The first time that I was aware of this societal problem was at our Diocesan Women's Conference almost exactly a year ago. While generally quite excellent, some of the remarks of the ultra-conservative professor Helen Alvarez upset many of the elderly women in the audience by completely denigrating their many years of effort and ascribing to them attitudes and motives that no Catholic at that time held or expressed despite the great fortitude required to be faithful in their times. I approached her privately after she spoke, but we did not have time to discuss it and she asked me to communicate my concerns by email. I started to do so, but the Spirit stopped me. In the intervening year, I have listened to more people of conservative political bent and I hope that I hear them better as a result. I'm indebted especially to my FB forum friend Peggy, who is immersed in conservative media and so has indirectly helped me track some of these ideas closer to their sources so that I can better discern what is being said and why. Right now, I'm in the middle of watching a conference in which Dr Alvarez participated, and I trust that I will be soon be able to write coherently on why her speech last year was so hurtful.
A few days ago, there was what purported to be an historical account of the reign of Joseph Cardinal Bernadin on the First Things blog by George Weigel. Upon my first read, recognizing that Mr. Weigel is one of those conservatives whose love for the Church above all has led him to whitewash events (for example the way our late Pope shielded Fr Maciel from his crimes of abuse), I understand some of his motive in painting the acts of a political moderate living in a time of overwhelming progressive sentiments as if he reflected his times instead of reacted to them. Today's political sentiments are overwhelmingly conservative and just as dangerous to Catholics; however, since he shares in extreme views, must he drag all Catholics on the other end of the political spectrum and our leaders in those difficult days through the mud in order to justify his own as the only orthodox position? I think not.
I posted the following comment on this blog this morning:
My take on this account is that Joseph Cardinal Bernadin exemplified the four cardinal virtues in quite a heroic way.
Mr. Weigel objects to the Cardinal's thirst for JUSTICE, denigrating it as 'Alinskyite fire'. He pooh-poohs and minimizes his FORTITUDE -- insistence that bishops speak with a clear Catholic voice, unified in their preaching on the application of Catholic principles in the public sphere ("the Machine was quite rigorous"). The TEMPERANCE exemplified -- a labor of many years' duration -- in reconciling those who did not receive Humanae Vitae as they should Weigel slams as 'an ill-fated attempt to settle the disciplinary situation' (as if coercion would actually address the catechetical problem the encyclical presented to so many of the faithful!)
But Mr. Weigel saves his strongest criticism for Cardinal Bernadin's paradigm example of PRUDENCE, one that is all but absent today in many a see. Borrowing from catholicism.about.com: "as Fr. John A. Hardon notes in his Modern Catholic Dictionary, [PRUDENCE] is 'Correct knowledge about things to be done or, more broadly, the knowledge of things that ought to be done and of thing that ought to be avoided.' Prudence, I agree, is not pragmatism; however pragmatism is an important part of its virtuous discipline. The good bishop points, but the EXCELLENT vicar leads by the hand, step by step, keeping the flock together by reining in those who see the goal and would run and encouraging those who are tempted to stray.
This column violates many of our Catholic moral standards about public speech. Such mis-characterizations are a form of defamation. From CCC:
"2477 Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury. He becomes guilty:
- of rash judgment who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor;
- of detraction who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another's faults and failings to persons who did not know them;
- of calumny who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them."
Joseph Cardinal Bernadin lived and worked in a different generation, and his ministry bore much fruit. We should not take the man out of the context to score political points any more than we should cherry-pick Scripture to do so. The work of the bishops in his time and that of the Catholic laity of that time are the fruits of the generation that came of age in American society after many generations struggling as the poorest of the poor. We should not deny the validity of their experience and their Catholic witness to the time in which they lived. We are commanded to Honor them, to celebrate what they were able to accomplish. If they fell short, that is the job of this next generation, and I pray that they may enjoy the blessing of the Holy Spirit as they do as the generation that is passing did. If these younger prelates show only a tenth measure of the virtuous service of their predecessors, how blessed all of us would be!
I echo in closing the comment above
