Angelus News | November 13-20, 2020 | Vol. 5 No. 28

ANGELUS
SAINTS
WANTED
The way forward after
the 2020 election
November 13-20, 2020 Vol. 5 No. 28

ON THE COVER
A divided country. A global pandemic. A crippled
economy. With an end to 2020 in sight,
uncertainty about the future lingers. On Page
10, Angelus contributor Elise Ureneck looks
at the “big picture” of this moment in history
through the lens of two new texts — one by
a blogger, the other by a pope — to help
understand what God is asking of American
Catholics in times of political polarization and
cultural change.
DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES
IMAGE:
Michael “Mikey” McGivney Schachle, his parents,
and several of his siblings stand with a relic
during the Oct. 31 beatification Mass of Bl.
Michael McGivney at the Cathedral of St. Joseph
in Hartford, Connecticut. Michael, who is named
after the founder of the Knights of Columbus,
was given no hope of surviving a life-threatening
case of fetal hydrops while still in the womb.
His miraculous healing was attributed to the
intercession of Bl. McGivney, and was approved
by the Vatican as the miracle needed for the
priest’s beatification.
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

Contents
Pope Watch 2
Archbishop Gomez 3
World, Nation, and Local News 4-6
Scott Hahn on Scripture 8
Father Rolheiser 9
What is Cathedral High’s secret to producing vocations? 14
John Allen: How Italian is the papacy nowadays? 18
Kathryn Lopez remembers the heroic virtue of Andrew Walther 20
Bishop Joseph Perry on ways to overcome racism 24
Grazie Christie finds hope for 2020 in the saint of Auschwitz 28
Kris McGregor: Julian of Norwich and the mystery of suffering 30
Heather King: A locally grown new volume on saints 32

POPE WATCH
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November 13-20, 2020
Vol. 5 • No. 28
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Reform movements
Ahead of the Nov. 10 release of an
internal review of documents and
witness accounts detailing the rise to
power of former cardinal and convicted
abuser Theodore McCarrick, the Holy
See announced a pair of important
moves suggesting progress on the path
to greater transparency.
On Nov. 5, news emerged that Pope
Francis had requested that responsibility
for financial funds and real
estate assets, including a controversial
London property, be transferred out of
the Vatican’s Secretariat of State.
The pope asked for the management
and administration of the funds and
investments to be given instead to
APSA, which functions as the Holy See
treasury and sovereign wealth manager,
and also administers payroll and operating
expenses for Vatican City.
In an Aug. 25 letter to Secretary of
State Cardinal Pietro Parolin made
public Nov. 5, the pope asked for
“particular attention” to be paid to two
specific financial matters: “investments
made in London” and the Centurion
Global investment fund.
Pope Francis requested that the
Vatican “exit as soon as possible” from
the investments, or “at least dispose of
them in such a way as to eliminate all
reputational risks.”
The Centurion Global Fund is managed
by Enrico Crasso, an investment
manager for the Vatican. He told an
Italian newspaper last month that Pope
Francis had asked for the fund’s liquidation
last year after media reported its
use of Vatican assets under its management
to invest in Hollywood films, real
estate, and utilities.
The London property deal involved
a building at 60 Sloane Ave. that was
purchased over a period of years from
a Vatican investment manager for a
reported 350 million pounds. The Vatican
lost money in the purchase, and
concerns about potential conflicts of
interest in the deal have been raised.
The next day, the pope’s representative
in Poland announced disciplinary
measures on a 97-year-old cardinal
following an 18-month investigation
into abuse claims.
The apostolic nunciature in Warsaw
said that Cardinal Henryk Gulbinowicz,
archbishop of Wroclaw from
1976 to 2004, would be prohibited
from attending any celebrations or
public meetings as well as using his
bishops’ insignia.
He will also lose the right to funeral
and burial in the city’s cathedral, and
was ordered to pay an “appropriate
sum” to the St. Joseph Foundation,
which assists abuse victims and coordinates
abuse prevention and child
protection.
