Angelus News | March 1, 2019 | Vol. 4 No. 8

ANGELUS
SEEING THE VISITATION
A Renaissance treasure brings the
Gospel to the Getty
March 1, 2019 Vol. 4 No. 8

ON THE COVER
Jacopo da Pontormo’s “The Visitation” lay in obscurity for centuries in a
village church in Tuscany before anyone realized it was the work of an A-list
Renaissance artist. Recently restored to its original luster, the altarpiece has
left Italy for the first time to get the celebrity treatment it deserves at the
Getty Museum in Brentwood. On page 10, Stefano Rebeggiani reflects on how
the masterpiece doubles as a profound spiritual meditation that announces the
salvation of Jesus Christ — to anyone bothering to pay attention. On page
14, Angelus’ Heather King explains why traffic headaches notwithstanding,
the Pontormo exhibit is LA’s must-see museum trip of the year.
IMAGE: More than 300 people gathered for a book signing of “In the Face of
Darkness: The Heroic Life and Holy Death of Mother Luisita” at the
Carmelite Motherhouse in Alhambra Sunday, Feb. 17. Due to “inclement
weather,” attendees moved indoors to listen to excerpts read by the book’s
author, Sister Timothy Marie, OCD. They were also treated to dinner,
mariachi music, traditional Mexican sweets, and a showing of the film “For
Greater Glory,” which depicts the turbulent times in Mexico that Venerable
Mother Luisita fled before moving to Southern California. The book can be
purchased through Amazon, Sophia Press, or Barnes and Noble.
C
GETTY MUSEUM
CARMELITE SISTERS

Contents
Archbishop Gomez 3
A French relic’s well-timed visit to Los Angeles 16
World, Nation and Local News 4-6
Blessed John Newman, superstar pundit? 18
LA Catholic Events 7 Elise Harris: Signs of progress and resistance at Vatican abuse summit 22
Scott Hahn on Scripture 8 Kathryn Jean Lopez meets a sister who’s not afraid to talk about death 24
Father Rolheiser 9
Twisted ideals and true love at the Oscars 26
Robert Brennan: The battle in the trenches, 100 years later 28

ANGELUS
March 1, 2019 | Vol.4 • No.8
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POPE WATCH
Don’t pray like parrots
(Adapted from Pope Francis’ catechesis
on the Lord’s Prayer at the
general audience in the Paul VI Hall
at the Vatican on Wednesday, Feb. 20.)
The first step of every Christian
prayer is the entry into a mystery, that
of God’s paternity. We cannot pray
like parrots. Either you enter into the
mystery, in the awareness that God
is your Father, or you do not pray. If
I want to pray to God my Father, the
mystery begins.
To understand the measure to which
God is Father, let us think of the
figures of our parents, but to some extent
we have to “refine” them, purify
them.
None of us has had perfect parents,
no one; just as we, in turn, will never
be perfect parents or pastors. We all
have flaws, all of us. Our relations
of love are always lived in terms of
our limits and also of our selfishness;
therefore they are often contaminated
by desires to possess or manipulate
the other. For this reason, at times
declarations of love transform into
sentiments of anger and of hostility.
This is why, when we speak about
God as a “father,” while we think of
the image of our parents, especially
if they have loved us, but at the same
time we must go beyond. Because
God’s love is that of the Father “who is
in heaven,” according to the expres-
info@
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News
sion that Jesus invites us to use: it is
the total love that we in this life taste
only in an imperfect way.
How often we men love in such a
weak and intermittent way. We all
have the experience: we have loved
but then that love falls and/or becomes
weak.
Desiring to love, we then come up
against our limits, with the paucity of
our forces: incapable of maintaining
a promise that in the days of grace
seemed easy to fulfil. In the end, even
the apostle Peter was afraid and had
to flee. Peter was not faithful to Jesus’
love.
However, there exists another love,
that of the Father “who is in heaven.”
No one must doubt that they are the
recipient of this love.
If not even our father and mother
loved us – a historic hypothesis – there
is a God in heaven who loves us like
no one on this earth has ever done or
will ever be able to do.
So, do not be afraid! None of us is
alone. If even by misfortune your
earthly father were to forget about
you, and you resented him, the fundamental
experience of Christian faith
would not be denied to you: that of
knowing that you are a beloved son of
God, and that there is nothing in life
that can extinguish his impassioned
love for you.
Papal Prayer Intentions for March: That Christian communities, especially
those who are persecuted, feel that they are close to Christ and have their rights
respected.
@Angelus
News
www.la-archdiocese.org
@Angelus
News
2 • ANGELUS • March 1, 2019

NEW WORLD
OF FAITH
BY ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ H. GOMEZ
A Lenten return to Jesus
Again Lent is coming, and I have
been thinking about the words that we
hear year after year on Ash Wednesday:
“Remember, you are dust and to
dust you will return.”
We are earthly creatures, descended
from Adam and Eve, the first man and
woman, who the Bible tells us were
formed out of the dust of the earth.
But we are born to be children of
God, renewed in the image of Jesus
Christ, “the last Adam,” who came
down from heaven to show us the
face of God and the true image of our
humanity.
There is a great need in our times to
understand our existence in “supernatural”
or “heavenly” terms. We live
in a society run by mechanisms and
technologies, and our thinking tends
to become finite and earthbound,
determined by what we can see and
sense, confined to material things.
But human life is so much more.
There is a natural world and also a
spiritual world that is “above.” The
earthly is open to the heavenly, the
visible to the invisible.
In these 40 days of Lent, I want
to call us — myself first of all — to
deepen our sense of the mystery of
our lives in Christ. I want us to try to
go deeper in our personal conversion,
deeper into the heart of the Gospels
and the New Testament writings.
During these days of Lent, I want to
return to the figure of Jesus.
We need to reclaim the Incarnation
as the way and the truth for our
lives. We know that Jesus, the second
Person of the Blessed Trinity, became
human for our sake and for our
salvation.
But when we think about it, God
could have saved us in many ways.
Some spiritual writers say that just one
drop of Christ’s precious blood was all
it would have taken.
Instead, Jesus chose to enter into
this world and to live through the
moments of human life, from its
beginnings in a mother’s womb until
its ending when the body is laid in a
tomb.
By doing this, Jesus sanctified our
earthly existence, making it a pathway
to heaven. Because he humbled himself
to share in our humanity, we can
now share in his divinity through our
own humanity, through our ordinary
human lives.
Over and over in the Gospels, in
many different ways, Jesus said, “Follow
me.” His life is meant to be the
form and pattern of our lives.
Saint Paul said that we are called to
be “conformed to the image of his
Son.” The saints and great spiritual
writers remind us always of this truth:
Our heavenly Father wants to see Jesus
in each of his sons and daughters.
He wants to see the image of his only
begotten Son in you and in me.
Baptism restores us to the likeness of
God, which was lost in the original sin
of Adam and Eve.
But baptism is only the beginning,
the start of the road. Baptism is meant
to set our lives on a path of continual
reform in the image of Jesus Christ.
In the language of the New Testament
writers, he has left us an
example, calling us to follow in his
footsteps, calling us to be renewed
in the spirit of our minds, to put on
a new nature, to be changed into his
likeness.
In practical terms, that means
becoming more like Jesus in what we
think about and in what we desire, in
how we make decisions, and in how
we act. We are called to an interior
renewal that expresses itself in a new
attitude and direction for our lives.
How do we do that? We begin by
reflecting and praying about the life of
Jesus. So, that is what I want to try to
do in my columns during Lent.
I want to reflect on important aspects
of our Lord’s human personality and
how we can learn from his humility,
his tender mercy and forgiveness, his
zeal for souls, his loving service of
others, his work of friendship, his way
of prayer, and his love expressed as
self-sacrifice.
We cannot change the world or
change our lives in 40 days, but we
can make a good beginning. So let
us make this Lent a time of growing
deeper in our friendship with Jesus,
reforming our lives by conforming our
lives more closely to his.
As we begin this holy season of
reform and renewal, pray for me. And
I will be praying for you.
And let us walk this Lent also with
our Blessed Mother Mary. Her last recorded
words in Scripture were at the
wedding feast of Cana, when she said,
“Do whatever he tells you.” Through
her intercession, may we take her
words to heart and reform our lives
after the image of her Son.
To read more columns by Archbishop José H. Gomez or to subscribe, visit www.angelusnews.com.
March 1, 2019 • ANGELUS • 3

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/EDGARD GARRIDO, REUTERS
WORLD
A PLEA FOR HELP — A group of Venezuelans pray along a street on the outskirts of Cucuta,
Colombia, on the Colombian-Venezuelan border Feb. 21. Venezuela has refused to let
Colombia send in aid to Venezuelans facing food shortages, hyperinflation, and crime. Tens
of thousands have fled to Colombia.
Faith under fire in France
A string of attacks on
Jewish and Catholic sacred
sites have believers
in France on edge.
Since the beginning
of February, at least 10
incidents of vandalism
and desecration
of Catholic churches
were reported, in which
statues were smashed,
altar cloths burned, and
the Eucharist destroyed
or desecrated.
Thousands attend a gathering in Paris Feb. 19 to protest the
Bishop Robert Wattebled
of Nimes called one
rise of anti-Semitic attacks.
such act of desecration in a church “an act of profanation” and requested
that Masses of reparation must be said before regular Masses can begin
again in his diocese.
On Feb. 18, about 80 tombs at a Jewish cemetery in the Alsace region
were defaced with swastikas, days after two teens were arrested for shooting
an air gun at a synagogue outside of Paris. Police in Paris reported an
increase in anti-Semitic graffiti.
The French government reports that anti-Semitic incidents in France rose
74 percent in 2018 compared to 2017.
“Anti-Semitism is spreading like a poison,” said Interior Minister Christophe
Castaner, according to The Wall Street Journal.
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE PHOTO/PHILIPPE WOJAZER, REUTERS
A plagiarizing priest?
It turns out plagiarism isn’t just
done by students — sometimes,
it’s done by priests.
Father Thomas Rosica, CSB,
has received criticism after a Feb.
15 LifeSite News article reported
that the Vatican spokesman
plagiarized significantly over the
past decade.
Many of his writings and speeches
were found to include significant
portions of unattributed
quotations from New York Times
book critic Michiko Kakutani,
and longtime Vatican journalists
John Thavis and John Allen Jr.,
among others.
The Canadian priest apologized
for the plagiarism, saying that he
relied too much on interns and
“compiled notes,” but claims that
it was accidental and not malicious.
Rosica is the CEO of Salt+Light
Television network and an English-language
aide at the Vatican
Press Office.
Students safe but
school’s canceled
St. Augustine’s College in Kumbo,
Cameroon, agreed to close
down in return for the safety of
176 people, most of whom were
students.
Gunmen entered the school’s
campus on Feb. 16, kidnapping
170 students, three staff and three
children. After a day of negotiations,
all hostages were freed
and parents were alerted that the
school was closing down.
Bishop George Nkup confirmed
to BBC Afrique that the Church
had agreed to shutter the school
in return for the release of the
hostages.
“If the army had intervened,
there would have been death,”
Nkup said.
4 • ANGELUS • March 1, 2019

