The passing of Ed Cronin
** While you accurately captured the tribulations Professor Edward
J. Cronin '38 put us through with regard to our writing, what
he really taught us was how to read. One of the great
moments for me was the intellectual luxury of spending 75 minutes
dissecting four paragraphs, one of which was, of course, "the
greatest paragraph ever written." He told us once in class he
wanted his epitaph to read: "All his life a student, may he pass
his finals." I'm quite certain he has, colors flying.
Brian E. Bates '79, '86J.D.
Denver, Colorado
The other side of the page
** A liberal group forms its own newspaper, claiming The
Observer has a conservative bias. A conservative group forms
its own publication, claiming The Observer has a liberal
bias. Sounds to me like The Observer is doing something
right. Keep up the good work.
John O'Brien '92
Chicago
Code of conduct
** I was saddened but not surprised to read that Father Richard
McBrien will consult on the movie script of The DaVinci Code.
I suppose that someone with the temerity to criticize on national
television the late John Paul II during his funeral would
also find it acceptable to help write a script based on a book
that spreads falsehood about the Catholic Church and denies the
divinity of Jesus Christ.
Rosemary Bogdan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
We are informed, in your spring issue, that Father Richard McBrien,
the Crowley-O'Brien Professor of Theology, has been hired as a
consultant on the forthcoming Hollywood production of The
DaVinci Code, and that the book "airs a number of provocative
theories, including . . . that His (Jesus') divinity was fabricated
centuries after he lived. One would think, since our university
is "where the Catholic Church does its thinking" that you could
come up with a more accurate description of the DaVinci Code's
theories than "provocative." Say, for example, "heresy"? Or is
Our Lady's University so desperate for attention and acceptance
that such things as defending the Faith do not matter as much
anymore? I hope Father McBrien gets Tom Hanks' autograph.
James T. Brennan, '89
Bronx, New York
Dan Brown's ludicrous when measured theories cited in your news
column only emphasize the affinity that McBrien must have for
the project. The first -- that Christ was married to Mary Magdalene
-- is not a theory but a fantasy. The second -- that Christ''s
divinity was only claimed centuries after his death -- is demonstrably
contrary to historical fact. Producers of the movie couldn''t
have found a more appropriate theologian for their purposes. Congratulations
to McBrien for sliding into his proper niche!
Tom Riley '82M.A.
Napa California
It was sad to note that in your Notre Dame News recap you alluded
to DIOCESAN (not CSC) priest Richard McBrien has been HIRED to
consult on the script for the movie version of The DaVinci
Code, a fictional narrative about Christ's human frailties
that the Vatican strongly advocated against for serious Catholics.
As one of the most prominent papal antagonists in the nation,
McBrien compounds his criticisms of Vatican pronouncements at
every opportunity. This was validated with his recent jocular
statement on 60 Minutes, "the election for a new pope
is a nonevent." As a statement in Irish Rover revealed,
he rarely wears his Roman collar except for photo-ops or TV interviews.
The tragedy, the Catholic populace at large presume he speaks
for the official position of the Notre Dame hierarchy. How a sincere
Catholic can accept his self-serving mouthings is a puzzlement.
As a former priest in the Hartford, Connecticut,. diocese, it
would be interesting to see what kind of endorsement he would
get from the then adjoining bishop of the Bridgeport, Connecticut,
diocese, now the Cardinal Archbishop of New York. As the axiom
goes, "you're known by the company you keep." I think the administration
better return to basics in terms of what Catholic disciplines
Father Sorin intended as his tribute to Our Lady. Would you really
want McBrien to be the instructor in a theology course for one
of your kids/grandkids?
Conspicuously missing from your recap of "Domers in the Media"
is likely the most prominent of all: Arch Ward, sports editor
of the Chicago Tribune from early 1930s - late '50s.
He was Rockne's sports publicity director at ND. While at the
Tribune he also was responsible for creating the All-Star
Baseball game (then based on fan vote) and still in vogue today
but they players make the selection. He also created the College
All-Star football game in mid-30s wherein the best college stars
(again, by fan election) were pitted against the professional
(now NFL) champions. This game was later nixed after pro owners
did not want their draft picks subject to injury in the All-Star
game. Too, they moved up their summer practices to mid-July which
pre-empted a traditional early August game. It always sold out
Soldier's Field in Chicago. He also initiated boxing's Golden
Gloves amateur competition and Silver Skates.
