MILWAUKEE: ANOTHER LITURGY A COUPLE OF MILES TO THE SOUTH

POSADA ANNUAL 2011 (Posada: home, dwelling, lodge)

COMITE TIMON (Steering Committee of the New Sanctuary Movement, Milwaukee of Voces de la Frontera – Immigrant Workers Center)

I found participating in the planning for our annual Posada uncomfortable but rewarding. Columbians, Mexicans, Heritage latinos, and Milwaukeeans don’t see the Christmas story the same way. (Heritage latino: one born in the U.S. who learns the language and traditions from immigrant latino parents and grandparents) We had lots to sort out: Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem, Wise men, Shepherds, Sunday of the Holy Family, the presentation in the Temple, Our Lady of Guadalupe. Again we asked: what is a Posada, a novena, the Rosary – is it necessary, what songs do we sing, how does it relate to our work, can we do it?

Sanctuary Coordinator and recent U.W.M. graduate Nancy Flores was our discussion leader. Nancy, a young, heritage latina, led us deftly through the maze, and we came up with a plan. The successful plan was only possible with the wise counsel of moms and grandmothers, members of the “Comite.” One was a mom – grandmother whose son was deported to Mexico and was killed. Another was a woman whose husband had been deported and left her with a large family of children and grandchildren. They recounted past Posadas here and in Mexico and explained what they meant. From experience they knew the Christmas story.

It was a chilly December night and forty of us left the office of Voces and processed four blocks to a neighborhood community center called “Bucket Works.” It was cold and windy, but our candles were protected by cups and we wore our winter clothes. We were accompanied by children, two of them dressed to represent Mary and Joseph on their trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census mandated by the Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus. Mary was with child expected to be born in Bethlehem.

We walked singing hymns in Spanish. Nancy and the Grandmas led; they knew the words. A tall young heritage latino man also knew the words. He took time off from the “Recall Walker Campaign” to be with us.

When we reached our destination, half the group went inside and the other half remained in the cold including Mary and Joseph. Those outside pleaded entrance. After a sung dialogue the outsiders were allowed to enter.

“Entren santos peregrines, reciban este Rincon no de esta pobre morada sino de mi corazon.” (Come in holy pilgrims, not to this poor house but to my heart.) Gradually more people with children joined us.

We read the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke. Father Alvaro of the Old Catholic Church read a reflection prepared by Nancy. The reflection noted that Mary and Joseph represent the immigrants of today. It is our duty to welcome all into our community.

One of the moms was asked to share a recent close call. She recounted that she had been stopped by the police for going through a stop sign while driving out of a grocery store parking lot. The police followed her a few blocks before they stopped her. She claimed that she did not go through a stop sign, and the officer evidently agreed, but gave her a ticket for not having a drivers’ license. A very dangerous incident; she thanked Voces and Sanctuary for support.

THEN SOME PRAYERS: (My translation)

Our Father, in heaven, make present here the joy intended for us.
Greetings Mary and pilgrims; you bring the chance for salvation.
Glory to God, and thanks to God for the joy of sharing with family.

A Madrina, godmother, for Mary’s baby was chosen. The baby will be consecrated to the Lord by the family and the Madrina in February.

It was time for the Piñata. The kids’ patience paid off. A big second grader smashed the hanging plaster of Paris image and candy sprayed everywhere. The second grader’s great-grampa, Jim Cusack was delighted.

We celebrated eating tamales, prepared by the grandmothers, and drinking hot chocolate. One of the moms I talked to said she was appreciative of the Posada, but was concerned for the safety of her daughter, the Voces Director, who was in Alabama for a march to the Alabama Capital, Montgomery.

Festivities were closed by singing happy birthday to one of the moms.

When we arrived home there was an e-mail waiting from one of the Voces people who was in Alabama. “I find myself in Montgomery, Alabama after a wonderful national march in opposition to the worst anti-immigrant legislation in the nation, bill HB 56.”

Good work, hermano, God is with us. ¡Si, se puede!

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

Lessons and Carols, December 2, 2011


Church of the Gesu Milwaukee, WI (The church was named after the founding Jesuit church in Rome: Chiesa del Santissimo Nome di Gesu – Church of the Holy Name of Jesus.)

The Christmas concert at Marquette was beautiful – an attempt to put new life into tired myths was laudable. The concert was held in the upper church of the Gesu. This is the “Upstairs Church” of theologian and N.C.R. columnist Jamie Manson. (A distinction she made at the 2011 C.T.A. Conference. Upstairs = formal and in conformity; downstairs = pastoral and politically challenging). The hymns were in English, and impeccable Latin. The student choir was mostly white. I did notice one African American singer and a few Asians in the large choir that I guess was over one hundred students.

I doubt that a concert of such Roman Catholic magnitude could have been done at Marquette when I first arrived as a freshman in 1953. John Walsh, S.J.’s theatre productions were as skilled or more so, but the resulting catharsis was not directed by official Roman Catholic theology. Walsh’s life changing Masses in the basement church are another story, but the place did bring back memories. I remembered the basement church of my student days with renewed Faith and joy. Let’s call it the church of Yeshua – the homeless Jewish handyman from occupied Galilee.

It was liturgy in the round. Music and readings were from the four directions encircling the church. Participation of the congregation was requested and achieved. As a dry Mass, the concert was structured as a dramatization of the battle between good and evil. The singing began with a traditional English Carol, “The Lord Did Adam Make,” explaining creation and original sin. The “good” wins by Jesus shedding his Blood. (E’en So, Lord Quickly Come) Finally victory is confirmed with an outstanding rendition of Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” from the Messiah.