NATION
Sandmann sues Post
Covington Catholic’s Nicholas Sandmann is
taking the Washington Post to court.
The high school student was the eye of a
social media storm in January after a viral
video was reported to have shown Sandmann
disrespecting a Native American activist on
the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The story
was, in part, swept along by journalists who
reported on the incident before a longer video
largely exonerated the student of his purported
actions.
Sandmann’s parents, Ted and Julie, have
filed a suit against the Post on their son’s
behalf, claiming $250 million of damages for
seven stories the suit claims were false and
defamatory and for contributing to the cyber
assault and cyberbullying that surrounded the
viral video.
Part of the goal of the lawsuit, according to
the elder Sandmanns’ complaint, is to “teach
the Post a lesson it will never forget.”
New York Times challenged
on gay priests article
A New York Times article alleging a majority
of Catholic priests live in a “cage” regarding
their sexuality raised some eyebrows in the
Catholic Twittersphere.
The Feb. 17 story by writer Elizabeth Dias
interviewed several U.S. Catholic priests
describing their struggles with celibacy, samesex
orientation, and alleged homophobia in
the Church. The article, which relied in part
on anonymous sources, described the priesthood
as “a closet that is trapping thousands of
men.”
In a widely shared Twitter thread, Father
Thomas Petri, OP, slammed the unburdening
of such troubles on the people of God as an
example of clericalism.
“I have no patience for priests who ‘come
out’ as gay and insist the priesthood is some
sort of cage,” tweeted Petri, a theology professor
at the Dominican House of Studies in
Washington, D.C.
“Nobody forced you to become a priest. The
faithful don’t need to deal with your issues,
pal. They don’t deserve to deal with any of
our issues. We serve them. Period.”
UNPLANNED
GOODBYE, CAPTAIN — An American flag is lifted from the casket of U.S. Navy
Capt. Rosemary Mariner at St. Joseph Church in Norris, Tennessee, before
her funeral Mass Feb. 2. Mariner was the first female aviator to fly a military
tactical jet and the first to command an operational aviation squadron. In
retirement, she led a Scripture study group at a rural Knoxville parish. She
died Jan. 24 at age 65 after a five-year battle with ovarian cancer.
An unplanned rating
Abby Johnson, left, on the set of “Unplanned” with
actress Ashley Bratcher, who plays her.
The soon-to-bereleased
pro-life
film “Unplanned”
has been rated R
for “some disturbing/bloody
images”
by the Motion
Picture Association
of America
(MPAA).
The MPAA said
that a PG-13
rating (which was
widely expected)
could not be given
unless all scenes of abortions are removed or changed, according
to the Hollywood Reporter.
Some have pointed out the irony of giving the movie an R
rating.
“I’m 15,” tweeted Chloe Kilano, “I can’t go see @Unplanned-
Movie without parental consent, but where I live, I can get an
abortion without parental consent. If you don’t see the problem
with that, then you’re a part of it.”
The filmmakers, however, see that the rating could actually
be a win for the pro-life movement: “Unplanned is an R-rated
film which has no MPAA cautions for profanity, nudity, sex,
or violence — except for violence directly associated with the
abortion process. Ironically, the MPAA seems to be indirectly
endorsing the pro-life position: namely that abortion is an act of
violence,” they told MovieGuide.org.
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/STEPHANIE RICKER, DIOCESE OF KNOXVILLE
March 1, 2019 • ANGELUS • 5

LOCAL
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS OJAI
A THOMIST AT HOME — Bishop Robert E. Barron gives the homily Saturday, Feb. 23, at a Mass celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding
of St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Ojai. The Mass, presided by Archbishop José H. Gomez, was celebrated exactly 100 years to the day since
Bishop John J. Cantwell dedicated the original smaller church in 1919 that was replaced by the larger existing church built in 1963.
New state bill targets confessional
A newly proposed state bill would force priests to
break the seal of confession in cases of child abuse and
neglect.
In introducing State Bill 350, Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San
Mateo, said that the current exception to mandatory
reporting laws for priests during a penitential communication
“only protects the abuser and places children
at further risk.
“The law should apply equally to all professionals
who have been designated as mandated reporters of
these crimes — with no exceptions, period,” Hill said
Feb. 20.
A similar proposal was made last year in Australia,
where Catholic bishops have fought back, arguing that
such a law would make perpetrators less likely to face
the evil of their crime and turn themselves in.
“If you knew what had been said in every confession
in history, you’d be no closer to solving the child abuse
crisis,” Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher told Crux’s
John Allen last year.
A “PRIVILEGE” ON PILGRIMAGE — Archbishop José H. Gomez
touches the reliquary containing the incorrupt heart of Saint
John Vianney, patron saint of parish priests, during 10 a.m. Mass
Sunday, Feb. 24, at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. The
cathedral was one of several places where faithful venerated the
relic during its weeklong visit to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
More details on the visit on page 16.
VICTOR ALEMÁN
6 • ANGELUS • March 1, 2019

