Angelus News | April 19-26, 2019 | Vol. 4 No. 15

ANGELUS
THE NIGHT
OF NIGHTS
Why the Easter Vigil is
the center of Christianity
April 19-26, 2019 Vol. 4 No. 15

A CATHOLIC
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C
ON THE COVER
People hold candles during the Easter Vigil service at Westminster Cathedral on April 4, 2015, in London,
England. Also known as the Paschal Vigil, the nocturnal liturgy celebrating the victory of Jesus Christ
over death was for early Christians a night full of anticipation and dramatic symbols, rites, and singing.
On page 10, contributing editor Mike Aquilina takes us back to the experience of the primitive Church to
understand why the vigil was “the night of nights” for those Christians — and why it should still be for
us, too. On page 16, Caitlin Yoshiko Kandil speaks to local catechumens about their road to conversion
and why they’re looking forward to the “new life” of the baptism they’ll receive at this year’s Easter Vigil.
DAVID LEVENSON/GETTY IMAGES
IMAGE: Faithful enter the Cathedral of Our Lady
of the Angels in downtown LA during the
Palm Sunday procession at the start of
Mass celebrated by Archbishop José H.
Gomez on April 14.
VICTOR ALEMÁN

Contents
Archbishop Gomez 5
World, Nation and Local News 6-8
LA Catholic Events 9
Scott Hahn on Scripture 10
Father Rolheiser 11
John L. Allen Jr.: Undoing the distortions of Benedict’s crisis essay 20
Kathryn Jean Lopez: Why loving your enemies is worth it 22
In Mexico, a poisonous Christ who saves 26
Greg Erlandson: Easter and the hope that is not in vain 28
Reflecting on the danger of curiosity in ‘The Highwaymen’ 30
Heather King reviews the act of a ‘faith healer’ in LA 32

ANGELUS
April 19-26, 2019 | Vol.4 • No.15
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POPE WATCH
God is watching
Pope Francis stunned onlookers at
the end of a highly unusual spiritual
retreat for the political leaders of
warring factions in South Sudan by
kneeling at the feet of the country’s
leaders to beg that they pursue peace
among one another.
“As a brother, I ask you to remain in
peace. I ask you from my heart, let’s
go forward. There will be many problems,
but do not be afraid,” the pope
told the leaders April 11 at the Vatican
as he begged them to give peace a
chance and told them that God would
be watching their efforts to achieve
peace.
The two-day retreat at the Domus
Sanctae Marthae, the Vatican guesthouse
where the pope lives, was the
idea of Anglican Archbishop Justin
Welby of Canterbury, spiritual leader
of the Anglican Communion.
Under the terms of a peace agreement
signed in September, South
Sudanese President Salva Kiir and five
designated vice presidents are to take
office together May 12, sharing power
and ending the armed conflict between
clans and among communities.
Kiir and four of the vice presidents
attended the retreat.
“You have begun a process, may it
end well,” the pope said. “There will
be disagreements among you, but may
they take place ‘in the office’ while, in
front of your people, you hold hands;
in this way, you will be transformed
from simple citizens to fathers of the
nation.”
info@
angelusnews.com
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Angelus
News
Francis told the politicians and members
of the Council of Churches that
“peace” was the first word Jesus said to
his disciples after the Resurrection.
“Peace is the first gift that the Lord
brought us, and the first commitment
that leaders of nations must pursue,”
he told them.
“Peace is the fundamental condition
for ensuring the rights of each individual
and the integral development of
an entire people.”
When South Sudan gained its independence
from Sudan in 2011 after
years of war, the people were filled
with hope, the pope said. Too many of
them have died or been forced from
their homes or face starvation because
of five years of civil war.
After “so much death, hunger, hurt,
and tears,” the pope said, the retreat
participants “have clearly heard the
cry of the poor and the needy; it rises
up to heaven, to the very heart of God
our father, who desires to grant them
justice and peace.”
Francis expressed his hope that “hostilities
will finally cease — please, may
they cease — that the armistice will
be respected, and that political and
ethnic divisions will be surmounted.”
Video from the meeting showed the
82-year-old pontiff kneeling at the feet
of each of the leaders, even letting his
white skullcap lay on the floor as he
did so.
Reporting courtesy of Catholic News
Service Bureau Chief Cindy Wooden.
Papal Prayer Intentions for April: For doctors and their humanitarian
collaborators in war zones, who risk their lives to save the lives of others.
@Angelus
News
www.la-archdiocese.org
@Angelus
News
4 • ANGELUS • April 19-26, 2019

NEW WORLD
OF FAITH
BY ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ H. GOMEZ
Love is the reason
As I write, we have entered into Holy
Week, the week of salvation, the week
of love.
Love is the reason for everything
we see in these days leading up to
Jesus’ passion, crucifixion, death, and
resurrection.
God so loved the world that he gave
his only Son, so believing in him we
will not perish. We understand these
beautiful words from the Gospel.
But Jesus died not only for “the
world.” He died for you and for me,
for each and every person who ever
lived and every person who is yet to
be born.
God’s love is personal. We can each
say, as Saint Paul did, “I live by faith
in the Son of God who has loved me
and given himself up for me.”
It is an ancient devotion to read the
Passion stories in each of the Gospels
during Holy Week. I encourage you
to do it.
It is important to remember when
we read that it was all for love; every
word and gesture, all the humiliation
and suffering.
In these columns during Lent, I have
been trying to read the Gospels with
more prayer and more “intentionality”
— really being conscious of how the
Gospels are meant to be “transformative”
and to form us more and more in
the likeness of Christ.
The imitation of Christ is the way of
the saints, and we are all called to be
saints.
We understand what this means
when we read Christ’s words and the
stories of his life. In the pages of the
Gospel it is clear that we are called to
imitate his humility and compassion,
his zeal for saving souls, his servant’s
heart. We can see that, like him, we
are called to be a good friend to others
and men and women of prayer.
We should not forget that Jesus is
still teaching and guiding us from the
cross and in his passion. In fact, Paul
said that in his death on the cross, we
can see the mind of Christ, his whole
attitude.
We need to let Jesus look down upon
us from the cross. We need to raise
our eyes above ourselves, to feel his
gaze. It is all love, it is all compassion.
When we see ourselves reflected in
Christ’s eyes, we understand in the
most personal way that he knew us
and loved us even before we were
created. We need to let ourselves be
loved by him, lift up our hearts to
accept his mercy.
For love, Jesus died for you and for
me on the cross. He asks us to live our
lives as a response to his death. He
asks us to live for him, as he died for
us — out of love.
We have all heard Paul’s litany in
praise of love: “Love is patient, love
is kind. It is not jealous. ...” This is
one of the most popular readings at
weddings, and many families have
Paul’s words framed in their home —
a beautiful reminder of how they want
to live.
But as Paul reminds us, our human
love is meant to be a mirror of the
love that we are shown in Jesus.
In Christ’s passion and death, we see
love that is patient and kind, love that
bears all things and endures all things.
On the cross, we see love that never
fails, love so strong not even death can
defeat it.
When we see human love, we see
the Trinity, Saint Augustine told us.
God is love and we are created in his
image. We are made out of love and
we are made for the sake of love.
That is why love is Christ’s new commandment,
and he makes his love the
measure and pattern for our love.
There is no greater love than a life
broken and shared and given for others.
Jesus laid down his life even for
those who did not love him in return.
He loved us with no limit, and he
loved us until the end.
This is the love that he calls us to, as
Paul teaches: “Be imitators of God, as
beloved children, and live in love as
Christ loved us and handed himself
over for us as a sacrificial offering to
God.”
Christian love is always sacrificial; we
love as we have been loved. We give
our lives for the love of God — as he
gave his life out of love for us.
Pray for me this week and I will pray
for you. I wish all of you and your
families and loved ones all the joy of
Easter.
May our Blessed Mother Mary, who
stood at the foot of the cross and witnessed
his resurrection, help us to see
that love is the reason for Jesus and
love is the reason for our lives.
To read more columns by Archbishop José H. Gomez or to subscribe, visit www.angelusnews.com.
April 19-26, 2019 • ANGELUS • 5

CHESNOT/GETTY IMAGES
WORLD
NO WORDS — A devastating fire erupted at the famous Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris
Monday, April 11, toppling the medieval church’s main spire and leading to the collapse of
its roof. The fire appeared to break out in the area where scaffolding had been set up for
restoration work. As of press time, no cause for the fire had been determined, and how
much of the church’s precious artwork had survived was unclear.
Bishop flees to
Rome for safety
An outspoken Nicaraguan bishop
has been summoned to Rome
amidst threats against his life.
Managua Auxiliary Bishop Silvio
Baez Ortega has found himself at
odds with Nicaraguan president
Daniel Ortega over the last year
for his criticism of the government’s
policies and its use of
harsh, sometimes deadly tactics to
counter protesters.
Baez confirmed at an April 11
press conference that he was
warned last June of a plan to
assassinate him, and that Pope
Francis had asked him to come to
Rome for his safety until further
notice.
“I can tell you with total sincerity,
at this time I am experiencing
great pain in my heart, the pain
of not being able to be physically
in my loved Nicaraguan community,”
Baez said at the news
conference.
An incorrupt teen saint?
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Reports out of Italy suggest
the body of a teenager being
considered for sainthood may
show signs of being incorrupt.
Carlo Acutis, who died in
2006 from leukemia at the age
of 15, was declared “Venerable”
by Pope Francis in 2018
as part of the investigation into
his possible sainthood. Acutis
Carlo Acutis
was known for combining his
talents as a computer programmer and his deep devotion
to the Eucharist to create a website cataloguing
the various eucharistic miracles around the world.
On April 8, his cause’s postulator, Nicola Gori, told
Italian TV station Tv2000 that he’d been told the body
was found incorrupt, echoing a similar claim by the
vice-postulator in January.
Both men later appeared to walk back their statements,
stressing that further confirmation from medical
authorities was needed.
Though being found incorrupt is not one of the two
miracles required for sainthood, it is widely viewed as a
confirmation of sanctity.
A PLEA FOR PEACE — Pope Francis kisses the feet of South
Sudanese President Salva Kiir April 11 at the conclusion of a twoday
retreat at the Vatican for African nations’ political leaders. The
pope begged the leaders to give peace a chance. At right is Vice
President Riek Machar.
VATICAN MEDIA VIA REUTERS
6 • ANGELUS • April 19-26, 2019

