To Whom Shall We Go?

September 2nd, 2010

Here’s an article I thought worth sharing from Greg Erlendson at Our Sunday Visitor.

A brief excerpt:

“Being the butt of Jay Leno jokes is not persecution of a noble sort, but it is a barometer of social disdain, and the Church has become fixed in the popular mind as an organization that has actively cultivated a climate of sexual abuse. This slur easily merges with the vestigial anti-Catholicism of American society…

The result is that the scandals have marginalized the one institution that can raise a voice against a variety of social wrongs, including the broader epidemic of child abuse and child pornography, as well as treatment of the poor and most vulnerable. Its credibility has been weakened. Even worse, its credibility among its own people has been weakened.

This is where we must step up. And this is why it is important to get this story out, as unpleasant as it is, and as weary of it as we are.”

You can catch up with the rest here.

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“No one who prays is ever alone”

August 30th, 2010

Ah, it’s true: those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer –thank you, Nat King Cole –are coming into the station. Soon, all we’ll have are memories.

One stands out for me. I was on the Jersey Shore, at the Villa Saint Joseph, in company with priests. At supper I had quietly admired one of them, now retired, and listened as he joined in swapping stories about past assignments and colorful incidents from priestly life. It was clear to me that this particular priest had worked hard for over fifty-five years –poor parishes, teaching, caring for the sick. He was an example of a senior priest who had “been in the trenches” and served Jesus and His Church faithfully.

Later that evening I sat alone up on the second-floor porch and enjoyed the sea-breeze. I also smiled as I watched the married couples and families walk along the boardwalk, and had to admit to myself that it sure would be nice to have a wife, kids, or grandkids here with me. Not that I was regretting my priestly celibacy, mind you, because I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I guess I was just imagining “what-if …”

And then I saw the old priest below me on the front porch. He, too, was all alone. He, too, was looking at the couples and families walking-by. And I felt sorry for him. This priest, who had given it his all as a generous, committed priest, there all-by-himself in a rocker on the front porch.

Down I went. Yet, as I approached, I saw his lips moving, as if he were in conversation with a friend; his eyes were closed, although he was not asleep, because the rocker was moving; he hardly looked lonely at all, because there was a smile there …

Then I saw the rosary in his hand, and the breviary (the book of daily readings and prayers, mostly from the Bible, which we priests promise to pray daily) open on his lap … and I realized he was enjoying the best company of all.

I went back upstairs and finished my cigar.

And recalled what Pope Benedict XVI had observed earlier in the summer when he had begun his own vacation, “No one who prays is ever alone.”

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To Whom Shall We Go?

August 25th, 2010

Written 17 years ago by one of my predecessors, John Cardinal O’Connor, this column reminded us then what we must remember now — Haiti needs our help and prayers.  As the Cardinal said, Pierre Toussaint (now declared “Venerable” — another step on the road to possible beatification and canonization) is the “perfect mediator” for “those looking for peace in Haiti.”

In the Cathedral Crypt, A Prayer for Haiti

John Cardinal O’Connor, Catholic New York

October 21, 1993

It’s time to take Pierre Toussaint seriously. The situation in Haiti is a mess. The relationship between Haiti and the United States is a mess. The potential for massive violence is horrifying.

Meanwhile, the skeleton of a man of peace lies beneath the high altar of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. I pass his crypt each morning as I enter the sanctuary to offer the 7:30 Mass. These days I pray for his intercession for the land where he was born into slavery, the land that has known little but oppression, starvation, occupation, terrorism, war, for generation after generation. The dominant, often the only hope, for the poor has been by way of their parish churches, their Masses, the efforts of their priests and bishops and, religious sisters and brothers and others who care enough about them to teach them to read and write, to know and to love God, to try to be happy in a way the world knows little about…

…Becoming wealthy by the standards of the day, even when technically in bondage, he tramped the streets constantly to feed the hungry, spent himself night after night to visit the sick. Every day for 60 years he trudged to Mass in Old St. Patrick’s Church, passed by wealthy Catholics in their carriages who refused to pick him up because he was black, however bitter the weather. Time after time he was insulted, was refused a seat in the church he had rebuilt after a fire. Yet he went on, doing good, doing endless good.