The result was beautiful but troubling. The congregation was walled in the church by the four directional music and readings. We participated, but did not question. It was a liturgical retro return to cultural - theological Vatican dominance.

It fits, of course. The Marquette sports symbol is the Golden Eagle, the same as the Roman Empire (see www.caerleon.net/history/army/page5.html). The Roman Empire executed Jesus (Gesu), but the fundamentalist theology that explains the Stations of the Cross claims that Rome is innocent. The 1st Station (“Via Crucis” – Way of the Cross) on the eastern wall of Gesu Church shows the Roman Governor Pilate washing his hands of the execution. Rome is sanctified. The Jews were blamed as is presented on the 9th Station on the west wall where men of the Torah denounce Jesus (Gesu) after he falls.

A white male priest in a clerical suit with a Roman collar gave the final blessing. There was no “ita missa est” (go the mass is ended) charge to change unjust political structures. The handyman’s “Good News” that peace is possible through non violent political action was left to boil over from downstairs.

THE WAY

Joanne & I went to see the movie “The Way” with friends. The film features Martin Sheen on a pilgrimage to Compostela in Spain. The Sheen character achieves spiritual healing with the journey. We were all impressed with the message, acting and the scenery. (Is Sheen related to – an ancestor of Bishop Fulton J….. ?)

But Compostela is a shrine to a Christian victory over the Muslims in the 9th century C.E. The victory is credited to the help of Santiago - St. James. Who is the St. James of the legend makers? Is he the Apostle James the Greater, brother of John; is he the leader of the early Christian Jerusalem community? Is he the author of the Epistle of James – brother of Jesus? Can we say yes to all of the above? Legend relates that St. James preached in Spain, and returned to Jerusalem to be martyred. His remains were sent on a boat to northwestern Spain. They were found at Compostela and his ghost aided in defeating the Muslims. Santiago is often depicted in statues on a white horse with a sword raised in battle to kill Muslims. Santiago de Compostela is also referred to as Santiago Matamoros – St. James the Muslim killer. A town in Mexico is named Matamoros after St. James.

The pilgrims in Sheen’s movie achieved spiritual healing through love. But to what extent is it healing if it is not based on truth? The pilgrims in the movie suppressed part of the story. Santiago de Compostela is a shrine to the killing of enemies, and has nothing to do with love - Charity. Without truth is the movie a romantic cover up of hatred?

EQUALITY Part I

From the U.S. Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it.”

The Declaration was approved in 1776, but what does “equal” mean? At its conclusion Native Americans are described as “merciless Indian savages” – obviously not “men” and equal. The law of the land, the Constitution, was ratified in 1788. Slaves, women, Native Americans and non property owners were not guaranteed the right to vote. Only white male property owners, 16% of the population, could vote.

Lincoln said in the 1863 Gettysburg address that the U.S. political dedication to equality was an “unfinished work.”

Then there was the cry of Liberty, Fraternity, Equality – the cry of the French Revolution 1789.

The heritage that U.S. 1776 rebels were struggling against is described by Samuel Fielden in a brief autobiography written in the Cook County Jail as he awaited hanging for the Chicago Haymarket riot in 1886. He was one of eight labor leaders convicted of murder in one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in U.S. history. As an immigrant from England, Fielden had great expectations. He wrote, “My elder brother … he was quite radical in his views … it was a constant torment to him to debase himself before his master (employer) as lackeys were compelled to do in England. Now one of these means of debasement was being compelled to put his hand to his cap, in fact to bow down to Gesler (his employer). Thus must the proletariat bow the knee to the ‘bourgeoisie’ or starve, and some people call this liberty of contract.” (The Autobiographies of the Haymarket Martyrs, Philip S. Foner, ed. Monad Press, New York 1977, p. 144)

Fielden as a young mill worker in England supported the North in the U.S. Civil war even though the war cost them jobs in the cotton mills. English workers cheered the Northern victory, but experiences and observations on a trip to the South after emigrating to the U.S. forced some second thoughts for Fielden. In his autobiography he states, “… the Negro was held in as absolute bondage as he was before the war.” (Ibid. p.151) Does equality refer to status, class, religion, income or all of the above?

From the beginning, Catholic Social Teaching has been about equality. The first social encyclical concerning labor, Rerum Novarum, stated that workers had the right to organize in order to achieve equal status as persons and a living wage. In contrast "liberalism" considered workers as a commodity to be bought and sold at the lowest price.


BUT CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING AS RELATED TO LABOR IS DORMANT.

The Call to Action conference in Milwaukee was so much better than I expected. When I saw the brochure I guessed it would be simply a hierarchy-bashing fiesta – a piñata for those nostalgic for Vatican II. It was that, but the conference was saved by three outstanding speakers - scholars, Marcus Borg, Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz and Jamie Manson.

The attack on Wisconsin workers was not mentioned in the brochure. Not surprising. Catholic response is muted by the priority of churchy “Social Issues” e.g. women’s ordination, abortion, gay rights, contraception, translation of the Roman Missal, Roman Catholic identity for hospitals. Both conservatives and liberals focus on these issues with a strong sense of purpose. Should Roman Catholic identity be defined by these “Church Social Issues” rather than by The Condition of Working People (Rerum Novarum)?

In my opinion, Church pronouncements on real social Issues are ignored. It seems that Benedict XVI’s Caritas in Veritate just gathers dust. If this Encyclical were an attack on gay rights, it would have been widely read. Right wing Catholics would be saying, “I told you so,” and the left would righteously denounce another ridiculous pronouncement. Both sides would generate lots of print and rhetoric while labor rights would continue to be forgotten, and the church hierarchy would continue to wallow comfortably in tired myths.