NATION
Ohio enacts
heartbeat law
A bill making inducing or
performing an abortion after
detection of a fetal heartbeat a
fifth-degree felony was signed
into law April 11 by Ohio’s
governor after passing the state
legislature.
Although former Ohio Gov.
John Kasich had twice vetoed
two previous attempts to enact
similar legislation, Republican
Gov. Mike DeWine stayed true
to a campaign promise to sign
such a bill. Pro-life groups are
now preparing to protect the
law against potential lawsuits.
“If pro-abortion lobbies
present a legal challenge to
this act,” Mark Harrington,
president of the pro-life group
Created Equal, told Catholic
News Agency, “we will defend
these babies all the way up to
the Supreme Court.”
Sister Mary Jo Sobieck with Marian Catholic High School students in Chicago at an April 8 card
signing.
‘Curveball queen’
gets her own card
Baseball card collectors, prepare.
Sister Mary Jo will be arriving in foil
envelopes soon.
Dominican Sister Mary Jo Sobieck
achieved viral fame last summer
when she threw a perfect pitch before
a Chicago White Sox game. The
sister, a theology teacher at Chicago’s
Marian Catholic High School, now
has her own bobblehead and soon
— thanks to baseball card company
Topps — will be featured on a baseball
card.
Topps paid Sobieck $1,000 to feature
her in its Allen & Ginter series of pop
culture icons and historical figures.
Sobieck swill donate the funds to a
scholarship fund named after her,
supporting students at Marian Catholic.
“It’s so out there,” Sobieck told the
Chicago Tribune, referencing her
baseball card. “As a kid and athlete
growing up, you always went to the
store and bought the baseball cards
and bubblegum.”
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/KAREN CALLAWAY, CATHOLIC NEW WORLD
‘Unplanned’ already making an impact
ARCHDIOCESE OF NEW YORK
HOLY HOUSING — Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York blesses the
new St. Augustine Terrace housing project complex at the site of a
former church in the Bronx April 8. The new low-income housing
development is administered by Catholic Homes New York, part of
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York.
A hotline for women looking to reverse chemical
abortions has seen a 30 percent increase in calls since
the release of “Unplanned,” a film about the life of
pro-life advocate Abby Johnson.
The newly released film closes with an on-screen
display of the Heartbeat International Abortion Pill
Rescue Network (APRN) “Options Line,” which connects
callers to a variety of pro-life resources.
“Unplanned” features a scene that both displays a
chemical abortion and explains how such a procedure
can be reversed.
“We do believe that [the sudden surge] was attributed
to ‘Unplanned’ specifically,” Andrew Trudden, Heartbeat
International’s director of communications and
marketing, told Catholic News Agency (CNA).
“Many women who have chosen abortion wish they
could go back and change their decision,” ‘Unplanned’
co-writer and director Chuck Kozelman told
CNA. “What we’re seeing is that many of the women
who still are capable of reversing that decision are
doing so.”
April 19-26, 2019 • ANGELUS • 7

LOCAL
ISABEL CACHO
Loyola High School senior John Pendley
and art teacher Cristina Saggese with
Pendley’s award-winning portrait, “Mother
and Child.”
Cathedral site of
student art exhibition
Catholic school students from
around the archdiocese got a
special venue to showcase their
artwork to the rest of Los Angeles:
an exhibit at the Cathedral of
Our Lady of the Angels.
The theme for this year’s Robert
Graham Memorial Student Art
Exhibition at the cathedral was
“Spirituality in Art.” Thousands of
visitors to the cathedral since Jan.
27 have had the chance to view a
variety of works, including photographs,
paintings, sculptures, and
even a miniature retablo.
Loyola High School art teacher
Cristina Saggese told Angelus
News that the competition’s
spiritual theme is an encouragement
for her students.
“It’s a beautiful connection for
them to think about their work
in terms of how their art can
communicate a spiritual idea,”
Saggese said. “That is something
we don’t see in all these contests.
We do all these contests, but
there isn’t that theme.
“It’s something new [for the
students] to think about — to see
themselves as a Catholic school
community of artists.”
VICTOR ALEMÁN
Bishop Trudeau distributes Communion to Long Beach Grand Prix employees Sunday, April 14.
Bishop Marc Trudeau’s important pit stop
By the time someone realized that
staff, volunteers, and crew members
participating in the Long Beach
Grand Prix needed someone to
celebrate Mass for them on Palm
Sunday, it seemed that every priest
in the San Pedro Pastoral Region
was unavailable.
Except for one: Bishop Marc
Trudeau, the region’s episcopal
vicar.
On Sunday, April 14, Trudeau celebrated
Sunday Mass in a meeting
room in the Long Beach Convention
Center just steps away from the
racetrack.
As the sound of race cars reverberated
through the assembly, Trudeau
joked that it reminded him of the
sound of cars looking for parking
outside of church on Sundays.
To view more photos, visit the
Catholic LA section of Angelus-
News.com.
FRESH COURT — Archbishop
José H. Gomez
checks out the new
hardcourt during a
visit to Sacred Heart High
School for the official
dedication of its new
Gymnasium and Student
Activities Center with a
special Mass, ribbon cutting,
and blessing April
13. The school, located
in Montecito Heights, is
one of the first Catholic
high schools for girls in
the Archdiocese of Los
Angeles.
JOHN MCCOY
8 • ANGELUS • April 19-26, 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.
Throughout Lent and Easter, artist and retreatant
Jesus Adelaida Delgado will lead prayers, meditation,
and contemplation at St. Anthony’s Chapel,
2511 S. C St., Oxnard. For more information, email
ladelaida65@gmail.com.
Fri., April 19
Walk “The Way of the Cross.” Mater Dolorosa Passionist
Retreat Center, 700 N. Sunnyside Ave., Sierra
Madre. Self-guided devotions, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.; guided
devotions, 4:30-7:30 p.m. Please be respectful
of those in prayer while on the grounds. No food or
picnics allowed; water bottles allowed. Wear comfortable
shoes; walk has elevation changes. Wait
times for evening guided devotions can be up to 45
minutes. Visit materdolorosa.org.
Communion and Liberation: Way of the Cross
through Downtown LA. Cathedral of Our Lady of the
Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, 3 p.m. Good
Friday service. Via Crucis will begin after the service
in the plaza. Email Kate Medlin at katemedlin@gmail.
com or Paul Dawson at paul.c.dawson@gmail.com.
Mon., April 22
Healing Mass. St. Cornelius Church, 5500 E. Wardlow
Rd., Long Beach, 7:30 p.m. Celebrant: Father Bill
Adams.
Tues., April 23
Good Grief: 6-Week Bereavement Support Group.
St. Bede the Venerable Church, La Canada, 6:30-8
p.m. No cost to attend. Call 818-949-4300.
Wed., April 24
Shower of Roses Luncheon. San Gabriel Country
Club, 350 East Hermosa Dr., San Gabriel. Luncheon
benefits the Cloistered Carmelite Nuns Auxiliary.
Speaker: Linn Dolan, author of “Helen of Pasadena.”
RSVP to Sue Fulps at 626-285-4649. For donations,
contact Delores McAllister at dmcallister_17@hotmail.com.
Cloistered Carmelite Nuns Shower of Roses Luncheon.
San Gabriel Country Club, 350 E. Hermosa Dr.,
San Gabriel. Social hour begins at 10:30 a.m. Lunch
is at 12 p.m. Speaker: Lian Dolan, writer and podcaster.
RSVP to Sue Fulps at 626-285-4649. Donations
can be made through Delores McAllister at dmcallister_17@hotmail.com.
Sat., April 27
Extraordinary Ministers of Communion Workshop.
San Gabriel Mission, 428 S. Mission Dr., San Gabriel.
EMHC at Mass, 8:30-11:30 a.m., EMHC to the sick,
12:15-2 p.m. Register at laliturgy.org.
Basic Lector Formation. San Gabriel Mission, 428 S.
Mission Dr., San Gabriel, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Training
will be held on Saturdays, April 27, May 4, 11, and
18. Register at laliturgy.org.
St Catherine of Siena Church 70 Year Celebration.
18115 Sherman Way, Reseda, 2 p.m. Join the parish
for a Mass celebrated by Bishop Joseph V. Brennan,
followed by a Kermes (food bazaar), with food, music,
and entertainment. On Sun., April 28, Bishop Alex
Aclan will celebrate a bilingual Mass at 10 a.m. 2019
Toyota Tacoma truck raffle tickets available for $20.
Call the rectory at 818-343-2110.
Divine Mercy Conference: I am the Lord Your Healer.
Our Lady of the Assumption Church parish hall, 435
E. Berkeley Ave., Claremont, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Talk
topics include “Jesus — The Divine Mercy,” and “Divine
Mercy Chaplet.” Day also includes healing Mass
and blessing with first-class relic of Saint Faustina.
Cost: $20 though April 22, $25 at the door. Call SCRC
at 818-771-1361, email spirit@scrc.org, or visit scrc.
org.
Sun., April 28
“La Pasquetta” (Little Easter). Our Lady of Perpetual
Help Church hall, 23233 Lyons Ave., Santa Clarita, 12
p.m. Event includes traditional Italian dinner, bingo,
karaoke, and heritage learning. Children under 16 will
receive Italian chocolate eggs with surprises inside.
Call Anna Riggs to RSVP or learn more at 661-645-
7877.
Divine Mercy Sunday at St. Bernard Church. 2516
W. Ave. 33, Los Angeles. Confession, 1:45 p.m.;
Mass, 3 p.m.; and fellowship, 4 p.m. Food will be
served and Divine Mercy materials will be distributed.
Divine Mercy Sunday at St. Finbar Church. 2010 W.
Olive Ave., Burbank. Confessions, 12:30-2 p.m.; adoration,
chaplet, rosary, 3 p.m. Mass. Call Mary Whittle
at 818-841-0499.
Mon., April 29
Priest Appreciation Night. Sacred Heart Retreat
House, 920 East Alhambra Rd., Alhambra, 5-8 p.m.
Priests invited to share a grace-filled evening in gratitude
for their vocation. Invite your parish priest to join
the Carmelite Sisters. Register at sacredheartretreathouse.com
or email sjcprogcoordinator@carmelitesistersocd.com
or call 626-289-1353, ext. 203.
Woman to Woman Ministry: “The Spiritual Awakening
of Easter: Keeping All Alive.” Holy Spirit Retreat
Center, 4316 Lanai Rd., Encino, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Join
with women for reflection of the central topic, conversation,
art, journaling, and prayer. For registration
and questions, email jmcbroehm@aol.com. Suggested
donation: $15/person. Bring something to share
for refreshment table.
Wed., May 1
Walking the Gospel, Talking the Gospel. St Rita
Church, 318 N. Baldwin Ave., Sierra Madre, 6:30-9
p.m. Walking with Jesus means talking about him
too. Jesus calls us both to live the Gospel, and to tell
the Gospel. Come and learn how to talk with confidence
about your experience of Jesus with others.
Register at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/
1FAIpQLSeA2dMngTCHPiC_Bphutet3g6Fb9BHmjIWm8mzOIBdER2eaSg/viewform.
Thur., May 2
Women’s Connection Ministry: Perspectives on
Pope Francis. Galilee Room, Holy Family Church,
1527 Fremont Ave., S. Pasadena, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Includes
refreshments, socializing, program, and Q&A.
Cost: $5/person. Call 626-403-6116 or email fponnet@holyfamily.org.
Women’s Connection Ministry: Perspectives on
Pope Francis: The Power of the Holy Spirit. Galilee
Room, Holy Family Church, 1501 Fremont Ave., S.
Pasadena. Continental breakfast, 8:30 a.m.; opening
reflection, program, and group discussion, 9 a.m.-
12 p.m. Sister Chris Machado, executive director,
Holy Spirit Retreat Center, Encino, will speak on
the papacy of Pope Francis and his relationship to
the Holy Spirit. Cost: $5/person. No RSVP required.
Email Frank Ponnet at fponnet@hf.org or call 626-
403-6116. For information on the Holy Family Parish
Women’s Connection Ministry, email Diane Collison
at diane.collison@yahoo.org or call 626-437-0202.
Fri., May 3
LMU 54th Spring Chorale — A Finale. Sacred Heart
Chapel, 1 LMU Dr., Los Angeles, 8 p.m. The combined
LMU choruses, joined by a professional orchestra,
present the “Duruflé Requiem” and Vaughan Williams’
“Toward the Unknown Region” in preview of
their summer 2019 concert tour in London and Paris.
The concert will be director Mary Breden’s final concert
at LMU. Tickets at cfa.lmu.edu/tickets: General
public $20/person (front nave) and $15/person (rear
nave); faculty, students, senior citizens $18/person
and $12/person; LMU students with ID $5/person.
Reserved seating.
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.
• Gary Jansen reflects on Christ’s passion, from his agony in the garden to his death.
• Local teens’ art on display at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.
• Editor Pablo Kay on his experience with the “Unplanned” movie, and the cries it provoked.
April 19-26, 2019 • ANGELUS • 9

