, some hope, some stability. This fact presents a real problem to the Church. What do we do about the anomie group, the hopeless ones? Do· we just wait until they come out of that class and begin to develop or do
176
Chicago Studies
we try to structure the Church to meet their present needs? The present structure of. the Church just does not appeal to them. It seems clear that we need two types of church, one similar to what we have for the people who are getting ahead and one geared not to the poor but to the hopeless, to those who see no future. Maybe in the same neighborhood we need the large parochial plant and an informal group of people working out of a store front. Christ has sent us not only to the ambitious and the rising middle class but also to the "poor," to the anawim, to those who have no hope in this world. A further factor which reinforces the idea that the Church appeals to the people of stability is that 61.2% of the converts were women. Periodic checks in church have shown that two out of every three adults in church are women .. CONVERTS
We tried to find out something about the reasons why people entered the Church and how well converts practiced their faith. Of the people interviewed 456 claimed to be converts and 503 claimed to be cradle Catholics. Of this latter group 30.2% were under the age of 5 and 60.2% were under the age of 14. Thus we can see that the rna jority of adults in the parish were con¡ verts. Perhaps the fact that so many cradle Catholics are very young is a sign of hope for the future of the Church in Negro areas. One of the comforting indications is that convert activities do not seem to conflict with ecumenical activities. As the chart shows, nearly hill£ of the people admitted that they had no previous church affiliation, and experience shows that of the 30.4% who claimed a previous church membership many were not active in their church [see chart 3). The Baptists made the best converts. They practiced the faith better than any other group. We used a rather high standard for judging an active Catholic. He had to make his Easter duty and attend Mass at least three of the last four Sundays.
Parnh
177
Chart 3 Churdl membership •t time of
P.,.centage
~,;;nwWisittn ·
of <on••r'-
Baptist _________________ 18.4
Methodist -------------- 9.1 Other ------------------ 2.9 No answer --------------22.0 No church _____________ _47.6
. 60.5 55.3
66.7 53.8 55.8
i.••
39.5 44.7 33.3 46.2 44.2
The reasons .people gave for their conversion and the way in which these various groups practiced the faith were very revealing [see chart 4]. For example, of those born in the South, attendance at a Catholic school had a much greater influence in converting them than it had on those hom in the North. There was no appreciable difference in reasons for entering the Church and in practice among those converted in Chicago and in other northern urban areas. A disillusioning fact which appeared in the canvass was that priests and nuns influenced people so little in joining the Church. Only about 4% said they were influenced by religious. Chart 4 Reuon for convenion
Plerc..,t•a•
To 11et married ---------- 2.8 In Catholic school ________ 18.9 Child in school ---------- 9.0 Friends, priests and nuns __ 13.5 Family _________________ 21.9 Own initiative or not specified ___________ 20.3 No answer ______________ 13.6
Acti•e
40.0 62.7 64.9
...
66.7 46.2
60.0 37.3 35.1 33.3 53.8
50.0
50.0
60.7
39.3
The age at which people entered the Church agrees with all studies that the age of conversion is early. Most people enter the Church between the ages of 20 and 39. Among the converts, 45.4% were converted between the ages of 20 and 39 as com· pared to 29.7% who were under the age of 20 (including school children) and 24.9% who were over the age of 40. Perhaps we should ask ourselves what we can do to make the faith appeal to people once they are past 40 and especially once they are past
50. We find that Negro Catholics in general follow the same
178
Chicago Stwlie•
trends which are discernible in white parishes. The more education and the higher the income the more actively they practice the faith [see charts 5 and 6]. Chart 5 Y•an of .cluntion
Active
Lax
8 or less --------------60.0 9 - 12 _______________ 52.4 13 or more ___________ 61.9
40.0 47.6 38.1
No answer ------------44.4
55.6
Chart 6 Communion
Mass 10 of last at loatt once 12 Sundays in last month
Occupation
Professional, Managerial and Clerical 48.8 Skilled ---------------------------61.3 Semi-skilled and Service _____________ 54.2 Unskilled -------------------------47.4
54.5 56.7 59.1 64.7
faster Duty
72.3 62.5 58.8 63.1
Just as studies in white parishes show that Catholics tend to become lax during the child-bearing years of marriage, ·so our study showed that the lowest ebb of practice among the Negro was in the same years. After the age of 40 people seem to return to the practice of their faith. The age of greatest attendance at Mass and reception of Communion is from 10 to 19. The cradle Catholics reached their lowest ebb during the twenties, the converts during the thirties. However, converts do not return to the practice of the faith as readily as cradle Catholics, and once the male convert stops attending Mass he does not return to the practice of his faith. Perhaps the reason for this is that the Negro community is 90% non-Catholic and the fallen away or lax Catholic usually does not find the social and cultural helps to return to the faith that he would find in a white com· munity [see charts 7 and 8). Chart 7 Age
Adive
10-19 ________________65.2 20-29 ________________ 54.3 30-39 ________________ 50.9 40-49 ________________57.4 50 plus ______________ 51.0
Lax
34.8 45.7 49.1 42.6 49.0
· Parish
179
Chart 8 Attended Man 3 of 4 Easter Duty
. previous 5undays
cr.dle
Crltdle
Aae
C•tholics
10.19 ___________ 89.0 20.29 __________ _4.9.1 30-39 ---------~-38.9 . 40-49 -----------75.0 50 ______________ 71.4
Con"Wh
Catholics
·Converts
81.6 53.9 55.1 61.5 58.8
89.3
8M 74.7
66.1 45.7 84.6 65.0
63.6 65.6
66.5
We were not surprised to find that only 38.8% of the converts were men. Men received more group instructions than women and the group instructions were more frequent in the North than in the South. As we can see, the private and the school instructions seemed to be more effective. One explanation of this fact might he that people who ask for private instruction have already made up their minds to become Catholics. We suspected that the reason people who had group instructions were more lax was that they had been .pressured into taking instructions because their children were in a Catholic school. Yet of those who gave this as a reason for becoming Catholics only :\3% Wf'>!"~'> l!!:-!: [~ ~h!!rt
91. Chart9 Type of instruction
Percentage
Private ---------------15.6 In school --------------18.0
Group _______________66.4
Active
59.4 59.7 43.3
....
40.6 40.3 65.7
One out of five converts had not made his Easter dutY and seldom if ever attended Mass. In terms of Easter duty and regular attendance at Mass 56% were practicing. Another 12% attended Mass but did not receive Communion. In general those who attended Mass and received Communion did so with regularity. There was only 10% difference between those who had received Communion within the last month and those who made their Easter duty. These figures would indicate that our instructions are getting across the point that Mass and Communion are closely united. Converts who were separated or divorced
180 Chicago Studus
practiced the faith better than separated or divorced cradle Catholics. The reason for this might be that many of these people entered the Church after their, marriage had broken up, with the understanding that they could not remarry. CoNCLUSIONs The question may be asked: of what value is such a study? Did any specific program or recommendations come from it? No specific programs or recommendations suggested themselves. The study confirmed some of our suspicions and dispelled others. It showed that the Negro Catholic follows the same general pattern as the white Catholic. The study did raise a good many questions. For example, the percentage of teenagers who practice the faith was extremely high, but they drop off badly in their twenties. What can we do to help them become dedicated and convinced Catholics so that they will practice their faith all through their lives? We asked ourselves whether there is any common denominator between those who become lax, and are there any discernible likenesses in those who are active. A study was made the following year in which selected groups were questioned in depth, but nothing conclusive was established. A study such as this helps a pastor see what his parish will he like after the change-over is complete. It indicates areas in which greater emphasis is needed (for example, the young) and areas in which new programs are needed (for example, the hopeless ones). Perhaps the most important thing the survey showed was the need for more detailed studies of a similar nature.
Paschal B. Baute, 0.5.8.