Yellow fever was common to New Yorkers of the day. Whenever it struck, those who could leave left in panic. Not Pierre. He would search fearlessly through the quarantined areas, seeking in house after house for the abandoned, taking the sick into his own home to nurse them.

Legions of slaves purchased their freedom from this man who felt so free interiorly that he seemed indifferent to his own state of technical bondage. Children black and white received an education they could not have dreamed of except for the generosity of Toussaint. Those orphaned by successive plagues found a home built for them by Pierre.

Was this an Uncle Tom, to be scorned by those who believe he should have been a militant against slavery? What nonsense. If ever a man was truly free, it was Pierre Toussaint. He respected activists. He did not believe their way should be his way, and if ever a man did things his way, it was Pierre Toussaint. If ever a man was a saint, in my judgment, it was Pierre Toussaint.

It is not Pierre Toussaint the slave or the freedman whose help I ask for Haiti as I pass his remains each morning, but the Pierre Toussaint who seems to me to have been as saintly a saint as the Church has ever canonized, albeit he still awaits the formal title that I cannot convey on him. Validation of a miracle is still being sought, and conditions in Haiti have not made the search easy. But no one can read this man’s life—and the records are thoroughly authentic—without being awed by his holiness.

What has really worked in Haiti? Who really knows what will work now? With hundreds of thousands of lives at stake the great powers of the world seem paralyzed. I watch the debates on television. I listen to equally sincere members of the Congress share mutually exclusive ideas about what action should be taken. I respect both their intentions and the complexity of their task. But meanwhile, the remains of a man of peace lie serenely in a crypt beneath the altar of sacrifice in the Cathedral of St. Patrick. If his soul is where I believe it must be, he’s a “natural” for those sincerely looking for peace in Haiti, the perfect mediator.

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To Whom Shall We Go?

August 20th, 2010

Our nation and our city can be very proud of is its long history as a welcome home for immigrants, respecting religious freedom, beliefs, and practices. Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Patterson, and many other civic and religious leaders have recently eloquently reminded us of this noble heritage.

As New Yorkers today, we also know that we’re still healing from the wounds of 9/11, so poignantly symbolized at Ground Zero, where many of the sons and daughters of these same immigrant families died tragically at the hands of extremists diametrically opposed to every ideal that has made us great.

We want to be careful not to frame our discussion about the proposed Islamic Center in New York as a choice between religious freedom, on the one hand, and completing our own healing, on the other.  Both of these duties are good and both are equally necessary.

Sometimes, how we do things is as important as what we do. 

Never has this been truer than in our present discussion, where civility and regard for the dignity of others must be our priority. 

Presuming the worst in others always puts dialogue at risk; mutual respect is basis of all good listening.   

This is a good time for  all of New York, in its varied cultural, ethnic, and religious communities, to come together in thoughtful and respectful exchange so our real healing can begin.  Although I have no strong sentiment about what should be decided about the eventual where  of the Islamic Center, I do have strong convictions about how such a discussion should be reached: civilly and charitably.  The hot-heads on either side must not dominate.  While I’m hardly an expert in this area, and there are certainly far more competent voices than mine, the Archdiocese of New York would be honored to be part of any such conversations.

Pope John Paul II’s life was an example of how this kind of good will can resolve centuries-old hatreds, building new bridges between Christians, Jews and Muslims. In this same spirit, the Archdiocese of New York hopes to cooperate with other religious leaders in laying  the groundwork for a long-term relationship with the City’s diverse Islamic groups, extending the hand of friendship long overdue between both of our communities.  Similarly, now is the time for all of us to rededicate ourselves to binding up the unhealed wounds of 9/11, and to consoling the ongoing suffering of its survivors.