SUNDAY
READINGS
BY SCOTT HAHN
Acts 10:34, 37–43 / Ps. 118:1–2, 16–17, 22–23 / Col. 3:1–4 / Jn. 20:1–9
Jesus is nowhere visible. Yet today’s
Gospel tells us that Peter and John
“saw and believed.”
What did they see? Burial shrouds
lying on the floor of an empty tomb.
Maybe that convinced them that he
hadn’t been
carted off by
grave robbers,
who usually
stole the expensive
burial
linens and left
the corpses
behind.
But notice
the repetition
of the word
“tomb” —
seven times in
nine verses.
They saw the
empty tomb
and they believed
what he
had promised:
that God
would raise
him on the
third day.
Chosen to be
his “witnesses,”
today’s First
Reading tells
us, the apostles were “commissioned
… to preach … and testify” to all that
they had seen — from his anointing
with the Holy Spirit at the Jordan to
the empty tomb.
More than their own experience, they
were instructed in the mysteries of the
divine economy, God’s saving plan —
to know how “all the prophets bear
witness” to him (see Luke 24:27, 44).
Now they could “understand the
Scripture,” could teach us what he
had told them — that he was “the
Stone which the builders rejected,”
which today’s Psalm prophesies his
resurrection and exaltation (see Luke
20:17; Matthew 21:42; Acts 4:11).
We are the
children of
the apostolic
witnesses. That
is why we still
gather early in
the morning
on the first day
of every week
to celebrate
this feast of the
empty tomb,
give thanks for
“Christ our
life,” as today’s
Epistle calls
him.
Baptized into
his death and
resurrection,
we live the
“The Resurrection of Jesus Christ,” anonymous, 1480.
heavenly life
of the risen
Christ, our
lives “hidden
with Christ in
God.” We are
now his witnesses, too. But we testify
to things we cannot see but only
believe; we seek in earthly things what
is above.
We live in memory of the apostles’
witness, like them eating and drinking
with the risen Lord at the altar. And
we wait in hope for what the apostles
told us would come — the day when
we, too, “will appear with him in
glory.”
Scott Hahn is founder of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, stpaulcenter.com.
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
10 • ANGELUS • April 19-26, 2019

IN EXILE
BY FATHER RONALD ROLHEISER, OMI
Our own Good Friday
When the Romans designed crucifixion
as their means of capital
punishment, they had more in mind
than simply putting someone to
death. They wanted to accomplish
something else, too, namely, to make
this death a spectacle to serve as the
ultimate deterrent so that anyone
seeing it would think twice about
committing the offense for which the
person was being crucified.
So crucifixion was designed to do a
couple of other things beyond simply
putting someone to death. It was designed
to inflict the optimal amount
of pain that a body could absorb.
Hence, they sometimes gave
morphine to the person they were executing,
not to lessen his pain, but to
keep him conscious to feel more pain.
Perhaps most cruel of all, crucifixion
was designed to utterly humiliate the
body of the person being executed.
So the person was stripped naked, his
private parts unprotected, and when
his body went into spasms, as surely
it eventually would, his bowels would
release, all in public view. Is there a
humiliation worse than this?
Well, there are, I believe, human sufferings
that approximate or equal that;
and sadly these are common. There
are daily instances of violence in our
world that mirror the humiliation of
the cross.
As well, you sometimes see this kind
of humiliation of the body in death
by cancer and other such debilitating
diseases. The person here doesn’t just
die, but dies in pain, the body humiliated,
its dignity compromised, that
immodesty exposed, as it was for Jesus
when dying on the cross.
I suspect that this is why God allowed
(though not intended) for Jesus
to suffer the pain and humiliation he
suffered in his death. Looking at how
Jesus died, it’s hard for anyone to say:
“Easy for him, he didn’t have to suffer
the way I did!”
The humiliation of the cross puts
Jesus in real solidarity with everyone
who has ever known the pain and
shame of humiliation.
But the fruit of Jesus’ solidarity with
us is not just having the consolation
of knowing that Jesus felt our suffering
firsthand, it’s also that we get to
share in what follows after crucifixion,
namely, as Scripture says, a share in
his consolation. Curious words, really.
What consolation is there in being
humiliated? What’s gained through
this shameful kind of pain? In a word,
what’s gained is depth of soul.
Nothing pushes us to depth of heart
and soul as does humiliation. Just ask
yourself this question: What has given
me character? What has given me
depth as a person? What has given me
deeper understanding?
The answer in every case, I suspect,
will be something that you’d be
ashamed to talk about, some stinging
humiliation whose pain and shame
pushed you to a deeper place.
The Gospels, I believe, teach that.
For example, when the apostles James
and John came to Jesus and asked him
whether he could arrange that when
he came into his glory they would
be given the seats at his right and left
hand, Jesus didn’t take the opportunity
to lecture them on humility.
He instructed them instead as to
their lack of understanding both
of what constitutes glory and what
constitutes the road to glory. They
had confused the notion of glory with
everything that’s antithetical to humiliation,
vulnerability, and solidarity.
Glory, for them, and I suspect for us,
too, was understood instead as being
set apart from the crowd, above it,
the most valuable player, the winner
of the Nobel Prize, the movie star
with the body everyone envies, the
attractive one who is invulnerable to
humiliation, the one above the rest.
And so Jesus asks James and John
whether they can “drink the cup,” and
that cup, as we see from Jesus’ own
struggle in the Garden of Gethsemane,
is the cup of humiliation.
Drinking the cup of humiliation, accepting
the cross is, according to Jesus
and according to what’s most honest
in our own experience, what can
bring us genuine glory, namely, depth
of heart, depth of soul, and depth of
understanding and compassion.
However, as Jesus warns, drinking
the cup of humiliation, while automatically
assuring us of depth, doesn’t
automatically assure us of glory (“that
glory is not mine to give”). Humiliation
will make us deep, but it might
not make us deep in the right way. It
can also have the opposite effect.
This is the algebra then: Like Jesus,
we will all suffer humiliation in life,
we will all drink the cup, and it will
make us deep; but then we have a
critical choice: Will this humiliation
make us deep in compassion and
understanding or will it make us deep
in anger and bitterness?
That is in fact the ultimate moral
choice we face in life — not just at
the hour of death but countless times
in our lives. Good Friday, and what it
asks of us, confronts us daily.
Oblate of Mary Immaculate Father Ronald Rolheiser is a spiritual writer, www.ronrolheiser.com.
April 19-26, 2019 • ANGELUS • 11

eaes
THE
OF VIGILS
Early Christians
understood that if there’s
one feast in Christianity
worth staying up all
night to celebrate, it’s
the passage of Jesus
Christ from death to life
BY MIKE AQUILINA / ANGELUS
Worshippers light candles in front of a Catholic church during the Easter Vigil in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, in 2015.
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/ILYA NAYMUSHIN, REUTERS
If gunpowder had been available in
the first century, we would probably
be using fireworks today for the
Easter Vigil. Ditto lasers.
On the night before the great feast
day, the early Christians kept a vigil
that made a lasting impression —
on believers and on history. The
symbols were elemental: fire, water,
darkness, nakedness, music, dramatic
preaching, surprising chalices, and
more-than-marathon endurance.
It was the great night when Jesus rose
up from death and the tomb. It was
the great night when new Christians
were baptized and received Holy
Communion — both sacraments that
had been kept secret till that moment.
There was drama. There was surprise.
There was every reason to stay awake
all night.
Lasted all night
The custom of keeping watch
before Easter is ancient. An Egyptian
document known as the “Letter of the
Apostles” (“Epistula Apostolorum”),
produced around A.D. 160, traces
the origin of the vigil to a command
from Jesus himself. “When Easter is
coming,” he tells his disciples, they
should “keep the night watch … until
cockcrow.”
A document of the following century,
the “Didascalia Apostolorum,” claims
by its very title to bear the “Teaching
of the Apostles.”
This prescription, set down in the
Syriac language, goes on in greater
detail: “You shall come together and
watch and keep vigil all the night with
prayers and intercessions, and with
reading of the Prophets, and with the
Gospel and with Psalms, with fear and
trembling and with earnest supplication.”
So we know that the vigil was not
simply a time of waiting. It was a liturgy
— a ritual act of worship — a time
when the Church read large portions
of the Bible, sang psalms, and offered
12 • ANGELUS • April 19-26, 2019