A Report on Pastoral Counselor Training
Results of a survey and an evaluation of courses m pastoral counseling at Loyola University
Questions and problems raised by priest-students in th" pastoral psychology workshop at Catholic University ( 1961) and in the counseling and psychology courses at Loyola Uni¡ versity of Chicago (1961-1963), both in class and in many informal discussions, gave rise to research by the writer in¡ vestigating the effectiveness of the training program. Certainly the professors were well-trained and competent, but the feeling not infrequently was that they were not realistic in view of parish exigencies. The writer has sought to discover the I¡elevancy of this training to pastoral life; how helpful, adequate, or practical was the training? Research was designed to begin at the empirical level, in terms of the priest-trainees' actual experience in the parishes. The investigation of the training in pastoral counseling was found to be the first of its kind in either Catholic or Protestant programs. The instrument used was the mail questionnaire, 181
182
Chicago Studies
carefully refined by accepted techniques, pilot studies, and reference to ¡authorities in survey research. It was conducted under the sponsorship of the department of psychology at Loyola. Total response was exactly 100 replies from a population of 113 or 83.5'fo. However, six respondents excused themselves from completing the form, so that effective response was 94 or 83.2%. The unusual size of this response must be considered at least in part as a tribute to the respondents' dedication to their pastoral goals and their concern for furthering this kind of work. The response was obtained during the fall of 1962, tabulated and statistically analyzed during the following year, and recently completed as part of the writer's thesis for the Master of Arts at Loyola. Of the 94 respondents, 81 (86%) were priests residing in the greater Chicago area. The model pastoral counselor in this investigation has completed three courses in counseling under Father Curran (1956-1961) and three semester hours of further study in psychology, was 36 years of age, ordained 12 years ago, engaged only in pastoral work, in a middle-class Chicago parish of approximately 1200 families, and counseled a median of five hours per week. The object of this part of the research was to determine the adequacy or deficiency of the training in pastoral counseling at Loyola by means of the sequence of three courses under Father Curran, by using the reports of the priests with some experience. Items were designed in the form to explore other facts that might be significant psychologically in the priests' responses. Five main questions about the training were asked in the analysis, but the relevancy of other responses and the major characteristics of the population were also examined; 1) What did the subjects (Ss) rate as most valuable in the training program? 2) How do they want the program im¡ proved? 3) In what particular areas do they want further study? 4) What are their self-reports on their adequacy in counseling? 5) How does the effect of more training differ from that of less training? Statistical analysis throughout was Chi-square with
Couruelor 183
the Yates correction for continuity. Interviews were held with those .in charge of the counseling service at two Chicago agencies using these trained priests in order to obtain some criterion outside the respondents' own reports. PROGRAM EVALUATION
Study of the answers to the question, "What I liked best about Father Curran's courses was . . . ," ultimately led to a final "overview" coding according to whether responses pertained to.l) technique, 2) people, 3) course, 4) self, or 5) religion. Responses to this question proved impossible to categorize exclusively as reports often straddled several or even all five categories. Examples of this latter inclusive type are: "the results: an empathic and confident approach to peoples' personal problems, a variety of sources of referral, an endur· ing camaraderie with professors and classmates, a deeper in· sight into my own life, and a boost in developing personal charity" (549). "He showed us a way to help people to become adults (ourselves included). I enjoyed very much his teaching, his deep respect for the person" (572). "1) I was impressed by the presupposition th~t ~~p!e h~ve the po~~~tiaHty tu sv1vc their problems-we are ordained with the belief that we have all the answers-it doesn't occur to us people hardly listen to our 'advice.' 2) I liked his obiter dicta; through them I have tried .to learn to understand what the other person feels in all situations-classrooms, sermons, as well as counseling. 3) It has taught me to shut up in counseling" ( 576) . The most frequent type of response to this question pertained to technique as a ·Workable, effective, and valuable tool or means. The number of priests who responded with this orienta· tion was 51 or 57% of 90. There were no significant differences in major characteristics of those responding in this manner. Some of the responses pertaining to technique were: "It provided me with a workable technique for dealing with pre· viously difficult cases" (53). "It concerned itself with the actual responses and gave a norm to judge the effect of various re· sponses" (59). "These courses have given me a tool for counsel-
134 Chicago Studie•
ing" (539). "Art of listening" (537). "He gave me the ·only technique that seems to work. In some cases I fail completelyparticularly with people of little education who don't verbalize well. But, all in all, it has helped immensely" (Sl7). "The dis· tinction between guidance and counseling" ( Sl). "The freshness of approach to common situations in pastoral care ... " ( 543). But it should be noted that one-half (24) of the evaluations pertaining to technique included remarks directed toward un· derstanding people, such as: "development of the ability to communicate to people the desire to understand and help thembreaking down the wall" (547). "The emphasis on the ability of human nature to better itself, learn to live with problems and resolve anxieties if aided skillfully" (514). The number of priests who responded with an evaluation pertaining to people, i.e., improved approach to people, great understanding, sympathy, love, etc., was 40 or 44%. There was a tendency for those engaged only in pastoral work to in· dicate this reaction more than the other priests (p=<.02). Some typical responses in this category pertaining to people were: "It gave me a greater love for people; it made me ap· preciate the fact that the problems people have are very real to them, though they appear so unimportant at times" (SS). "It set me free to accept people as they are" (530). "Appreciation of others as persons, a new world" (551). "It was an eye opener for me regarding the needs of people that I had passed over. I have to listen not only with my ears, but with my eyes and feelings as well" (S8l). "The new insight gained as regards my priestly work. The course made me aware of the fact that a priest is not just an objective, uninvolved dispenser of the sacraments and solutions to problems. I became conscious of the need to be personally concerned and to be, in a sense, in· volved in the person with his problem. In short, a priest be· comes person centered, rather than problem centered" (S42). The third kind of response to the question pertained to some aspect of the course: teacher, content, class discussion, or practice sessions. Twenty-six of the respondents (29%) answered in this manner. Typical responses to the completion statement
Counselor
185
of what they liked best about Father Curran's courses were: ''They· were not straight ]ectures, He invited discussion and clarification of opinions-group discussions were always a part of the program" (559). "Hearing him in action, doing actual counseling; next I like having him criticize my own counseling" (534). "Father Curran himself-as a theorist and practitioner. Father Curran's theory is honest and self-consistent, and I con· sider him practically unmatched as a practicing. counselor. His emphasis on ideational content (as opposed to mere feeling) puts him a notch above even Rogers, I think" (580). "His lectures which had meaning especially if one had been counselled himself or if he had counselled another person" ( 571) . It will be noted here that the focus is on the course itself, rather than on what the respondents got out of the course. The fourth type of response to the question pertained lo the insight and understanding of, and confidence in, self that was gained; Twenty-seven or 30% of the priests gave a response of this type. Typical responses in this category were: "The way it loosened up my rigidity. It punctured my 'angelism,' much of my high blown rationalization" (52). "It gave a new di· iii.6U~ivu tv n1y thuughi concerning these troubled people'' (SlU). "It makes me feel professional when handling a 'case.' I have been more successful handling problems, especially individual problems, with much less wear on myself' ( 553). "The op· portunity for realizing the meaning of the priestly vocation in the areas, of love, suffering, and victimhood" (520). "Per· sonally it helped me find myself better in my work" (546). "I gained needed self-confidence to face any problem presented to me and an ability to confront any person especially in au· thority with any idea" (536). The final type of answer pertained to religion: the founda· lion of the client-centered approach in religious values, Thomistic teaching on the virtue of prudence, etc. Eight Ss (9%) responded in this manner. Several of these comments were: "Its basis in Christian charity evidenced by its confidence in the individual" (516). "The logical explanation and its basis in St. Thomas, also his.presentation of the virtue of prudence" (573). "His
186
Chicago Studies
presentation and application of St. Thomas to counseling m¡ corporating the virtue of prudence" (540). SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING THE PROBLEM
The second question designed to investigate the training program was a sentence completion type: "The training program in pastoral counseling could be improved by ... " Responses to this question were handled as indicated previously, in a categorizing referencing, coding, checking, recording and final retabulating order. Twenty Ss made no comment, leaving a total of 74 who responded. A few of these 20 Ss indicated by a word "none" or "no comment" or a symbol which in the context of their other replies indicated approval of the present program of training. Eleven out of these 20 completed only one or two courses under Father Curran; so these Ss make up more than half of the non-respondents to this question. Considering the tone and length of other responses, it could he inferred that some of these twenty who had no suggestions to make were fairly well satisfied with the program as it is, or at least were not dissatisfied enough or motivated to take advantage of the opportunity offered either to criticize or make suggestions for improvements. Responses of the 74 who answered often overlapped several categories and could not be classified in a single category, as was true in the previous openend question. The largest number of responses concerned a desire for more practice or practicum in counseling. Thirty Ss ( 41%) offered this kind of suggestion. Cross tabulation with question six of the form revealed that 32 additional Ss marked "counseling practicum" as definitely wanted in subsequent courses. More practicum, then, is desired by a total of 62 priests or 66% of the total population. Some of the comments in this category were: "Getting into the practicum work sooner and even allow the personal experience of being counseled by the teacher or staff members on a private basis" (571). "Interesting workshops where cases that aren't moving can be dissected by fellow counselors listen-
'
j
Counselor
187
ing to taped recording of interviews" ( 584). ''Theory is fineactual practice very difficult-more !raining needed here" ( 563). "Reducing the speculative and theoretical ideas" ( 559). Responses related to this type are found in the category of curriculum revision. The second most frequent type of comment concerned more expert and individual supervision. Twenty-four Ss (32%) responded in this manner. Examples of these are as follows: "Workshop supervised by one with the 'know how' of counseling. We have had workshops, but expert leadership was wanting. All involved were in the same inexperienced position" ( 556). "Much more supervised counseling. Supervision and correction are necessary-otherwise we have the blind leading the blind" (554). "More intensive supervision of practicumi.e.; ratio of qualified instructors to students is bad-more pel·· sonal instruction and criticism would help, especially of our tapes" (564): "More clinical supervision" (551). "Moresupervision of the subjects with their tapes" (552). Another type of response related to the previous ones specifically·suggested smaller classes. Nine of the respondents (12%) W11uit:u ihis improvement. Some of these comments were: "Smaller classes and more personalized instruction. (The classes held 75 to 100 and technique was, as a result, hard to teach.)" (510). "By having smaller groups for Father Curran's courses" (512). "Breaking class into smaller groups even for theory-not enough time or patience given to really answering questions" (565). "Limiting classes to few students (or dividing clases into smaller groups toward end of course for more personal supervision and criticism of actual counsel practice" (580). In order to summarize the trend of these types of responses indicating a desire for more individual attention, a recount was made of the respondents who mentioned either of these first three types: more practicum, more supervision, or smaller classes. A total of 39 Ss (53%) suggested revision of the program in terms specifying different aspects of more individual attention.