You also omitted a former editor of Scholastic, David
Condon, who returned to ND in fall '43 after a discharge from
the Army with a health problem, subsequently worked for the sports
dept. of the South Bend Tribune for a short period before
being hired by the Chicago Tribune. He took over Arch
Ward's column "In the Wake of the News" in the mid-50s and continued
to write it on a daily basis for approximately 25 years. As Shakespeare
would intone, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
Bill Waddington '45
former sports editor, Scholastic
For sometime, I have wondered if Father Richard McBrien could
do anything that the Notre Dame Administration would consider
inappropriate. There have been numerous examples of Father McBrien's
criticism of the Church and the Holy Father both in print and
on television. As my wife reminded me, articulate dissident priests
are given a lot of face time on TV when Catholic issues are discussed.
The most recent example was during the funeral of Pope John Paul
II when Father McBrien was asked by a TV reporter is he was impressed
by the many millions who were in attendance. I don't recall his
exact response, but he essentially said that those millions in
attendance supported the Pope but how about the many other millions
who did not.
In your magazine you wrote that the producers of the scurrilous
(my words) Da Vinci Code, have hired Father McBrien to
consult on the script. So we can assume this movie will show Jesus
as probably married to St. Mary Magdalene ( I don't expect her
to be referred to as Saint in the movie, however). As the movie
ends and the credits are displayed, we can be sure that Father
Richard McBrien, Crowley-O'Brien Professor of Notre Dame, will
be included to demonstrate the stories authentically. Perhaps
as the credits are rolling we will hear a bit of the Victory March
as well.
So now I have an answer to my original query. There is nothing
that Father McBrien can do or say that the administration of Our
Lady's School would consider inappropriate and a source of embarrassment.
Robert A. Warwick
Plano, Texas
Bodies and souls
** The article "Lost Souls" by Jeffrey Hammond crystallized for
me what I have found puzzling about the pro-life movement's conceptualization
of a variety of life issues. Hammond writes about "the body-obsessed
nature of contemporary culture" and states, "Within a soul-less
culture, death is a failure." In the Terri Schiavo case, I could
not understand why biological life was the pro-life goal and why
death was considered a horrific outcome. For religious persons,
death would be the gateway to union with God. I would think salvation
would have priority over biological survival. My basic question:
Is biological life the ultimate religious value?
Mary Ann Lamanna '77
Omaha, Nebraska
The Genetics of Belief: New theory. Man not made in the image
of God. Rather, God's image made into man.
Lost Souls: "Nothing is, but thinking makes it so . . ."
Thanks for another wonderful issue. I cut out the articles on
football to share with the man who delivers oxygen for my wife.
He's an ND fan, but not a grad -- something of a rarity here in
Volunteer country.
Don Barkman '69
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Jeffery Hammond's "Lost Souls" addresses the key critical issue
of our time. We do not know who we are and therefore cannot choose
well to address our needs. However, an important distinction should
be made. We do not have a soul. We are the children of God, eternal
and love. We are souls. When we see our self and others this way,
as eternal children of God, the issues of today will be resolved.
Erik Larson '76
Great Neck, New York
Jeffrey Hammond, in "Lost Souls" astutely identifies many of
the ills of our society, but I have three bones to pick with him.
First, I don't find comfort in living a fiction, no matter how
much utility it has. Somehow it bothers my sense of integrity.
There are other ways of knowing than just the logical, empirical
method. I can show you only my physical body, but my experience
proves to me that I am far more than that. I personally find the
"dimension" of myself much more interesting than my physical body,
and that is plenty interesting. What need have I of a fiction?
Hammond offers some thought provoking definitions of soul.
Secondly, why the attack on alternative medicine and organics?
Perhaps Hammond was critiquing an extreme, as he did in other
sections of his article, but it did not seem so. It seemed a blanket
rejection of the "embrace" of alternative medicine and organic
foods. My doctor tells me I am clinical proof that some alternative
medicine works. I and my friends and family spend a large proportion
of our food dollars in health food stores. But I would never agree
with Hammond's statement, "Everything that ails us has a physical
origin and a physical remedy." Quite the contrary. I see the body
as an expression of the soul. If the soul is ill, that can be
reflected in the body. That said, some bodily ills are caused
by environmental or genetic factors. It makes sense to me that,
physically, our bodies are what we eat, and it further makes sense
to me that I can improve my health simply by eating foods that
promote health. I would suggest that Hammond dialogue with people
who frequent health food stores. I have even been told by a proprietor
of one (recognizing the limits of physical treatment) that I needed
to treat my soul more than my body. Surprising?