LA Catholic Events
Items for the Calendar of events are due two weeks prior to the date of the event. They may be mailed to Angelus News (Attn: Calendar), 3424 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90010-2241;
emailed to calendar@angelusnews.com; or faxed to (213) 637-6360. All calendar items must include the name, date, time and address of the event, plus a phone number for additional information.
Sat., March 2
Men’s Conference: The Battle for Integrity. 507 N.
Granada Ave. Alhambra, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. The task of
every man is to learn to fight for his integrity and realize
the mission entrusted to him by the Lord. Register
online at sacredheartretreathouse.com, email
sjcprogcoordinator@carmelitesistersocd.com, or call
626-289-1353, ext. 203.
“Healing the Family Tree: Praying for Our Loved
Ones, Living and Deceased.” Incarnation Church
Community Center, 214 W. Fairview Ave., Glendale,
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Bishop David O’Connell, Father Michael
Barry, SSCC and Dominic Berardino will discuss
topics including “Healing the Harmful Effects of
Ancestral Sin” and “Breaking Bondages over Generations.”
Cost: $25/person. Bring sack lunch or eat at
restaurants. Contact SCRC at 818-771-1361 or email
spirit@scrc.org.
Lights! Camera! Action! How can Catholics hold to
faith in a media-saturated culture? Pauline Books &
Media, 3908 Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City, 10 a.m.-
3:30 p.m. Retreat led by Father Richard Leonard, SJ,
author, speaker, and director of the Australian Catholic
Office for Film & Broadcasting. Donation: $30/
person, includes lunch. RSVP to 310-397-8676 or
email culvercity@paulinemedia.com.
40 Days for Life Spring Campaign Commencement
Mass. Mission San Buenaventura, 211 E. Main St.,
Ventura, 5:30 p.m. Celebrant: Father Tom Elewaut.
Email annamurf@verizon.net to learn more.
Open House at Thomas Aquinas College. 10000
Ojai Rd., Santa Paula. Event is open to prospective
students, parents, teachers, youth ministers, pastors,
and anyone else interested in TAC’s unique program
of Catholic liberal education. Day begins at 9:45
a.m. with coffee and donuts, brief talk from President
Michael F. McLean, campus tour, and classroom
demonstrations. Lunch and refreshments included.
RSVP at https://thomasaquinas.edu/admission/openhouse-rsvp.
Cabrini Literary Guild 2019 Annual Fundraiser. Oakmont
Country Club, 3100 Country Club Dr., Glendale,
11 a.m.-4 p.m. Afternoon of lunch, casino games,
and gift drawing opportunities. RSVP to Miryam at
213-863-4086 or email villamirylou@gmail.com.
Men’s Conference – The Battle for Integrity. 507
N. Alhambra Rd., Alhambra, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Are you
looking to build your faith life and grow in the virtue
of integrity? This conference will fill your soul with the
zeal and enthusiasm to strengthen you and help you
bring others to Christ. Dr. Anthony Lilles, a Catholic
theologian and dynamic speaker, will lead this day
with the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart
to aid you in your faith journey. Call 626-289-1353,
ext. 203. Register at sacredheartretreathouse.com/
events/mens-conference or email
sjcprogcoordinator@carmelitesistersocd.com.
Foster Care and Adopt Information Meeting. Andrew’s
Plaza, 11335 West Magnolia Blvd., Ste. 2C,
North Hollywood, or Children’s Bureau, 1529 East
Palmdale Blvd., Ste. 210, Palmdale, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
Discover if you have the willingness, ability, and resources
to take on the challenge of helping a child
in need. RSVP or learn more at 213-342-0162 or
toll free at 800-730-3933, or email RFrecruitment@
all4kids.org.
Sun., March 3
St. Joseph’s Table by Italian Catholic Club of SCV. Our
Lady of Perpetual Help Church hall, 23233 Lyons Ave.,
Santa Clarita, 12:30-6 p.m. Free plate of spaghetti and
rolls will be given to all guests. Baked goods donations
welcome. Call Anna Riggs at 661-645-7877, email
italians@iccscv.org or visit iccscv.org.
Mon., March 4
Catechesis for Adults and Youth. St. John the Evangelist
Church, 6028 S. Victoria Ave., Los Angeles.
What does it mean to have an adult faith? A series of
catecheses introducing the Neocatechumenal Way,
an itinerary of Christian formation, every Monday
and Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Our Lady of Guadalupe
chapel. Free babysitting available. For more information,
call Esteban Hernandez at 310-706-1203.
Tues., March 5
Shrove Tuesday Luncheon. St. John Fisher Women’s
Council, Barrett Hall, 5448 Crest Rd., Rancho Palos
Verdes. Refreshments at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. speaker:
Father Kevin Kostelnik. Topic: “Our Christian Life and
Dying — Training Ground for all Saints.” Lunch at 12
p.m. Cost: $25/person. RSVP to parish office at 310-
377-5571 by Sun., March 3. Call Bernie Maynard at
310-541-1826 to learn more.
Thur., March 7
Ministry of Consolation: San Pedro Pastoral Region.
St. Bartholomew Church, 262 Granada Ave., Long
Beach, 7-9 p.m. English trainings will be held on
Thursday evenings March 7-May 16. Cost: $15/session.
Email ehernandez@la-archdiocese.org for more
information. Register at http://store.la-archdiocese.
org/ministry-of-consolation-training-2.
The University Series Speaker Series. Multi-parish,
Catholic adult education program during the season
of Lent will begin Thur., March 7 and end Fri., April
12. Thirteen parishes within Ventura County and San
Fernando Valley are offering 88 presentations. Five
parishes within the greater Whittier and Bellflower areas
are offering 72 presentations. Times vary by date
and location. For more information, visit www.theuniversityseries.org
or call 805-496-0222, ext. 119.
Fri., March 8
Lenten Speaker Series. Pastoral Center, 6024 Terrace
Dr., Los Angeles. Parking entrance next to
church building, St. Ignatius of Loyola Church, 322 N.
Ave. 61, Los Angeles, 7 p.m. Catholic speaker David
Bates will give a Lenten presentation entitled: “Life in
Christ, Not simply improvement but Transformation.”
For more information, call 323-256-3041.
St. Clare’s Lenten Fish Fry. 19606 Calla Way, Canyon
Country, 4:30-8 p.m. Beer-battered Alaskan cod,
coleslaw, choice of fries, rice pilaf, or beans. Fish tacos
available. Dine in or take out. Cost: $10/2-piece
dinner, $11/3-piece. Call 661-252-3353 or visit
www.st-clare.org.
Sat., March 9
Lector Ministry Renewal. Old Mission Santa Ines,
1760 Mission Dr., Solvang, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Cost: $15/person. Register at http://store.la-archdiocese.org/lector-ministry-renewal-3919.
A Lenten Morning of Ignatian Prayer. Mary & Joseph
Retreat Center, 5300 Crest Rd., Rancho Palos
Verdes, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Guided contemplation, time
for reflection and review of prayer, sharing, free, quiet
prayer time, group Lectio Divina. Cost: $20/person
and includes lunch ($25/person after March 1). Call
Marlene Velazquez at 310-377-4867, ext. 234.
Foster Care and Adopt Information Meeting. Children’s
Bureau’s Carson Office, 460 East Carson Plaza
Dr., Ste. 102, Carson, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. Discover if you
have the willingness, ability, and resources to take on
the challenge of helping a child in need. RSVP or learn
more at 213-342-0162 or toll free at 800-730-3933,
or email RFrecruitment@all4kids.org.
This Week at AngelusNews.com
Visit AngelusNews.com for these stories
and more. Your source for complete,
up-to-the-minute coverage of local news,
sports and events in Catholic L.A.
• Kathryn Jean Lopez reflects on hummus, iced coffee, and true Christian charity.
• Ruben Navarrette has some ideas about America’s real drug problems.
• Spring sports: Get ready to root for your favorite Catholic schools!
March 1, 2019 • ANGELUS • 7

SUNDAY
READINGS
BY SCOTT HAHN
Sir. 27:4–7 / Ps. 92:2–3, 13–16 / 1 Cor. 15:54–58 / Lk. 6:39–45
In today’s readings we hear
Jesus speaking in Galilee as
well as a Jewish sage named
Sirach writing in Jerusalem
more than a century earlier.
The two of them touch
upon a single truth: The
words that come out of us
make known the hidden
thoughts within us. Speech
reveals the secrets of the
heart.
Sirach teaches that speaking
is “the test of men” and
their character (Sirach 27:7).
One who is upright will utter
words that are truthful and
encouraging to others. But
one whose heart is cluttered
with “refuse” will be exposed,
since the “fruit” of his mouth
speaks volumes about the
“tree” that produces it (Sirach
27:6).
Sirach also compares the
testing of our words to clay
fired in a kiln — if properly
prepared, a useful vessel emerges;
but if the clay is not fully dried, it
will break apart in the extreme heat
(Sirach 27:5).
In a similar way, Jesus insists that a
person speaks “out of the abundance
of the heart” (Luke 6:45). He, too,
compares our speech, whether good
or bad, to what grows on a tree: “For
no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again
does a bad tree bear good fruit” (Luke
6:43).
Both readings urge us to make
wholesome speech a habit. After all,
much about who we are is brought to
light through what we say. But there’s
an additional step: The Lord is asking
“The Parable of the Mote and the Beam,” by Domenico
Fetti (Italian, Rome [?] 1591/92–1623 Venice), circa 1619.
us to look inward, to examine our
hearts and fill them with the “good
treasure” that God desires.
Why do purity of heart and speech
matter so much? Because, as Jesus
declares elsewhere: “…by your words
you will be justified, and by your
words you will be condemned” (Matthew
12:37). They matter because
they help to decide our final judgment,
and this is where the Second
Reading comes in.
Paul reminds us that God will
destroy death forever, and if we are to
share in this victory and live forever
with the Lord, then we must take all
steps necessary to give our hearts and
lips to what is good.
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
Scott Hahn is founder of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, stpaulcenter.com.
8 • ANGELUS • March 1, 2019

IN EXILE
BY FATHER RONALD ROLHEISER, OMI
An honorable defeat
In 1970, the famed British writer,
Iris Murdoch, wrote a novel titled “A
Fairly Honorable Defeat.” The story
had numerous characters, both good
and bad, but ultimately took its title
from the travails of one character,
Tallis Browne, who represents all that
is decent, altruistic, and moral among
the various characters.
Despite being betrayed by most
everyone, he stays the course in terms
of himself never betraying trust. But
the story does not end well for him.
On the basis of his seeming defeat,
Murdoch poses the question: Where’s
justice? Where’s fairness? Shouldn’t
goodness triumph? Murdoch, an
agnostic, suggests that in reality a good
life doesn’t always make for the triumph
of goodness. However, if goodness
sustains itself and does not betray
itself, its defeat will be honorable.
So, for her, what you want to avoid is
a dishonorable defeat, meaning: Defeat
you will face, your goodness notwithstanding.
Sometimes you cannot
save the world or even the situation.
But you can save your own integrity
and bring that moral component to
the world and to the situation, and
by doing that you preserve your own
dignity. You went down in defeat, but
in honor. Goodness then will not have
suffered a dishonorable defeat.
That’s a beautiful stoicism, and if you
aren’t a believer it’s about as wise a
counsel as there is: Be true to yourself!
Don’t betray who and what you are,
even if you find yourself as unanimity-minus-one.
However, Christianity,
while respecting this kind of stoicism,
places the question of victory and
defeat into a very different perspective.
Inside our Christian faith, defeat and
victory are radically redefined. We
speak, for instance, of the victory of the
cross, of the day Jesus died as “Good”
Friday, of the transforming power of
humiliation, and of how we gain our
lives by losing them.
Earthly defeat, for us, can still be
victory, just as earthly victory can be a
sad defeat.
Indeed, in a Christian perspective,
without even considering the next life,
sometimes our defeats and humiliations
are what allows depth and richer
life to flow into us, and sometimes our
victories rob us of the very things that
bring us community, intimacy, and
happiness. The paschal mystery radically
redefines both defeat and victory.
But this understanding doesn’t come
easily. It’s the antithesis of cultural
wisdom. Indeed, it didn’t even come
easy for Jesus’ contemporaries.
After Jesus died in the most humiliating
way a person could die at that
time, by being crucified, the first
Christians had a massive struggle with
both the fact that he died and with the
manner in which he died.
First, for them, if Jesus was the Messiah,
he wasn’t supposed to die at all.
Moreover, as a creedal doctrine, they
believed that death was the result of
sin and, thus, if someone did not sin,
he or she was not supposed to die. But
Jesus had died.
Finally was the humiliating manner
of his death. Crucifixion was designed
by the Romans not just as capital
punishment but as a manner of death
that totally and publicly humiliated
the person’s body.
Jesus died a most humiliating death.
No one called Good Friday “good”
during the first days and years following
his death. However, given his
resurrection, they intuited without
explicitly understanding it, that Jesus’
defeat in the crucifixion was the ultimate
triumph and that the categories
that make for victory and defeat were
now forever different.
For several years after the Resurrection,
Christians were reluctant to
mention the manner of Jesus’ death.
It was a defeat in the eyes of the world
and they were at loss to explain it. So
they remained mostly silent about it.
St. Paul’s conversion and his subsequent
insights changed this. As
someone who was raised in the Jewish
faith, Paul also struggled with explaining
how a humiliating defeat in this
world could be, in fact, a victory.
However, after his conversion to
Christianity he eventually understood
how goodness could take on sin and
even “become sin itself” for our sake.
That radically flipped our conceptions
of defeat and victory.
The cross was now seen as the ultimate
victory and, instead of the humiliation
of the cross being a source
of shame, it now became the crown
jewel: “I preach nothing but the cross
of Christ.” That gave us the passion
narratives.
We live in a world that, mostly, still
defines defeat and victory in terms of
who gets to be on top.
There will be plenty of defeats in
our lives, and if they lack a Christian
perspective then the best we can do is
to take Murdoch’s advice to heart: Realistically,
goodness will not triumph,
so try to avoid a dishonorable defeat.
Our Christian faith, while honoring
that truth, challenges us to something
more.
Oblate of Mary Immaculate Father Ronald Rolheiser is a spiritual writer, www.ronrolheiser.com.
March 1, 2019 • ANGELUS • 9