prayers. And, again, it lasted “all the
night” long.
The greatest Scripture scholar of the
ancient Church, Saint Jerome, insisted
that “we have the tradition from the
apostles that the congregation is not to
be dismissed before Midnight during
the Easter Vigil.”
He explained that the Jews believed
the Messiah would arrive at night,
during the hour when the first Passover
had been celebrated in Egypt.
He noted, furthermore, that Jesus, in
the Parable of the Wise and Foolish
Virgins, spoke of the Bridegroom
arriving “at midnight” (Matthew 25:6).
So it was reasonable, he concluded, to
require Christians to stay till midnight.
But the rite itself could — and usually
did — go on much longer, indeed
“until cockcrow,” which is just before
daylight. Testimonies from the middle
and late A.D. 100s — in lands from
North Africa to modern Turkey — reveal
that the clergy did not even begin
to celebrate the sacraments (baptism
and Eucharist) until dawn.
Darkness to bright light
Saint Augustine lived a long life and
preached at many Easter Vigils. It was
emotional for him, because it revived
the memory of his own reception into
full communion at age 33. He called it
“the mother of all vigils.”
The long liturgy signified every
Christian’s lifelong journey, he said,
“from darkness to light.” During the
night, Christians were to focus on the
Scripture readings as if they were the
only rays of light.
Light was introduced, suddenly or
gradually, depending on the local customs.
In Europe in the fourth and fifth
centuries, it became fashionable to use
Easter candles made of wax.
Saint Jerome abhorred this as an
unacceptable and unbiblical novelty,
since the biblical figures used oil
lamps and not candles. But the fashion
caught on, and even Saint Augustine
wrote a hymn to the Easter candle.
When Christianity was legalized, the
light was extended beyond the Church
to the entire city. The fourth-century
historian Eusebius said that the Christian
Emperor Constantine “changed
… the holy night vigil into a brightness
like that of day, by causing waxen
tapers of great length to be lighted
throughout the city.”
An exciting story
From the ancient lectionaries we
learn that the program included as
many as 12 Bible readings, some of
them quite long, with psalms sung in
between. The night itself was to be the
overarching story of God’s relationship
with the human race — from creation
to fall to redemption.
Its highlights were dramatic: Noah’s
rescue from the raging flood; Abraham’s
vocation to sacrifice his only son
Isaac; Israel’s deliverance from slavery
in Egypt; the Chosen People’s restoration
from exile in Babylon.
It was a single epic woven from many
great adventures. It was communal —
the story of all. But it was personal, too
— the story of each.
Today’s congregations squirm at the
thought of so many long readings. But
matters were different in an age before
electronic media — and before the
printing press.
Books were expensive, and relatively
few people could read. So people relished
the chance to hear a good story
well told. And there was none greater
than the whole-Bible story of the Easter
Vigil. This was entertainment.
The presiding bishop or priest
connected the readings in a stirring
homily. The earliest surviving example
is from the mid-100s, by Saint Melito,
the bishop of Sardis.
It is a long and stunning work of vivid,
rhythmic poetry, and it must have
thrilled the assembly of first-time hearers.
Melito explained why Jesus’ death
and resurrection were foreshadowed in
the events of Israel’s history.
What is this strange mystery,
that Egypt is struck down for destruction
and Israel is guarded for salvation?
Listen to the meaning of the mystery.
This is what occurs in the case of a
first draft;
it is not a finished work but exists so
that, through the model,
that which is to be can be seen.
Therefore a preliminary sketch is made
of what is to be,
from wax or from clay or from wood,
Bringing back
the drama
As Christianity became the
norm in Europe, adult conversions
dropped off — and
in some places vanished altogether.
If everyone was already Christian,
there were no adults left to convert.
And so dwindled the sense of
drama in the rite. Gradually, the
celebration moved earlier in the
day. By the first half of the 20th
century, it was typically celebrated
on the morning of Holy Saturday.
In the 1950s, Pope Pius XII mandated
that the celebration should
be returned to Saturday evening
after sunset. In 1972, with the
establishment of the Rite of Christian
Initiation of Adults (RCIA),
the Catholic Church restored the
ancient methods of preparing and
catechizing converts.
The Easter Vigil became, once
again, the normal time for adult
converts to receive the sacraments
of initiation.
Catholics belonging to the
Neocatechumenal Way, an itinerary
of post-baptismal Christian
initiation born out of the Second
Vatican Council, celebrate the vigil
overnight after fasting during Holy
Saturday. In most parishes, the
Easter Vigil tends to run later now,
though not all night. But every
moment is glorious.
— Mike Aquilina
A catechumen is anointed with holy oil by
Archbishop Gomez at the 2015 Easter Vigil.
VICTOR ALEMÁN
April 19-26, 2019 • ANGELUS • 13

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
“The Baptism of St. Augustine,” by Benozzo
Gozzoli, 1464-1465.
The baptistery under the Duomo in Milan, Italy, where Saint Augustine was baptized as an adult by
Saint Ambrose. The baptism occurred during the Easter Vigil of A.D. 387.
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
so that what will come about,
taller in height,
and greater in strength,
and more attractive in shape,
and wealthier in workmanship,
can be seen through the small and
provisional sketch.
What the congregation witnessed at
the vigil was the completion of God’s
great work of art, in their own sight
and in their lives.
New Christians
It was at the vigil each year that the
Church welcomed converts. Through
the first three centuries, most converts
were adults who had been raised
to worship the gods of the Roman,
Greek, and Egyptian cults.
The practice of Christianity was
illegal until A.D. 312 and was punishable
by death. Many believers perished
as martyrs, and others suffered
discrimination if they were known to
be Christian.
The deterrents to faith were great,
and the Church made clear the
possible consequences to anyone who
asked for baptism. Some candidates
underwent years of preparation before
their reception at the Easter Vigil.
All of them — in fact, everyone
attending the vigil — prepared for the
day by fasting. The “Didascalia” restricted
the diet of the faithful to bread,
water, and salt for Monday through
Thursday of Holy Week. And, as if
that weren’t rigorous enough, it called
for no food whatsoever on Friday and
Saturday.
Christians also prepared by bathing,
usually on Holy Thursday. Through
those centuries there was no running
water or household plumbing. A bath
was considered a luxury. But Christians
would indulge in it during Holy
Week, to ready themselves for the great
feast.
Candidates for baptism were especially
encouraged to wash, so that they
wouldn’t muddy the sacramental pool
when they were immersed.
Spitting at Satan
The ancient rites of baptism were
elaborate, involving a procession from
outside the church to various stations
within the church. The movement,
of course, symbolized the individual’s
journey toward God.
Since Christians always worshipped
facing east, the candidates would
begin by facing west. In that direction,
opposite God, was the devil; and the
former pagans would explicitly reject
him “to his face.”
The rite differed from region to
region. In some churches the converts
spat in the devil’s direction. In others
they exhaled in order to drive him
away. And then they processed inside
for the sacrament of baptism.
Baptized naked
It is Christian doctrine that baptism
signifies birth to a new life. So
converts underwent this second birth
just as they had undergone their first:
completely naked.
It wasn’t as scandalous as it sounds.
The churches were segregated by sex,
and modesty was scrupulously respected.
Female candidates were obscured
by a screen that blocked the view of
everyone, including the bishop who
baptized them.
He first poured water over the top
of the screen. Then, at the anointing,
he poured oil over the top onto the
woman’s head. The bodily anointing,
for women, was completed by holy
women, called “deaconesses,” who
were commissioned for the task.
In the fourth century, Saint Cyril of
Jerusalem recalled the moment for his
class of newly baptized Christians.
“As soon, then, as you entered, you
put off your tunic,” he said, “and this
was an image of putting off the old
man with his deeds (Colossians 3:9).
Having stripped yourselves, you were
naked, in this also imitating Christ,
who was stripped naked on the cross,
and by his nakedness put off from
himself the principalities and powers,
and openly triumphed over them on
the tree.”
14 • ANGELUS • April 19-26, 2019

Coming up out of the baptismal pool,
the newborn Christian received a
white garment to wear. Saint Cyril said
this change of clothing symbolized
a putting off of the “old man” to be
replaced by the new.
“May the soul which has once put
him off, never again put him on … O
wondrous thing! You were naked in
the sight of all, and were not ashamed;
for truly you bore the likeness of the
first-formed Adam, who was naked in
the garden, and was not ashamed.”
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
“The Antioch ‘Chalice’,”
A.D. 500-550.
A surprising
chalice
The sacraments
were,
in those days,
celebrated in
strict enclosure.
Only
fully initiated
believers were
permitted to
attend Mass or
baptism, and they were forbidden to
discuss the ceremonies with nonbelievers.
Historians call this the “discipline
of the secret.”
Surely some of the rites arrived as a
surprise to the converts. Another thing
presented to them after immersion
was a chalice, from which they were to
drink. By taste they would recognize
its contents: milk and honey. And they
would recognize its significance.
Through the baptismal waters they
had crossed into the promised land,
which God had foretold as “a land
flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus
3:8). They had reached their true
home.
Singing a new song
In full daylight, then, the Church
celebrated the Eucharist. After fasting
for days and keeping vigil for a full
night, the Christians at last knew communion
with God, and they sang the
distinctive song of Easter, which had
been held back during Lent.
Alleluia!
Mike Aquilina is a contributing editor
to Angelus and the author of many
books, including “The Fathers of the
Church” (Our Sunday Visitor, $24).
Pope John Paul II greets the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican in 2002.
The three nights of Easter
The biblical, liturgical, and even scientific parallels between the
Christian celebration of Easter and the Jewish feast of Passover
are many. But perhaps the most famous modern catechesis on
the Paschal Vigil as a reliving of the history of salvation is Saint Pope
John Paul II’s 2002 Easter Vigil homily on “the three nights of Easter.”
The first night, the pope explained, is the night of creation, when “the
divine Word called into existence all things and, in Jesus, became flesh
for our salvation. And if the destiny of the first Adam was to return to
the earth from which he had been made, the last Adam has come down
from heaven in order to return there in victory, the first-fruits of the new
humanity.”
The second night is the night of the Exodus, when the Jewish people
miraculously passed through the Red Sea as they fled Egypt.
“The People of God was born from this ‘baptism’ in the Red Sea,
when it experienced the powerful hand of the Lord who snatched it
from slavery in order to lead it to the yearned-for land of freedom, justice
and peace,” the Polish pontiff explained.
Then there was the third night, “the night of nights, the night of faith
and of hope”: the night of the Resurrection.
“On this most holy night, when Christ rose from the dead, you too will
experience a spiritual ‘exodus’: leave behind your former life and enter
the ‘land of the living.’ ”
— Pablo Kay
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/ALESSANDRO BIANCHI, EPA
April 19-26, 2019 • ANGELUS • 15