Finally, the sweeping conclusion that popular spirituality's
are "suspiciously easy" compared to traditional religion is unwarranted.
Both can be lived superficially. Having had a crisis of faith
during which I explored both, I can testify that neither is easy.
Self-esteem workshops are hard work. Traditional religion needs
updating in many areas and needs to be presented more accurately
from the pulpit. Many of the "popular" spirituality's challenge
traditional religion in this direction.
Thanks for input into the dialogue.
Cathryn Schiesser
Parent of an alumna
Genetics of disbelief?
Chet Raymo''s treatise on "The Genetics of Belief" espouses the
view that God isn't necessary, because evolution explains life.
It also suggests that scientists should be the high priests of
a new, enlightened, pantheistic religion. The latest discoveries
of astronomy and cosmology support the belief that the universe
was created. Advances in cell and molecular biology indicate the
presence of numerous biological systems that are irreducibly complex,
and thus not explainable by Darwinian mechanisms. Readers of Notre
Dame Magazine would do well to read, among many excellent
resources, Norman Giesler and Frank Turek''s I Don't Have
Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, Lee Strobel''s The Case
for the Creator, and Hugh Ross' works (see www.reasons.org).
Just because people don''t always follow what Jesus commanded
doesn''t mean that God doesn''t exist and that he didn't send
His son to save us.
Gary Giovino '74
East Aurora, New York
This is so disappointing. Your "Genetics of Belief" article
reads as though it should have come from the Atheist Annual rather
than a Notre Dame quarterly.
If the latter claims to be a voice of the University, it seems
to this reader that the school's primary goal continues to focus
on winning favor with the secular grade givers even at the expense
of keeping the faith. Or am I missing something?
What say you, Monk, Ted and/or other CSCs?
Rog Pfeifer '58
Glenden Beach, Oregon
In regard to Chet Raymo's article, "The Genetics of Belief, how
could anyone be other that somewhat skeptical of Geneticist Dean
Hamer's claims with regard to a god-gene, when Raymo himself qualifies
his own enthusiasm for Hamer's 'findings' by saying:
1) that Hamer's description of his book is "somewhat disingenuous";
2) that the title ad subtitle of Hamer's book (The God gene: How
faith is hardwired into our genes) is "somewhat misleading"; 3)
that Hamer's central thesis could be "frail."
If a scientist and his claims can be misleading, disingenuous,
and frail, all the more reason to question them, not only in the
name of science but in terms of the obvious limits of science.
It bears repeating: science is a method of inquiry, which by practice
and convention is limited to the measurable. But neither science
nor the scientist is ever in the position to demonstrate that
"Only the measurable is real". As long as man is not all-seeing,
and all-knowing, his theories will remain theories, incomplete
and open to challenge.
Also, doctor-novelist Walker Perry sounded a different note
when he observed it: "It dawned on me that no science or scientist
could address a single word to me as an individual but only as
such and such a type- the catch is that each of us is always and
inescapably an individual." Do you suppose this has something
to do with why we don't say "my genes believe in God," but rather
"I believe in God," or why we don't say "my brain loves you,"
but rather "I love you"? Could it be that there is something more
going on than striving protoplasm?
Kenneth A. Stier, Jr.
Great Neck, New York
Keenen Hall
As a former resident from 1971-1975, I enjoyed reading your portrait
of Keenan Hall and I congratulate the four residents whose significant
accomplishments you described.
But may I suggest another resident you could have included in
the section "They Lived There" who also met with a modicum of
success?
As a senior in the fall semester of 1974, I remember a freshmen
quarterback from western Pennsylvania who lived in Section 2 North.
His first 2-3 years on the team, I don't think he played a down.
In fact, his status on the football team was once described as
"sixth string" our of five quarterbacks. The only accolades he
received his freshman year was as a guard on Keenan's championship
interhall basketball team. But after four years of hard work,
personal sacrifice, a separated shoulder and a lot of perseverance,
he led the Fighting Irish to a National Championship in 1978.
After graduating in 1979, he was drafted by a professional football
team in San Francisco, California, and subsequently led them to
four Super Bowl victories, the most in the history of professional
football.
I believe his first name was "Joe." His last name sounded like
a state and began with a "M."
Lawrence Dailey '75
La Crescenta, California
(More letters to the editor)
(July 2005)
