Of Pelosi, postcards and the pope

Pope Benedict met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when she was in Rome this past week. On the one hand, being third in line for the presidency, she's hard to ignore. On the other hand, being a Catholic who's an outspoken supporter of abortion rights, she's hard to ignore. As the Vatican officially (and delicately) summarized, "His Holiness took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the Church’s consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death which enjoin all Catholics."

Given the two-party nature of American politics, it's not easy for a Catholic to navigate the political arena, because neither party fully reflects church teaching. On the one hand Democratic support in justice areas is close to Catholic teaching but support for abortion is a major problem. On the other hand Republican support for protecting the unborn is close to Catholic teaching but support for the death penalty is a problem.

Which means that the Catholic church (unlike many other churches) doesn't fit the political molds, and this confuses people. Even many Catholics. Some of whom (on both ends of the spectrum) manage to convince themselves that dearly held political views are in fact supported by their faith. On the opposite end from Ms Pelosi, I remember conservative Catholic commentator Michael Novak being sent to Rome as an emissary from George Bush to convince Pope John Paul that the Iraq war was in fact just, in spite the pope's repeated specific statements that it was not. Imagine trying to lecture the pope that he was wrong on his understanding of just war teaching. Not being third in line for the presidency, John Paul refused to see Novak, and neither changed his mind.

So whichever party is in power nationally or locally, for us the glass is half empty. Or half full. But one way or another we have a lot of work to do. After the most recent elections, our work has become harder in protecting the unborn. A lot of talk around this lately has been over the Freedom of Choice Act. Probably because Barack Obama promised during the campaign to sign it. The US bishops have been conducting a postcard campaign to ask legislators not to support the act, and to do more to protect life from conception until natural death.

There has been a bit of hysteria around the FOCA as well. Much of it apparently fed by emails warning that it would cause Catholic hospitals to close unless they performed abortions, and that it would even require women to have abortions in certain cases. The bishops and members of the Catholic Health Care Association have tried to squelch the rumors, but it hasn't entirely helped. In fact the FOCA hasn't even been introduced as legislation (not that it isn't good to be prepared if it is.) The two times it was previously introduced it never made it out of committee (even in a Democratically-controlled House.) And Catholic leaders who worked against those previous versions point out that it never included anything that would require Catholic hospitals or personnel to perform abortions. As Bishop Robert Lynch said in an article released by the Catholic News Service (a division of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops), "There's no sense of ominous danger threatening health care institutions."

All of which seems to be behind an article today in Time Magazine titled, "The Catholic Crusade Against a Mythical Abortion Bill." So if you get an email about the immanent closing of all Catholic hospitals, don't feed the hysteria. The church taking positions that lie all over the political spectrum is confusing enough for people. We don't need to make it worse by inventing craziness.

Last month a president, this month a saint

While the city of New York is breathlessly awaiting word from Pope Benedict of a new archbishop, his announcement of a saint for Hawaii is scheduled for Saturday. Fellow alum Damien de Veuster, a Belgian priest, is also known as Damien of Molokai. In the 1870's, when diseases brought by European settlers were spreading unchecked in the Hawaiian islands, Damien volunteered to serve a leper colony on the island of Molokai. His work and his life became the stuff of legend and sanctity, inspiring countless people through the years, including Mahatma Gandhi. He eventually contracted leprosy himself, and died in the midst of his people. Although mandatory isolation ended in1969, the colony is still there, and currently 4 victims of what is now known as Hansen's disease live there. Damien meanwhile, has a statue at the US capitol, and has been unofficially adopted as the patron of those with HIV/AIDS. Maybe now the patronage can become official.

I remember watching a one-man play about Damien on PBS as a kid (I grew up both pious and a geek.) Years later as a seminarian studying at the University of Leuven in Belgium (somewhat less pious, still geeky) I ran into Damien again. This time literally. He was buried in the crypt of the church around the corner from the American College where I was living. So I'll be celebrating along with Belgium and Hawaii when Damien is officially recognized as a saint this weekend.

Working in mysterious ways

We here in Kentucky are all caught up in the 200th birthday of native son Abraham Lincoln these days. But tomorrow marks the 200th birthday of another world-changing figure, Charles Darwin. And ironically the scripture texts for this week are from the second chapter of Genesis. So tomorrow, on Darwin's birthday, I get to preach God creating Eve out of Adams rib.

Only I'm pretty sure that Eve was an ape with a favorable genetic mutation. In a long line of favorable mutations going back to some primordial biological ooze.

And I'm glad I'm part of a church that takes the reality of reality seriously.

In spite of the reputation the church has gotten over the whole Galileo thing, the Vatican has had an academy of scientists for more than 400 years. And you know who the first president was? More irony. Galileo himself. Current membership includes Stephen Hawking. And past members include Max Planck, the founder of quantum theory; Werner Heisenberg, known for his uncertainty principle; and Erwin Schrödinger, who had a famous cat.

As I said, we take the reality of reality seriously. Because if God is the source of all creation, then understanding creation is going to lead us closer to God. Even when it challenges the way we may look at things.