Accusations against the cardinal were
made in a May 2019 TV film, “Just
Tell No One,” by a former Catholic
student who said he was sent to the
Wroclaw curia in 1989 by a local
seminary rector.
Father Rafal Kowalski, spokesman for
the archdiocese, said the accusations
had been referred to Rome in September
2019, after a local prosecutor
declined to investigate. He said other
students and former associates of the
cardinal also had submitted information.
Reporting courtesy of Catholic News
Agency’s Hannah Brockhaus and
Catholic News Service’s Jonathan
Luxmoore.
Papal Prayer Intention for November: We pray that the progress of robotics and
artificial intelligence may always serve humankind.
2 • ANGELUS • November 13-20, 2020

NEW WORLD
OF FAITH
BY ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ H. GOMEZ
No lasting city
A long and divisive election season is
winding down. As Catholics, we know
that no party or candidate ever fully
represents the Church’s vision of the
human person and human society. To
live in our secular society as a person of
faith is to be always dissatisfied with the
limitations of our politics.
Jesus told us that his kingdom was
not of this world. His first disciples
described themselves as exiles and
pilgrims on the earth.
“For here we have no lasting city, but
we seek the city which is to come,” we
read in the Letter to the Hebrews. St.
Paul said that our true citizenship is in
heaven.
This is true. We can never forget it.
Politics today has become for many
people a substitute for religious faith.
But it cannot be that way with us.
The truth is that we are here for a
time. When that time passes away,
we will meet Our Lord. And in the
evening of our lives, as the saints tell
us, we will be judged by our love.
This does not mean that we abandon
this world or withdraw from participating
in the workings of our society.
We are called to follow Jesus Christ
and to live according to his commandments
and teachings. Just living our
faith has deep political and social
implications.
To live as a Christian means being
guided in all things by love, by a
sincere desire to see that our neighbors
are treated as we want to be treated,
with dignity and respect.
Our faith is deeply personal. But it is
never meant to be only a matter of our
private beliefs and behavior.
As Christians, we share in Jesus’
mission. We are called to be apostles,
missionary disciples who bring the love
of Jesus to our neighbors and seek to
build his kingdom on earth.
The Gospel tells us that God is the
Father of all peoples and that every human
life is precious and loved by God
and that we belong to one another, that
we are meant to live together as one
human family.
Jesus taught us that every human life
is sacred, because God created every
person out of love and in his image.
The whole Gospel depends on this
truth — that God so loved each and
every person, that he sent his only Son
to die for our sake, so that we might
live.
These are religious claims. But if we
accept and believe these claims, they
will change how we live, and how we
think about what makes a good society.
For the Church, governments and
economies, societies, and cultures
should have only one purpose — to
promote the dignity and flourishing of
the human person.
This is why the Church believes that
the foundation of justice in society
begins with protecting and promoting
the sanctity of all human life, from
conception to natural death.
The Church considers marriage and
family to be sacred, because these natural
institutions are the “cradle” from
which life proceeds, and the foundation
of every human community.
The Church also believes that government
must protect freedom of religion
and conscience as the first freedom.
People must be free to believe and
to order their lives according to their
beliefs.
From these foundations — the sanctity
of the human person, the sanctity
of marriage and the family, the right
to conscience and freedom — the
Church’s social doctrine builds.
As Catholics, we are called to work
for a society where the human person
is loved and protected, especially the
weakest and most vulnerable human
lives. We want a society where all men
and women are treated as children of
God, with equality, liberty, and justice
for all.
Catholics must always be engaged
in the great struggles in our society —
over abortion, euthanasia, the environment;
over gender and the family; over
racism, criminal justice, immigration,
and religious liberty.
These are not only political “issues.”
They are moral and religious. They go
to the heart of the matter: Who is God
and why has he made us? What are his
intentions for the human person, for
the world?