VICTOR ALEMÁN
A catechumen is baptized during the Easter Vigil Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels April 15, 2017.
16 • ANGELUS • April 19-26, 2019

‘THIS IS WHERE
I BELONG’
Local catechumens entering the Catholic Church this
Easter celebrate their unlikely journeys from curiosity
to the start of ‘a new life.’
BY CAITLIN YOSHIKO KANDIL / ANGELUS
When Cheree Fraser was
young, she would sneak
out of the house to go to
Sunday Mass.
Even though her family was Catholic,
Fraser’s mother wanted her and
her twin sister to have the freedom to
choose their own religion, so Fraser
never received any of the sacraments
and she wasn’t encouraged to go to
Mass. So she decided to go on her
own.
“I was never interested in other
religions,” said Fraser, 24. “If anything,
I felt left out. I knew so much
about Catholicism, but I just couldn’t
receive Communion.”
Fraser always kept it in the back of
her mind that she would be baptized
someday, but it wasn’t until last year,
after her twin sister was baptized and
a friend also expressed interest in the
Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults
(RCIA), that Fraser decided the time
was right. Being baptized, she said,
would allow her to be a full member
of the Church.
“I want to get married in the Church
one day,” she said. “I want to be someone’s
godmother. I want to receive
Communion at Mass. I don’t want to
feel left out anymore.”
So in August, she started the RCIA
program at Holy Family Church
in Glendale, and for the past nine
months has attended about three
hours of classes per week, studying
the Bible and Catholic teachings to
prepare her to become a full member
of the Church.
Fraser is one of the estimated 1,560
catechumens — 786 adults and 774
children — being baptized in their
respective parish’s Easter Vigil liturgy
in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles this
year. Another 913 baptized candidates
will complete their initiation by celebrating
the sacraments of confirmation
and Eucharist sometime during
the Easter season.
“I feel like I’ll be extremely proud
of myself and closer to God,” she said
of her baptism. “I feel like I would
just get more blessings, and just have
more positive things come into my
life because I did this on my own. It
wasn’t handed to me. I had to work
for it.”
Sister Rosanne Belpedio, director of
the Office of Worship for the archdiocese,
said the experiences of catechumens
vary. While some, like Fraser,
grew up in Catholic families, others
are marrying Catholic spouses or have
been married to Catholics for years
and feel like it’s time to join the family
at Mass, she said.
Some young catechumens were
raised in non-Catholic households
but went to Catholic high schools
and decided to convert. There are
also Catholics who fell away from the
Church, got married and had kids,
and later found their way back to the
faith and want their older children to
be baptized.
Another group, Rosanne said, are
children whose families came to the
U.S. after fleeing violence or natural
disasters in Central America. Their
parents left quickly and never had the
opportunity to baptize their children
until years after settling in the U.S.
“There’s all different varieties of experiences
happening,” Rosanne said.
For some catechumens, Catholicism
is an entirely new experience.
Uzma Paquillo was born into a
Pakistani Muslim family, but she
said that growing up, Islam never
felt quite right to her. She asked her
family questions, but never got the
answers she needed, so as a teenager,
she stopped practicing her family’s
religion.
After she married her husband, a
Filipino Catholic, she started learning
about Catholicism by talking to his
family, and something about the faith
made her feel at home.
“It just clicked in me,” said Paquillo,
a 37-year-old who works in finance.
“It’s like finding comfort in that religion.
It all made sense. I felt like this
is where I belong.”
But after proclaiming her desire to
convert, her husband and in-laws
made sure that there wasn’t any family
pressure influencing her desire to
become part of the Church.
“His first question was, ‘Are you
doing it for me? Are you doing it for
my family?’ ” said Paquillo. “I said, ‘It
has nothing to do with you. I’m doing
April 19-26, 2019 • ANGELUS • 17

Archbishop José H. Gomez presides over the Rite of Election ceremony with more than 1,500 local
catechumens at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels March 10.
it for myself.’ ”
In September she started RCIA classes
at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
Mary Church in Pasadena, which she
said has been an exciting journey that
has changed her.
“I feel closer to God than I have ever
been,” she said. “I pray more. I see
more signs that God is around. My
thinking has broadened. I feel more at
peace with myself.”
For Paquillo, baptism will be the start
of a new life.
“It’s a new beginning,” she said.
For Steve Lin, baptism is also a new
start, not just for himself — but for his
entire family.
Lin, 36, who was born in Taiwan
and came to the U.S. at the age of 3,
said that he wasn’t raised in a religious
household. He had only visited Protestant
churches growing up, he said, but
only to play basketball or attend other
social events with his friends.
But two years ago, Lin met his nowwife,
a devout Catholic. Soon after
they started dating, he said, he learned
some prayers and they started attending
Mass together.
“On our first date, I was thinking
since she’s so religious I should learn
a Catholic prayer,” Lin said. “I knew
it was such a big part of her life and
I know she does it in Korean, so I
taught it to her in English. Then
about a month in, I said, ‘Hey, how
come you’re never free on Sundays?’
She said, ‘I go to Mass.’ And I said,
‘Can I come along?’ ”
Lin, who works as an importer,
had never been to Mass before, but
soon, going to the St. Gabriel Korean
Catholic Center in Rowland Heights,
it became a staple of his weekends.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect,” he
said. “It kind of gave me a little bit
more time on Sundays to relax, to take
a timeout from the rest of reality, from
the rest of life. Mass is one hour on
Sunday; it gave me time for a little bit
more self-reflection. So I decided this
is good for me, it’s nothing bad, so I’m
going to keep going, and I got used to
going.”
After Lin and his wife got married
and she became pregnant, Lin
decided to officially become Catholic
so they could raise their son in the
Church together. Attending the RCIA
program at St. Gabriel Church for the
past nine months has been a learning
experience for both of them.
Lin said he would often come
home from class and tell her what he
learned, and would find that even as a
lifelong Catholic, the information was
new to her, too.
Lin’s 3-month-old son was baptized
a few weeks before he will be, and
he said that he’s looking forward to
building — and leading — a family
based on faith.
“I want to teach my son how to
pray, how to have a relationship with
Christ, and how to read the Bible,”
he said. “I hope we learn together as a
whole family.”
Caitlin Yoshiko Kandil is an
award-winning reporter and graduate
of Harvard Divinity School whose
work has appeared in the Los Angeles
Times, NBCNews.com, Religion News
Service, and other publications.
VICTOR ALEMÁN
18 • ANGELUS • April 19-26, 2019

Pope Francis visits retired Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI last year in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery.
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/VATICAN MEDIA
Benedict speaks
Breaking down the rush to misinterpret the pope
emeritus’ new diagnosis of the sex abuse crisis
BY JOHN L. ALLEN JR. / ANGELUS
ROME — After remaining
notable mostly for his
invisibility the last six years,
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
made up for it in a big way April 10
by publishing a 6,000-word analysis of
the clerical sexual abuse scandals in
an obscure magazine for clergy in his
native German region of Bavaria.
The retired pope’s analysis is typically
multilayered, and his main focus is
why the path to recovery from the cri-
sis has to run through stronger faith in
God and a deeper personal encounter
with Christ.
His diagnosis is that only a Church
rooted in Christ, including his real
presence in the Eucharist, will have
the spiritual wherewithal to begin
putting the pieces back together.
The cause of the firestorm the essay
has created, however, can be expressed
far more simply, requiring just
one word: homosexuality.
Benedict asserts that the sexual revolution
of the 1960s and a collapse in
Catholic moral theology following the
Second Vatican Council (1962-65)
form a key part of the background to
the abuse scandals.
As part of that picture, he writes,
bishops in some cases “sought to bring
about a kind of new, modern” Catholicism,
leading, among other things,
to the formation of “homosexual
cliques” in seminaries and to pedo-
20 • ANGELUS • April 19-26, 2019

philia being “diagnosed as allowed
and appropriate.”
By so doing, Benedict came off in
some quarters as lending legitimacy
to the idea that being gay somehow
predisposes one to be a pedophile,
thus triggering accusations that he’s
fostering an ugly and embarrassing
form of homophobia.
Before considering that critique, let’s
dispense with a couple of preliminaries.
First, critics also have faulted Benedict
for “chastising” or “rebuking”
Francis, acting in
a disrespectful and
divisive fashion.
That’s fairly easy to
bat down. Benedict
sought permission
both from Francis
and from Italian
Cardinal Pietro Parolin,
the Vatican’s
secretary of state,
prior to agreeing to
publish his thoughts,
so there’s clearly no
failure of respect.
As for the rest, since
when is having
something different
to say ipso facto
“divisive”?
Second, critics
have pointed to a
major lacuna in
Benedict’s argument.
While he extols Saint John Paul
II for defending absolute moral norms
in his 1993 encyclical “Veritatis
Splendor” (“The Splendor of Truth”),
he fails to mention that several figures
we now know to have been notorious
abusers were protected and promoted
on John Paul’s watch, such as Mexican
Father Marcial Maciel Degollado,
founder of the Legion of Christ, and
ex-cardinal and now ex-priest Theodore
McCarrick.
That’s a completely fair point, and it
will weigh heavily in all future evaluations
of John Paul’s legacy.
For what it’s worth, however, when
the abuse scandals began to explode
in the late John Paul years, the
climate at senior levels in the Vatican
was dominated by denial and
defensiveness. The lone exception
was then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger,
who was the champion of the reform
caucus, among other things successful
pushing for expedited procedures to
defrock abuser priests.
In other words, whatever the failures
of John Paul on the abuse scandals,
you can’t really lay them at Benedict’s
feet.
Now for the central plank in the
indictment: Has Benedict fueled
homophobia?
Here’s the thing: Moral disapproval
of homosexuality, or even a personal
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI, greets Pope John Paul II
during a 2004 ceremony at the Vatican.
dislike of gays (not that such is the
case with Benedict), are not the only
reasons that might motivate someone
to believe that examining the “homosexual
cliques” Benedict describes
ought to be part of the analysis.
Let’s stipulate that a gay person is no
more likely to abuse than anyone else.
What no one seems to have acknowledged
is that this premise actually
makes it more puzzling, not less, that
in the John Jay study and virtually
every statistical analysis to date, a
strong majority of priest abuse cases
are male-on-male.
If homosexuals were somehow predisposed
to abuse, that result wouldn’t
be surprising. It’s precisely the fact
that’s not so, which demands another
explanation.
In a sense, the key word in Benedict’s
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/CATHOLIC PRESS PHOTO
formula probably isn’t “homosexual”
but “cliques.” The question is what
was going on in seminary and priestly
culture in the 1970s and ’80s, in
which clergy with things to hide —
whether those skeletons in the closet
were sexual, financial, related to substance
abuse, or whatever else — may
have found refuge and protection?
The possibility that in that era a good
share of those priests were gay doesn’t
mean there’s a problem with homosexuality,
but it does mean the nature
of whatever gay subculture existed
in the priesthood is
worth considering.
Whatever the
answer may be, the
mere fact of raising
the question doesn’t
seem automatically
tantamount to homophobia.
Of course, it
distorts Benedict’s
complex contribution
to put the focus
entirely on this
subject. Arguably
at least as important,
for instance,
is his discussion of
“guarantorism” and
the role an exaggerated
emphasis
on the due-process
rights of the accused
in canon law may
have played in delaying an adequate
response in the late 1990s and early
2000s.
However, sometimes the only way
out of a situation is straight through.
Today, media outlets around the world
are reporting that Benedict has linked
homosexuality with pedophilia, and
that can’t be ignored.
The best analytical take would
appear to be this: There’s an important
distinction between calling for
consideration of homosexuality, and
for saying “homosexual cliques” in
seminaries at a specific moment in
time are worth examining. The first is
about sexual orientation, the second is
about culture — and, in that distinction
lies a world of difference.
John L. Allen Jr. is the editor of Crux.
April 19-26, 2019 • ANGELUS • 21