“Visitation,” by Jacopo da Pontormo, about 1520.
© ANTONIO QUATTRONE, FLORENCE/GETTY
10 • ANGELUS • March 1, 2019

THE ESSENCE OF A
MIRACLE
Plucked from a quiet village church in Italy, Jacopo da
Pontormo’s Renaissance treasure visits its cousin at the Getty
BY STEFANO REBEGGIANI / ANGELUS
© ANTONIO QUATTRONE, FLORENCE/GETTY
true, Prince, that
you once said: ‘It is
“Is it
beauty that will save
the world?’ ” Dostoyevsky’s
famous quote from “The
Idiot” naturally comes to
mind as one stares at Jacopo
da Pontormo’s “Visitation,”
one of the most visionary
paintings from the Italian
Renaissance.
The “Visitation’s” extraordinary
features seem
perfectly designed to convey
the essence of a miracle, an
extraordinary event manifesting
the appearance of the
divine within the threads of
ordinary life.
The altarpiece represents
the encounter between St.
Elizabeth and the Virgin
Mary recounted in the
Gospels. Mary reaches out
tenderly to embrace her older relative. The two women
lock eyes and share in the extraordinary event of their
pregnancies.
Elizabeth, who may be as old as 80, is pregnant with John
the Baptist. In the Gospel, the child exults in his mother’s
womb as he senses the presence of Jesus.
The “Visitation” has never traveled outside of Italy before,
having been for most of its life kept in the Church of Car-
“Portrait of a Halberdier” (Francesco Guardi?), by Pontormo, 1528–1530.
mignano, a small village
just a few miles outside of
Florence.
Pontormo’s “Visitation”
has now crossed the
ocean to join its artistic
cousin (and one of the
Getty’s most precious
possessions), Pontormo’s
“Portrait of a Halberdier,”
for a focused exhibit centering
on the legacy of this
famously unconventional
Renaissance artist titled
“Pontormo: Miraculous
Encounters,” which began
Feb. 2 and continues until
April 28.
A disciple of Andrea
del Sarto, admired by
Michelangelo and hailed
by Raphael as one of the
most promising talents of
his generation, Pontormo
was known for being a solitary, almost reclusive man.
His art is permeated by deep religious reflection. Davide
Gasparotto, the Getty’s senior curator of paintings and a
co-organizer of the exhibit, defines him as “one of the greatest
painters and draughtsmen who ever lived,” a judgment
that was shared by many of Pontormo’s contemporaries.
Besides the “Visitation” and the “Portrait of a Halberdier,”
the exhibit features another portrait of a man in military garb
THE J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM , LOS ANGELES
March 1, 2019 • ANGELUS • 11

“Portrait of a Young Man in a Red Cap” (Carlo Neroni), by
Pontormo, 1530.
SHEPHERD CONSERVATION, LONDON
“Deposition of Christ,” by Pontormo, 1525-1528, his best known painting, which is not in
the exhibit. The self-portrait, at right, can be seen at far right in the “Deposition of Christ”
painting, in which Pontormo imagines himself in the role of Nicodemus. Pontormo’s “Self Portrait,” about 1526–1528.
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
© ROBERTO PALERMO
by Pontormo (“Portrait of a Young Man in a Red Cap”) and
four drawings. Three of these are studies for the “Halberdier,”
the “Visitation,” and the soldier portrait.
The fourth is a self-portrait, a study for Pontormo’s masterpiece,
the “Deposition of Christ,” in which the painter
imagined himself in the role of Nicodemus, a disciple of
Jesus — a sculptor, according to medieval and Renaissance
traditions, who took care of the Savior’s dead body.
Three more pieces complete the exhibition. An engraving
by Albrecht Dürer (whose figural composition seems to have
influenced Pontormo’s “Visitation”), an edition of Giorgio
Vasari’s biography of Pontormo (from his “Lives of the Artists”),
and “Pygmalion,” a magnificent painting by Pontormo’s
foremost student and pupil, Agnolo Bronzino.
In Renaissance Florence, no respectable woman would
have been allowed outdoors without an attendant. Pontormo
follows in the tradition of depicting Mary and Elizabeth
each accompanied by a handmaid, but innovates in the
“Visitation” by having the two servants stare straight into
the spectator’s eye, as if to invite the viewer to share in the
miraculous event.
The four figures’ faces and eyes line up in a seemingly
straight line, while the positioning of their feet is nearly
rectangular.
The two maids are roughly of the same age as their ladies,
and they resemble them. Mary’s handmaid is dressed in hot
12 • ANGELUS • March 1, 2019

Close-up of the “Visitation.”
pink, the same color as Mary’s headband. Elizabeth’s veil is
in the same color as the one worn by her attendant.
The effect is that the figures seem to appear from multiple
perspectives, as if Mary and Elizabeth had turned toward
the viewer themselves. The
divine look of Mary thus
seems to repose on the
viewer precisely as it reposes
on Elizabeth.
Although the painting is
permeated with an atmosphere
of joy, the “Visitation”
was completed at a time of
great crisis. From 1529 to
1530, Florence was besieged
by the forces of the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire,
who wished to abolish the newly established republican
government and return the city to the control of the Medici
family.
It is no coincidence that the other portraits exhibited in the
show, painted in the same years as the “Visitation,” depict
young men at arms: As the “Visitation” was being created,
young Florentine nobles were busy defending their newly
acquired freedom against the power of the Medici.
In Pontormo’s “Visitation,” God is quite literally in the details.
Following the tradition of Giotto di Bondone and early
Florentine masters (and unlike the account of the Gospels),
© ANTONIO QUATTRONE, FLORENCE/GETTY
the scene of Mary and Elizabeth’s encounter is set outdoors.
And unlike in earlier paintings of Pontormo’s time, the
buildings in the background look very little like a village in
Judaea and very much like Renaissance Florence.
Look at the lower left side of the painting. Two gentlemen
are sitting idly outside (one seems to be drinking, the other
holds his hat). They are dressed like men from Pontormo’s
time. Just above the two men, a woman is hanging clothes
from a window, a scene of everyday life in Florence.
Beyond the two tiny figures a donkey is seen peering from
behind a wall, about to turn the corner and enter the frame.
“Fear not, O daughter of Zion; Behold, your king is
coming, sitting on the foal of a donkey,” recites the biblical
prophecy of Zechariah. Mary traditionally rides a donkey
on her journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem; Jesus sits on a
donkey at the time of his momentous entrance into Jerusalem,
the day of his consecration as Messiah and a prelude to
his crucifixion.
In Pontormo’s view, the “Visitation” is not a fairy tale, nor
is it merely the commemoration of an event that took place
centuries ago: Salvation is still happening now. Humanity is
still being visited now. The immense compassion of God has
not ceased to be; the divine is still entering our world to draw
life from barren wombs.
This is why Elizabeth is made to look so much older than
in other paintings of this subject. Her impossibly old age emphasizes
the extraordinary power of God. The look of Mary
still mediates the divine power of her Son, communicating
life to those who are unable to give life, love to those whose
hearts are made of stone.
The “Visitation” is the moment in which the incarnation
brings its first fruits. According to tradition, John the Baptist
was cleansed of original sin at the moment he felt the approaching
presence of the Messiah.
But the
Divine enters
“In Pontormo’s view, the ‘Visitation’ is not a
fairy tale, nor is it merely the commemoration
of an event that took place centuries ago:
Salvation is still happening now.”
the world
disguised under
ordinary
features. The
Savior does
not come
riding a horse
or a chariot
of fire, but
on the back of a donkey. His incarnation will surprisingly
appear through the poverty of the human nature, so much
so that his miraculous epiphanies can easily be missed. The
tiny men in the left corner are not looking at the scene in
the foreground.
His self-portrait in the Getty exhibit, a preparatory sketch
for the “Deposition of Christ,” shows us a man not merely
contemplating, but sharing in the suffering of Christ. In the
“Deposition,” Pontormo included himself in the supreme
act of Christ’s earthly mission, precisely as the “Visitation”
invites viewers to join in the joy for the always current event
of his incarnation.
March 1, 2019 • ANGELUS • 13

THE CRUX
BY HEATHER KING
TO STAND BEFORE THE
‘VISITATION’
If there is one museum exhibit to see this year, I cast my
vote for “Pontormo: Miraculous Encounters,” at the
Getty. Its centerpiece is an exquisite rendering of the
“Visitation.”
The Saturday I went traffic was horrible, getting into the
Getty lot and finding a space took almost half an hour, and
rather than stand for God knows how long more in the TSAstyle
security line through which visitors now have to pass
simply to get on the tram, I opted to walk up the hill.
En route, I thought about how the whole experience of
getting to our beloved Getty is a microcosm of our lives
as Angelenos: the car, the beauty crossed with hardship,
frustration, hope, and if we’re lucky, gratitude.
I thought of the “Visitation’s” backstory: how the angel
Gabriel “overshadowed” the Virgin Mary, her question —
“But how can this be?” — her sublime yes. Pregnant with
Christ, she’d set out on foot, traversing “the hill country” to
visit her aged cousin Elizabeth who, way past childbearing
age, at the time was also miraculously pregnant.
To know the backstory is to know that Elizabeth was
bearing into the world John the Baptist, who would say of
Christ, “He must increase, and I must decrease,” who would
be a voice crying out in the wilderness, and who would be
beheaded in prison at the behest of a harlot and her mother.
It’s to know that Christ, upon hearing the news of John’s
death, would go to “a lonely place” to pray, and that his
public ministry was beginning, and how it would end.
But before that, it’s to thrill to Elizabeth’s greeting to her
beloved cousin as she glimpsed her coming over the hills:
14 • ANGELUS • March 1, 2019