It is interesting both Catholic liberals and conservatives are concerned about immigration reform, but not how it relates to labor unions, e.g. a Guest Worker Program or the Employee Free Choice Act – EFCA. The challenge and fear of labor unions perceived by both the right and left in the Roman Catholic spectrum make alliances more difficult. Is there a point of convergence in that Latinos put life into the tired myths in the fight for social justice? For example, Milwaukee Voces de la Frontera – New Sanctuary Coordinator Nancy Flores, with the help of her mother and grandmother, have designed vigils of protest and prayer in such a way that even the “hueros” (non Latinos) are proud to be “Guadalupanos,” (activists devoted to Our Lady of Guadalupe) as a “comunidad de base.” (Medellin, Rerum Novarum) A “Comunidad de base,” could be a workers association not necessarily a labor union but a group that works with labor unions for social justice.

I was reminded at the Call to Action round table discussion of the keystone of Roman Catholic Social teaching. I asked, what is the most important document of Catholic Social Teaching? The response was, Rerum Novarum, which gives the rationale for workers right to organize. I agreed; all flows from this point. Before it could be mentioned that John Paul II declared Labor prior to Capital (Laborem Exercens, Part 12) and that labor unions are an “indispensible element of social life” (Ibid. Part 20), the group dispersed for a protest rally. The Milwaukee Catholic Worker group had organized a march and demonstration to protest Marquette Universities sponsorship of the R.O.T.C.

Call to Action keynote speaker Jamie Manson pointed out that her “church downstairs,” a type of “comunidad de base” that doesn’t need to be sanctioned by the hierarchy, has emerged, and is the Church of the future. Manson explained that at the church in New York where she ministers, she is not officially recognized as a priest or official of the church in the “upstairs church liturgy” because of her gender. In the “downstairs church,” at the community meal for the homeless, she has status from the people as a respected minister. This is the new church that is emerging, a “comunidad de base.”(Medellin) A step towards equality; isn’t it time to just forget about the hierarchy?

Another Call to Action keynote speaker, scripture scholar Marcus Borg, helped put Christian action into perspective by noting that the Jesus movement was in opposition to civilization as established by empires throughout history. Jesus, the Palestinian Jew, opposed the Roman Empire and was executed. Borg explained that the empire was for the benefit of the few in control. In resistance, Jesus enjoyed community meals with the alienated.

According to CTA speaker Angie O’Gorman, the best of capitalism follows the dictum of John Stuart Mill, “the greatest good for the greatest number.” Is this really acceptable for the ancient prophets and the Jesus movement? Before he was hanged as one of the Haymarket Martyrs in 1887 labor leader, Albert Parsons, wrote from the Cook County Jail,

“For the greatest good to the greatest number anarchy substitutes the equal right of each and everyone.” “Anarchy is the extension of the bounds of liberty until it covers the whole range of wants and aspirations of man-not men, but Man.” (Ibid. p. 43) “Privileges are none: equal rights for all. Liberty, Fraternity, Equality.” (Ibid. P. 56)

Does income equality mean a level playing field for all in the race for riches? C.T.A. Sunday speaker Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz explained the principle of solidarity in terms of relationship and cooperation as opposed to equality in competition. Fraternity – Sorority is a form of love – compassion, not a method of fair competition for happiness measured by riches. Ms. Isasi-Diaz mentioned the attack on worker rights in Wisconsin and the massive May Day marches organized and sponsored by Voces de la Frontera.

As stated above, a problem for both liberals and conservatives is for Catholic Social Teaching to remain relevant and present. Let us consider an example from the past. During the transition stage to Vatican II, Pius XII, in 1943, watched in silence as the Jews of Rome were sent to Auschwitz yet he made a major pronouncement on the Sacrifice of the Mass.

Gerald Ellard, S.J. commented and quoted Pius XII in his introduction to Pius XII Encyclical Mediator Dei:

“Pope Pius XII affords us, in his customary charge to Rome’s Lenten preachers, what might be called an annual ‘pastoral’ for Rome. That for 1943 dealt at length with the nature and efficacy of prayer and the Mass at the center of the Christian life. ‘The greatest, the most efficacious, and holiest of piety is the participation of the faithful in the holy Sacrifice’ (March 13, 1943).” (Encyclical Letter, Mediator Dei, of Pope Pius XII. With notes by Gerald Ellard, S.J. America Press, 1948, p. 9)

In the Encyclical (Mediator Dei November 20, 1947) Pius XII states, “We ourselves in the course of our address to the Lenten preachers of this gracious city Rome in 1943, urged them warmly to exhort their respective hearers to more faithful participation in the Eucharistic sacrifice.” Ibid. p.15.

The slaughter of the “unequal” Roman Jews was not remembered. Their existence and the memory of their existence were blotted out.

This blog is a review of Catholic Social Teaching with a reference to current events. We are now moving from the beginning documents into the transition stage before Vatican II.

OFFICIAL CHURCH DOCUMENTS: CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING

INTRODUCTION

shema yisra’el Adonai ’elohenu Adonai ’ehad. Duet. 6:4
Hear, O Israel, Adonai is our God, Adonai is one.

An opinion: elohenu is the God of nature, the philosophers – e.g. Aristotle’s uncaused cause, Stephen Hawking’s big bang and final crunch. elohenu retaliates with anger and requires sacrifice.

Adonai reveals a presence; Adonai is the Father – Mother of all; Abba of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the prophets. Adonai supports the struggle for justice; advocates and acts for the poor. Adonai is truly only one.