The most practical strategy
Why social scientist Arthur Brooks believes Jesus’ command to ‘love
your enemies’ is the only antidote to today’s ‘culture of contempt’
BY KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ / ANGELUS
New York Times best-selling
author and Catholic Arthur
C. Brooks believes there
is an “outrage industrial
complex” that prospers by setting
American against American.
“America is addicted to political
contempt,” he writes in his newly
published book, “Love Your Enemies:
How Decent People Can Save America
from the Culture of Contempt”
(Broadside Books, $28).
“While most of us hate what it is
doing to our country and worry about
how contempt coarsens our culture
over the long term, many of us still
compulsively consume the ideological
equivalent of meth from elected
officials, academics, entertainers, and
some of the news media,” he observes.
In an interview with Angelus News,
Brooks shared his thoughts about how
the Dalai Lama inspires him, why
he believes civility and tolerance are
“garbage standards,” and the priest
that saved him from cynicism.
Arthur C. Brooks with his newly published book,
“Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can
Save America from the Culture of Contempt.”
IMAGE VIA TWITTER @ARTHURBROOKS
Kathryn Jean Lopez: Can decent
people really save America? Do we
even know what to do with decency
anymore?
Arthur Brooks: The funny thing
about our political moment is that
while it looks like there is no market
for decency in public life, in reality
the vast majority of Americans hate
our current culture and want it to
change.
Ninety-three percent of the country
can’t stand how divided we’ve become.
In other words, it’s not that we
should be looking to the few decent
people left to save America; it’s that
we need to remember that the country
is full of decent people — we just
22 • ANGELUS • April 19-26, 2019

don’t all agree on matters of public
policy.
What we have to realize is that the
caricatures of our ideological opponents
that we see on social media and
in the news are not representative of
the beliefs and behaviors of the American
people.
Lopez: Who are the most decent
people you know, who you look to on
days when your faith in your book’s
theme might be tempted to waver?
Brooks: In writing this book, one of
my most important sources of inspiration
was my friend and occasional
co-author, the Dalai Lama. His own
story is an important reminder for me
when I am treated with contempt and
want to respond in kind.
Though he and his people have been
persecuted by the Chinese government
since his teenage years, the
Dalai Lama prays for the leaders of
China every morning that they would
lead good and happy lives.
His advice to me has been similar:
When you are treated with contempt,
practice warmheartedness. This might
sound like soft and weak advice, but
as I’ve learned from the Dalai Lama,
being a person of warmheartedness in
fact requires great strength and toughness.
Strange to say, the Dalai Lama
has made me a better Catholic.
Lopez: You write, “Political scientists
find that our nation is more polarized
than it has been at any time since the
Civil War.” Does that worry you that
people talk in those terms? Did you
hesitate to put it in the book?
Brooks: It certainly worries me!
When the data show that 1 in 6 Americans
has stopped talking to a close
friend or family member because of
politics, you know that things are not
as they ought to be.
But that’s why I wrote this book,
because I believe we have a real problem.
I think the worst thing we could
do is ignore the problem, and I want
to offer public leaders and ordinary
citizens alike a series of practical
strategies for fighting the culture of
contempt.
Lopez: And yet you name civility
and tolerance as “garbage standards.”
How is love the game changer and is
it really practical in politics?
Brooks: In its truest form, love is not
soft or sentimental. It is a clear and
bracing commitment to the good of
our fellow men and women. It holds
us to a higher standard.
If a married couple told you they
were civil with one another, you’d
probably think they needed to go to
counseling. If your colleagues at work
merely tolerate you, you’re probably
looking for a new job.
In other words, we set the bar too
low when we strive for civility and
tolerance. There’s nothing wrong
with civility and tolerance, per se, but
they do not require that we actively
will what is good for the other (as
Saint Thomas Aquinas put it), which
is what we need to make genuine
progress.
To the second part of your question,
relying on the principle of love
is practical in politics because it
provides a moral consensus around
which meaningful disagreement can
revolve. If we know that our fellow
Arthur C. Brooks with the Dalai Lama in 2018.
IMAGE VIA TWITTER @ARTHURBROOKS
April 19-26, 2019 • ANGELUS • 23

Father Arne Panula, former vicar of Opus Dei in the U.S., poses at the Washington Mall in an undated photo. He died in 2017.
citizens genuinely will what is good
for us, we can have the kinds of policy
debates that will allow us to solve the
many challenges our country faces.
Lopez: Why is it so important not to
misdiagnose the contempt all around
as anger?
Brooks: There’s an important psychological
difference between anger
and contempt. When you get angry at
someone — maybe a friend, a spouse,
or a colleague — what that says is, “I
care about this, and I’m mad because
I see that something is wrong and
want to fix it.”
Contempt, on the other hand, says,
“You are beneath caring about.” Anger
ultimately helps us reconcile, but contempt
makes permanent enemies.
This is a critical distinction with
respect to America’s political environment
because it shows that there’s
nothing inherently wrong with being
angry and disagreeing, but that if we
want to bring the country back together,
contempt is the surest way to keep
it from happening.
Lopez: You write, “None of us has a
monopoly on truth.” Is your listening
to the other side’s advice going to
work when the other side has contempt
for you and facts?
Brooks: The answer to this question
is slightly counterintuitive, because
what we need to understand is that
contempt is an opportunity — an
opportunity to change your own heart
through your actions, no matter how
you feel about the people with whom
you disagree.
The contempt we see all around us is
discouraging, but treating others with
love and respect is your only shot at
persuading people who think differently
than you.
No one has ever been hated or
insulted into agreement, and we can
all be more effective in our disagreements
with others if we keep that in
mind. This insight has really changed
my life.
Lopez: You write that “[w]e need
national healing every bit as much as
economic growth.” And everyone can
truly lead on this front?
Brooks: Certainly. We need better
leadership at the state and national
level and in media, to be sure, but
what this book calls for is a personal
transformation. If we turn toward
greater love and happiness, it will be
reflected in our market and voting
choices. The “leaders” will follow.
Lopez: You describe gratitude as a
“contempt killer.” Is it also essential to
love and any progress?
Brooks: Not only to love and progress,
but happiness as well. There’s
no shortage of research showing that
when we choose to express gratitude,
we become happier as people. So at a
practical level, showing gratitude for
others will make you more persuasive
and effective, but it will also improve
your individual well-being.
Lopez: Your book is about the
culture of contempt in politics, but
practically speaking, does everyone
have enemies? Do you have handy
spiritual practices for keeping yourself
in check around them outside the
political/policy battlefield?
Brooks: In a way, the title of the
book may be a little misleading. My
point is not actually that we are surrounded
by enemies, but rather that
we incorrectly assume we are surrounded
by enemies (who are in fact
just fellow Americans who disagree
with us on policy and politics).
But our responses to those who disagree
with us should be informed by
the exhortation of Christ in Matthew
5:44 to love our enemies and pray for
those who persecute us. This is not
only the morally right thing to do; it’s
also a highly effective strategy.
Throughout history, we’ve seen that
CATHOLIC INFORMATION CENTER
24 • ANGELUS • April 19-26, 2019

the most lasting victories are brought
about by leaders who embraced the
principle of love, none more so than
Martin Luther King Jr. To love others
doesn’t mean rolling over or settling
for more agreement (as King’s example
demonstrates); but it does require
treating everyone — especially those
who disagree with us — with dignity
and respect.
Lopez: You and your wife teach
marriage prep. Why is that a priority
for you?
Brooks: Ester and I believe that the
flourishing of our country and our
community rests on the foundation of
strong families, so we want to contribute
to our society in that way.
But more importantly, we have been
blessed to have mentors who have
helped us strengthen our marriage,
and we want to similarly help couples
prepare for life together and understand
the critical role that their faith
will play in sustaining the relationship.
Lopez: How has adoption changed
your life?
Brooks: Adopting our youngest
daughter was one of the best decisions
we’ve ever made, even though
it seemed a little crazy at the time.
(I had just written a book about how
giving to charity and volunteering to
serve others makes us happier. My
wife’s response to the book? “I’ve read
that there are millions of girls without
parents in China. I think we should
adopt one!”)
Our faith tells us that it is our responsibility
to love and serve others, and
to extend the welcome of family to as
many people as we can. That’s what
we were hoping to do when we adopted
our daughter, and that decision
has been a profound blessing for each
person in our family.
Lopez: You dedicate the book to
a priest we both knew, Father Arne
Panula. How did he teach you to love
your enemies?
Brooks: If you’re not careful, living
in a town like Washington, D.C., can
make you cynical, calculating, and
even just plain mean.
I met with Father Arne for spiritual
direction every month for a decade
after I made the move to the American
Enterprise Institute (AEI) in
2009, and he showed me time and
again that the surest way to bring
about change and make a difference
in people’s lives is to show love and
kindness to everyone.
Most importantly, he would remind
me that I should be extending love not
just to my friends, but to those with
whom I had the greatest differences,
political or otherwise.
His guidance had an enormous
influence on my thinking and my
time leading AEI, and I’m so grateful
for the example he set for me and so
many others.
Kathryn Jean Lopez is a contributing
editor to Angelus, and editor-at-large of
National Review Online.
April 19-26, 2019 • ANGELUS • 25