“Hail Mary, full of
grace, the Lord is
with thee.” So dear to
the Catholic mind,
heart, and soul is the
encounter that we’ve
enshrined it as the
Second Joyful Mystery
of the rosary.
Prior to viewing
the exhibit, I’d
opted to take in
a talk: “Tradition
and Innovation
in Florentine
Painting: Pontormo’s
Visitation.”
Lecturer Bruce
Edelstein,
Coordinator of
Graduate Programs
and Advanced
Research at NYU
Florence, has a Ph.D.
from Harvard, lives
in the apparently
fabulous Villa La
Pietra, and spoke
with great fluidity and
erudition, nonstop,
without notes, for
almost an hour and
a half.
Here I learned that
Jacopo da Pontormo
was a “superstar” in his day and that his “Visitation” (circa
1528-1529) was designed as an altarpiece. I learned about
Venetian politics, painting, and art criticism during the
period in question.
“Small but precious,” Edelstein accurately observed of the
exhibit, which includes Pontormo’s preparatory drawings,
two of his more exceptional portraits, and smaller works
from several of his contemporaries.
But it was for the “Visitation” I’d come.
And it did not disappoint.
To be steeped in the Gospels is to gaze upon the painting
and to strain, along with Mary and Elizabeth, toward
fulfilling the mission of every follower of Christ: to greet, to
welcome, to bear into the world new life and new love.
The notion of “pregnancy,” suggested by the general
fullness of their figures, evokes a universe ever laboring to
bring forth fruit. The chalky blues, greens, and pinks of their
billowing robes evoke the liminal space between heaven and
earth. Mary grips Elizabeth’s shoulders as if to say, “Help me
out here, trusted elder.”
Elizabeth returns the gaze with profound wisdom and
Preparatory drawing for the “Visitation,” about 1528–1529.
infinitely tender
concern. Delicate
gold haloes encircle
the heads of the saints
who, the viewer grasps
at once, are about to
sit down for a long,
long chat.
How lucky for us
that the painting
found its way here; a
city, unlike Florence,
starved for sacred art,
and where the work is
sure to find an ardent
reception.
And how wonderful
of the Getty to give
the work pride of
place. It’s beautifully
positioned and lit,
glowing from within,
guaranteed to draw
every eye upward.
All the way down
the hill I thought
about how Pontormo’s
painting, on loan
from a church outside
Florence, had flown
across the sea to visit
us, and how we, LA
residents and tourists
alike, had undergone
our own minor kind of hardship to visit it.
Getting out of the Getty parking lot was even worse than
getting in, but I didn’t even mind. Traffic was backed up to
get on the 101, so I decided to take the long way home and
continue up the 405.
Around Roscoe, I looked to my left and saw a sunset of
liquid fire, a stab of stunning, heart-stopping beauty.
Spontaneously, alone in my car, I burst out, “My soul
proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in
God my savior, for He has looked with favor on His lowly
servant. / From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is His
Name. …”
That of course is the Magnificat, Mary’s reply to Elizabeth’s
well-known greeting: “Hail … full of grace.” Immortalized
in Luke’s Gospel, integral to our prayer life and liturgy, the
passage is sung the world over by all who pray the Divine
Office each evening at Vespers.
I feel sure Pontormo knew the Magnificat by heart, too. For
every brush stroke in his “Visitation” sings with its glory, its
light, its fullness, its mystery; its bowing before the Master on
bended knee, its yearning, overflowing love.
Heather King is a blogger, speaker and the author of several books.
© ROBERTO PALERMO
March 1, 2019 • ANGELUS • 15

A heart
reawakening
In a weeklong stop in LA, a
first-class relic of Saint John
Vianney gave Catholics a
special opportunity to pray for
the Church and her ministers
BY PABLO KAY / ANGELUS
In the few moments she spent up-close and personal
with the incorrupt heart of Saint John Vianney during
its visit to St. Elisabeth of Hungary Church in Van Nuys
Feb. 22, Milagros “Lally” Guiao only asked the legendary
saint for one thing: “Give us holy priests.”
There were plenty of other things Guiao could have asked
the French saint’s intercession for during the relic’s only
stop in the San Fernando Valley during its Feb. 20-26 tour
through several parishes of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
But as the reawakening clergy abuse crisis continues to
afflict the Church, Guiao and her husband, Rey, a deacon
at Our Lady of Peace Church in North Hills, believe the
relic’s visit could not have come at a better time.
“Becoming a priest at this time in our Church is not easy;
there are a lot of challenges and difficulties,” said Deacon
Guiao, who noted that Vianney himself suffered and faced
persecution during his life.
“We want our priests to remain faithful to their vocations,
to continue to encourage and strengthen the parish and the
flock that they were given,” added the deacon.
The Los Angeles visit was part of a six-month tour by the
PABLO KAY
Students from St. John Chrysostom School in Inglewood (above) and
St. Elisabeth of Hungary School in Van Nuys (bottom left) venerated the
relic after Mass.
“Heart of a Priest” throughout the U.S. sponsored by the
Knights of Columbus, whose members stand guard over the
relic in shifts at all hours during its public exposition.
The relic arrived at St. Elisabeth as it has at dozens of parishes,
seminaries, and even conferences around the country
in the past few months: encased in a shiny reliquary with a
pair of kneelers that allow the faithful to take turns venerating
it from inches away.
The incorrupt heart is perhaps the most visual — and enduring
— piece of evidence pointing to Vianney’s holiness
and sainthood.
In 1909, 50 years after Vianney’s death, his body was
exhumed and inexplicably found not to have decayed.
Soon after, his heart was placed in a separate container and
has been venerated with his body in Ars, France, the town
where Vianney ministered as a parish priest for 40 years
until his death in 1859.
It seemed that wherever the relic went, the trying times in
the Catholic Church were on everyone’s minds — and in
their prayers.
A day before the relic’s visit to St. Elisabeth, it spent a day
at St. John Chrysostom Church in Inglewood, where veneration
kicked off with an 8 a.m. Mass attended by students
from the parish school.
In his homily, associate pastor Father Anthony Garcias
explained to the children the significance of the golden
reliquary’s contents, while connecting the day’s first reading
(about the covenant made by God to Noah after the flood)
PABLO KAY
16 • ANGELUS • March 1, 2019

Father Albert Avenido, administrator of St. Kateri Tekakwitha Church in Santa Clarita, looks on as mother and child venerate the heart of
Saint John Vianney.
EVAN HOLGUIN
to the need for renewal in the Church.
“God wants renewal not by wiping out things, but by
renewing us, by changing us from within,” said Garcias in
an interview with Angelus News afterward.
Calling the relic’s visit to his parish “a great privilege,” Garcias
said that as a young priest, he was especially inspired by
Vianney’s example of patience while hearing confessions for
hours on end, which he believes will also be needed for renewal
in the Church in the face of confusion and scandal.
“Reform in the Church is going to be necessarily a slow
process, and we’ll need a lot of patience for that, to not try
to rush things according to our desires and our timetable,
but according to God’s time and his desires,” Garcias said.
As a longtime devotee to Vianney, Barbara Sterbentz
said she could not afford to miss the relic’s visit to St.
John Chrysostom, the stop closest to her home in Orange
County. So she and two friends woke up early to brave the
rush-hour traffic from Huntington Beach together.
“I love how he loved his parish, and he sacrificed so much,
and converted so many souls,” said Sterbentz after the Mass.
The relic also visited the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels,
where Archbishop José H. Gomez celebrated Sunday
Mass Feb. 24 in its presence.
“In the presence of the heart of this holy priest, Saint
John Vianney, let us pray that God will keep renewing his
Church and grant us more holy priests and more holy bishops,”
said Archbishop Gomez in his homily.
The next day, the relic got its biggest reception of the LA
tour at its namesake parish, St. John Vianney Church in
Hacienda Heights. Thousands participated in a candlelight
vigil and procession, followed by a Taize prayer service and
time for quiet veneration.
The person who has perhaps spent the most time with the
relic in recent months is Evan Holguin, a native of Santa
Clarita who works for the Knights of Columbus at their
Connecticut headquarters.
As the relic’s custodian during some of the tour’s most
recent legs, Holguin has traveled between states across the
country — Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, to name a few —
sometimes taking the relic with him as carry-on luggage on
planes, other times as his passenger during drives between
veneration sites.
“It’s not something everyone can say that they’ve been able
to do,” remarked Holguin, who is also a contributing writer
to Angelus.
For Holguin, his job has meant sitting in church pews for
sometimes up to 14 hours in a day while faithful participate
in liturgies or quiet devotion.
“Learning how to spend that time well, and prayerfully,
is difficult,” admitted Holguin, who made sure the LA visit
included a stop at his home parish of St. Kateri Tekakwitha
Church in Santa Clarita Feb. 20. “But I’m certain that
Saint John Vianney is praying that I get better at it by the
end of this pilgrimage.”
Pablo Kay is the editor of Angelus.
March 1, 2019 • ANGELUS • 17

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/COURTESY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OF ENGLAND AND WALES
Patron saint of the doxxed?
The new saint-to-be John Henry Newman faced down
the social media of his day — and prevailed
BY MIKE AQUILINA / ANGELUS
Portrait of Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman, one of the great intellectual minds of the church in the 19th century.
18 • ANGELUS • March 1, 2019