The model, the documents and comments listed are based on notes taken at a seminar in the summer of 03 given by Dr. Christine Firer Hinze of Fordham University, formerly of Marquette University and recognized expert on the work of labor priest John Ryan. (1865-1945) The seminar was one of many graciously given by Dr. Hinze for interns and other labor associates of the Faith Community for Worker Justice in Milwaukee. Dr. Hinze also participated in the annual “Labor in the Pulpits Program.” The New Sanctuary Movement of Voces de la Frontera now sponsors “Predicatores de Justicia” for the May 1st Labor Day since the Faith Community for Worker Justice of the Milwaukee Labor Council folded.

Some additions and deletions were made to Dr. Hinze’s notes. As the discussion continues more changes will be made. Notable points are listed, but it is recognized that such an abbreviation does not really represent the richness and complexity of the Encyclicals.

EARLY DOCUMENTS

1891  Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII, Workers’ right to organize.

1919  Program for Social Reconstruction, U.S. Bishops: Value international & interdenominational cooperation- also, equal pay for equal work for women.

1931  Quadragesimo Anno,  Pope Pius XI: Principle of subsidiarity.


TRANSITION PERIOD

194I –1952  Social Documents, of Pope Pius XII.
1941 Whitsuntide Message,  Pvt. property has social responsibilities.

1943  Xmas Message, Democracy & Peace,  “Corporate” democracy OK. Distrust of “masses.”

1949 To the Representatives of the International Union of Catholic Employers
Associations,  Reaffirm Q.A. Nationalization of assets, with limits, to
protect common good.

1950  To the International Congress of Social Studies, Balance of production with consumption a key issue - free mkt. not the answer. Workers ancient feudal bonds
similar to modern wage slavery.

1952  To the Italian Catholic Association of - Owner Managers: Principle of Solidarity.

1952  Letter to 39th “Social Week” Dijon, France,  Free market does not produce distributive justice.

1952  Radio Address to Austrian Catholics, Overcome class struggle by organic
coordination of employer & employee.

1952  Exul Familia,  Right to migrate.

1952  Xmas Message,  Unrestricted production is not the answer to unemployment.
Advocates international solidarity.

1952  Letter of Mons. Montini (future Pope Paul VI) to Catholic Social Week in Turin, Italy, : Addresses worker alienation. Advocates worker, employer solidarity.

1961 Mater et Magistra,  Pope John XXIII, Social duty of private property, Cf. Pius XII.
Part 1, 41-43. Values collective bargaining. Part 2, 91.

1963 Pacem in Terris,   Pope John XXIII, (John XXIII added, for the first time the salutation "and to all men of good will.")  Dignity of the person is the basis of human rights. Part 1, 8. Right to migrate reaffirmed. Part 1, 25


DRAMATIC CHANGE “AGGIORNAMIENTO”
VATICAN II CRITICAL, YET OPEN TO THE IDEAS OF THE MODERN WORLD
1963 – 1965 Council Fathers with Pope Paul VI

1964  Unitatis Redintegratio. (On Ecumenism), Advocates cooperation with “separated brethren” on social issues. C. II,12

1964  Lumen Gentium, (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church), The Spirit dwells
in the people. C. I, 4

1965  Gaudium et Spes, (Pastoral Constitution on the Church),: Labor right. to
organize & freely elect leaders. Right to strike. (vs. fascist Spain & Franco) #68

1965  Dignitatis Humanae, (Freedom of Conscience), In all activity man is bound to follow his own conscience. #3

1965  Nostra Aetate, (Relation to Non Christians), Although hostilities in past - make common cause for social justice. #2

POST VATICAN II

1967  Populorum Progressio, (On the Development of Peoples), Paul VI: Neo-colonialism a concern. Free trade is fair only if it is subject to the demands of social justice. Part II, 52 – 58. Unjust political and economic structures denounced. Part I, #21.

1967   Medellin, Colombia Documents, Latin American Bishops: Foundation of Liberation Theology – Political and economic structural change advocated. Pope Paul VI's opening address supports change of oppressive systems and structures. "Comunidades de base" recognized. Task of "Concientizacion."

1971  Octogesimo Adveniens, (Eightieth Anniversary of Rerum Novarum,  Paul VI: Women have equal rights to participate in cultural, economic and political life. #13 Preferential Respect for poor.

1979  Puebla, Mexico Documents,  Latin American Bishops: Visiting Pope J.P. II endorses Liberation Theology. Preferential option for the poor.

1981  Laborem Exercens, (On Work), John Paul II: Labor is prior to capital, Labor Unions indispensible.

1986  Economic Justice for All,  U.S. R.C. Bishops: Use of sociological data.


1987  Solicitudo Rei Socialis, (On Social Concern). , John Paul II: In Solidarity, overcome structures of sin for true liberation. VII, 46

1991  Centesimus Annus, (One hundredth Anniversary of Rerum Novarum),1991, John Paul II: The church values the democratic system in so far as it insures the participation of citizens in making political choices. Chapter 5, #46.


MILLENNIAL PERIOD

2004  Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, Pontifical Council for Justice &; Peace, Church doctrine on homosexuality, contraception and abortion is part of the Church social doctrine.
2009  Caritas in Veritate, (Selfless Love in Truth),  Benedict XVI: "Trade union organizations experience greater difficulty in carrying out their task of representing the interests of workers, partly because Governments, for reasons of economic utility, often limit the freedom or the negotiating power of labour unions. Hence traditional networks of solidarity have more and more obstacles to overcome."
Section 25

2011  Towards Reforming The International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of Global Public Authority, Pontifical Council for Justice & Peace. Creation of a world political authority to regulate financial markets that cause “inequalities and distortions of capitalist development.”