ROBERTO MICHEL/SHUTTERSTOCK
Visitors pray before the crucifix of “El Señor del Veneno” at the Cathedral of Mexico City.
ABSORBING THE
POISON OF OUR SIN
Making sense of a mysterious
statue, ‘El Señor del Veneno,’ in
Latin America’s greatest cathedral
BY MSGR. RICHARD ANTALL / ANGELUS
26 • ANGELUS • April 19-26, 2019

The Cathedral of Mexico City is one of the greatest
Christian churches in the world, probably
the most outstanding in our hemisphere. Three
centuries in the construction and decoration, it
is an anthology of art and devotion.
You could make a retreat just focusing on the 16 side
chapels, the sacristy, which would put some modern
churches to shame, and the high baroque altars, the main
one called “Altar de los Reyes” (“Altar of the Kings”) and
the “Altar de Perdón” (“Altar of Pardon”), at the entrance
of the cathedral.
The “Altar de Perdón” was indulgenced especially for
prayers for the dead. In front of that altar is a crucifix
called “El Señor del Veneno” (“The Poisoned Lord”).
Sculpture inspires legends
This crucifix was made by indigenous artisans in the
18th century. It is unusual for its deep, black color and
for the way the corpus of Christ hangs in a y shape. Jesus
seems to be bending his knees, and that has inspired
legends about the sculpture and some very theological
reflection.
There are several different versions of those legends, but
two of them speak a great deal to me.
The first emphasizes the location of the crucifix in the
chapel of the Dominican seminary called “Porta Caeli”
(“Heaven’s Gate”). The story has it that a priest heard the
confession of a man there who had stolen a treasure and
in the process murdered someone.
The priest said he could not give absolution unless the
man returned the treasure and submitted to justice for the
homicide. The man was repentant but not that remorseful,
apparently.
He regretted having confessed his crime and then,
ignorantly, supposed the priest would report him to the
authorities. A priest cannot break the seal of confession
even when he refuses absolution.
Because he felt threatened with exposure, the man
decided to kill his confessor. The priest had the pious custom
of praying before and then kissing the crucifix before
retiring each night from the chapel.
The murderer knew of the practice and so smeared the
feet of the corpus of Jesus on the cross with poison. Supposedly,
the criminal hid in the shadows of the darkened
church in order to watch the deadly kiss.
As the priest leaned down to kiss the image, the murderer
was shocked to see the body of the Christ shift on the
cross and swing his feet away from the priest’s face. The
legs supposedly then remained in that position, saving the
priest. Some say the murderer repented and others that he
ran away frightened.
For me, this story has many lessons: about the seal of
confession, the necessity of true repentance, and reparation
from sin and the value of pious veneration of images of the
Lord.
The other story says the image was not always so dark
but that it absorbed the poison painted on the feet and
changed color all the way to the head. Those with devotion
to this crucifix see the image as absorbing the poison
of their lives, all the moral darkness of sin and suffering.
On my visits to the cathedral I have always seen people
praying before the crucifix with great reverence and
concentration. “I beg you, Lord,” says a prayer connected
with the image, “to purify me so that the vicious poison
of sin not penetrate my heart.”
Last year, the sculpture made of a kind of paste from
sugar cane was given a protective restoration treatment.
Many faithful were very concerned about the absence of
the crucifix, and the cathedral’s art director had to make
a statement about preserving the image for the veneration
of generations to come.
He also said that the contributions of those who are
devoted to the Black Christ are the most important
source of economic support for the great cathedral. “ ‘El
Señor del Veneno’ sustains the cathedral financially,” he
said. (Body and soul, brick and mortar and spirit — as a
pastor, I can empathize).
In Latin American countries you can see many diverse
people praying privately in the churches, not just in
liturgies.
In Mexico there are centuries-old, very beautiful
churches, with people old and young, men and women,
kneeling in prayer, often with an absorption in their
dialogue with God that would put many of us to shame.
Even some of our most beautiful cathedrals and basilicas
are not free of a touristy ambience sometimes.
Sacred space made beautiful
In the Cathedral of Mexico City one experiences sacred
space made beautiful not only by centuries of art but also
by the hallowing of the prayer of countless generations of
poor and humble people.
The Black Christ, the Lord poisoned by our sin, has
inspired so much prayer and consolation. As is evident
in this example, it is a prayer more filled with sentiment
than we are accustomed to in Anglo culture, a prayer
that is the poetry of the soul.
I know that for you nothing is impossible
My beloved Lord who was poisoned
I ask you from the deepest part of me,
With the deepest confidence in your power
Help me in my anguish and lack of peace,
I ask you with all my faith and hope
That you help me in my great difficulties.
Let me climb your cross and get next to you
To receive your mercy and blot out my past errors,
To live free of fears and avoid the death of sin.
Give me your blessing and favor, my beloved crucified
Lord.
Amen.
Msgr. Richard Antall is pastor of Holy Name Church in
the Diocese of Cleveland, a contributor to Angelus and
author of the book “Jesus Has A Question for You” (Our
Sunday Visitor, $11.95).
April 19-26, 2019 • ANGELUS • 27

VICTOR ALEMÁN
INTERSECTIONS
BY GREG ERLANDSON
‘My Lord and my God’
A woman venerates the crucifix at
the Cathedral of Our Lady of the
Angels on Good Friday last year.
When my children were
young, my parish
installed a new crucifix
behind the altar. It
replaced a rather Protestant-looking
wooden cross on which was hung a
much smaller corpus carried in at the
start of Sunday Mass.
Carved in Italy, the new crucifix was
life-sized and detailed, and it caught
one’s eye immediately. It also was not
aloft, nearer to the ceiling than the
people. It was at our level. After Mass,
I brought my 3-year-old daughter
to see it up close. She immediately
wanted to pat the wound on Jesus’s
foot where the blood streamed from
the nail holding him to the wood.
This instinct to touch reminded me
of the steady stream of worshippers
at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the
Angels who are already burnishing the
foot of the crucified Christ with their
touches and their kisses.
In Washington, D.C., right now
there is a stunning exhibition of the
works of Jacopo Tintoretto, a brilliant
artist of 16th-century Venice. One
painting is just after the Crucifixion,
with Jesus brought down from the
cross. It is a scene of great drama, with
Mary, his mother, almost swooning
with grief as she reaches out to touch
the foot of her dead son.
There is in Catholic iconography
this need to portray the wounds of
Christ, to touch them, to make them
tangible. We don’t just want to talk
about the Blood of the Lamb, we want
to touch it. It brings God closer to our
mortality, to our pain.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle gave an
emotional talk at the start of the Vatican’s
recent summit on sexual abuse
in the Church, in which he urged the
cardinals and bishops in attendance
28 • ANGELUS • April 19-26, 2019

to listen to the victims, to talk to the
survivors as if touching the wounds of
the crucified Lord.
“Our people need us to draw close
to their wounds and acknowledge our
faults if we are to give authentic and
credible witness to our faith in the
Resurrection,” he said.
All of us are wounded, and in the
wounds of Jesus we see a God who
is not remote but who knows, who
understands.
The Gospel writers wanted to make
clear the reality of the Lord’s suffering
and death. The cries to God, the
thirst, the final breath, the pierce of
the lance and the blood and water.
The Son of God, the Messiah, put
to death in a most ignominious way
— a common criminal hung on the
cross to die slowly in front of a crowd
of onlookers. The spotless victim, the
perfect sacrifice, had died that we
might be healed of our wounds, that
we might be saved.
This is why we venerate the cross on
Good Friday, commemorating the
wood on which hung our salvation.
Yet all of this would only be a rather
strange death cult if it ended here. As
St. Paul writes, if Christ has not risen,
then we are the most foolish of men.
How could we know that we had been
saved if not for the Resurrection?
The resurrection of the Lord is
the happy ending of which we are
assured. The finality of death is not
final. As T.S. Elliot writes, “In our end
is our beginning.” What seemed like
the end of the life of the mortal Jesus,
the agony, the blood, the grieving
mother, the stunned and frightened
followers, was only the prologue to
something far greater.
One thinks of the various Resurrection
accounts in Scripture. While they
differ in certain details, what comes
through is the struggle to comprehend,
the shock, the surprise.
In the retrospective recalling in the
Gospels, Jesus seems to make plain
what was to happen, but it only became
clear looking back.
Hearing the women tell the story that
the tomb was empty, hearing the two
disciples talking about the encounter
with Jesus on the road to Emmaus,
one can imagine the incomprehension,
even disbelief, that these stories
were true. And yet those encounters
with the risen Lord changed
everything, and for all time.
This is Easter: The Lord truly rose,
and because he rose, our hope is not
in vain. Easter is only understood
in the context of Good Friday, and
Good Friday is only understood in the
context of Easter.
What much of contemporary society
calls Easter is really without context and
without meaning. The comedian Jim
Gaffigan skewers it appropriately: Eggs
and a bunny. Some chocolate, too.
Society can’t comprehend the redemptive,
salvific power of suffering.
The truth be told, sometimes I can’t
either. And so it comes down to touch
again. Not Mary touching the foot
of her dead son, but Thomas invited
by the living Lord to touch the lance
wound and believe. And all that
remains to be said is, “My Lord and
my God.”
Greg Erlandson is the president and
editor-in-chief of Catholic NewsService.
© 2018 NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
“The Deposition
of Christ,” by
Jacopo
Tintoretto, 1562,
Gallerie
dell’Accademia,
Venice.
April 19-26, 2019 • ANGELUS • 29

