Flag gift
A most important piece of information is missing from Kristin
Kramer's article ("The green of the Union"). The conservation
of the 63rd New York's Second Irish Colors and the
research for the book Blue for the Union and Green for Ireland
was made possible by a generous gift to the Archives from Jack
and Kay Gibbons of Dublin, Ohio (Notre Dame class of 1963 and
Saint Mary's class of 1962). Without their support, these projects
would never have been completed.
Wendy Clauson Schlereth
Notre Dame, IN
Levels of trust
John Cavadini's article "Levels of Trust" in the summer issue
was a very good and clear overview, I think, of the crisis in
the Catholic Church. I'm not sure how much I can add, but I share
my experience in the hope that it will provide some detail to
that view.
I was a Holy Cross priest for 10 years, from 1989 until 1999.
I left the priesthood and my community after a very long struggle.
I think I was a good priest and a good community member, but my
life had been too often a struggle with depression and loneliness.
I stayed a lot longer than I might have out of a sense of responsibility
and also gratitude toward the Church and Holy Cross. While I was
a priest and a member of a religious community, I was treated
with respect and compassion. I was cared for generously.
Now that I am not a priest I can see the other side. And the
fact that I chose to use that metaphor describes the problem for
me. There is a significant divide between those who are ordained
and those who are not. When I was a priest I could find community
among other priests, but that sense of community was often based
on a sense of separateness. Priests and religious were seen in
a special role that defined them over and against the common culture.
When I found myself out of community and no longer defined as
a priest, it became apparent to me that what I was longing for
was a wider and deeper sense of community. When I was a priest,
my concerns were not the concerns of my parishioners. When I was
a priest and a religious, I even found it difficult to relate
to the lives of my siblings, who were working to make a living,
involved in committed relationships and raising families. Difference
is not bad. It becomes negative when it divides people. I feel
a division in the Church that is not at all healthy -- nor necessary.
Many priests find great satisfaction in their work. Many religious
men find a deep and sustaining sense of brotherhood in community
with other men. My closest friends are priests who are struggling
to find a healthy balance between their work and their need for
community. Many of these men are gay. They know the value of a
celibate commitment and a life of generous service. But where
I looked most for community, I felt like an outsider. The church
is not gay or straight, ordained or lay, male or female. The Church
is all of these. Its ministers and its leadership ought to reflect
that diversity.
I value very much the ministry of celibate men. But I am afraid
of the divide that keeps a more diverse experience and wisdom
from enriching the whole Church. I want my Church to be a community
where religious priests, brothers, and sisters are respected and
listened too; where single men and women are respected and listened
to; and where married men and women are respected and listened
to. I want a church that supports a diversity of ministerial and
leadership styles, and that is in a constant state of dialogue
-- from the leadership to the people in the very back pews --
with the concerns and the issues that we share with the whole
world.
If I had felt more inclusiveness from the Church, a broader
acceptance of different roles, I may have been able to stay in
some ministerial role.
Jim Gunshinan, '81, '88MDiv.
Thank you for printing "Levels of trust, " by John C. Cavadini
in the Summer edition. It was an excellent article One sentence,
however, stood out as a piece of bad writing. "With some justice,
anti-Catholicism has been called the last acceptable public prejudice
in American society." This sounds rather Protestant, but I don't
think that is what Mr. Cavadini really means. Perhaps using 'justification'
for 'justice' would help. Personally, I would have written : "With
ample justification,... " The Catholic League has taken on the
job of pointing out current examples of anti-Catholicism and complaining
about it. They usually keep pretty busy, and lately have been
kept very busy!
And while I am at it, Cavadini later writes "..believing in
the church is like believing in Amtrak, as a friend of mine once
put it. It's just there." This is belief in the sense H. L. Mencken
expressed when someone asked him if he believed in infant baptism:
"Believe in it?! Hell, I've seen it with my own eyes!" With all
due respect to Mr. Cavadini and his friend, I suggest they employ
a different analogy. I do not think Amtrak will be with us always,
till the end of time.
Brian W. Donnelly, M. D. '81
Gibsonia, PA
Summer thoughts
The summer 2002 has been, perhaps, the issue I have enjoyed most
in the past several years, even with that horrible two-column
format you use in the front pages
I enjoyed my reunion week-end and I agree with Kerry Temple
about the serenity of the virtually empty campus. Sunday morning
I sat on a bench in front of the Main Building, savoring the sunshine,
the beauty and thoughts of college days long gone.
It was refreshing to note the magazine recognizing (for a change)
that athletics do, indeed, have a place at ND. The photos of athletes
juxtaposed with the Rockne niche figures were excellent (and politically
correct).
It was wryly amusing to note that among the "Fighting Irish
Legends" pictured on the back cover are two coaches who were hustled
off campus by disapproving administrators. Does time heal all
wounds?