POST SCRIPT – BACK TO THE BEGINNING

Paul Lafargue, Karl Marx’ son-in-law, was sentenced to a year in jail for participating in the May 1, 1891 demonstration in Lille, France that turned violent. While in jail Lafargue won an election to become a member of the Lille chamber of deputies. His inaugural speech “caused an uproar among leftist members who might have otherwise supported him by appearing to support the conservative Catholic Church’s ‘Christian socialism’ and question the rectitude of the left’s commitment to separation of church and state.” (Gabriel, Mary, Love and Capital, Little Brown and Company, New York, 2011, pp. 558 – 561.)

“EQUALITY” COMES NEXT,…BUT FIRST AN ASIDE

This blog is an attempt to present Catholic Social Teaching as it developed from Rerum Novarum in 1891 to the present. Some references to current problems are made within the historical context of the documents being considered and the church leaders of the time. In some instances reference will be made to future documents and the radical shift provided by Vatican II.

The topic we are now discussing is: Democracy, Equality and the Simple Life as seen by Pius XII. The previous posting was on Democracy; now we will consider Equality.

Before the posting on Equality, there will be an article on a demonstration in Chicago concerning the Obama administrations “Secure Communities” program.

The next ‘aside’ will be a post listing the major Vatican pronouncements on Catholic Social Teaching since 1891 including Rerum Novarum along with key concepts from the documents.

Protesting "Secure Communities" (from Voces de la Frontera Newspaper, Sept. 2011).

By Bill Lange, New Sanctuary Movement of Voces de la Frontera

On August 18th, Voces members Jim Cusack, Ken Greening and I traveled to the Haymarket Monument in Chicago to attend a press conference held before an Advisory Task Force hearing on “Secure Communities.”

The Haymarket is the site of the 1886 demonstration for the eight-hour day led by immigrant workers. Mounted police attempted to break up that rally and several policemen and some workers were killed. Labor leaders were indicted and falsely accused of murder. Four were hanged, only one of them a native English speaker. They are called the “Haymarket Martyrs.”

But is it any better today? At the press conference, Father Brendan Curran, O.P. of St. Pius V parish in Chicago, lamented the breakup of families with the “Secure Communities” program under the Obama administration. In Milwaukee, Voces is swamped with families looking for loved ones who have been picked up by law enforcement.

The advisory task force hearing took place at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers’ hall located around the corner from the Haymarket Monument. The meeting started with controversy as some were not allowed into the hall because of capacity restrictions. Jim Cusack of Voces was the first speaker: “It’s outrageous to incarcerate our neighbors – to make them fearful of even going to church,” he said.

Several in the crowd had enough of talking and took to the street. They blocked Randolph Street; buses threatened them, but protesters refused to move. Many were sitting in the street. A group of musicians were drumming as other danced around police who attempted to remove them. Young people with t-shirts reading “Undocumented” shuffled onto the street despite the police and chanted, “We are not afraid, we are not afraid!” Some protesters were arrested, but there was no violent action by the demonstrators.

Jenny Dale of the Chicago New Sanctuary Movement commented, “We should all be inspired by these courageous young people who take to the street in the struggle for justice.”

The next day, President Obama announced major changes to US deportation policy. It remains to be seen if this will actually grant some relief to immigrant workers.

Check this link for article and photos: http://vdlf.org/userimages/pdfs/2011-09-newspaper.pdf

DEMOCRACY, EQUALITY, AND THE SIMPLE LIFE

DEMOCRACY (vs. FASCISM)
Introduction
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is pushing his fascist program as fast as possible. By fascist I mean top down mandates without the voice of the people being heard, mixed in with racism and nationalism. With Walker’s program, public sector workers will have a very limited voice in the workplace. Walker’s budget favors the wealthy over the needs of the poor and children. The budget is a key component in the politics of wealth concentration. A wealthy fascist aristocracy supports Walker, and is attempting to gain more power. The tea party people represent the nationalistic aspect of the new fascism. Fascist racism is also there in the fierce opposition to immigrants. Walker’s budget includes a removal of in-state tuition for undocumented children. An Arizona type immigration bill has been presented by a Walker supporter to the Legislature’s Homeland Security Committee. Unwillingness to confront seriously the poverty and unemployment in central city Milwaukee is again rank racism.

The theme of this blog is a historical review of Catholic Social Teaching with reference to current events, and it will look at the rise of totalitarianism in the 30’s. This is the time of Quadragesim Anno, Pius XI and Pius XII. The Walker program is not the first time fascism has raised its ugly head. Can we fault Pius XI and XII for their blindness in not seeing the horror implicit in fascism? They were not alone. Check out the list of quotes I have assembled. Pius XI's pre-war and Pius XII’s pre-war and war-time positions might be more understandable. Does natural law ethics, the basis of Catholic Social Teaching, survive WW II? Quotes from Catholic scholars and others before the war, during the war, and after the war follow.

In 1946, Saul Alinsky said in his book, Reveille for Radicals,
“Organized religion, organized labor, and all other organized institutions of the people were completely impotent in preventing Fascism and war.” (Work, “Reveille for Radicals – Book Review,” Paul Kalinauskas, February, 1946.)
The question is why? Was all that was needed was Alinsky organizing tactics? 1946 reviewer Kalinauskas says Alinsky was naive. After the war it was easy to see the evils of fascism, but some Catholic intellectuals and officials only partially saw the coming horror.