As the tenth anniversary of 9/11 approaches, our challenge as New Yorkers is clear:  to keep our proud heritage of religious freedom and a warm hospitality to newcomers alive, so that the twin goods of both welcoming and healing are never left unbalanced.

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To Whom Shall We Go?

August 4th, 2010

I just caught up with a great piece by Terry Golway in the Irish Echo. The Well Trod Line Between Church and State talks about illegal immigrants and the role of Church and state.

Here’s an excerpt:

“The descendants of the Ellis Island generation may argue that their ancestors did it the ‘right way’ – shuffling through the lines, answering the questions of government agents, submitting to cursory health examinations.

Today’s illegal immigrants have done none of those things.

But, as the clerics of Houston reminded us, their lack of legal status should not blind us to their humanity. They did, after all, come here for many of the same reasons as the immigrants of old.

Can we put them on a path to citizenship and dignity while also establishing firmer control of our borders? The White House seems to think so. So do many Catholic bishops whose own families once were seen as too foreign, too alien, for mainstream American society.”

The New York Community Media Alliance posted the article here.

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To Whom Shall We Go?

July 21st, 2010

Because of all the inaccuracies in the recent coverage of the Catholic Church in the New York Times and other publications, appearing in news articles, editorials, and op-eds, I was tempted to try my best to offer corrections to the multitude of errors. However, I soon realized that this would probably be a full time job.

It is a source of consternation as to why, instead of complimenting the Vatican and a reformer like Pope Benedict XVI, for codifying procedures long advocated by critics, such outfits would instead choose to intrude on a matter of internal doctrine, namely the ordination of women.

But, correcting the paper is not what really matters. What is important is the well-being of God’s people, especially of His little ones.

The bottom line is that the Holy Father, the Vatican, and the Church universal regards with the utmost seriousness the heinous and sinful crime of child abuse and is committed to doing everything it can to ensure that justice is served and that such abuse never happens again.

If critics want to say, “It’s about time,” fair enough. But for critics to continue their obsessive criticism of Benedict XVI, claiming that he just “doesn’t get it,” is simply out of bounds.

The norms released last week by the Holy See take what have been standard practice for several years, especially here in the United States, and made them formally part of Church law.  You can read the norms here, and an explanation by the Vatican’s press officer, Father Frederico Lombardi, here.

This is very important. It’s not merely administrative housekeeping as some have said, or procedural updates. The offenses listed — child abuse, use of child pornography, and abuse of a mentally disabled adult — now carry the weight of the most serious of crimes against the very heart of the Church.

These norms speed up the processing of cases, allow qualified individuals who are not priests to serve on tribunals, require that the sexual abuse of a mentally handicapped person be treated as gravely as that of a minor,  extends the time in which penalties are applicable, and confirm that child pornography is not only a grievous sin but a church crime.

These are serious advances and clearly lay out Pope Benedict’s ongoing firm commitment to providing justice and healing for the victims of abuse in an effective, timely, just and compassionate manner.

The Church is, contrary to media reports, ahead of her time. As Dr. Paul McHugh, professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University and internationally recognized expert in child abuse has said, “Nobody is doing more to address the tragedy of sexual abuse of minors than the Catholic Church.”

That the Church is indeed doing this is the real story here.

It is fair to say that decades ago the Catholic Church was an example of what not to do when dealing with sexual abuse of minors. However, now it is fair to say that the Catholic Church is an example of what to do about a crime found in every religion, every profession, every culture, and many families.

Make no mistake, Pope Benedict XVI and the Catholic Church are at the forefront of addressing the problem of clerical abuse but, even more, of addressing abuse wherever it occurs in society.

And that won’t change no matter how much some in the media try to slant the truth.

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In Memoriam: George Steinbrenner

July 13th, 2010

Today, I learned that Mr. George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees, had passed away. Here is the statement that I released to the press today.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 13, 2010

I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Mr. George Steinbrenner today. My sincere condolences go to Mrs. Steinbrenner and the entire Steinbrenner family.