The dangers of curiosity
More than eight decades later, ‘The Highwaymen’
takes on the immoral glorification of Bonnie and Clyde
BY SOPHIA BUONO / ANGELUS
A
cream-colored car pulls
slowly into a quiet alley.
A woman emerges from a
nearby building, and when
she sees who is sitting in the car, she
gasps and hastens away. She has just
caught sight of Bonnie Parker and
Clyde Barrow, the wanted robbers and
murderers who have been on the run
for two years, since 1931.
But when the woman returns, she
is accompanied not by legal authorities
or an angry mob, but a throng of
adoring fans. Screaming with delight,
the people call the felons’ names,
reach out to touch them, and ask for
autographs.
Such is the scene in the recent
Netflix feature, “The Highwaymen.”
Directed by John Lee Hancock, the
historical drama follows Frank Hamer
(Kevin Costner) and Maney Gault
(Woody Harrelson), the two former
Texas Rangers who were brought back
on the job to nab Bonnie and Clyde.
But as that moment with the fawning
crowd hints, the film is not just a simple
“good guy catches bad guy” story.
Hamer and Gault’s mission is anything
but popular. “Some folks are
saying Parker and Barrow are heroes,”
says a reporter. “They’re calling them
Robin Hoods.” As the Rangers roam
the streets of Texas, Oklahoma, and
Kansas, they see women dressed in
the same style as Bonnie Parker. “It’s
all the rage,” they observe bleakly.
One Texas official describes them
aptly: “cold-blooded killers who are
more adored than movie stars.”
How could anyone idolize such people?
“The Highwaymen” does a stellar
job offering a disturbing but profound
answer. It captures the mystery and
excitement of Bonnie and Clyde’s
legacy.
For most of the film, we hardly see
the criminals’ faces. They move in
the shadows and drop cigarettes and
liquor bottles when and where they
please. By the light of streetlights,
Woody Harrelson and Kevin Costner in “The Highwaymen.”
© NETFLIX
30 • ANGELUS • April 19-26, 2019

Bonnie fixes her lipstick while riding
shotgun next to her beloved partner
in crime.
From a distance, the notion of lawless
lovers on the run can be enticing.
It urges the people going about their
normal lives to indulge in curiosity
and fascination with twisted behavior.
Before long, violence and evil become
popular entertainment.
This temptation, in fact, is
far from new. The ancient
Romans gave into it regularly
at the Circus Maximus,
where they watched gladiators
slaughter one another and
martyrs suffer brutal deaths
with as much interest as they
would watch a theatrical
performance.
We might not have the
Circus Maximus or ask for
criminals’ autographs, but we
cannot say that our society
is immune to curiosity of
the inhumane. Not only in
fictional books and films that
overflow with promiscuity
and gore, but also in more
subtle and real-life ways, we
live in a culture that celebrates
the intrigue of immoral
behavior.
Magazines urge us to
devour every juicy detail of
the latest scandal or divorce.
Countless TV series and
clickbait articles spotlight
bizarre or disturbing actions,
from horrible parenting in
child beauty pageants to
sickening overindulgence in
eating contests.
Not to mention the billion-dollar
industry of pornography,
whose profits come directly from the
subversion of one of the most intimate
and sacred of human abilities.
These opportunities to ogle at
another’s rebelliousness is so alluring
because we can tell ourselves that we
would never do such a thing. “I would
never rob or kill people like that!” the
Bonnie and Clyde spectators might
have said.
And we might say today, “I would
never treat my family so heartlessly”
or, “I would never do such harmful
things to my body or someone else’s.”
And probably, we won’t. But feeding
our disordered curiosities also weakens
our consciences. It wears down
our defense against injustice and
immorality.
Little by little, we normalize it, make
excuses for the Bonnies and Clydes
of our world, and fall prey to the
temptations that really do plague our
own lives.
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, sometime between 1932 and
1934, when their exploits in Arkansas included murder, robbery,
and kidnapping.
It takes great courage to reign in curiosity
and call evil what it is, especially
when doing so is unpopular. This is
what makes Hamer and Gault such
spectacular characters. They are two
rough old men who truly know the
weight of the world’s sins, and they are
committed to restoring justice.
Costner and Harrelson’s phenomenal
acting drives the point home. In
one gripping scene, Hamer answers a
man — who says he would wish “all
the luck” to Bonnie and Clyde —
with a furious blow.
He reminds the man that the police
officer who faced the criminals on
Easter Sunday morning was shot in
the head before he even had time to
load shells into his gun. It’s a stirring
and satisfying moment, in which
someone finally confronts illusion
with truth.
The Rangers’ dogged pursuit might
make one wonder whether they
also have lost their grip on human
decency. Are they just viewing
Bonnie and Clyde as animalistic
criminals rather than
humans? But their interactions
and attitudes throughout the
film prove otherwise.
They meet and collaborate
with Deputy Sheriff Ted Hinton,
Bonnie and Clyde’s childhood
friend, and Hamer hears
Clyde’s father describe how his
son “didn’t have no dark soul”
while growing up. They very
much understand that “the
kids” have families and care
about their loved ones.
In fact, their attitude toward
Bonnie and Clyde is probably
the most sane out of anyone’s,
as the conclusion of the film
demonstrates. After killing
the criminals in the famous
roadside ambush, Hamer and
Gault watch hoards of people
follow the car being towed
through the town and roughly
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
tear souvenirs off the corpses’
clothes.
When someone offers Hamer
$1,000 for an interview, Hamer
turns away in disgusted silence.
“Shame on you,” Gault tells
the man. The Rangers refuse
to take part in anything that
makes human crime and death a
spectacle.
The behavior throughout the film —
both from Bonnie and Clyde and their
fan club — makes “The Highwaymen”
disconcerting to watch. But it
forces viewers to examine themselves,
to ask whether they have ever given
into the seemingly harmless dangers
of curiosity. Such a film is not just
entertaining but edifying. The world
could use more like it.
Sophia Buono is a writer living in
Arlington, Virginia.
April 19-26, 2019 • ANGELUS • 31

THE CRUX
BY HEATHER KING
Diana Cignoni as Grace, Paul Norwood as Frank, and Ron Bottitta as Teddy in “Faith Healer.”
A sucker for magnificence
In ‘Faith Healer’s’ LA debut, we’re called to
question how much we’re willing to believe
Kathryn Kuhlman (1907-1976), a Methodist faith
healer and born-again Christian, had a weekly
program in the 1960s and ’70s that I sorely regret
having missed.
How can you not love an evangelist who was married
(briefly) to a man named Burroughs A. Waltrip of Dallas,
and who was sued by her personal administrator for
purportedly stashing away a million bucks in jewelry and
another million in fine art?
Plus I actually agree with everything she says: “I, too,
beLIEVE in miracles! I, too believe that Jesus Chrrrist is
the very Son of the living God. I, too, believe that love is
something you … DO!”
Which brings me to “Faith Healer,” by Irish playwright
Brian Friel, at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble in West LA
through May 12.
Director Ron Sossi (also the Odyssey’s artistic director)
describes the play as “at once a Rashomon type mystery, a
delving into talent versus sham and, ultimately, a uniquely
metaphysical view of life” — well, sign me up!
32 • ANGELUS • April 19-26, 2019

Brian Friel (1929-
2015), perhaps best
known for “Dancing
at Lughnasa,” wrote
prodigiously and
is considered one
of Ireland’s most
prominent contemporary
playwrights.
“Faith Healer”
premiered in 1979
and comprises four
monologues.
“Fantastic” Francis
(Frank) Hardy,
played here by Paul
Norwood with a
potent mix of pathos
and blarney, is an
itinerant Irish healer
who travels about
Scotland and Wales
performing purported
miracles and
knowing that the
hope he imparts is
mostly phony.
Nonetheless, one
time out of 10 or so
he does effect a healing. And in those rare and precious
moments, he can forget the questions that undermine his
life. Do I truly have a gift, he wonders. Or am I a con man?
Do I love the people I heal, or do I hate them (and vice
versa)? Are my powers in decline?
“The kirks [churches] or meetinghouses or schools — all
identical, all derelict,” Frank observes of the towns through
which he and his entourage of two pass. “Maybe in a corner
a withered sheaf of wheat from a harvest thanksgiving
of years ago or a fragment of a Christmas decoration across
a window — relics of abandoned rituals.”
Frank’s long-suffering wife, Grace, speaks from her bedsitter
in London. In a white, satin nightgown and ratty winter
coat, she chain-smokes, swills whiskey, and downs pills
against the pain of some “absolutely horrific” trauma.
Played to perfection by Diana Cignoni (her nationality
changed here from English to German), of the three
characters she seems to have the clearest, most trustworthy
insight into her own psyche and motives.
COURTESY ODYSSEY THEATRE ENSEMBLE VIA FACEBOOK
Though emotionally brutalized by Frank, and wary of his
gift, she recognizes that even half-drunk, “he had a special
… magnificence.” What woman — or man — isn’t a sucker
for magnificence?
Teddy, Frank’s promoter (a spot-on Ron Bottitta), is a
consummate Cockney showbiz hustler who purports to
have one cardinal rule: Keep your business and personal
lives separate. He seems not to know — but then again, he
kind of does — that he has broken the rule completely in
his years of traveling with Frank and Gracie.
Teddy plays dumb but he has his own undermining
questions: Why didn’t the incessantly bickering Frank and
Grace split? Why didn’t he leave them?
All three refer to certain seminal events — for example, a
night at a Methodist church in Wales when Frank cured 10
people at once — but their memories vary wildly,
Was Grace Frank’s wife, or his mistress? Did Frank purposely
bolt when Grace was giving birth or was he absent
because of the death of his mother — or was it his father?
Or did she never give birth at all because, as Frank insists,
she was barren? Was it Frank’s ultimately disastrous idea to
return to his native Ireland, as Grace and Teddy insist, or
Teddy’s, as Frank insists?
They do agree that the return took place at the end of
August, just as harvest time was beginning, that they happened
upon a wedding party at a bar in Ballybeg, and that
there Frank healed a farmer with a bent finger.
Also present that night in some form was a paralytic in
a wheelchair who all three knew in advance that Frank
would be unable to heal. But was the cripple at the wedding
party or holed bitterly up at home, dead or alive, a
figment of their collective imagination or a broken Christ
figure, calling Frank through the cathedral arch to his
death — or was it new life?
Frank’s epilogue doesn’t so much tie up the loose ends
as lead us deeper into mystery. Is “Faith Healer” a play
about childhood wounds, the hero’s journey, the magic
of theater, unrequited love, the fragility of memory, the
impossibility for an artist of marriage, the death of religious
faith, the anguished hope that we are not ourselves 100
percent phony, the fact that every human relationship is at
best a tangled knot?
All that and more. As Teddy says of Gracie that night in
Ballybeg: “And suddenly she is this terrific woman that of
course I love very much, married to this man I love very
much — love maybe even more. But that’s all. Nothing
more. That’s all. And that’s enough.”
Heather King is a blogger, speaker and the author of several books.
April 19-26, 2019 • ANGELUS • 33