The announcement came
at noon, Rome time, on
Feb. 13. And within hours
American social media were
alive with celebratory memes, ranging
in tone from the inspirational to the
absurd.
Pope Francis had authorized a
decree confirming a miracle given
through the intercession of Blessed
Cardinal John Henry Newman. This
cleared the way for Newman to be
canonized a saint.
Since his name is Newman, he was
inevitably paired, on social media,
with the character of the same name
from the 1990s sitcom “Seinfeld.”
In a way, the association was silly.
Newman was a shy and cerebral man
known for his formal courtesy. His life
was rich in meaning to the degree that
“Seinfeld” was intentionally meaningless.
In another way, however, it was
entirely appropriate, for Newman was,
in his own day, a media celebrity — a
superstar pundit.
Born in London, England, in 1801,
he had a religiously indifferent childhood,
but at 15 underwent a powerful
experience of conversion. He adopted
the Protestant Calvinism then typical
of the evangelical wing of the Anglican
Church.
He pursued studies at Oxford and entered
Anglican ministry. He enjoyed
reading the writings of the early Christians,
who showed him a Church that
was more hierarchical, sacramental,
and dogmatic than any Protestant
church he knew.
Eventually, his researches in early
Christianity led him to question the
legitimacy of contemporary Anglican
practices. He was not alone in raising
such questions. With other sympathetic
clergy, he began to bring concerns
before the reading public. These men
became known, collectively, as the
Oxford Movement.
They could not have chosen a better
moment for their public critique.
Newsprint was the emerging
social medium in Newman’s
day. Newspapers and magazines
were flourishing in England,
and literacy was on the rise. Religious
publications were enjoying especially
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/COURTESY OF THE FATHERS OF THE BIRMINGHAM ORATORY
Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman in 1860
or 1861.
rapid growth, and many people were
fiercely loyal to the periodicals they
found most agreeable to their opinions.
Newman benefited from this, as he
and his colleagues published their
opinions in widely circulated tracts.
They were so closely identified with
their medium that they were popularly
called “Tractarians.”
But social media, then as now,
have a tendency to consume their
own. As the leader of a controversial
movement, Newman was exposed
constantly to public opposition, some
of it reasonably argued, but much of
it coarse. He would later complain
about “the misrepresentations and
slanders with which the father of lies
floods the popular mind.”
There was, he noted, a ready market
for the most vicious content. “Alas!
there is no calumny too gross for
the credulity of our countrymen, no
imputation on us so monstrous which
they will not drink up greedily like
water.”
Newman was a man of powerful
intellect and learning that was broad
and deep. He was also a master of
rhetoric and prose style. His arguments
were effective, and so they
infuriated the opponents whom they
did not persuade. He was, for many
decades, the recipient of insults and
accusations in the papers and magazines.
In 1846 he became a Roman
Catholic, and many of his colleagues
and students soon followed him. This
turned some of his old friends into
opponents, and many of his old opponents
into outright enemies.
At the time, Roman Catholics were
a minority in England and had only
recently been “emancipated.” Until
1829 their rights were severely restricted.
They were excluded from government
positions, and they suffered from
prejudice in the courts.
Even after the anti-Catholic laws
were lifted, much bigotry remained.
Catholics could be casually insulted
in the media, and Newman, as a
famous convert, often was.
In 1864 a prominent Anglican
clergyman, Charles Kingsley, made a
passing swipe at Newman, charging:
“Father Newman informs us that truth
for its own sake need not be, and on
the whole ought not to be, a virtue of
the Roman clergy.”
Newman challenged him to show
proof — any proof at all — to support
such an accusation. Kingsley
could not, but continued to mock
Newman anyway, to the delight of his
anti-Catholic readers. He was, Newman
observed, capitalizing on the
bigotry of the populace — “making a
cheap reputation by smart hits at safe
objects.”
Every jab by Kingsley drew a rejoinder
from Newman, some of them
lengthy and published as tracts. These
escalated until Newman wrote the
book that many consider his masterpiece,
his autobiographical “Apologia
pro Vita Sua” (“A Defense of One’s
Life”).
Kingsley had overplayed his hand.
Dr. Ryan Marr, director of the National
Institute for Newman Studies
(NINS), told Angelus News: “The
‘Apologia’ is a classic of spiritual
autobiography, like Thomas Merton’s
“Seven Storey Mountain.” Most
would place it just below St. Augustine’s
‘Confessions’.”
March 1, 2019 • ANGELUS • 19

Getting a Handle on Newman
Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman famously said, “To live is to
change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.” It is true of every
life, but eminently of his own. He lived almost 90 years, moving in his
sympathies from evangelical to “high church” Anglican to Roman Catholic
— and his years as a Catholic were hardly static.
His collected works run to more than 30 volumes, including works of
philosophy, history, sermons, fiction, and poetry.
How to get a handle on such a life?
One way is “The Oxford Handbook of John Henry Newman,” a 604-page
omnibus of contributions by 27 Newman scholars from around the world.
Divided into four parts, the book considers
his historical context, his influences, his
themes, and his ongoing significance.
Every chapter is a fascinating “deep dive”
into one important aspect of Newman’s
life — his literary style, for example, or the
influence of the Church Fathers, or his
place in the “print culture” of his time.
His most common themes were topics
that divided Anglicans from Roman
Catholics: Marian doctrine, the structure
of the Church, and the idea of justification;
and each disputed area gets its own
chapter-long intensive study.
Since Newman’s conversion turned on
questions of authority, Dr. Ryan Marr’s
chapter on infallibility is especially
helpful. Newman lived in a time of fierce
debate over the question. He was a new Catholic, but already an intellectual
leader.
In the years leading up to the First Vatican Council — and continuing in
the years afterward — he “changed often” in his opinions on the matter.
But his changes charted an organic development.
He had to allay the fears of his Protestant countrymen, who feared that
infallibility made Catholics potentially disloyal as British subjects. After all,
what if the pope commanded them to rise up against the monarch?
But Newman also sought to temper the enthusiasms of “ultramontane”
Catholics, who wished the pope’s maximal authority to extend beyond
doctrinal matters, even into practical politics. His opinions on infallibility
were often misunderstood and misconstrued by controversialists. But he
managed to forecast the Council’s decision rather exactly.
The scholarly contributors to the “Handbook” approach Newman from a
variety of religious perspectives, both Protestant and Catholic. It is interesting
to see Newman’s continuing influence among Anglicans.
At $150, the “Oxford Handbook” falls beyond the budget of people merely
curious about Newman. For them, the best introduction is Ian Ker’s “John
Henry Newman: A Biography,” which is also published by Oxford University
Press.
Many who begin with the biography, however, will want to know more
— and the “Oxford Handbook” is the handiest guide to the wide world of
Newman’s achievement as well as the subsequent study of his life.
SHUTTERSTOCK
— Mike Aquilina
Newman’s book-length response
proved to be a lasting and powerfully
effective argument for conversion to
Catholicism.
Newman was a private man,
ordinarily averse to speaking
about himself. But he was
also a public intellectual, and he
knew that his personal reputation
affected the reputation of the Catholic
Church in his country. It was his
duty to respond, and his response was
definitive.
Kingsley never responded, but he
stopped trolling Newman.
On yet another occasion, Newman
suffered when some of his private
letters were leaked to the press. Passages
were wrenched from the context of
a long correspondence and misused
by two groups who were arguing with
each other over papal infallibility.
Newman endured the worst of what
the media of his time could put him
through. He didn’t enjoy it, and he
admitted that it rattled him.
In later life he confessed “a considerable
temptation to despise and to
be angry with various persons who
are engaging in this matter — as very
shallow, as not knowing the English
language — as not looking at the drift
and context of what I wrote, but as
taking my isolated words to comment
on.”
Marr believes these qualities and
experiences will make Newman
an especially effective patron saint
for our own day. “Those who have
experienced unjust attacks on social
media,” he said, “can take encouragement
from the fact that one of
the great Catholic theologians of the
19th century — and a truly holy man
— endured similar volleys against his
reputation in the media contexts of
his own day.”
In addition to directing NINS, which
is in Pittsburgh, Marr is an editor of
the “Newman Studies Journal” and
author of a book about Newman’s theology
of the Church, “To Be Perfect
Is to Have Changed Often” (Rowman
& Littlefield, 2018, $85). He also
contributed to the magisterial “Oxford
Handbook of John Henry Newman”
(Oxford University Press, 2018, $150).
“As our society has become more
20 • ANGELUS • March 1, 2019

COURTESY DR. RYAN MARR
Dr. Ryan Marr
secular,” Marr observed, “it has
paradoxically become more stringent
in its policing of public speech and
what counts as acceptable thought.
The ghost of liberal Protestant social
mores has not so much disappeared
as migrated into the lives of America’s
upper-middle class.
“Meanwhile, social media provide
new and efficient ways of policing
violations of the code of political
correctness.”
He noted that “lives can be quickly
ruined” by “doxxing,” the leaking
of personal information about an
individual “who — in the judgment
of the doxxers — has transgressed the
boundaries of permissible opinion.”
Still, he added, God brings great
good out of apparent ruin. Newman’s
masterpiece was written as a response
to Kingsley’s harassment. The same
kind of good can come about in the
lives of those who are abused on social
media today.
Newman, Marr proposed, “might
come to be held up as the patron saint
of those who have been doxxed or
otherwise ruined on social media.”
Mike Aquilina is a contributing editor
to Angelus News and the author of
many books, including “Take Five:
Meditations with John Henry Newman,”
co-authored with Father Juan
Velez.
March 1, 2019 • ANGELUS • 21