188 Chicago Studie.
More background in psychology was mentioned explicitly by 12 respondents (16%) for improving the training program. Question six of the form was designed to elicit a specification of this want and will be considered next. Examples of suggestions in this area are as follows: "Beginning with some introductory course in psychology as a preparation. We began with counseling-and often felt the need of a better background in. psychology" (517). "Having some prerequisite refresher course in general psychology and personality dynamics" (519). "Encouragement to greater numbers by scheduling preliminary course in motivation and personality factors" (546). Eleven of the Ss ( 15%) mentioned that other methods and techniques of counseling should be included in the training. Another item on the form was designed to measure the strength of this reaction and will be considered later. Some of these suggestions were: "Explaining other methods, tapes on mar¡ riage counseling instead of just personal adjustments, another psychologist's opinion of the non-directive method and criticism of it" (573). "Inclusion, at least, of some proper and true exposition and appreciation of other workable techniques." "Taking a more eclectic approach. It seems that there is too much disagreement about the client-centered technique to make it the only one taught" (558). Closely related to this kind of response was the opinion that the limitations of the client-centered method should be studied. Six (8%) of the Ss mentioned this: "Pointing out that the nondirective client-centered technique is not the only methodit is a method and not a cure-all for every problem that comes to the priest" (586). "A frank discussion of the limitations of client-centered therapy . . ." (Ss). "A realistic appraisal of counseling demands that other techniques be also used-depending on the needs of the client. Adolescents, e.g., look so much for advice from someone they trust" (576). Not unrelated k> this kind of reply is the following: "more information about guidance for the different cases. Giving a clear understanding of the other methods of counseling and why we prefer the non-
J
CounJelcr
189
directive method. Explain the critics against non-directive methods and give answers to these critiP-s" (Sl). Ten Ss (14%) suggested revision of the curriculum in particular terms: "Organizing the course in a logically progressive pattern, ¡instead of taking courses when they were available, even though they may be 'ahead of schedule,' needing other courses as preparation" (545). "One semester of theory of this type of counseling; 2nd semester: clerkship or internship in some facility under approved observation" (569). Several others specified a continuation of the training: "Continuation of training in counseling through workshops, discussion groups, without the necessity of forced commitment to Catholic Charities, Chancery Office, NCCW programs . . . to be further trained in counseling simply for pastoral work" (536). A few respondents volunteered the opinion that this training should be extended to the seminary or to all priests in some way. Five (8%) made suggestions of this type: "Giving a more substantial background in seminary training" (53). "Creation of an institute for pastoral training" (572). An even smaller number, 3 or 4%, felt that more study of the .....l.f - ----------one' 8 own r_-n,,n,u"lnr -------- t,;"" .............,...,,. ..... ...... nu;o J.J.C\,.;c;;:,;::~t1J. Yo¡ UOUe rs¡ana'J'ng ( emotions and how they color the approach to the client. Almost everyone would admit this could be a problem, yet do not actually see it in practice" (562). This is a most important insight: the ability of counselor to be aware of his particular manner of perceiving, how his responses follow a selective pattern, which feelings he tends to minimize or maximize. Ss who responded at least once in the last five categories listed-include other methods, more background in psychology, revise curriculum, extend to seminary, study of client-centered limitations, and more study of the counselor-were recounted in order to determine the number of respondents requesting that the program be improved in terms of more extensive psychological study as a second general type of response. The total number of priests responding in at least one of these categories was 43 (58%), slightly more than .the first generic category of desiring more individual attention. "TT
1
190 Chkago Studies
Finally, there were eleven responses (15%) in the "other" or unclassified category, and some of these will he quoted hecause on this open-end type of question they could represent the views of other Ss and may suggest ground for further re· search. "Supplying a better knowledge of referral agencies at hand and actual visiting with intelligent, perceptive study of these places" (537). "As good scientific procedure Father never mentioned 'grace.' He should tie the two together as grace is a reality" ( 528). "Perhaps some gambits for dragging in un· willing partuers and disposing them for counseling. It's a frustrating experience to have one half of a married couple con· cerned and ready for counseling and the other unreachable" ( 544). "Further investigation into the further needs of priests in their pastoral work" (543). "Giving it [this training] to qualified laymen-lawyers, teachers, etc., who could handle the cases not absolutely requir· ing a priest. The priest is being turned into a psychologist, es· pecially in marital cases--many of which, if not most, do not need a priest ... Save him for just those cases with a spiritual problem or for those who will not go to anyone but a priest. A£. ter lay psychologist-or during-go to a priest for spiritual direction" (526). "I do have one important suggestion which I am sure Charlie would abhor. I really believe as a result of my own personal experience that anyone doing any counseling work on the fam· ily level should take at least one good course in sociology of the family-not Christian marriage nor marriage as a social institution but the family in the United States viewed from the soci· ologist's eyes. I know that this makes the counselor problem centered rather than person orientated, but I do believe that it is hard to understand the family without this approach. I think this is true in the other areas of specialization which are pos· sible to consider" ( 578). FURTHER KNOWLEDGE DESIRI!D
Another item was designed to uncover the specific type and intensity of any further knowledge or training that the respond· ents may definitely want. A list of thirteen courses chosen for
CouiiSelar
191
relevancy to counseling psychology were given below the request: "Please mark (X) the courses or areas listP.d below in which you definitely w~ni more understanding and knowledge." A total of 91 Ss answered this question marking a total of 424 courses for a population mode of three courses, a median of four courses, and a mean average of 4.5 courses per respondent. The size of this total response offers firm support for the supposition that the priests themselves feel that their psychological understanding on the basis of three courses in counseling is inadequate, and that they desire further training. Moreover, the three courses in this list that were most obviously concerned with psychodynamics: "feelings, emotions, and motivation," "counseling practicum," and "group dynamics" are those desired by most of the respondents, being marked by 55 (60%), 49 (54%), and 46 (51%) respectively. This tendency also supports the idea that they do want a greater understanding of psychological factors,. whether or not they feel that their conceptual framework is adequate. OTHER METHODS OF COUNSELING
In the previous question concerning the particular areas the ........ ..J •- ~..__.] __ r---• 1· --- .,,... ,.,.~,.,, o' ,·'ne ......... u................., ou.1.uy .lUlLUcJ., vv \i:Ji:Jib} ---r-·------- rJ.,.~"; _. . . a..o.~ .... l.~1 .,.,r I priests desired further knowledge of other methods of counseling. In another place, 15% suggested that other methods and techniques should be included, while a few suggested that the limitations of the non-directive method also be studied. A specific test item was designed in order to determine the range of this opinion in the population. This was a statement: "Other methods of counseling should he· taught in the program." Respondents were asked to mark agreement with this statement on a scale including: strongly disagree, disagree, undecided, agree, and strongly agree. Eleven Ss (12%) disagreed, while 44 Ss (47%) agreed. The total number opposed was 19 (20%) and the total in favor was 53 or 56%. A cross tabulation of another item on the form, "various methods of counseling," revealed that five other Ss undecided here marked this item on the previous question. This raises the total number of respondents in favor of instruction in other rpc:nnnJPnta
..........
192 Chicago Studies
methods of counseling to 58 or 62%, and indicates that a sizeable majority desire a broader approach to pastoral counseling than is provided by the non-directive, client-centered approach in the present program. SELF-REPORTS ON ADEQUACY
Feelings of adequacy in counseling on the part of the counselor should be considered at least as a partial function of their training in counseling. However, no comparative measurement of adequacy¡ ratings is available from those who have received no training, as this was intentionally omitted in the design of the experiment in order to limit the problemc Obviously 5s without training might rate themselves higher in adequacy than those with training, with the result that there could be a negative correlation of training with feelings of adequacy. And with certain psychological problems recognized professionally to be difficult, this may be a desirable outcome. A list of eleven problems was presented: marital, family,- financial, educational, vocational, spiritual, alcoholism, scrupulosity, masturbation, homesexuality, and personal adjustment. Respondents were asked: "In counseling people with different types of problems how do you feel about your adequacy? Please mark (X) in the appropriate space: feel very adequate, feel adequate, feel inadequate, feel very inadequate, undecided, no opinion or experience." It should be noted at the outset that there were several atypical answers representing perhaps not uncharacteristic approaches, or at least indicating the frame of reference from which some of the respondents answered: "I've found that I feel very adequate in all the above problems (all marked "very adequate") and inadequate only with severely withdrawn and aggressive people" (535). "I do refer the person to another if I feel inadequate in a particular case" (all marked "adequate"-575). "My adequacy is, I feel, unrelated to the type of problem. It is determined by my response to the person" (all but one marked "adequate"-585). "In counseling, it doesn't matter what the problem is-the technique and confidence in it do not change according to the problem. You have it or you don't-you f~el adequate or not" (568).
193
CounJelor
Respondents reported feeling adequate (either simply ade· quate or very adequate) in counseling people in this rank: first, spiritual (moral, religious) problems (89 Ss); secondly, vocational choice (76 Ss); and thirdly, marital (husband-wife) problems (72 Ss). Respondents report feeling inadequate (either simply inade· quate or very inadequate) in counseling people with different problems in this rank: first, alcoholism ( 45 Ss) ; secondly, scrupulosity (37 Ss); thirdly, homosexuality (33 Ss). For the purpose of comparing the adequacy self-ratings of the respondents with other factors, an adequacy score was construed for each priest, based upon the ratio of the times he marked himself adequate to the number of times he rated him· self inadequate. Comparison of this adequacy rating was then made with the other factors reported on the form. Twenty-nine Ss out of the 46 who marked themselves as more adequate ( adequacy score of 10 or more) were above the median amount of six semester hours of further training. This is a statistically significant difference with the level of confidence between .02 and .Ol. Examination of other factors failed to reveal any sig· 'l: .. .J•.a ., I' • ·' • • U:i.uCU4io. uju~i"G:U.C..S.:i. ..L U6 ..Lti.(a UU:ll. lflO~e responaentS WtlO tlave had further training tend to rate themselves more extensively adequate is to be expected, as further knowledge should cer· tainly increase the range of the counselor's feelings of ade· quacy. 1
..