We have no lasting city, as the Scriptures
say. But we are each called to
make our own contribution to building
up God’s kingdom on earth. We do
that by keeping our eyes on heaven,
and trying to live as saints on earth.
Let us rededicate ourselves to our
vocation to holiness — to loving as
Jesus loved, and serving God and one
another in our daily lives.
Pray for me this week, and I will pray
for you.
And let us ask the Blessed Virgin
Mary, patroness of this great nation, to
intercede for us. May she help us to
work together to fulfill the beautiful
vision of America’s missionaries and
founders — one nation under God,
where the sanctity of every human life
is defended and freedom of conscience
and religion are guaranteed.
To read more columns by Archbishop José H. Gomez or to subscribe, visit www.angelusnews.com.
November 13-20, 2020 • ANGELUS • 3

WORLD
‘Deplorable’ terrorist attacks rattle Europe
Former UK Prime Minister Theresa May in 2017.
UK: Former PM warns
over church closures
Another strict lockdown was issued
this month by Prime Minister Boris
Johnson in the United Kingdom,
where coronavirus (COVID-19) cases
are on the rise.
But some members of Parliament,
including Johnson’s own predecessor,
Theresa May, expressed worry about
the consequences of banning public
worship.
“My concern is that the government
today making it illegal to conduct an
act of public worship, for the best of
intentions, sets a precedent that could
be misused for a government of the
future for the worst of intentions,” said
May, who is Anglican, during a Nov. 4
debate on new lockdown restrictions.
Despite similar concerns from other
members of Parliament, the House of
Commons approved the new lockdown
the same day by a vote of 516
to 38.
Likewise, the Catholic bishops of
England said in a statement they
have “profound misgivings” about
the restrictions, but urged Catholics
to make use of churches for private
prayer and stated that the restrictions
are not an attack on religious belief,
but a lack of understanding about the
importance of faith.
WIKIMEDIA/HER MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT
A pair of deadly attacks in Europe, including one inside a Catholic church, are
being investigated as acts of Islamic terrorism.
On Oct. 29, a 21-year-old Tunisian man with a knife entered the Basilica of
Notre-Dame de Nice and killed three people before Mass, one of them “virtually
beheaded,” according to French authorities. The man had just come from the
Italian island of Lampedusa, where he had arrived as a migrant last month. He
was arrested by police after the attack.
Days later on Nov. 3, at least five people were killed and 17 injured in a shooting
spree in Vienna, Austria.
The gunman started his attack outside a synagogue moved across six different
locations before police shot and killed the attacker. The gunman had previously
been jailed in April 2019 for trying to join ISIS in Syria, according to the BBC.
“I entrust to God’s mercy the people who have tragically passed away,” said Pope
Francis at his Nov. 4 General Audience, “and I express my spiritual closeness to
their families and to all those who suffer as a result of these deplorable events.”
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/TODD HABINGER, THE LEAVEN
THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS
After the Nov. 28 consistory the College of Cardinals will have 128 electors.
ELECTORS BY REGION
U.S. & Canada
13
24
COUNTRIES WITH THE MOST ELECTORS
Italy
Latin America
A graphic shows the breakdown of electors in the College of Cardinals after the Nov. 28
consistory, where Pope Francis will create 13 new cardinals.
Africa: Retired cardinal kidnapped and released
53
Europe
An elderly cardinal in Cameroon was released by kidnappers less than 24 hours
after he was taken by gunmen from a separatist militia.
The kidnapping of Cardinal Christian Tumi, archbishop emeritus of Douala,
came amid growing conflict between the English- and the French-speaking parts
of Cameroon.
“Glory be to God. Cardinal Tumi has been freed by the separatist fighters. He is
fine and in good health,” Bishop George Nkuo of the Kumbo Diocese announced
on the afternoon of Nov. 6. The cardinal also told the current archbishop of
Douala, Archbishop Samuel Kleba, that he was questioned but not tortured,
according to La Croix Africa.
