Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
Finally, the Church is always attentive to what is taking place and developing in society (cf. GS, 44). It is the task of the whole People of God, especially pastors and theologians, to discern what in the cultures of our time is worthy of consideration, always taking the Word of God and the Tradition of the Church as the supreme criteria for discernment. This requires a balanced mind, free from cultural trends, capable of viewing the world in a positive light while remaining steadfast in preserving and presenting the Gospel message in its entirety. Indeed, ‘it is certainly not by watering down the content or softening the demands that Christianity can be made attractive.'”These are words quoted from Pope Leo’s General Audience at Saint Peter’s last week (the full text is here on pages 10-11).
Last week at the Christian Churches Together annual forum I found myself asking the plenary how it is, if we are Christian Churches Together, that we are not making any sort of statements in response to the events of our modern day. Even in our neighborhoods where we are Christian churches together, we are not as a group proclaiming the Gospel, as Gaudium et spes says, discerning what in the cultures of our time is worthy of consideration through the lens of the Gospel and sacred Tradition free from cultural trends.
This is where we have failed, I think. We seem to be unable to free ourselves from thinking about truth without thinking like the world. It is the mind of Christ we must focus on, not politics. As soon as someone accuses another of being political (“weaponizing religion”) communication shuts down.
We have to begin, as Catholic Social Teaching always does, with the dignity of the human person. A person’s dignity is not lost if they find themselves away from home, or having committed a crime, or not living up to the expectations of other human persons. All are equal in dignity — not because we/they have done anything to deserve it, but simply because we/they are created in the image and likeness of God. That likeness demands our reverence, as repugnant as their acts might be.
My mom used to say that Jesus never said you had to like everyone; he said that you have to love them.
That said, behavior can have consequences. Rights come with corresponding duties. A community can determine which of those rights might be withheld from bad actors, as long as those rights withheld do not deny their dignity as human persons.
Having just come from Birmingham, I witnessed the fallout of a big chunk of our history where human and civil rights were denied for no reason at all except for the fact that one human being decided that another human being was somehow deficient or unworthy of the treatment they themselves enjoyed.
I asked the plenary gathering at CCT if it would be possible for us to take a high ground without personally judging others by simply saying that what we are seeing now is not OK. The treatment, terror, and violent deportation of immigrants to places unknown in our country is not OK. These wars that dictators in our world are sparking for the sake of their own power and control is not OK. Our modern times have proven that one doesn’t need to conquer anymore: just disable a country and make them dependent. It is not OK to kill even an inmate whose crimes might be seen as worthy of death. That inmate still has dignity, and perhaps still a lifetime to actually find conversion of heart. When Benjamin Franklin started the penitentiary system (notice the word penitence in penitentiary) he belived that doing time could bring about contrition, forgiveness, and rehabilitation of a person who otherwise might be thrown away.
We have been hearing some really good messages from Pope Leo. Last week he declared the death penalty inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2267). He made clear that justice doesn’t require it. The common good can be protected, he said, and the demands of justice can be met without capital punishment. Modern prisons protect citizens without completely taking away the possibility of redemption from those who are guilty.
The head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops called the livestream plan of an upcoming execution a barbaric promotion of a culture of death. Soldiers are already seeking religious exemptions so they won’t be forced onto a firing squad, in case this becomes a new norm from the dark ages.
Evil is in the world, and we must resist it. But beware of whom it can make you become in the process. Look to Christ, be well.
The Lord be with you,