•
•
EFFECT OF MORE TRAINING
In the respondents evaluation of the training course, thei 1 suggestions for improving the training, and their adequacy re· ports in counseling people with different types of problems, it was found that the number of counseling courses under Father Curran did not affect these answers. Desire for further training and agreement that other methods of counseling be taught in the program, considered under program suggestions, were also unrelated to the number of counseling courses taken previously. Neither did the examination of the effect of further training in psychology reveal any significant differences in any of the answers except the last mentioned: those Ss who were above the
19,1
Chicago Studies
median amount of six semester hours of training beyond the counseling sequence tended to rate themselves as more adequate in their counseling. The amount of further training in psychology was unrelated to any other factors, except counseling load and perhaps age. Of the 29 Ss age 40 or over, 19 of them were in the group above the median of six semester hours of further training. Chi-square test with the Yales correction fell just short of the .05 level of confidence, but without this correction could be accepted at the .05 level. This statistic may be affected by the number of religious clergy doing further work in psychology, who tend to be older than their diocesan classmates. Thirty-four of the 46 Ss with more trammg counsel more than the median average number of five hours per week. This is a statistically significant difference (p = <.02). Those who have gone on for further training in psychology then tend to counsel more than those who have not studied further. They also feel adequate over a greater range of problems in their counseling, as seen previously. WoRKSHOP GROUP
One group of respondents who have received further training of the same type have been participants in a special counseling workshop sponsored by one of the Catholic agencies in Chicago offering counseling services, particularly to those people who are experiencing difficulty in marriage. This workshop is a recognition by the supervisors of this agency of the need of the priests for further training and is conducted on a weekly seminar basis. A total of 18 priests have participated at least· six months or longer as of October, 1962. This group composed a subgroup separated for further study. Comparison· of this group with the population as a whole, and with those who have received more than six hours semester training, was examined in the influence of sixteen variables expressed on other parts of their answers. There was some slight tendency for this group to be more non-directive, to want the program improved by more practicum, to almost never feel restricted by the non•directive technique, to almost never feel
Counselor
195
guilty about using other methods, and to see psychological or psychiatric factors as of rna jor importance in ~ greater percent路 age of their cases, although none of these tendencies were statistically significant because of the small values involved. However, this workshop group does tend to counsel more than the average load of five hours per week ( p = < .02). OUTSIDE REPORTS ON THE TRAINING
Interviews with the supervisors and directors of counseling services at the two Chicago Catholic agencies employing these priests were held in August of 1962. This was done in order to obtain, if possible, some outside evaluation of the training program and of the priests' use of and attitude toward it. It should be emphasized here, however, that what these supervisors and directors of counseling at these particular agencies have to say is oriented in the context of their own situation, that is, the priests' counseling at the agencies. Their remarks do not apply without modification or reflection to the training of the priest for pastoral counseling, in a parish setting, nor 路do they apply without qualification to the use and effectiveness of the n -_..,_.,... ~; ...... ,...~ ..... ...........1..-.J ! - ...1.!!(!'__ ............. .......... u. .. vu J.u uu:::
路 .'
part~n.
The question asked in the interviews was this: What is your general opinion about the training the priests received in pastoral counseling at Loyola? All names of supervisors interviewed are fictitious. MISS SMITH, SUPERVISOR OF COUNSELING
"Actually, I think that the priests who have had Father Curran have the attitude that helps the people they see examine themselves pretty comfortably. I think it is an accepting . . .. an acceptance of them as a person in relation to their environment and their feelings, rather than, what would you say, on a religious, spiritual or moral level? They are able to feel comfortable ~ith the priest, not feeling that they are being judged on a moral basis with the problems that路 they have. I think all the priest-counselors that we have had here have been very comfortable in terms of what they were able to bring out.
196
Chicago Studies
I have some of the clients say that going to the parish priest they would be embarrassed to tell some of these things or the attitude of the priests would make them not want to, because they are being judged, they felt, or at least the discussion would be on a moral level. . . . "And again many of these people have wanted to talk to a priest, but a priest who would be understanding, and I think that is the reason many of them have come here asking for a priest rather than go to the parish. Because they feel different. And what the counselees have said about the priests here is the willingness to give their time. They have always felt that in going to the parish there is a rush-five minutes, ten minutes . . . hut here they know they have a lot of time and they never feel the priest is rushing them or wanting to get it over with. And this is the point that seems to go over with the people who have the priest-counselors is the fact that here the priests listen, and this is a wonderful thing, as some of the people have told me that this is the first experience they have had with a priest who will listen, and to whom they can talk." fATHER O'MALLEY, DIRECTOR OF COUNSELING
"A good start: what they receive is a real good beginning, but they need much more than that. A better appreciation of human behavior and dynamics. Some of them have an exaggerated notion of their skills because of the three semesters they have taken. I say some of them, perhaps, have the same attitude and same appreciation of self even if they had no training or if they had 20 years of it. "Another criticism is that they are lopsided or-whether this is again something personal or instilled in them at the schoolprejudiced; they, some of them, can't see anything but clientcentered therapy. They should have at least a minimum introduction to some of the other schools of therapy. Definitely they should be given other courses in allied subjects. Tlfllir practicum or field work should be more varied, perhaps even in non¡ Catholic agencies. Definitely in different settings besides the present ones: e.g., hospital work, not necessarily mental hos-
Couruelor
197
pita) work, hut institutional work: homes for the aged, or child care agendes-this not only for their professional lraining, but for the satisfaction of having worked with different types of clients, and the good that comes from varied experience. 'The real value of the training program is the growing reali· zation that there is much more to helping people than merely the priesthood. The sacramental system and grace is not enough. We should, with our priesthood, priestly work, and this special training become better priests. We should he able to help our people more efficiently." MISS JONES, COUNSELING SUPERVISOR
"It is too highly specialized to meet the practical needs of those coming to us for help. The non-directive method is one of many methods. The good counselor should know when to use other methods. Only a certain percentage of people can respond to the non-directive approach. They need a certain intellectual background, and a certain amount of motivation as well as he· ing capable of insight. But a large number of people who need our services . . . do not have the maturity that the non-direc· tive :nc!hod Dallii fuL The training program would be enhanced if the priests could also study the dynamics of human behavior, the pathology of mental illness, and those courses which deal with basic aspects of the human personality. Then the program could be topped off with Father Curran's approach, the person· centered approach. When the priests find that the client·cen· tered approach doesn't work they tend to wash their hands of it and send it to the chancery. They need more of a family-cen· tered approach as the other partner with whom they do not talk may need to modify his behavior. Most of the priests in the program for several years have recognized the need for further understanding along these lines and have gone on for further study, or read extensively on their own." FATHER STANISLAWSKI, DIRECTOR OF COUNSELING
"The priests need further training. They are beginning to see their inadequacies. After they are through with Father Curran,
198 Chicago Studies
they have their eyes opened and see how much more they need. With more training they will know better when to make referral to professional men. Priests who are dissatisfied with Father Curran's courses are those who go in with an !-dare-you-to-teachme-something attitude. They find out after the course is finished that the method doesn't work miracles; so they drop out of the sequence. The client-centered method is subtle-takes practice plus supervision, but this is the method we want. The priests learn to adapt this technique in the workshops and supervision here. Our aim is not to establish a professional counseling center, but to train priests to be more capable in their parish activity. We need more professional people in the parish and want to keep it on a local level."
DR.
CLARK, PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSULTANT
"I've been in contact with the program since it was initiated and with the kind of activity the priests are doing, going over cases with them, tapes, discussions, and in a few cases actual supervision. "Your question is hard to answer. I would rather answer on the basis of the kind of agency we have here, and on the basis of the material we get in here. This does not reflect on the training of the counselors, but because of the nature of the clinical problems we are confronted with, the training is inadequatebecause the cases are so terribly abnormal, so pathological. These problems have gone on for years so that actually with the minimal sort of counseling procedures these priests have, we feel unable to refer these very difficult cases to them. . . . "My own training has been varied and eclectic. . . . I would raise a question-not as to the non-directive technique per se-but as to the time sequence . . . as a technique it is fine, but they are not ready to try yet until they have basic courses in personality, personality theory, personality dynamics, developmental psychology, abnormal dynamics, then . . . a course in interviewing and case handling techniques--know how to inter¡ view, know the fundamental principles of interviewing involved, know the value of case material-a good history can tell you a
Couruelcr
199
lot without having to sit for six months waiting for the person to r.evea! something l~·hich could have Lt:t;n found out by asking a simple question. • . . This should be the first approach to counseling for the priests. I see the non-directive approach not as a simple one but as a very complex, very subtle technique which is kind of the refinement of one's interviewing and psychotherapeutic procedures." CoNCLUSION
One respondent attached a letter to the form which summarizes expressively most of these findings: "I am very grateful to the diocese, Loyola University, and Father Curran and all the profs, especially Dr. Arnold, for the opportunity to learn more about human behavior. It has helped me immensely to be a better counselor, and even preacher and teacher-however poor I may be in all three fields, I feel the course helped me. I am convinced that a good counselor must have course• in other fields, especially dynamics (such as taught by Dr. Arnold and the late Father Devlin) stressing the operation of the emotions. I am further convinced that the good counselor is eclectic. It is the ideal that a person h,. Rbl~ to:- h!!ve i!!sights to work out his own difficulties. But we have seen that some people are psychologically formed only to survive by leaning on others, while still others must be almost ordered what to do! Granted this is not ideal-given perhaps years and the grace of perseverance, such clients might eventually become self-sufficient. But we lack the time, and patients often lack the desire. Nonetheless, client-centered therapy can help in every case, at least to clarify the problem--even if it is to see the person needs directive therapy! There is not a single case of penitent or stu· dent in the classroom that has been hurt by my use of the technique. On the contrary, it has helped me immensely in all such situations. I do believe the technique can be used in every situ· ation; I believe that because of limitation of time, of counselor's abilities, and of client's personalities, a realistic appraisal of counseling demands that other techniques be also used depending on the need of the client. . . . "Therefore I am very happy with the training received at
200
Chicago Studies
Loyola. The archdiocese should be grateful to Father Herr for his foresight and limitless use of time in fostering this program. " (576).