Taken with Cardinal Tumi was also Fon Sehm Mbinglo I, local leader of the Nso
people, who was still in captivity as of press time.
18
Africa
Oceania
16
United States Spain Canada Brazil France
22 9 6 4 4 4
Source: Catholic News Service
©2020 Catholic News Service
4
Asia
4 • ANGELUS • November 13-20, 2020

NATION
Portland chapel for the poor damaged
Paper covers the smashed windows of St. André Bessette Church in Portland
Nov. 5, as a man walks to get in line for the free meals the parish serves.
Election 2020: Catholic voters split in half
Protests in Portland,
Oregon,
which started as
a “Defend Democracy”
rally,
turned into riots
and vandalism
of a Catholic
church.
St. André
Bessette Church
had its windows
broken during
the Nov. 4 protests.
In addition
to celebrating
the sacraments,
the church,
sometimes
known as the
“Downtown Chapel,” includes a drop-in center, kitchen, showers, and washing
machines for the homeless. All services for the homeless, however, have
been suspended until the damage is fixed and the building secured.
Gov. Kate Brown activated the Oregon National Guard to suppress the riot.
“They shattered the windows of a church that feeds Oregonians in need, a
women-owned and operated business that raises money for immigrant and
women’s rights, and many other storefronts,” Brown said Nov. 5. “Indiscriminate
destruction solves nothing.”
People in Troy, Michigan, stand in line to vote at St. Joseph Chaldean Church Nov. 3.
According to polling done by AP VoteCast this election cycle, 50% of Catholics
supported President Donald Trump’s bid for reelection while 49% favored Joe Biden.
Demographic changes split the vote more starkly — white Catholics supported
Trump 57%, whereas Hispanic Catholics supported Biden 67%.
The polling data suggests the Catholic Church is as divided as our nation, said
David Gibson, director of Fordham University’s Center of Religion and Culture.
“If the Republican Party continues to try to amplify calls to white grievance and
fear of immigrants in order to rally the white Catholic vote, that could create further
problems for the Catholic Church itself as it seeks unity,” he told the Associated
Press.
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/ED LANGLOIS, CATHOLIC SENTINEL
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/JIM WEST
Win, loss for pro-life laws
Election day saw wins and losses for
pro-life measures in Louisiana and
Colorado.
An amendment to the Louisiana Constitution
passed almost 62% for to 37%
against, which states that “nothing in
this constitution shall be construed to
secure or protect the right to abortion
or require the funding of abortion.”
However, in Colorado a proposition
to ban abortions after 22 weeks was defeated
by a similar margin: 59% against
to 41% for.
Katrina Jackson, the pro-life Democratic
state senator who wrote the
Louisiana amendment, said that the
amendment isn’t an absolute ban on
abortion.
“Amendment 1 will make sure judges
could never establish a right to taxpayer
funding of abortion in Louisiana,”
she wrote last month in The Advocate.
“It simply keeps abortion policy in the
hands of our legislators rather than
state judges.”
SCOTUS hears Catholic
foster-care case
The future of Catholic adoption
agencies in Pennsylvania is now in the
Supreme Court’s hands.
The U.S. high court heard arguments
on Fulton v. City of Philadelphia on
Nov. 4, a case which the country’s
Catholic bishops warn could have large
consequences for religious freedom.
The court is asked to decide on
the city of Philadelphia’s policy of
no longer contracting with Catholic
Social Services for foster-care placements
due to the agency’s policy of not
working with same-sex couples.
“Essentially, we are being told that the
Catholic Church must leave its faith
at the door if it wants to serve those in
need,” wrote Philadelphia Archbishop
Nelson Perez in the Philadelphia
Inquirer Nov. 1. “But our faith compels
us to do this work, and we have a right
to conduct ourselves according to the
tenets of our faith.”
November 13-20, 2020 • ANGELUS • 5

LOCAL
A ‘Trunk or Treat’ to remember
Students handed out treats at the Bishop
Alemany “trunk-or-treat” event.