It has always been difficult for alumni from my era to understand
the problem of alcohol on campus and the furor that accompanies
any suggestion of change (remember when kegs were banned?). A
strong administrator need just repeat Fr. Hesburgh's admonishment
to Vietnam war protestors on the front steps of the Main Building.
Problem solved immediately.
James E. Chestnut '57
Homewood, IL
Anti-Catholic
After perusing the Notre Dame Magazine for many years
now, I am mystified as to how Notre Dame continues to produce
holy graduates when the environment and faculty seem to be so
anti-Catholic. For example, consider the latest issue, summer
2002.
On pages 4-7, the article "Sobering Debate" chronicles widespread
drinking activities on campus, which strongly lead students away
from Christ. The article seems to approve of timid administrators,
a mistake that has lead to countless disasters in Catholic universities
in recent decades. In contrast, an example of fearless leadership
is Father Scanlon of Franciscan University of Steubenville, who,
in spite of all warnings of a university shut down by turned-off
students, instituted many reforms in line with true Catholic spirit.
To everyone's surprise, the university flourished under his leadership.
The explanation derives from Pope John Paul's favorite quote of
Christ: "Be not afraid."
On page 11, the article Losing in Style tells about
the antics of the Bookstore Basketball team Punky Brewster, which
appears to have totally adopted the MTV code of behavior and been
approved therefore by the Notre Dame Magazine.
Also, many in the faculty do not exhibit fidelity to the Body
of Christ. The Notre Dame Magazine article "Levels of
Trust," by the chairman of the theology department, is
an example. Chairman Cavadini is a dissenter, skilled in Dissent-ese
language. In Dissent-ese one promulgates a dissenting
message without being accountable for having done so. This is
accomplished by burying the message in a barrage of points of
view, preferably as a report of someone else's position. Often,
to provide further protection, the dissenter actually quotes the
magisterium but only as one of many other viewpoints considered
of equal value, so that the magisterium loses because a democratic
vote decides all issues, of course.
The message Chairman Cavadini wishes to promulgate in his article,
"Levels of Trust," is: the present crisis in the Church was not
related to homosexuality in the seminaries, but rather due to
the celibate priesthood not subject to the control of the laity.
Furthermore, the magisterium should change its teaching regarding
homosexuality.
Here is how Chairman Cavadini couched his above message in Dissent-ese.
On page 22 he states: "The married sexually active laity
are too distant, too invisible, of too little account to the closed
celibate brotherhood of those in power. It is precisely that distance
for which repentance and reform are required."
On page 21 he states: "Many of the cases of sexual misconduct
are by priests who are now in their 60s and 70s, priests who had
been formed in the sort of seminaries that conservatives
would like to see rejuvenated." The problem with this statement
is that seminaries were already in trouble 50 years ago, according
to our former pastor, Rev. Earl A. Gannon (now deceased, God rest
his soul). Father Gannon attributed this situation to a concerted
effort by the communists to infiltrate Catholic seminaries so
as to attack the institution that they considered to be their
greatest enemy, the Catholic Church.
On page 22 we find a paragraph saying in Dissent-ese, let's
change the magisterium on homosexuality: "In the minds of liberals,
basic church teaching on homosexuality and sexual issues in general
is called into question by the crisis. In the minds of conservatives,
on the other hand, it is precisely the opposite issue that is
raised, namely the way in which dissent on the sexual teachings
of the church has made it appear that sexually active gay lifestyles
can be morally acceptable. But these debates are older than the
current crisis and it has only exacerbated them rather than rendered
them clearer. It can be said with certainty, however, that the
moral teaching of the church on sexual matters needs the benefit
of more, rather than less, discussion." Excuse me, the chairman
of the religion department of Notre Dame University should espouse
the infallible magisterium of the Catholic Church as the unchangeable
starting rock foundation for further discussion. By the way, Chairman
Cavadini, have you signed the mandatum yet?
However, writing in Dissent-ese can be tricky. For example,
one risks direct self-contradiction. On page 22 we read: "Since
almost all of the cases of abuse of minors have involved abuse
of pre-pubescent boys or male adolescents, the question is bound
to arise. Is homosexual orientation the problem in itself, or
psychosexual immaturity?" While on page 23 we read: "among...the
1.8 percent of the diocesan clergy against whom sexual misconduct
has been credibly alleged, only one was a pedophile. The other
cases were all cases of sexual activity with post-pubescent boys
as old as 16-17 years old."
As in Notre Dame University, the seminary administrations must
not be too timid, and they must insist on fidelity to the magisterium.
As Father Richard John Neuhaus says: "Fidelity, Fidelity, Fidelity!"
Michael J. Gans '56