*
*
*
Further Reading Baute, Paschal B., O.S.B., "The work of the pastoral counselor," Insight 2 (1963) 3-7.
Donald P. Gray
Sin and the Destruction of Community The disruptive effects of 5in viewed in their scriptural, personal~t, :Jacramental, apo~tolic, and eschatological penpectives.
The garden of Eden, as it is portrayed in the first two chap路 ters of Genesis, bears certain resemblances to the various Uto路 pias, golden ages, and El Dorados to be found in abundance in Western literature. Its resemblance to Plato's republic might lead one to conclude that it is nothing more than a myth or an unrealizable ideal like its counterparts. It is an ideal which arises out of man's longing for peace and rest and may, in the minds of some, become a reality, but only at the end of a long evolutionary process or a dialectical struggle. The earthly paradise or classless society would then be the fruit of man's sci路 entific and technological labors, a monument to man's ingenuity and perseverance. However, the author of Genesis is not thinking of some mythical ideal, but of an accomplished fact at the beginning of creation. Therefore, a curious conclusion emerges, curious at least to those who look for a kingdom of peace estab路
201
202
Chicago Studieâ&#x20AC;˘
lished by man's genius at some time in the perhaps distant future_ This state in which man knew peace with man and with nature must have been the work of God, not man, for it followed no long, arduous process of evolution, at least on man's part_ The reason for this idyllic Eden was simply man's participation in the life of God- We must conclude, therefore, that there is some intimate and mysterious relationship between peace and man's life with God. If the first two chapters of Genesis present us with an idyllic scene, in which the accent is placed on life in profuse and even superfluous abundance, the third chapter introduces us into quite a different phase of man's "development." We now find man experiencing sexual conflict within himself (Gen 3:7); we now find him in conflict with his world (Gen 3:17-19). What is the root cause of this sudden transformation (or rather deformation)? Clearly it is sin. But what is the theological meaning of sin? It is autonomy, not simply human life lived without God but in positive rejection of God; it is the desire to be a law unto oneself hut in open defiance of the very laws of being itself. Life with God means peace; life without God means conflict. MAN AT ODDS WITH HIMSELF
This conflict is first evident, as Genesis makes clear, in man himself and takes the form of sexual conflict or more generally a conflict (concupiscence) destroying the integrity of man's psychophysical unity (the consequence of original justice), setting man at odds with himself. This process of disintegration reveals itself throughout man's life in suffering and ultimately in death, which completes the dissolution of man's ontological unity. The conflict extends beyond .the frontiers of the individual to embrace man's relationship with the world as well. A curse is put on the soil and man must struggle to earn his daily bread; childhearing becomes a burden and the source of anxiety and pain for woman. However, it is particularly in the area of interpersonal relationships that the dissolution of man becomes most manifest and reveals its full tragedy- This final effect of sin's work is illus-
Sin 203
!rated, with the typically restrained pathos of Scripture, in chapter four of GenP_si• whif:'h nArrAtes thll story of Cain and Abel. Here we find brother set over against brother, a brother slaying his own brother. The sinner's question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" rings down the corridors of history, all too often to receive only the sinner's negative reply. The pattern for every war is revealed here; every war is essentially civil or rather brotherly. The story of Cain and Abel reveals in unmistakable terms the divisive character of sin, which, having set man against God, of necessity sets man against his brother. This truth about sin is proclaimed over and over again in the Old Testament. The story of the tower of Babel (Gen 11 :l-9) provides us with a particularly striking example. All the men of the world, bound together by a common language, come together to build a city and a gigantic tower, both of which will serve as monuments to man's genius and which will also serve to estahlish once and for all the unity of the human race. The pattern of the original sin is obviously being repeated, now at the collective level. And this collective sin will have precisely the same effect, .. 1. •
_______ :._ _
_
r ___, __ • __
·.
,
, ......
,
,.
uu:::: vp]Jv::tnc v.1 wtutL wH::t .tUtt::'HUt:u. IU::Itt:aa 01
.•
•·
creanng unny,
•-
lt
introduces division, a division symbolized by the babel of mutually conflicting and unintelligible languages. All through history these dispersed nations will be at one another's throat, each vying with the other for hegemony, at one time triumphing, at another time succumbing. Even within the midst of the chosen people of Israel we find conflict and division, represented, for example, in the separation of the Northern and Southern kingdoms and in the Exile. There is a certain parallel between the Exile and the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden. Eden represented a homeland, a place of identity, the external extension of man's interior life of peace. To be exiled meant to be an alien, a wanderer; it meant to lose one's sense of identity. The flaming sword posted at the entrance to Eden and preventing our first parents from approaching the tree of life was a dramatic symbol of separa-
204 Chicago Studuâ&#x20AC;˘
tion from God, which was to become the source of all further divisions and conflicts. That the chosen people should have experienced the division introduced by sin should in no way surprise us in light of the history of the Church. Already in the New Testament documents we encounter division and separation, and the Church's history will be marked throughout by the occurrence of schisms and heresies. These schisms and heresies, the very antithesis of community, find their most devastating expression in the break hetween the Eastern and Western churches in the eleventh century and the fissure within Western Christendom erupting in the sixteenth century. THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT
If the wages of sin is death, and if sin is preeminently the sign of separation and division, then the work of Christ and of the Spirit whom he sends into the world should be seen as the overcoming of sin and all its effects, especially death and division. Stated more positively, the purpose of redemption is reconciliation, i.e., the reestablislunent of community at every level. The paschal mystery (the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus the Christ), viewed as a single salvific event, is our peace ( Eph 2:14). As has been often pointed out, the work of Christ is atonement, i.e., at-one-ment. St. Paul sees this process of reconciliation in the context of the body of Christ, in which the many, at enmity with one another through sin, are made one through the grace of the Father, revealed in Jesus his Son and communicated by the Spirit. Within the organic unity of this body, all former divisions are done away with: "There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor freeman; there is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:28; cÂŁ. Col 3:11; 1 Cor 12: 13). Nothing perhaps illustrates this fact so vividly as Luke's account of the first Pentecost in the second chapter of Acts. This narrative should, without doubt, be read against the background of the story of the tower of Babel. In the latter incident the division introduced by sin is manifested concretely by the multi-
Sin
205
plicity of tongues. Now Luke makes a point of noting that Jews "from every nation under heaven" (Acts 2:5) are gathered in Jerusalem at this time. Thus the good news of salvation is pro¡ claimed implicitly to all men through their representatives present in Jerusalem, calling all to community in the risen Lord. And we are further told that those in attendance "were bewildered in mind, because each heard them [the apostles J speaking in his own .language" (2:6). This miracle of linguistic unity is in Luke's mind apparently a sign that the messianic era has made its appearance and that the traditional divisions are now at an end. It should be further emphasized that this new reality becomes manifest in conjunction with the sending of the Spirit, the vivifying and unifying principle of the new creation. Just as the Spirit was present at the beginning, creating order out of chaos, he is now present at this new beginning, creating unity out of the chaos of division introduced by man's sin. Where the spirit of man had set itself against God, we found hostility, conflict, and war-the wages of sin; where the Spirit of God makes his presence felt, there we find love, community, and peace--the fruits of the Spirit. Such then is the work of man without the Spil-it; such is thP. work 0£ the Sph-it cvercc,ming the sinful -wurk of man. With this biblical witness in mind we will now consider the same themes from a different perspective which, we hope, will serve to elucidate the biblical evidence still further. PERSONALIST PERSPECTIVES
Aristotle spoke of man as both a rational animal and a political or social animal. There is clearly a relationship between these two possible descriptions of man as we know him in his lllstory and in our own experience, and the relationship is not owing to the appearance of animality in these two statements. This apparently banal observation actually veils more than meets the eye. For it tells us that man is a community-builder, not because alone he is unable to defend himself from the enemy or secure his livelihood (although this may be true), but rather because some profounder reality necessitates it. The ques-
206
Chicago Studies
lion is: what is this profounder t:eality beyond the dimension of animality? Aristotle speaks of rationality, but today we would prefer to use the' term personality. It is because man is a per· son that he must build communities, for it is only through in· tet·personal relationships that man becomes a person in any genuine sense. From the very beginning of human existence man has been dynamically ordered to interpersonal relationships, in and through which he achieves authentic personhood ( cf. John MacMurray, Persons in Relation). Consequently, far from there being an opposition between the individual (person) and so· ciety (community), the two mutally imply one another. Why then is there tension between these two realities? The tension, as our brief analysis of the scriptural data indicated, is the work of sin. Sin, because it is basically the attempt to affirm a spurious autonomy and independence from others, is also basically an act, or even better, a condition which isolates the self from authentic interpersonal relationships and hence destroys community. The sinner has set himself over against others as persons and he seeks to exploit them for his own purposes as if they were things. By depersonalizing the other, the sinner enters into an impersonal relationship with that other which effectively desti·oys all possibility of community. In the economic sphere we see this kind of relationship existing between the employer and the employee in the earlier stages of the Industrial Revolution. This is clearly an inauthentic relationship between persons, for the employer looks upon and treats the employee as an economic pawn, a means to his own profit, pleasure, and power. No recognition of the worker's value and dignity as a person is in evidence, and hence for all practical purposes his personal rights and freedom are denied. The worker is expendable and can be replaced at no great expense or effort, for he is only a thing. Colonialism represents the same attitude on a larger scale. The colonial power exploits the so-called underdeveloped na· tion without respect for the other nation as a community of persons bnt rather as a thing to be used as a means to something
Sin 207
beyond itself. Communist propaganda invariably links capitalism with imperialism, and there is a real relation between them within the context of a laissez-faire free enterprise system. Both are forms of overt, unbridled individualism which annihilate genuine interpersonal relationships and hence community. It is against this background that the original Marxist protest should be seen. Today the situation is significantly but not totally altered; the days of uncontrolled exploitation are over, at least in the West, even though communist propaganda chooses to ignore that fact. SINS OF NATURE