SIGNS OF
PROGRESS
While the Vatican’s summit on
sexual abuse did little to move
forward new policies, it marked a
clear shift in attitude toward a
universal problem
BY ELISE HARRIS / ANGELUS
Though no sweeping reforms or changes in policy
came out of Pope Francis’ Feb. 21-24 summit on
“The Protection of Minors in the Church,” one
thing supporters say the gathering did yield has
been a sore point for years in the abuse crisis: a shift in
attitude recognizing it as a global problem.
Speaking at a Feb. 25 press conference hosted by the
International Union of Superiors General on their participation
in the summit, Sister Veronica Openibo of Nigeria,
one of just three women tapped to speak at the summit,
said she felt “that there were people, bishops, cardinals,
who did not believe in some of the things I was saying.”
Noting how she focused largely on the sexual abuse of
minors by clergy and religious since it was the discussion
topic for last week’s gathering, Openibo said some bishops
from Africa in particular felt there were “more important”
issues to discuss, such as slave labor, trafficking, and sex
tourism.
Irish Sister Pat Marie, who also participated in the gathering,
said she had a similar experience at the beginning of
last week’s discussion.
At first, she said there was “a certain resistance by some
saying this is not a problem in my part of the world,” but
later added that she was “very impressed by the willingness
to learn and the willingness to move” shown by the bishops
who participated.
Since the clerical sexual abuse scandals erupted some
three decades ago, they’ve at times been pegged as a
primarily “American” or “Western” problem by Church
leaders in countries where the crisis has yet to erupt.
Cracking down has been met with a certain level of resistance
by prelates in regions such as Africa or Asia, or even
in Italy, who see the problem as secondary in comparison
to other, more pressing issues.
However, if there is one take-away from the summit, it
was that making sure each of the 190 participants — the
majority of whom were from Africa — understood that the
problem of clerical abuse is a universal one.
During Friday’s morning session, Cardinal Oswald Gracias
of Mumbai, India, a member of the pope’s council of
cardinals and one of four members of the summit’s organizing
committee, said, “No bishop may say to himself, ‘This
problem of abuse in the Church does not concern me,
because things are different in my part of the world.’ ”
“This, brothers and sisters, is just not true,” he said.
Acknowledging that “we in leadership roles did not do
enough,” Gracias said the “entire Church must take an
honest look [and] act decisively to prevent abuse from occurring
in the future, and to do whatever possible to foster
healing for victims.”
22 • ANGELUS • March 1, 2019

Nigerian Sister Veronica Openibo, congregational
leader of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, Cardinal
Blase J. Cupich of Chicago, Pope Francis and Jesuit
Father Federico Lombardi attend the third day of the
meeting on “The Protection of Minors in the Church”
at the Vatican Feb. 22.
Similarly, Openibo in her own speech reinforced the idea,
saying she has heard “many Africans and Asians say that
this is not our issue in countries in Africa and Asia.”
“It is a problem in Europe, the Americas, Canada, and
Australia,” she said, adding that other problems in the
region such as poverty, illness, war, and violence, “does not
mean that the area of sexual abuse should be downplayed
or ignored. …The Church has to be proactive in facing it.”
Prelates did not mince words, vocalizing the Church’s
failures to properly address the abuse crisis and calling for
the “humility” to recognize these errors and to repent.
In his closing Mass homily, Archbishop Mark Coleridge
of Brisbane, Australia, said the Church’s leaders have not
always shown God’s mercy to victims of sexual abuse.
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/VATICAN MEDIA
“We have preferred instead the indifference of the man of
earth and the desire to protect the Church’s reputation and
even our own. We have shown too little mercy, and therefore
we will receive the same, because the measure we
give will be the measure we receive in return. We will not
go unpunished, as David says, and we have already known
punishment,” he said.
Survivors themselves had a mixed reaction to the summit,
with some praising the event itself as a step in the right direction,
and others voicing the opinion that the discussion
fell short of “zero tolerance.”
Discussion inside the summit touched on defrocking
priests accused of abuse and publishing the names of
priests accused of abuse, which were brought up both
by Francis in his 21 points and by Maltese Archbishop
Charles Scicluna, a leading authority in the protection of
minors in the Catholic Church.
Neither were in favor of publishing the names of all accused
clergy, arguing that for an allegation to go public, it
must be found to be “credible” or “substantiated.”
There was also insistence from several prelates that once
a priest is found guilty of abuse, “laicizing” or “defrocking”
them is not always the right answer, especially when the
abuser is older with no one to care for him and is no longer
a harm to society.
Some advocacy groups have expressed disappointment
with the outcome, with an Italian network saying that
rather than “zero tolerance” the summit delivered “zero
credibility,” and an American watchdog group lamenting
what it called “oddly negligible results.”
The Italian group Rete L’abuso, the country’s lone network
for abuse survivors, pulled no punches, dispatching a
statement on Sunday with the headline, “Credibility zero.”
“The summit called by Pope Francis ended with a hole
in the water,” it said, using an Italian expression to mean
“useless” and “futile.”
“It responded to the world with a banality and intellectual
misery that humiliates victims and offends Catholics,” it
said.
However, Chilean survivor Juan Carlos Cruz was more
optimistic, at one point praising Francis’ efforts to amend
the Chilean abuse crisis, which last spring prompted all the
country’s bishops to submit their resignations, and voiced
hope for the outcome of the summit, which he sees as a
positive step forward.
Rather than welcoming the meek personalities unlikely to
challenge the Vatican on an issue, the invited participants
who were present are generally known to be more critical,
showing that the Vatican might finally be ready to build
more formal bridges with the survivor community.
So while organizers of the summit in advance warned that
expectations should not be set too high, and while critics
would certainly argue that more ought to be done, there
were at least some signs of progress, and for the first global
gathering on the abuse issue, leaving with a universal
recognition that it is in fact everyone’s problem is not the
worst place to close the discussion.
Elise Harris is the senior correspondent for Crux in Rome.
March 1, 2019 • ANGELUS • 23

Salvation
through the skull
A Pauline sister turns an eerie
Twitter trend into the perfect Lenten
reflection on death and mortality
BY KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ / ANGELUS
Sister Theresa Aletheia
Noble, FSP, with a copy of
“Remember Your Death:
Memento Mori Journal.”
IMAGES VIA FACEBOOK
Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble, FSP, is with the
Daughters of St. Paul — the sisters with the bookstores.
She’s a Boston-based editor for their Pauline
Books and Media. She’s active on Twitter, most
frequently seen using the “#mementomori” hashtag, trying
to help people focus on our eternal destination on a more
daily basis.
Lent is the most obvious time for this, ushered in as it is
with Ash Wednesday, and remembering our weakness and
the inescapable truth of our mortality.
And for Lent, Sister Theresa has a devotional to help. She
also has a journal that can help you chronicle your prayer,
a good way to review and revisit what Jesus is doing in your
soul. Be generous with your time with God and there will
be fruit, there will be spiritual progress, which will make a
difference in your lives and your encounters with others.
She talked about the journal, Lent, death, and more in
an interview with Angelus News. While the following has
been edited for brevity, you can find the complete interview
at AngelusNews.com.
Kathryn Jean Lopez: What gave you the idea for the
journal?
Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble, FSP: Both projects, “Remember
Your Death: Memento Mori Journal” and “Remember
Your Death: Memento Mori Lenten Devotional,”
evolved out of my own journey of remembering my death.
So many people were responding to my tweets about
24 • ANGELUS • March 1, 2019

“memento mori” (“remember that you must die”) that I
realized that this was an opportunity to help people to live
this practice more concretely. People were buying skulls
for their desks and reading my tweets, but I wanted to help
them really integrate this practice into their lives.
Our sisters, The Daughters of St. Paul, work with modern
media. At the time of our founding, modern media was
books, so we continue to publish books. I brainstormed
with my sisters and we came up with a journal with an
introduction to “memento mori,” lined pages with quotes,
and an appendix of prayers.
Each page in the journal has a quote that is drawn from
my tweets as well as quotes from the saints, Church Fathers,
and Scripture.
The journal is a short catechesis of sorts that lays out how
Christians are called to view death. It also provides the
space for [people] to actually write down their thoughts
and their journey with the thought of death.
Lopez: What exactly should people be doing with it?
Sister Theresa Aletheia: The journal can be used as a
companion to the “Lenten Devotional,” which contains
journaling prompts. It can also be used to journal about
the journey of meditation on death, any anxiety and fear
one is experiencing, or as a prayer journal. It can be used
as an examen journal, in which a person reviews the day in
the light of Christ and asks for grace for the next day.
The quotes on each page can be used as a writing prompt
or just something to inspire meditation. Ultimately, the
journal is meant to prompt a person to really “chew on”
the idea of death, not just think about it for a moment and
then repress it, as most of us do.
death that brings people to a deeper understanding of the
Easter message.
Each day contains a reflection that I wrote based on the
liturgy of the day for all of Lent, Holy Week, and Easter
day. The devotional also includes a “memento mori” examen
or review of the day, a daily moment of intercessory
prayer, and daily reflections on death from the tradition,
including the Church Fathers and many of the saints.
I also wrote prompts for journaling that can be used along
with the journal. The Lent devotional is really a treasure
trove of more extended meditations on death in the Christian
context, and it provides a powerful way for people to
meditate on their own mortality and the incredible gift of
salvation.
Lopez: What do you think Pope Benedict XVI means by
this: “To die, in fact, is part of life and not only of its end,
but, if we pay attention, of every instant”?
Sister Theresa Aletheia: I think Pope Benedict XVI is
paraphrasing St. Augustine, who wrote several similar
things, including, “One begins to die as soon as one begins
to live.”
This thought has been reiterated throughout salvation
history. Death is a part of life. We die every moment that
we live. We can ignore this fact. Or we can face it. But we
can only live authentically when we face it.
Kathryn Jean Lopez is a contributing editor to Angelus,
and editor-at-large of National Review Online.
Lopez: How can a daily examen make a difference in life?
Sister Theresa Aletheia: The examen is a review of the
day in light of God’s love and mercy. St. Ignatius of Loyola
promoted the use of the examen to offer God praise and
gratitude, identify areas of weakness in which God’s
help is needed, and to ask for grace for the future.
This valuable spiritual practice has been encouraged
in the Church for centuries because it is a
concrete help to holiness.
The examen is a perfect way to incorporate
“memento mori” into daily life, since making
an examen already implicitly evaluates the
day in view of heaven. In the “Lenten Devotional,”
I wrote an examen that people can
pray that explicitly incorporates “memento
mori” as a step so that one can review the
day in the context of death and one’s final
moments.
Lopez: How will the “Memento Mori Lenten
Devotional” help people?
Sister Theresa Aletheia: For me, meditation
on death brings out the true meaning of the
Gospel like nothing else I have ever experienced.
The “Memento Mori Lenten Devotional” is a
guided walk through Lent by way of meditation on
March 1, 2019 • ANGELUS • 25