It took us a while to get over the idea that the earth wasn't the center of God's universe. But eventually we had to accept reality. Evolution didn't take as long. In 1950, less than 100 years after the publication of Darwin's On the Origin of Species, Pope Pius XII opened the door to research and discussion of "the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter" in his encyclical Humani generis.

So as a product of Catholic schools and Catholic thought, I find it incredible that 200 years later, Darwin is still controversial. Or that we're still debating evolution in our legislatures and our school boards. In the 21st century no less. TRUTH has never had anything to fear from truth.

So tomorrow I'll be celebrating Thursday of the 5th Week of Ordinary time. And the birthday of Charles Darwin. And my ancient ancestors the apes. And a God of incredible wonder and creativity and love.

Indulge me

The New York Times' most emailed article today is on the return of indulgences. I know because of the 300 people who forwarded it to me. And rather than hit reply 300 times, let me just say it here. No, I cannot sell you any indulgences.

The Times seems to think that no one under 50 would have a clue what an indulgence is. They forget that a lot of people under 50 saw the movie Dogma. However unless you're a fallen angel trying to get back into heaven by getting a plenary indulgence at the cathedral in Newark, you may not have thought much about them. But they're back. Or more properly, they never went away.

The basic concept of the indulgence is that for the wrong of sin, there must be a just punishment. For instance, you may carelessly shoot off some fireworks and burn down my brand new 34 story hotel. Afterwards you tell me you're sorry. So I forgive you. I may love you. But you still owe me a hotel.

An indulgence is a gift of grace given by the church to alleviate the just punishment that goes with sin. It helps pay for the hotel. So to speak. And just as your friends might chip in to help rebuild my hotel, we can offer our good works to help one another with the punishment due for sin. Because - and this is key - the church has faith that good is always more powerful than evil, and there is always far more good than the wrong done by sin.

There is a very good (and slightly more serious) explanation, citing the catechism among other authorities, at Wikipedia. An even more thorough, though harder to read, explanation is in the Catholic Encyclopedia.

It might be good to study up. Just in case your Lutheran friends are reading the New York Times too. And writing up a few theses to tack on your door tomorrow morning.

And the wisdom to know the difference

With Obamamania sweeping the US, you expect to see the new president's face on the cover of everything from Newsweek to Fly Fishing Weekly, but the cover of one of the most prominent and traditional Catholic magazines in the world might seem a stretch. Yet there he and the first family are, on the cover 30Giorni, which is probably read by more bishops than any other magazine. They share the space with Reinhold Niebuhr, who is a little less recognizable, unless you happen to be a student of modern theologians. Yet I bet it wouldn't take you very long at all to find someone who could quote his work from memory. Maybe you could even quote him yourself:

"God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference."

That famous prayer is a small window into a theological view of the world of which Niebuhr was considered a great master. His views on "realism" in the world of politics are based in St. Augustine's "City of God," and are also shared by the Vatican in it's diplomatic views, and apparently Barack Obabama.

While the church has some obvious and very deep difficulties with Obama's views (his support for abortion rights and capital punishment, to name two) there is apparently more hope for his views on international relations and the place of the United States in the world. Obama cites a number of religious writers among his deep influences, among them Dorothy Day and Reinhold Niebuhr. It is the Niebuhr connection that is the subject of the article in 30Giorni.

Lest you think I am much more well-read than I am, not to mention fluent in Italian, I picked up on this from the English-language, Vatican-watching blog www.chiesa, which ran an English translation of the article a few days ago. (The most recent English-language edition of 30Giorni is last November's. As one who perpetually runs late, I'll refrain from comments about the 3-month time lag.) It's an interesting read to get a better idea of how the church looks at the interface of politics and faith, how our new president might as well, and what that might mean for cooperation over the next few years.

So brew up some espresso and think deep thoughts.

Chow.

iPhone: sign of the Kingdom

I've become an iPhone snob. And not just because I can change it into a lightsaber for my nieces and nephews, or drink virtual beer from it. It's because I'm getting used to having the sum total of human knowledge in my pocket at any given moment. And if you have an iPhone, or even just a Blackberry, you know that's not a joke.

Which is why I've been pondering the milestone we probably crossed on January 1 without even noticing. According to the United Nations International Telecommunications Union the number of cell phone subscribers was supposed to hit the 4 billion mark then. That works out to about one cell phone for every 1.7 people on the planet. Last year there were 3 billion. Those Who Understand Such Things (i.e. the Washington Post) say that it is the fastest spreading technology in human history. Faster than fire. Or pointy sticks. Or poking a hole in the ground and dropping a seed in to grow stuff.

So what happens when virtually every human being on the planet is carrying the sum total of human knowledge in their pocket? And an instant connection to every other human being?

Seriously.

It's coming. And not even in a generation. Maybe next year. Or the year after.

This isn't about the technology anymore. It's about who we become. Try to imagine how pointy sticks changed how we thought about ourselves. Or how farming changed how we thought about the world. It's like that. Only it's happening in 5 years, not 5 thousand.

What is Christianity in a world where everyone is literally interconnected? How do we live it? How do we preach it? And I have a feeling those are just the beginnings of the questions. And maybe not even the most important.

It seems that humanity is going through a change like very few in all of human history. And we're not really paying attention. We need to do some serious pondering about this one.

Seriously.