In line with what has already been said, nationalism also represents a form of individualism, collective individualism. By nationalism we do not mean the cultivation of legitimate national cultures and traditions, hut rather collective egoism, the cult of the nation as an idol, to which literally all is to he sacrificed. Just as individualism destroys community, collectivism destroys the person and hence the totalitarian state cannot, prop¡ erly speaking, he considered a community, a coming together of free persons. And because the totalitarian state has deliberately TP.vnkf:":d !h~ righte o-! t.l:!e pcr::;cn:; ;;.¡hich cviisliluie ii, ii is unable to enter into a genuine communal relationship with other nations. In other words, domestic collectivism leads to international individualism, the destruction of world community. The Nazi police state illustrates this point only too tragically. From economic individualism class conflict results and perhaps ultimately revolution. From imperialistic individualism a con' flict between the "haves" and the "have-nots" results and again perhaps ultimately revolution. From national individualism war results. "Individualism is the negation of the person, all appearances to the contrary notwithstanding. As we have pointed out, to be a person in the fullest sense means to be in authentic relationship with other persons. Individualism implies quite the opposite of authentic interpersonal relationship, for it is essentially the rejection of the other precisely as a person. The denial of the person and consequently of community is the root of con-
208
Chicago Studies
flict in all its forms, particularly its most acute form, war. This is only saying from another perspective what was established earlier: sin is the principle of division, conflict, and war, for sin is the destruction of the person and consequently of community. Where the self had thought to find fulfillment through autonomy and exploitation, it finds only frustration and conflict, having ef. fectively destroyed the only viable ground for personal fulfillment-interpersonal relationship. This truth is frequently expressed today in Martin Buber's terms, /-thou, l-it. /-thou represents authentic interpersonal relationship in which two persons meet and relate to one another as persons, each recognizing the value and dignity of the other as a person and respecting the others personal rights and free¡ dom. l-it represents an essentially impersonal relation between two persons, in which one seeks to exploit the other by objecti¡ fying and hence depersonalizing the other; in this process the self is depersonalized as well. This relationship is obviously spurious because it falsely reduces persons to means. We need only recall here the Johannine insistence on the fact that sin is fundamentally falsehood, for it rejects the actual structures of reality to retreat into a world of illusion created by the self, where fulfillment is sought through autonomy. THE BASIS OF COMMUNITY
Western history shows us va1¡ious bases for the social community. The Middle Ages offer us the basic option of a community of belief. Membership in such a community is determined by one's willingness to accept certain credal statements as mediated by the Church. Such a willingness does not only condition one's membership in the Church but one's civil rights in society as well. Those who can not or will not accept the Church's belief are ostracized from normal social relations and confined largely to a ghetto (e.g., the Jews). With the breakdown of the community of faith at the time of the Reformation and the division of Europe into the Protestant North and the Catholic South, belief no longer appears to be a viable basis for social cohesion. Rather it would seem that belief constitutes a divisive
Sin 209
factor in society (witness the Wars of Religion in the seventeenth century). As a result, some new foundation for community must be found and the foundation chosen is reason. It is thought that reasonable men coming together and discussing their mutual problems can arrive at satisfactory solutions which can then be finalized in legislation which the body social as a whole will respect. Tied up with this attitude of course is a naively optimistic view of man as essentially reasonable and fundamentally good. This optimism is severely shaken in the twentieth century by the two world wars which indicated the presence of an unsuspected evil in man. Today East and West are set over against one another in two "communities" of fear. Because this situation continually threatens to erupt and plunge both sides into chaos or even bring about their mutual annihilation, we see movements afoot attempting to re-establish more stable forms of community. The United Nations and perhaps even the European Common Market can be viewed as efforts to re-establish the community of reason based on international law and social justice. The Ecumenical Movement, on the other hand~ is ultimat~ly ~n a!tempt !:~ :-e-e~t~bHsh th0 cvanmunity of belief, encompassing both East and West and providing a point of departure for greater social and political stability. Our era is marked by a pervasive co-existence, political and religious. Such is our pluralistic situation which demands that we respect the rights of other persons in spite of the fact that we may disagree with their attitudes and convictions. If it is true that error has no rights, it is no less true that persons, even though they are in error, do have inalienable rights. GoD AND coMMUNITY
These considerations lead to a further important practical question. What is the value from a Christian point of view of seeking to establish an international community? In other words, can those who reject God or at least set him aside in their community planning actually erect viable forms of community? Put more generally the question is whether community at any level
210
Chicago Studies
is possible without an underlying /-thou relationship with God? The answer, it would seem, must be in the affirmative, but with an important qualification. Man's sin does not make natural forms of community impossible; to say otherwise would be to contradict experience. However, it does make all forms of community unstable; and this is also a matter of experience. Man's sin is always threatening to disrupt his natural communal relations; sin as isolation and egocentricity will out ultimately. Our constant recourse to war and the breakdown of family life are pointed reminders of this truth. Our conclusion must be that liberation from the slavery of sin, which is slavery to the spurious self and the world of il· lusion, provides the only really stable foundation for every form of community because community demands altruism and sin is its very antithesis. Unless we are willing to go to the root of the problem, the superstructure which we erect on shifting sands will continually threaten to crumble into chaotic anarchy and conflict. Liberation from sin, making possible viable community life, can only be effected in the one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ. It is only through his death, resurrection, and ascension that we are set free for personal fulfillment through authentic interpersonal relationships. But how can we come into contact with this mystery of freedom and fulfillment? SACRAMENTAL PERSPECTIVES
The paschal mystery lies at the heart of the Christian mes· sage and should dominate the Christian consciousness as the pattern of Christian existence. It is this mystery which effects our passage from death to life, from the death of sin to the life of grace. Can we say any more explicitly what this transitus means? In terms of the person it means the passage from the willful isolation of egocentric autonomy to the openness of in· terpersonal relation. Therefore, Christian existence, when prop· erly understood, could never be a merely individual affair, the mere saving of oneself. No saving is possible in isolation, out· side community existence. If salvation is the healing and Iibera-
Sin
2ll
tion of persons, then it must by necessity imply community, for authentic personhood implies and demands interpersnnRl rda· tionship, i.e., community. This paschal mystery lies not only at the heart of the Chris· tian community's beginning but at the very center of her present existence as well. The Eucharistic celebmtion, which makes the paschal mystery efficacious here and now, is the great sacrament of the Church's existence. It is a sign of that passage from death to life which is the very meaning of the Church, but it is not an ordinary sign; rather it is a sacramental or efficacious sign in that it effects what it signifies. Nothing indicates more clearly the necessary relationship be· tween genuine personal existence and community life. The Eucharistic celebration is an assembly of free persons liberated from the slavery of the spurious self and the world of self· created illusion for the liturgical community of love. These are persons who freely place themselves at the service of the Father through, with, and in his Son and in the unity of the Spirit of love. This service finds concrete, incarnational expression in neighbor-service, i.e., it is community-orientated. And it is pre· r.i~P.ly throlJgh this se!£-eff~cing ~hrtiisu; that the njul seli, recreated in the image of God, comes to fulfillment. Death to the· inauthentic, isolated self is the price of the life of the authentic, related self. In other words, true personhood is possible only in community. THE EUCHARISTIC COMMUNITY
The communal nature of the Eucharistic liturgy is revealed in all its fullness in the reception of the body of the risen Lord. We, who as sinners are many and disparate, at odds with one another anrl ourselves, are now made one through this one bread which we eat in common (cf. l Cor 10:17). The scholastic theologians were in the habit of distinguishing between the res and the sacramentum in discussing the sacraments. The sacra· mentum means the visible sign in its totality, whereas the res is the supernatural effect or reality communicated by the sign. In speaking of the reality communicated by the Eucharist (res
212 Chicago Studies
sacramenti) St. Thomas tells us that it is the unity of the mystical body ( ST 3, 73, 3). Accordingly, an individualistic conception of the Eucharist as a private affair between Christ and the Christian is seen to be woefully inadequate, if not altogether false. Hence we should look upon the Eucharist as the sacrament of the Church, effecting a true community of free persons and building up the body of Christ. The mystical body of Christ is an intimate community of persons brought into being and ultimately brought to fulfillment through the paschal mystery as communicated in the sacraments. A member of this body never performs an act without a social dimension, i.e., an act which does not have repercussions on the whole community. In all things then the individual is drawn out of the narrow confines of self¡interest and made to consult for the good of the whole body of which he is a member. If one is drawn ever more deeply into the life of this community of persons through the Eucharist, it is through baptism that he is originally incorporated into it. THE SACRAMENTAL ROAD TO COMMUNITY
Baptism in its very symbolism (especially in the early Church) clearly dramatizes the paschal mystery. Baptism is no empty representation but an efficacious dramatic action through which Christ reaches us and takes us up into the mystery of his death and resurrection. The catechumen in the primitive Church first descended into a pool of water which represented death; he then ascended from the water, thereby symbolizing resurrection from the dead. Through this ritual ceremony the catechumen is incorporated into the Christian community, the body of Christ. He has passed from the isolation of a life of sin to a new life in Christ and in the Spirit, a life of community. Baptism which is the sacrament of initiation is also the pattern for the whole dialectic of Christian existence and experience. For the whole of Christian life consists in a continual death to isolation, which opens the person to an ever fuller participation in the life of the Christian community. The Christian life is never merely negative; it never consists simply in death.