Natural law philosophers – theologians, religionists fortified by the Ten Commandments, were at sea just as much as enlightenment liberals who claimed Hitler and Mussolini had a right to their opinion and were improving the social and economic situation in their countries.

(July 27, 2011: Voces was swamped with people looking for loved ones picked up by the police, the FBI, the ICE on a drug bust. The innocent are raked in with the guilty – no distinction – thus families separated. To whom do you complain? Kohl, Moore, Barrett are not listening. What happened to the 14th amendment? Is this due process?)

Before WW II
U.S. Attitudes and Political Theory
How does U.S. political democracy make decisions? According to Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, the basis for U.S. democracy is the Declaration of Independence statement, “all men are created equal;” therefore democracy is rooted in nature. However, Lincoln did not believe that a majority vote superseded nature. In his debates with Stephen A. Douglas, Lincoln opposed the Kansas Nebraska Act which would have allowed slavery in those territories if the majority approved.

(From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 7-29-11, “Judge declares paid sick-day law ‘over’… In doing so he found the city law, passed by 69% of voters in November, 2008 and upheld by the state Court of Appeals in March, was moot because of state legislation (Walker’s gang) approved in April that voided it.”)

For Lincoln, and WW II President Franklin Roosevelt, the ‘common good’ was the goal of political society. Roosevelt was passionate about democracy, but his political philosophy was not based on the ontology of atomism or simply ‘survival of the fittest.’ He claimed the right wing individualists, ‘economic royalists,’ were the enemies of the people and invited progressives, Republican and Democrat, to work for the common good. The New Deal was an analogue to the Declaration of Independence. At the 1936 Democratic Convention in Philadelphia Roosevelt said:
“Better the occasional faults of a government that lives in the spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference. There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.” (Brands, H.W. Traitor To His Class, Doubleday, New York, p. 453.)

In the early days of European fascism it was not clear to the American public that fascism was inherently evil.
“From the time he came to power in 1922, the American press was generally supportive of Mussolini, who was credited with restoring order in postwar Italy and revitalizing its economy.” (Baldassaro, Lawrence, Beyond Joe DiMaggio, University of Nebraska Press, p. 122.)

As for fascism in the U.S., industrialists actually used fascist tactics. “Blackshirts” fought picketers at the 1934 Kohler strike in Wisconsin. Two strikers were killed. (Uphoff, Walter H. Kohler on Strike, Beacon Press, Boston, p. 73.)

(Today we have the Wisconsin recall elections. This is an attempt to save democracy. August 9, 2011, two Walker Senators were recalled.)

U.S. Roman Catholics and Academics
University of Chicago philosophy professor Mortimer Adler, of Jewish heritage, disagreed with his friend Robert Hutchins, President of the University, over the U.S. getting involved in the military war against fascism in Europe. Adler wrote in his autobiography:
“With the onset of the European war, a revival of American isolationism, under the banner of ‘America First,’ enrolled a large following. Among the leaders of that movement were Colonel Lindbergh, Gen. Robert E. Wood (chairman of the board of Sears Roebuck), Bob Hutchins, and Bill Benton, then vice president of the University of Chicago.”

Philosopher Bertrand Russell of England joined Adler and denounced Hitler. Adler claimed his argument against Hitler was supported by ‘natural law’ and, although Russell was correct in opposing Hitler, his argument was weak. Adler wrote:
“Abhorrence of Hitler had caused even Bertrand Russell, not only an avowed pacifist but also a relativist in morals, to advocate taking sides in the struggle because what Hitler stood for was, in his judgment, morally wrong. But my university colleagues would not forsake their skepticism about the objectivity of moral value in order to come out flatly against Nazism as politically and morally outrageous. They were willing and anxious to have us go to war against Nazi Germany, but could not bring themselves to declare that the issue involved rights and wrongs that were not a matter of subjective opinion or entirely relative to the declarant’s prejudices, feelings or point of view.” (Adler, Mortimer J. Philosopher at Large, Macmillan, N.Y. 1977, pp. 217 – 220.)

But before the war, even with a criterion to criticize the status quo, e.g. the natural law and disgust of Hitler, the ambivalence toward fascism as a political system and democracy as practiced in the U.S. and England, was a challenge to Mortimer Adler & Walter Farrell. Farrell was a Dominican priest and recognized as a scholar of the work of Thomas Aquinas. Leo XIII had proclaimed the theology of the 13th century Dominican Friar as the official theology of the Catholic Church.

Adler and Farrell wrote in The Thomist just before the U.S. entered WW II,
“We propose to make a philosophical analysis of democracy. We cannot ignore the fact that this analysis is coincident with a world-wide war which has come to be described as a struggle between the democracies and the totalitarian powers. …We ask the reader to help us by not identifying democracy with the existing governments of England and the United States. …The worst misunderstanding of what we are trying to say would be to suppose our judgment of democracy to be that it is always and everywhere the best form of government for people to adopt. …Far from supposing that democracy is the best form of government relative to every historic situation, we seriously doubt whether in the world today there is any people whose physical, economic, cultural, and moral attainments are yet adequate for the full practice of democracy.” (The Thomist, “The Theory of Democracy,” Mortimer J. Adler and Walter Farrell, O.P. Sheed and Ward, Baltimore, July 1941.)