COLTON MACHADO
Coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns may have canceled Halloween parties across
the state, but it couldn’t keep Bishop Alemany High School in Los Angeles from
celebrating.
For the last 30 years, the school has hosted a Halloween dance for developmentally
disabled adults in local group homes. This year, with large indoor gatherings
still banned in LA County, the school instead held an outdoor “trunk-or-treat”
event for more than 200 adults.
Faculty, students, and community members decked out the school parking lot
and cars with spooky decorations, lights, and blow-up figures. Costumed and
masked students passed out candy to guests, many of whom had been unable to
participate in festivities this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Voters decide on
stem cells, criminal
justice reform
Californians voted by a narrow
margin to continue funding stem
cell research, despite concerns
that it will result in the destruction
of human embryos.
Proposition 14, which passed by a
51%-49% margin, allows California
to borrow up to $5.5 billion to
keep open the California Institute
for Regenerative Medicine and
expand its research capacity.
California’s Catholic bishops
opposed the measure, since that
research includes the use of embryonic
stem cells. Such research
involves the destruction of embryos,
which according to Catholic
teaching equates to the destruction
of human life.
The fate of another measure,
however, drew a warmer reaction
from the bishops. Proposition 20
would have increased penalties
for certain property crimes and
repeated parole violations, and
make it more difficult for some
convicted felons to qualify for early
parole and release from prison. It
failed by a roughly 24% margin.
According to the California
Catholic Conference website,
“The Bishops of California
opposed this measure, as it would
have rolled back major criminal
justice reforms.”
Archbishop Gomez blesses altars at the Calvary Cemetery Día de los Muertos event.
LA Catholics celebrate Día de los Muertos virtually
At a virtual Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration on Nov. 1,
Archbishop José H. Gomez remembered the lives of those lost in the coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic.
“This year, we celebrate this beautiful feast of hope in a time of heavy sorrow,”
he said at the outdoor prayer service livestreamed from Calvary Cemetery and
Mortuary in East Los Angeles.
“In this moment, I think that the church has a special duty to bear witness to this
hope that has been entrusted to us,” said the archbishop. “Right now, in this time
of sorrow, in this time when people are fearful and when many people are in the
grips of despair, we need to reach out, we need to speak to their sorrow.”
He blessed eight altars, or “ofrendas,” dedicated to victims of the pandemic, Kobe
and Gigi Bryant, the homeless, first responders, and Vanessa Guillen, a soldier
killed in Texas, among others.
The celebration featured the pilgrim images of Our Lady of Guadalupe and
St. Juan Diego, and a traditional sawdust carpet, or “tapete,” with the image of
Bl. Carlo Acutis, the 15-year-old computer programmer who was beatified last
month.
COLTON MACHADO
6 • ANGELUS • November 13-20, 2020

SUNDAY
READINGS
BY SCOTT HAHN
Prov. 31:10–13, 19–20, 30–31 / Ps. 128:1–2, 3, 4–5 / 1 Thess. 5:1–6 / Mt. 25:14–30
The day of the Lord
is coming, Paul warns
in Sunday’s Epistle.
What matters isn’t the
time or the season,
but what the Lord
finds us doing with
the new life, the graces
he has given to us.
This is at the heart
of Jesus’ parable in
the Gospel this week.
Jesus is the Master.
Having died, risen,
and ascended into
heaven, he appears
to have gone away
for a long time. By
our baptism, he has
entrusted to each of
us a portion of his
“possessions,” a share
in his divine life (see
2 Peter 1:4).
He has given us “The Last Judgment” (detail), by Viktor Vasnetsov, 1848-1926, Russian.
talents and responsibilities,
according to the measure of serve one another and his kingdom as
our faith (see Romans 12:3, 8). We are good stewards of his grace (see 1 Peter
to be like the worthy wife in Sunday’s 4:10).