Sin
213
Rather death is only the prelude and the way to life. The Christian is not a masochist trying to satisfy his inner guilt feelings; he is a man who is seeking to live interpersonally more and more fully, but who realizes that this process requires death to the false self as its price. Marriage is also a sacrament of the Church's life, mirroring the mutual gift of Christ and his Church, and it should at all times reflect the values of the person as these are realized in community. The family is the basic unit of coll)munallife; in it the exigencies of community life are grasped, and the beauty and joy of community life as well. Nothing need be said about the irreparable harm done to every form of community, whether it be social, political, or religious, by a broken home or a home in which persons do not meet in freedom for community living. The divisive character of sin is seen in all its tragedy in the broken home, and this basic separation radiates into every subsequent community structure, all of which in one way or an¡ other are built upon the community of the family. In the sacrament of marriage two free persons merge their individual lives into a communal life. They do in fact become " two In . one fl esh"N ¡1.. ' stmply . ~ . _f) I_onger- C3.!1 c:!uCi" pai¡Litcr ..tooK to his or her own interest but must steadfastly seek the good of the community which they have founded. The deeper they penetrate into the meaning of their life together as married Christians the more profoundly will they enter into the meaning of their baptism, their reception of the Eucharist, and their life in the Church. By living marriage as the sign of the Church in every aspect of their common life they will come to know something of the inner life of the mystery of the Church. And because the Church is the sacrament of the Trinity in the world they will also come to know something of the inner life of God himself. FREEDOM IN COMMUNITY
The meaning of unity in community is a subject open to much misunderstanding. Unity is not uniformity but the very antithesis of it. Uniformity seeks to deny the uniqueness of the gifts of the person and the distinctiveness of his personal vocation. By
214
Chicago Studies
seeking to reduce all to a common stereotyped pattern, it effectively destroys diversity, a necessary corollary of personal vocation. Unity then rests upon the community's respect for the uniqueness of the person and upon the person's willingness in freedom to place his vocation and gifts at the service of the community. Otherwise, a totalitarian collectivism or an anarchic individualism is the result. The Church is a body, but one with many members, all having different functions. Important practical corollaries are attached to these consider¡ ations, important for the family, the school, the state, the Church, and, in general, for every form of community, however restricted or extensive it may be. All too often those in authority are guilty of a sin which violates the inner law of personal existence and is frequently tragic in its consequences-the attempt to create another person in one's own image. The child is never meant to be the mere fulfillment of the parents' frustrated plans and desires; such an attitude destroys the whole concept of a personal vocation rooted in personal freedom. This conclusion is equally valid for the pastor or the spiritual director. The spirituality of the religious or the priest is not in all respects suitable for the lay man or woman, and to think otherwise is to forget the diversity of vocations (and their consequent exigencies) which make up the dynamic life of the community of the body of Christ. These reflections could be extended to include the teacher, the politican, the religious superior, and many others as well. The capital point is that man is made in the image of God and not in the image of man, and the individual's vocation is Godgiven. A vocation must be discovered and fulfilled, not only by the individual but by those responsible for his maturation and fulfillment. The person must always be approached with rever¡ ence, and his freedom must never be sacrificed, for it is only in freedom that he can consummate himself as a person. SERVICE OF POWER IN COMMUNITY
It would be impossible to determine to what extent rebellion, hostility, conflict, schism, and even war are conditioned by an
Sin 215
effort to. make others into one's own image and likeness. If power corrupts, it is because we~ as sinners, interpret power as domination and control rather than service. In the Christian order of things the increase of authority and power means the extension of the field of service. "He who is greatest among you shall be your servant" (Mt 23:11). The higher my position, the greater my responsibilities, the more is expected of me in terms of self-effacing service (Mt 25:14-30). If the opposite has historically proven to be the rule rather than the exception, it is simply because sin inverts the order of reality, and seeks to create an illusory world opposed to the real world. The Christian by his faith affirms the real order of things and opposes only the present sinful order of things created by the spurious self in rebellion from God and hence incapable of ~nding its true self. APOSTOLIC PERSPECTIVES
The Church in the world is the sacrament of God's reconciliation; it is the sign of peace; it is the reali2ed dream of a community of truth and love in which the person finds fulfillment through authentic interpersonal relationships. If the historical £a~e of the Ch~rch cf Ch:ri~t hat; not always mirrored this divine reality, the charge is to be laid to her sinful members who have not yet allowed the Spirit to purge out the old leaven ( 1 Cor 5: 7) and who still walk in the ways of the old man of sin (Col 3: 9-10). As long as sin exists among the faithful and to the degree that it does, the Church's witness will always be less luminous and effective than it might be. To the extent that divi· sion and conflict reign in the Church's members, to that extent will the Church's apostolic witness fail to make its full impact on the unbelieving world. The Christian message by its very na· lure must be a skandalon, a stumbling block, to the old man of sin. But sin in the Church creates quite another kind of scandal, which may in fact destroy the sacramental witness of the Church as the community of reconciliation, at least for the unbelieving world in a given locality. In the period between the ascension and the parousia the visible Church can never hope to reflect with perfect fidelity in
216 Chicago Studies
all places and for all men the divine reconciliation of which she is the hearer, for the reality of sin in her members must always be taken into account. Only at the end of time will the perfect epiphany of community life in God take place. EsCHATOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
The end is the goal of all our striving and is determinative of all the stages leading to it. The end is already present at the beginning for it is the only valid reason for the beginning. The whole of any process is only intelligible in the light of the end for which it was initiated and towards which it is destined. It is the end which determines meaning. The end of creation is the communication of the divine life to the whole of the created cosmos with its center in man. Man is the focal point of this communication made by God in Christ, and from this center it radiates out into the whole of created reality. We do not deny that the end of creation is the glory of God, for the glory of God consists precisely in this communication of divine life which establishes a liturgical community of sons worshipping the Father in the Son. This eschatological community, the Church triumphant, in whose life we already participate, is the heavenly pattern for the Church militant and must always remain normative of its life, for it is the completion of what we now are. The pilgrim Church is the sacrament in this world of those members who have definitely passed over into their own true country and who now compose that liturgical community whose joy consists in divine worship. Meditation on our eschatological goal as Chris¡ tians reveals the meaning of our lives in this time in between. Our final fulfillment consists in the opening out of our person¡ ali ties through authentic interpersonal relationships in the King¡ dom of God. This personal fulfillment through communitarian relatedness finds its pattern and point of origin in the trinitarian life of God, and at the end of history the Church will constitute the created image of this divine life. We who were many through the disruptive effects of sin will then he one in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. And then we will know
Sin
217
that peace which surpasses all understanding, for war will be no longer because its root, sin, will have been definitely over¡ come. Our lives as Christians must then consist in a gradual emer¡ gence from the isolation and hostility of sinful autonomy into the authentic interpersonal relationship of love within the Christian community, the body of Christ. This process of personaliza¡ tion through community existence will be consummated in the eschaton, but not until then. In the time in between the war between the two cities, the one of sinful man in isolation, the other of the children of God, will go on. For as long as there is a city whose unitive principle is in reality a principle of division, namely, human autonomy over against God, war rimst go on, in some form at least. Conflict in general and war in particular are simply manifestations of a deeper, underlying spiritual cancer.
The Forum "Possibly the most useful clergy were the Alabama ministers who kept publicly quiet while they worked. hard to encourage white men to act responsibly." -Charles Bartlett, "Clergy's Role in Selma," Chicago Sun-Times, March 17, 1965.
1. A Great Turning Point John E. Eichelman
I am afraid many of the critics of clerical participation in Alabama do not really understand the Non-Violent Movement of Dr. King and how important Selma was to this movement. What we have been witnessing in Selma is the redemptive love of the Negro for America-radical love opposed to radical hate. The Negro in the South marches but without guns or clubs or weapons. He marches with nothing but his spirit and his warm body, which he is willing to offer on the altar of immolation. To obtain his freedom he is willing to suffer and even to die. Young adults sing out joyfully at Selma, "Before I'll be a slave, I'll be buried in my grave, and go home to my Lord and be free." Non-violence is radical Christian love, love for the Negro cause, but above all love for his white brother. "A redemptive love," King calls it, "that will awaken the conscience of white America to its own sins of injustice." Non-violence can bring 218
The Forum
219
about not only voting rights and new laws; its final end is the purification of all society. There is a sickness in our land-the sickness of racism. We see it in the North as well as in the South, the only difference being that in the South it is much more open. The South faces problems and reacts violently. The North often acts as if problems do not exist. I think Thomas Merton put it very well when he said, "That perhaps accounts for the extraordinary zeal with which the North insists upon integration in the South, while treating the northern Negro as if he were invisible and flatly refusing to let him take shape in full view, lest he demand the treatment due to a human person and a free citizen of this na¡ tion."