Before he entered the Trappists, the young Thomas Merton wrote in his diary that he wasn’t so sure about going to war – was the defense of capitalism worth it? For example, he wrote,
“And if we go into the war, it will be first of all to protect our investments, our business, our money. In certain terms it may be useful to defend all these things, an expedient to protect our business so that everybody may have jobs, but if anybody holds up American business as a shining example of justice, or American politics as a shining example of honesty and purity that is really quite a joke.” (Run to the Mountain, The Journals of Thomas Merton, Harper San Francisco, 1996, p. 221) Merton applied for conscientious objector status in March of 1941. (Ibid. p. 361)

Other Catholic academics questioned getting involved in WW II. Jesuit priest, Joseph Husselein, S.J.,Ph.D. wrote in September 1941,
“It is not well for us to presume that the taint of totalitarianism does not exist, to a greater or less extent, in our own English speaking countries under the fair name and the guise of democracy. The teachings of popular professors in secular universities … who logically deny the existence of the natural law … and so derive all rights from the state are merely totalitarian in disguise. They are doctrines entirely subversive of that high ideal built up in the United States by the Founding Fathers on the firm basis of belief in God and consequently in inalienable natural rights from Him alone – rights not given by the state and cannot be taken away by it.” (Husslein, Joseph,S.J., Ph.D. Social Wellsprings, Bruce Publishing Co. Milwaukee, 1942. p. 316.)

There was a Catholic move to conscientious objection based on the common good, the good for all, not a particular nation. Archbishop McNicholas of Cincinnati wrote in a pre-war pastoral letter,
“Will such Christians in our country form a mighty league of conscientious non combatants? The organization of such a league deserves the consideration of all informed Christians who have the best interests of America at heart.”(The Chicago Catholic Worker, “The Case for Conscientious Objection,” Paul Kalinauskas and Ed Marciniak, December 1940, p. 5.)

Conscientious objection would be grounded on human nature, not custom, what works, majority opinion, or might is right. Kalinauskas and Marciniak explain,
“Conscience is a practical moral judgment of the intellect. It is practical because it does not concern itself with theoretical speculation on good and evil but tells man whether or not this particular action may or may not be performed by him, here and now. Men, unlike irrational animals, have been given the faculty of distinguishing between good and evil.” (ibid)

Here Kalinauskas and Marciniak do not argue for conscientious objection based on religious feeling or biblical interpretation, but they base their argument on reason – a natural law approach. Milwaukee native Gordan Zahn took up the challenge and became a WW II conscientious objector. It wasn’t a popular stance.

The January 1942 issue of the Catholic Worker, the first to appear after the declaration of war, displays this headline:
OUR COUNTRY PASSES FROM UNDECLARED WAR TO DECLARED WAR WE CONTINUE OUR CHRISTIAN PACIFIST STAND

Dorothy Day wrote:
“We are still pacifists. Our manifesto is the Sermon on the Mount, which means that we will try to be peacemakers. Speaking for many of our conscientious objectors, we will not participate in armed warfare or in making munitions, or buying government bonds to prosecute the war, or in urging others to these efforts.” (The Duty of Delight, “The Diaries of Dorothy Day,” Edited by Robert Ellsberg, p.65, Marquette University Press, Milwaukee, 2008.)

In Europe, well known German philosopher, Martin Heidegger supported Hitler. In Spain, the Rector at the University of Salamanca, Miguel Unamuno, never spoke out against Franco until it was too late and then was put under house arrest.

Natural law philosophers, theologians, existentialists – few saw what was coming except some artists, – painters Picasso, (Guernica - 1937) Diego Rivera, (The Opponent of Fascism - 1933) Felix Nussbaum, (The Refugee - 1939) Marc Chagall, (White Crucifixion - 1938).


During the War

What about moral political decisions during the war, such as, the continuing massacre of Jews in Europe and the decision to end the war by dropping atom bombs on Japan?

The Holocaust: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued several strong statements condemning Hitler’s massacre of the Jews during the war. In 1944 Roosevelt said, after he was informed of a roundup of Jews in Hungary,
“In one of the blackest crimes of all history-begun by the Nazis in the day of peace and multiplied by them a hundred times in the time of war-the wholesale systematic murder of the Jews of Europe goes on unabated every hour.” (op. cit. p. 761.)
Roosevelt thought that conquering Hitler would be the only and quickest way to stop the massacre. He refused to bomb the death camp at Auschwitz or the rail lines feeding it because it would require the diversion of scarce resources. (op.cit, Traitor to His Class, p. 761.)

Rhetoric was not enough for future U.S. President Harry Truman concerning the massacre of the Jews. Truman said in 1943, in what could be construed as a criticism of Roosevelt,
“Merely talking about the four freedoms is not enough. This is the time for action. No one can doubt the horrible intentions of the Nazi beasts. We know they plan the systematic slaughter throughout all of Europe, not only of the Jews, but of vast numbers of other innocent peoples.”(McCullough, David, Truman, Simon & Schuster, N.Y. 1992, p. 286.)

As President, Truman was supportive of the creation of the state of Israel.

The Atom Bomb: President Harry Truman explained his decision to use the atom bomb,
“The final decision of where and when to use the atomic bomb was up to me. Let there be no mistake about it. I regarded the bomb as a military weapon and never had any doubt that it should be used. The top military advisers to the President recommended its use. And when I talked to Churchill he unhesitatingly told me that he favored the use of the atomic bomb if it might aid to end the war.” David McCullough, Truman. Simon & Schuster, New York, 1992, p. 442.)

Some opposed the use of the atom bomb on moral grounds. The following appeared in the magazine Christian Century, August 29, 1945,
“Today a single atomic bomb slaughters tens of thousands of children and their mothers and fathers. Newspapers and radio acclaim it a great victory. Victory for what?”