First Reading, and the faithful man we In this, we each have a different part
sing of in the Psalm.
to play. Though the good servants
Like them, we should walk in the in the parable were given different
“fear of the Lord” — in reverence, numbers of talents, each “doubled”
awe, and thanksgiving for his marvelous
gifts. This is the beginning of the same reward for his faithfulness —
what he was given. And each earned
wisdom (see Acts 9:31; Proverbs 1:7). greater responsibilities and a share of
This is not the “fear” of the useless the Master’s joy.
servant in Jesus’ parable this week. So let us resolve again in our Eucharist
to make much of what we’ve been
His is the fear of a slave cowering
before a cruel master, the fear of one given, to do all for the glory of God
who refuses the relationship that God (see 1 Corinthians 10:31); that we,
calls us to. He has called us to be too, may approach our Master with
trusted servants, fellow workers (see 1 confidence and love when he comes
Corinthians 3:9), using our talents to to settle accounts.
Scott Hahn is founder of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, stpaulcenter.com.
Scott Hahn is founder of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, stpaulcenter.com.
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
8 • ANGELUS • November August 16-23-30, 13-20, 2020 2019

IN EXILE
BY FATHER RONALD ROLHEISER, OMI
Anchoring love, prayer, and service
In his book “The Second Mountain”
(Penguin Random House, $18), David
Brooks suggests that a key to sustaining
fidelity in any vocation is to “build a
structure of behavior for those moments
when love falters.” He’s right.
Anybody who has made a commitment
to be faithful for the long haul
inside a marriage, a friendship, a faith
community, or a vocation to serve others
will need more than initial enthusiasm,
bare-footed sincerity, affective
energy, and good resolutions to sustain
himself or herself on that road.
It’s one thing to have a honeymoon
with someone, it’s another to be in
a marriage over many years. It’s one
thing to be an enthusiastic neophyte
on a spiritual journey, it’s another thing
to remain faithful inside that journey
for 70 or 80 years. And it’s one thing to
serve meals to the homeless, it’s something
else to be Dorothy Day.
So the question is: How do we sustain
our initial enthusiasm, sincerity,
affective energy, and good resolutions
through the boredom, heartbreak, misunderstanding,
tiredness, and temptations
all of us will undergo in our lives,
whether that be in our marriage, our
vocation, our church life, our prayer
life, or our service to others?
That question was put to me recently,
speaking to a group of young seminarians.
I shared that I had just celebrated
48 years of ministry. The seminarians
peppered me with questions: What’s
the secret? How do you get through the
rough times? How do you sustain good
intention, goodwill, and good energy
year after year? How do you sustain
your prayer life over 40 or 50 years?
I answered with an insight from
Lutheran theologian Rev. Dietrich
Bonhoeffer who, whenever he officiated
at a wedding, would tell the couple:
“Today you are very much in love
and think your love will sustain your
marriage. It can’t. But your marriage
can sustain your love.” I advised the
seminarians in the same way: Don’t
trust your present enthusiasm and good
energy to sustain your priesthood; let
your priesthood sustain your enthusiasm
and energy. What’s at stake here?
A commitment in faith, love, or service
becomes a ritual container, an ark,
like Noah’s, that existentially locks you
in. And the fact that you’re locked in
is what makes the commitment work.
You enter naïvely, believing that your
good feelings and affective energies
will sustain you. They won’t.
Inevitably, they will be worn down by
time, familiarity, boredom, misunderstanding,
tiredness, wound, and new
obsessions that emotionally tempt you
elsewhere. So how can you sustain
yourself in a commitment through
periods of dryness? Brooks’ answer is a
good one: “by building a structure of
behavior for exactly those moments.”
How do you do that? Through
routine, ritual, and habit. Anchor your
person and your commitment in ritual
habits that steady and hold you beyond
your feelings on any given day. Set
rituals for yourself, which you will do
regularly no matter how you feel.
For me, as a priest, some of these are
preset. As a priest, you are to daily pray
the Office of the Church as a prayer
for the world, no matter how you feel.