When I was a young boy and budding baseball fan growing up in Saint Louis, everybody knew of the great New York Yankees. Even when they were your opponent, they were a team to be admired and respected.

That is why it was such a great joy to have been invited by Mr. Steinbrenner to join him in his box for the grand opening of the new Yankee Stadium in April 2009, as well as for a World Series game last October. They were experiences I’ll never forget. Mr. Steinbrenner and his family were very warm and welcoming to me, the new kid in town.

I’ve since learned that such acts of kindness were very much in keeping with the Steinbrenner tradition, and Catholic agencies here in New York and in Florida were often the beneficiary of his and the Steinbrenner family’s generosity. Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti this past January, the Steinbrenners and the New York Yankees responded immediately, with a $225,000 donation to Catholic Relief Services.

Of course, the Archdiocese of New York will never forget Mr. Steinbrenner’s tremendous goodness in arranging for Yankee Stadium to welcome Pope John Paul II in 1979 and Pope Benedict XVI in 2008 for the holy sacrifice of the Mass.

George Steinbrenner will have a special remembrance in my Masses and prayers.

Cardinal Egan also released a statement on the passing of George Steinbrenner. You can read it here.

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Declaring Our Dependence (on God)

June 30th, 2010

This week I am on a pilgrimage with the Knights and Ladies of the Holy Seplechure to various holy sites in Germany.  However, I thought you might be interested in my column that appears in this week’s issue of Catholic New York.  The title is Declaring Our Dependence (on God), and you can find it here.

Have a safe and blessed Fourth of July!”

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To Whom Shall We Go?

June 23rd, 2010

When it comes to the Catholic Church, so goes the popular logic, if something happens to make you angry, always blame the Pope (or the Vatican), or the archbishop (or that darn archdiocese).

Every problem in the Church, in this view, whether the decline in Sunday Mass attendance, the closing of a school or parish, or the shortage of vocations, is the fault of the Pope or the archbishop.

That’s because the perception is that the Catholic Church is a “top-down” organization — at least according to most newspapers, magazines, and radio/TV news — where decisions are always secretly made way at the top, and the “little guy” is ignored.  That’s not only true of the secular media.  In a recent edition of a prominent Catholic journal, published in New York, I counted six blasts at bishops and the Pope in the first six pages!

Want some recent examples?

A newspaper on Staten Island blames the recent controversy about the proposed sale of an unused convent to an Islamic group on — guess who? — that autocratic, aloof, mean, clandestine archdiocese!

Sorry, editors, but the Archdiocese does not micromanage.  I trust our pastors, religious, and lay administrators to run the day-to-day details of our nearly 400 parishes, hundreds of schools, healthcare institutions, and charitable programs.

A decision to sell any parish property initially rests with the pastor of the parish, who should act in close concert with his parish and finance councils and must act in close concert with the parish trustees.   In the current case, the pastor concluded after prayerful reflection that the sale would not be in the best interests of his parish and recommended its withdrawal.

But, never mind all this.  The editors know better.  It’s the fault of that mean-old “archdiocese.”

You want another example?  For years, the pastor and people of St. Michael’s Parish have scraped, saved, and sweated to keep their excellent parish high school open.  Even though not one student in the school actually lived in the parish, the pastor and people fought to save their school, giving $400,000 annually to keep it going.

Finally, reluctantly, early in the spring, with only thirty new students enrolled for next school-year, the pastor and parishioners sadly decided they were out of money, and couldn’t do it anymore.  They asked “the archdiocese” to confirm their decision and, after being reassured that every girl could be welcomed at nearby St. Jean Baptiste High School, St. Vincent Ferrer High School, and Cathedral High School, at the same tuition, “the archdiocese” agreed that the good pastor had made the proper, albeit sorrowful, decision.

Who’s to blame?  The alumnae?  The pastor and parish?  Those who did not reply to frequent appeals for new students or donations?

Surprise, surprise!  The nasty, money-hungry, mean-old “archdiocese” is to blame, according to a source in another, this time, Irish newspaper.  See, this source explains, the property of the high school is valuable, so the stingy, money-grabbing, high-handed archdiocese has callously disregarded the kids to get the money.