Albert Camus declared,
“Technological civilization has just reached its final degree of savagery.”
Paulist priest James Gillis, a champion of social justice, a friend to labor, and an enemy of racial segregation, wrote an editorial in the Catholic World stating the use of the bomb was,
“atrocious and abominable …the most powerful blow ever delivered against Christian civilization and the moral law.” (Carroll, James, House of War, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 2006, p. 43.)

There was no public comment from Pius XII directly condemning the U.S. and Truman, but the Vatican’s Observatorio Romano August 7, 1945 commented,
“This war provides a catastrophic conclusion. Incredibly this destructive weapon remains as a temptation for posterity, which we know by bitter experience, learns so little from history.”

Pope Pius XII stated,
“Every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God and man.” (Mark Weber, www.1hr.org/jhr/16v16n3p-4_Weber.htlm - Cached.)

Dorothy Day commented in the Catholic Worker September 1945,
“Mr. Truman was jubilant. President Truman. True man; what a strange name, come to think of it. We refer to Jesus Christ as true God and true Man. Truman is a true man of his time in that he was jubilant. He was not a son of God, brother of Christ, brother of the Japanese, jubilating as he did. He went from the table on the cruiser which was bringing him home from the Big Three conference, telling the great news: ‘jubilant’ the newspapers said, Jubilate Deo. We have killed 318,000 Japanese.” (op cit, Duty of Delight, Diaries of Dorothy Day, p.95.)


After the War

After the war Adler and Farrell nuanced and adjusted their before-the- war writings. Adler wrote in his autobiography,
“In 1945, both Father Farrell and I delivered addresses at the American Catholic Philosophical Association, in which we took the position that the superiority of democracy to all other forms of government could no longer be questioned by philosophers who regarded themselves as Aristotelians or Thomists, even though Aristotle and Aquinas could not be quoted in support of that thesis.” (Adler, Mortimer, Philosopher at Large, p. 309, Macmillan, N.Y. 1977.)

How do you justify not speaking out about political-moral atrocities? It’s a political decision. After WWII, Pius XII said,
“The duty of repressing religious and moral error cannot be an ultimate norm of action. It must be subordinated to higher and more general norms which in some circumstances permit, and even perhaps make it appear the better course of action, that error should not be impeded in order to promote to promote the common good.” (Murray, John Courtney S.J. We Hold These Truths, Sheed and Ward, 1960, pp. 61-62 Pius XII, - discourse to Italian Journalists December 6, 1953)

Looking ahead, to the dramatic changes brought about by Vatican II, John Paul II, Apostolic Letter sent on the 50th anniversary of WW II:
“I wish to repeat here in the strongest possible way that hostility and hatred against Judaism are in complete contradiction to the Christian vision of human dignity.” August 27, 1989.

In 2000 John Paul II visited ad Vashem, The National Holocaust Memorial in Israel. “I assure the Jewish people the Catholic Church … is deeply saddened by the hatred, acts of persecution and displays of anti-Semitism directed against the Jews by Christians at any time, in any place.”

He added, “There are no words strong enough to deplore the terrible tragedy of the holocaust.” Vatican II document Nostra Aetate, October 1965: “…what happened in his (Jesus Christ’s) passion cannot be blamed upon all the Jews then living, without distinction, nor upon the Jews of today. Although the Church is the new people of God, the Jews should not be presented as repudiated or cursed as if such views followed from Holy Scriptures.”

Conclusion: some opinions

Theologian, John Courtney Murray, tied American Catholic theology and philosophy to U.S. Political Democracy after WW II apparently following the lead of fellow Jesuit Joseph Husslein. He wrote that the Declaration of Independence was in agreement with Natural Law theory. He dismissed the notion that democracy was ‘in line’ with the ‘social contract theory’ by simply declaring that no one believes in the ‘Social Contract’ any more. “We no longer believe, with Locke or Hobbes, that man escapes from a mythical ‘state of nature’ by an act of the will by social contract.” (John Courtney Murray, We Hold These Truths, Sheed and Ward, New York, 1960, p. 7.)

The ‘social contract’ theory and moral relativism implies an atomistic ontology, e.g. - everyone for themselves – survival of the fittest. Atomists would contend the ‘common good’ or the ‘General Welfare’ means the ‘Greatest Good for the greatest number.’ In their most notable speeches both Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt use the word ‘charity’ in the classical sense of selfless love. This is not a word for political policy used by today’s survival of the fittest Ayn Rand followers.

The ‘social contract’ theory breaks down when it is admitted that the majority is not always correct, and there needs to be another standard of judgment. The ‘natural law’ theory fits the bill, but it needs to be reinterpreted. Retired MATC professor and union activist Anne Channell suggested, “It’s just human decency.” If the majority is not always correct, the voice of the minority must be listened to and protected. The best argument for the minority, opposing the majority, is reference to the standard ‘human decency.’ Common sense demands consideration of the common good as defined by Vatican II,
“…the sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and their individual members relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfillment.” (Pastoral Constitution on the Church)

Even with the solid framework of the natural law and measured interpretation of Sacred Scripture, complete certitude is not always possible in political morality. Decisions rest on probabilities based on available information, but also sentiments and prejudices which are not always susceptible to immediate analysis. The decisions themselves are political, and unintended moral error is always possible. A broker who takes bets for a living would understand. Despite the uncertainty, especially in times with rapidly changing technology and politics, moral decisions must be made. The best decisions are made, with the least amount of anxiety possible, in Faith, perhaps without direct connection to an organized belief system or theology – e.g. Abraham Lincoln. Moral political decisions must be made with the goal of the common good in light of a ‘preferential option for the poor.’ No longer are political-moral decisions simply local. We must be always aware that we live in a ‘global village.’