Now it is my opinion that this Non¡Violent Movement was put to a supreme test in Selma. If it had failed here, it might have failed forever. Very few people realize how discouraged Dr. King and his associates were after months of frustrating attempts to register Negroes. The white power structure had no intention of backing down. After the attempted march to Montgomery on Sunday, March 7, which ended with men and women being beaten and gassed in th~ ~tree!, Dr. King
5Giit
uut
an immediate appeal for outside help. Nuns, clergymen, students, and just plain Americans came by the hundreds. It was a great turning point in the campaign. Hosea Williams, a top King lieutenant, told us how they felt: "We were so discouraged; it looked like the end of the whole voting drive. To turn back then would have been a great victory for the racists and what a setback for non-violence! You don't know what joy I felt when that first station wagon filled with Catholic nuns pulled up in front of Brown's chapel." If the clergy and nuns had not responded no one knows exactly. what would have happened. I believe the Negroes would have gone on fighting the power structure alorie, but King's leadership would have been seriously challenged. There are radical groups among the youth, uncommitted to non-violence, who are always ready to step in. King himself has warned many times, "How long can a people suffer such a denial of basic
220
Chicago Studie.â&#x20AC;˘
human rights? Time is running out! Love can turn to hatred and non-violence to violence. What legacy will we pass on to our children then, but one of hatred, fear, and frustration." Critics like Mr. Bartlett in the Sun-Times tell us the most useful clergy were those in the South who kept publicly silent I do not believe this is true. Rev. Truman Nabors, a young white minister, was born and raised in Selma, Alabama. He returned to his home town after a two-year absence to march with Dr. King. His parents, who still live in Selma, said they respected his right to be there. I flew from Montgomery to Atlanta with Rev. Nabors and he gave me this explanation. "It's mighty difficult to come home in a tense situation like this, but I had to do it if I were going to live with my conscience. The sickness of racism is destroying my town and now is the time for good men to speak out. For too long the clergy and other moderates have kept quiet out of fear. This paved the way for the radical segregationists to take over. If a new society is going to be created, there must be an agonizing reappraisal of what has happened in Selma. I give Dr. King and his NonViolent Movement credit for making this possible." To me the real heroes are not those who were silent, but men like Rev. Nabors and Father Maurice Ouellet, superior of the Edmundite Fathers in Selma. In spite of intimidation and many threats of actual physical violence Father Ouellet has worked openly for two years with S.N.C.C. and later with S.C.L.C. to register his people. The Chumh has always had strong convictions about human rights, but can they remain pulpit oratory or pastoral letters? If our convictions are going to seem real to the Negro and to the world must there not also be some personal witness? Mr. Bartlett is careful to point out that race relations will be imperfect until compassion evolves from both sides. Does this mean, however, that the Negro must sit and wait until Governor Wallace, Sheriff Clark, and Major Smitherman have a change of heart? Just about every clergyman I met was overwhelmed with the heroic spirit and compassion of the Negro people in Selma.
The Forum
221
They live in utter poverty, completely segregated from whites. Their homes are little more than shanties, with no street lights, sidewalks, or adequate sewage. Their schools are inferior. They have absolutely no voice in the government. No dialogue between races has been started because the white power structure refuses to admit any problem. Under these conditions what alternative does the Negro have but to demonstrate? If by making himself visible, the Negro can finally disturb the white man's precious "peace of soul," then by all means he would be a fool not to do so. The Negro in Selma is rightly convinced that the only way he is ever going to get his rights is by fighting for them himself. The whites deplore his demonstrations, urge him to go slow, and warn him against the consequences of violence (when, at least so far, most of the organized violence has been on the white side and not on¡ his). At the same time men like Sheriff Clark secretly desire violence, and even in some cases provoke it, in the hope that the whole Negro movement for freedom can be represented by force. I am all for compassion and understanding, but until the whites are ready to establish some dialogue, they have no one but themselves to blame for incidents like Selma. If you were able to take a poll of all the clergymen who went to Alabama, now that they have returned home and read all the criticism, I think you would find that none have changed their minds. They would go again under similar circumstances. To me, Selma was a great turning point in civil rights history. "We are on the move now," King shouted in his Montgomery speech. "We are on the move now, and no amount of terror or force will tum us around." The Negro in the South is going to get his vote, and primarily through his own efforts. But if a new society is going to emerge it will take all men of good will together. As Thomas Merton once again points out, "If we are to grow into a new society, we must dare to pay the dolorous price of change. Nothing else will suffice!"
222
Chicago Studies
2. The Spirit Said "Go"
Daniel I. Mtillette
I have never actually seen a mirage. The closest I came was not on a desert, but in an airplane. It was on a Monday evening. I sat next to a Presbyterian minister named Bob Christ. The airplane was headed for Atlanta, Georgia, and we hoped to make connections there for Montgomery; Alabama. Then we would find our way to a town named Selma. Quite simply, the mirage I saw was that this was to be the changing moment in history, that the hearts of white America would be changed by the events that had taken place and were about to take place in that simple town in Alabama. I was wrong. When that Monday began, I did not have the faintest idea that I would be heading toward Alabama that afternoon. After the adult instruction class in the morning, I was involved in helping a grandmother get her grandson into Cook County Hospital. Oddly enough, they were both natives of Alabama. After three hours of red tape and bureaucracy I was headed back to St. Agatha's when I heard via radio that a call was sent forth by Dr. Eugene Carson Blake for clergymen to come to Selma. From the moment I heard that call on the news program, I felt I had to go to Selma. The mirage began to shape up before me, that this was a moment in history when it would all end. The events of the morning were part of eight years of feeling something akin to what black people feel in this nation of affiuence. People do not really care because they do not really know what is hap¡ pening.
The Forum
223
The mirage was just that. Selma did not change the heart of white America. I was wrong to expect that it would. But the events I witnes â&#x20AC;˘ .,d and participated in during those next two weeks did something to change me. They convinced me that the most important role of a priest or minister serving the Negro community is to agitate--as Frederick Douglass said many years ago: "Agitate! Agitate! Agitate!" Critics in the press, secular and religious, have questioned the value of the many journeys made to Selma, especially by priests and religious. Most often, it seems to me, they are subtly attacking a fiction of their imagination, the cleric who had been to Selma and now looks down on those who did not go. I have met no one who went who criticized anyone who did not go. But one thing that impresses me is that I have yet to hear a single Negro from the North or South ask me or any of the priests who went to justify our going. In the minds of many the Church is identified as a white middle-class Church, and her membership rolls to a great extent might lend a basis to such a vision of the Church. But such a vision does not square with the traditions of the Church nor with the teachings of th~ VR_ti-:f!n Co!lnc:il Vi' vf our iate beloved bishop, Cardinal Meyer. A man who looks upon the Church as a white middle-class organization will constantly try to justify his actions to the white middle class. I feel no such obligation. The great cross the Catholic Church bears at this place and time in history is that she numbers so few adherents of the lower classes, especially of those held down by racial discrimination. Even fewer are the priests who spring from the lower economic classes of the people. Therefore, a priest who serves in the Negro community or in an economically poor com¡ munity has an obligation in his thinking, talking, living to make a real effort to overcome the fact that he probably springs from the new middle class. He has to ask himself if he is a "mission¡ ary" sent by the middle class to evangelize the "alien poor" or if he is a man of the people he serves. Life magazine a week after the beginning of Selma carried a meaningful picture of that eventful Sunday's marchers. At the
224 Chicago Studie.
head of the march were Hosea Williams of S.C.L.C. and John Lewis of S.N.C.C.. As you scan the cover it is impossible to discern more than one white face in the group of hundreds on the bridge. Moments after the picture was taken, tear gas, clubs, and horses trampled the marchers. One by-product of the subsequent presence of many whites was that the next time the bridge was crossed no heads were beaten or limbs broken. America still responds only to the stimuli of the death of a white minister or of a white woman in Detroit. But the martyr¡ doms of Rev. Reeb and Mrs. Liuzzo have perhaps served to bring the day closer when the countless black martyrs whose names have until now never been compiled in any kind of martyrology will have just as much meaning. Jimmy Jackson, lying in a poor grave in Marion, Alabama, must eventually have just as much to say to Americans as Rev. Reeb and Mrs. Liuzzo. Archbishop Toolen resented the presence of the priests and sisters. That is his privilege. Some editorialists and deep thinkers see forebodings in the presence of religious men and women in demonstrations. That is their journalistic right. I went to Alabama with hundreds of others because I want to see people free. If marching or putting your body on the line is what is necessary to bring about the American dream of "one man, one vote," with all the connotations of individual freedom and dignity and self-respect, we will continue to march and talk. "If the Spirit say march, I'm gonna march" is a song I sang many times before the state capitol in Montgomery, Alabama. And when I knelt there with thirty other priests and ministers from all over this free land of America, I had no thought in my heart of asking anybody who was not there about his absence. I did not go there for him: I went for myself. I went there be¡ cause my thirty-three years on this earth brought me to that place at that time. And I feel that as far as we can ever know, to me the Spirit said "go."