KEVIN WINTER/GETTY IMAGES
The cast and crew of “Green Book” accept the Best Picture award during the 91st Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre Feb. 24.
Twisted ideals on show
This year’s Oscars showed that Hollywood has
almost forgotten about true love — but not quite
BY SOPHIA BUONO / ANGELUS
Red-carpet ceremonies often
serve as platforms for social
commentary and rallying
cries for the dominant
cultural movements. Last year at the
Golden Globes, for instance, a host
of Hollywood women wore black to
demonstrate solidarity with Time’s Up
and the #MeToo movement.
And although coordinated outfits
did not appear at the 91st Academy
Awards last Sunday, the ceremony had
plenty of moments that highlighted
the ideals to which popular American
culture currently aspires.
Not surprisingly, several of those ideals
poorly reflected authentic human
dignity, sexuality, and love.
But not all of them.
By the end of the night, the tried
and true principles of love, marriage,
and family had found a few precious
moments to shine.
Of course, several of the nominated
films themselves painted distorted
ideals in vivid colors. “A Star is Born”
and “The Favourite,” for instance,
may very well have demonstrated
spectacular acting, production design,
and music. (There is no doubt that
“Shallow” rightfully won best original
song.)
But, sadly, they went right along with
the Hollywood penchant for erasing
the lines between love and lust.
Because these films have been glorified
(and because the Academy did
not shy away from flashing titillating
scenes in the preview clips), they fan
26 • ANGELUS • March 1, 2019

the flames of the already rampant sexualized
mindset in our society. That
mindset isolates sex from marriage,
distances man from woman, and
trades self-giving for narcissism.
Besides the nominations themselves,
one of the biggest “message moments”
of the night occurred when Emilia
Clarke introduced the performance
of “I Will Fight,” nominated for best
original song and featured in the documentary
“RBG.”
Even with Jennifer Hudson’s powerhouse
vocals, the song was so unimpressive
that it became readily apparent
that its recognition had nothing to
do with its musical quality but with its
purpose.
“Sung as a rallying
cry, an anthem, and
a personal promise,”
stated Clarke, “the
song embodies the
seemingly endless
strength and
commitment of its
subject, Supreme
Court Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsburg —
a woman who has
spent her career at
the forefront of the
fight against gender
discrimination.”
Of course, her fight
has included securing
the “right” for
women to kill their
own children in the
womb and has helped end millions of
innocent lives. But, all in the name of
gender equality and ending discrimination,
Ginsburg’s face was projected
in the backdrop with a reverence akin
to the kind shown for Martin Luther
King Jr.
Tragically, the rejection of motherhood
and new life is now honored
as the pinnacle of female virtue and
leadership.
To say the least, these attempted
appeals to morality and authenticity,
heartfelt though they might be, fell
short. But despite the plethora of
twisted ideals, a handful of moments
throughout the night provided a
glimmer of hope that even in the
turbulence of Hollywood, truth cannot
entirely suffocate.
For starters, one basic yet continuously
profound acknowledgement
recurred in acceptance speech after
acceptance speech: families. Countless
Oscar winners thanked their
parents, said, “I love you” to their
spouses, or called out to their children
watching from home.
Simple, yes, but this small fact speaks
volumes. In a world that seems to be
charging toward the dissolution of
the nuclear family as we know it, we
should take heart in knowing that even
the glamorous people in the spotlight,
who often seem to reject traditional
marriage and family most vehemently,
often rely on it most ardently.
John Warhurst and Nina Hartstone accept the Sound Editing award for “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Perhaps the most moving shout-out
of this kind came from Nina Hartstone,
co-recipient of the Oscar for
best sound editing, in “Bohemian
Rhapsody.”
After profusely thanking her friends
and family, she greeted her children
watching from afar and said with a
rapturous smile, “Mommy’s coming
home soon!”
I don’t pretend to know what Hartstone
thinks about “women’s rights”
or “marriage equality,” but that brief
moment still sent the heartening
message that however much fame and
honor the world might bring, being a
mommy still matters.
Finally, the ceremony’s crown jewel
award, Best Picture, went to a film
that not only stands against racism but
stands for enduring love in marriage
and family. “Green Book” deserved
the Oscar for its phenomenal acting
and a stellar script — both of which
also won the film an additional
Oscar — as well as its ability to send
a powerful message through a subtle
storyline.
Aided by his friendship with Dr.
Don Shirley, Tony “Lip” Vallelonga’s
devotion to his wife flows into the
letters he sends her while apart from
her. That same devotion deepens the
love of their marriage, strengthens the
bonds within their family, and opens
all their hearts to overcome prejudice
and hate. That is a message worth
upholding.
Although “Green
Book” might be
honored primarily as
standard-bearer for
racial justice (which
it is), its victory
also demonstrates
that the pursuit of
a strong marriage
and family remains
attractive.
The Oscars may be
long, ostentatious,
KEVIN WINTER/GETTY IMAGES
and politicized, but
they are not yet a
lost cause. In a ceremony
that repeatedly
lauded debauchery
and the selfish
disregard for human
dignity, tucked away
here and there were celebrations of
true beauty and love.
As Barbra Streisand put it that night,
“Truth is especially precious these
days.” She was speaking about the
film “BlacKkKlansman” (which won
the Oscar for best adapted screenplay),
but her words penetrate our
society, both within the film industry
and beyond.
Like a prized jewel, truth is valuable
and scarce, and one must work hard to
obtain and keep it. However difficult
it might be to find, and however much
it might seem to have disappeared beneath
heaps of rocks and dirt, it exists,
and it will never quite disappear.
Sophia Buono is a writer who lives in
Arlington, Virginia.
March 1, 2019 • ANGELUS • 27

AD REM
BY ROBERT BRENNAN
Over there …
and over here
Maybe there’s hope for us
after all.
I had to make two
attempts to see Peter
Jackson’s documentary “They Shall
Not Grow Old,” where the “Lord of
the Rings” director took ragged and
decrepit film footage of World War I
and, like a cinematic Gandalf, transformed
it into a crystal-clear, colorized,
and thoroughly modern retelling
of a part of history long forgotten.
Or so I thought until my first attempt
to see the movie ended in failure, due
to the show being sold out.
I did not believe I would have
needed to buy an advance ticket to
see something that was 100 years old.
I thought there could only be a few
dozen history nerds like me left in the
wild and I would have had the theater
practically to myself.
It took me years to get my daughter
to even agree to look at a movie made
before 1996. As I looked forlornly
around the movie theater lobby wallowing
in my failure to secure a ticket,
I saw a bunch of people a lot younger
than me holding tickets.
My inner grumpy old man lashed
out at the ticket taker as I registered
my astonishment wondering aloud
how these people, who I hastily
judged probably didn’t even know
who Elvis Presley was, would want
to see a movie composed entirely of
archival footage that was now even
more than 100 years old.
When I made my second, and successful,
attempt to see this film, I had
no better understanding
of the
appeal this film
had for a younger
audience. If I
knew that secret I
would be writing
this article from
my yacht. I’m
not. Despite not
deducing any
deep insights
into young
movie audience
demographics, I
did have a better
understanding of
something else.
Remembering
our past is a lost
art but an art
deserving of a
renaissance. It
would help serious Catholics manage
their hopes, frustrations, and expectations
if they looked at the current
crisis inside the Church with a little
historical context.
This is not to say that I, as a troubled
and gloriously imperfect member of
the Church, who is, to put it mildly,
vexed by the current affairs that seem
to splash onto headlines in print, website,
and television on a regular basis,
am the moral equivalent of a Marine
charging through the thickets at the
Battle of Belleau Wood in 1918, but
sometimes it feels like it.
Just as Peter Jackson has given us
a fresh reminder of those who have
Scene from the film”They Shall Not Grow Old.”
gone before us in history, it serves
us well to keep that in mind when it
comes to Church history. And just as
there were many instances of bravery,
cowardice, evil, and acts of grace in
and outside the trenches of World War
I, there too are similar examples in the
crisis that confronts Mother Church.
And it is essential that we Catholics,
we Christians, keep in mind that we
have something those poor souls in the
trenches of France did not. We have
assurance of victory. It may not always
look like it. I’m sure it didn’t look too
victorious for early Christians in Rome
or latter-day Christians in other parts
of the world in other epochs.
28 • ANGELUS • March 1, 2019

The images Peter Jackson has
restored in his film show young men,
some mere boys, dealing with horrid
trench conditions, finding themselves
up to their elbows in mud, filth, rats,
and the stench of death. The film
includes actual recordings of World
War I veterans voicing concern they
might soon become a permanent part
of that landscape.
Even though our eventual victory
is confirmed in sacred Scripture, we
don’t always let it sink in. We are
also capable — think of the Cleveland
Browns — of snatching defeat
from the jaws of victory at any given
moment.
The sexual sin crisis in the Church,
which has been put back on the front
burner with the meeting in Rome,
will generate a lot of heat, but probably
not much light. Things just don’t
move that quickly with the Church.
So, we must remain in our trenches,
even if we find ourselves up to our
elbows in mud and muck.
And unlike the film “They Shall
Not Grow Old,” which is a valuable
and important look behind us and an
evaluation of goals and strategies not
realized, our goal as a Church and as
a faithful community is to look forward
and never lose sight of our final
and achievable objective.
COURTESY WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES VIA IMDB
March 1, 2019 • ANGELUS • 29