Had anyone asked, “the archdiocese” would have let him or her know that there were no plans to sell the structure, and that, even if such happened, the money would stay at the parish, not the selfish “archdiocese,” according to Church law.

Experts in leadership style tell us that, as a matter of fact, the Catholic Church is probably the best example around of the principle of subsidiarity; namely, that a decision is best made at the level closest to the people who will have to live with the results.

To be sure, there have been, are, and will be instances where controversial decisions are made by “the archdiocese,” or by me as archbishop.  When that is the case, I’m not about to “pass-the-buck” and blame somebody else.

But, that’s not the case in the two tough situations mentioned above.

Who likes criticism?  Nobody.  But I figure it comes with the job, and have to face it when it’s legitimate.  That happens often enough.

But I don’t like seeing “the archdiocese” blamed for something not its fault.

It’s so easy, popular, juicy — and sells papers — to blame the “corrupt Vatican” and “money-hungry archdiocese.”

It’s just that it’s not accurate.

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Welcoming the Outsider

June 8th, 2010

Last week, I was on the steps of St. Patrick’s Cathedral with Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, Executive Vice President of the New York Board of Rabbis, who has become a good friend this last year.  The Rabbi and I were among other religious leaders in support of legislation proposed by Senator Jeff Klein to tighten the laws punishing those who would vandalize or deface a church, synagogue, or mosque.

Rabbi Potasnik related the story of the arrival of his Jewish grandparents decades ago.  The neighbors who welcomed them most warmly, he recalled, were the sisters at the local Catholic parish.  Without the warm embrace of those nuns, Rabbi Potasnik concluded, his grandparents would have felt excluded, isolated, and unwelcome in their new neighborhood.

Doesn’t surprise me at all.  The Catholic Church in America has a well-deserved reputation of hospitality to outsiders.  That is readily understandable, since we ourselves were (and sometimes still are) considered aliens and foreigners.  In the 1850’s, for instance, prominent American leaders such as Lyman Beecher and Samuel F. B. Morse warned society about hordes of Catholic immigrants from Ireland, Germany, the Italian Peninsula, and Poland.  These foreigners, Beecher, Morse, and company warned, were un-American, from a strange religion led by a fanatic in Rome, who wanted to impose their tyrannical beliefs on the United States, and even destroy  American democracy, by violence, if necessary.

We laugh at that caricature now, but it certainly made Catholics, at their best, embracing of newly-arrived immigrants and religious groups in our country and neighborhoods.

We Catholics are welcoming to the outsider, not only because of our own experience of sometimes being scorned in the past, but also because our faith teaches it.  As Pope John Paul II remarked during his visit to a mosque in Syria, “We are all members of the one human family, and, as believers, we have obligations to the common good, to justice, and to human solidarity.”  He and his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, even went-to-bat for the Islamic community in Rome in their yearnings to build the first mosque in Rome.

And we Catholics are hospitable to newcomers, not just because we faced hostility and closed-doors in the past, not only because our Church teaches this value, but because we are loyal Americans.  Our beloved country is predicated on religious freedom, toleration, and the innate dignity of every human person, regardless of race, ethnic background, or religion.  And we New Yorkers have been a sterling example of making genuine the words of hope held out by the Statue of Liberty.

This is hardly “pie-in-the-sky,” but very timely.  We now have controversy surrounding the hopes of our newly-arrived Islamic community to build a mosque downtown, and to purchase an empty convent on Staten Island as a center for study and community life.

Legitimate and understandable concerns about these two endeavors have arisen, and it is good these are being aired and discussed.  Please God, such airing and discussion will be done with charity and civility, and reach a peaceful resolution.

Yes, it is acceptable to ask questions about security, safety, the background and history of the groups hoping to build and buy.

What is not acceptable is to prejudge any group, or to let fear and bias trump the towering American (and for us Catholics, the religious) virtues of hospitality, welcome, and religious freedom.

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