You are to celebrate the Eucharist for
others regularly, irrespective of whether
or not this is personally meaningful to
you on any given day.
You are to do some private prayer daily,
particularly when you don’t feel like
it. The list goes on. These rituals give
you structure and healthy routines, and
they are needed because in the priesthood
as in every other vocation, there
are times of fervor when feelings are
enough to sustain you; however, there
are also desert times, bitter times, angry
times, times when love falters. It’s then
that a structure of behavior can steady
and sustain you.
The same holds true for marriage.
Couples have to build a structure of
behavior for those times when love
falters. To name one such ritual: A wife
and husband need to have some ritual
expression of affection when they wish
each other a good day as they part each
morning, no matter their emotions and
feelings on a given day.
That ritual is a container, an ark,
which locks them in and holds them
together until a better season and better
feelings return. Ritual can sustain
love when it falters.
In understanding this, we need beware
of “Job’s friends,” that is, beware
of the various books and gurus on
spirituality, prayer, and marriage that
give you the impression there’s something
wrong with you if your enthusiasm
and emotional affectivity are not
the glue that daily sustains you in your
commitment.
Simply put, these are books written
by spiritual novices and marriage
manuals written by someone confusing
a honeymoon for a marriage. Enthusiasm
and good feelings are wonderful,
but they can’t sustain you through a
marathon. For a marathon you need to
have long-practiced strategies to carry
you through the long, tiring miles in
the middle and at the end.
Father Ron Rolheiser is a theologian, teacher, award-winning author, and president of the Oblate School of Theology
in San Antonio, Texas. Find him online at www.ronrolheiser.com and www.facebook.com/ronrolheiser.
November 13-20, 2020 • ANGELUS • 9

Resist or reach out?
As we emerge from a contentious election, debates
about what role the Church should play will surely
follow. But one thing is clear: America needs saints
BY ELISE ITALIANO URENECK / ANGELUS
A stained-glass window at Sacred Heart Church in Freeport, Minnesota, depicts the good Samaritan. The 2,000-year-old parable of the good Samaritan
is the anchor of the encyclical “Fratelli Tutti” (on fraternity and social friendship).
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/GENE PLAISTED, THE CROSIERS
10 • ANGELUS • November 13-20, 2020

Two published
works released last
month, one by a
pope and the other by
a blogger, describe and
analyze ominous signs
forewarning a large-scale
breakdown of peace,
order, justice, and the
common good.
These signs include
fractious polarization,
ideological colonization,
widening social enclaves,
and economies that
discard society’s most
vulnerable.
The first of those texts,
Pope Francis’ new
encyclical “Fratelli Tutti”
(on fraternity and social friendship)
addresses those realities directly, calling
for radical solidarity with the poor and
marginalized and a reorientation of
economies and lifestyles that contribute
to the “throwaway culture.”
The other is “Live Not By Lies: A
Manual for Christian Dissidents”
(Penguin Random House, $27) by
conservative cultural critic Rod Dreher
(formerly Catholic, now Eastern Orthodox),
which draws parallels between
contemporary America and Eastern
Europe under Marxist communism.
It offers readers disheartened by the
cultural shift toward secular progressivism
a “manual” on how to survive the
difficult times to come.
While Pope Francis and Dreher are
two names that you won’t often find
mentioned in the same sentence,
both are offering a bird’s-eye view of
the state of our world and what the
Christian mission looks like at a critical
moment in history. And they both
articulate a similar warning to readers
at this point in history: We cannot carry
on as we have been. We need a drastic
change of course.
These warnings came just in time for
the 2020 U.S. general election, seen by
many as a chance to change course, at
least at the political level.
On Nov. 3, Americans elected Democratic
former Vice President Joe Biden
to the presidency. The 77-year-old
Catholic defeated President Donald
Trump, whose record while in office
on issues such as abortion and religious
President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden in a composite photo.
liberty elicited support among many
Catholics, but whose crass brand of
rhetoric, hardline stance on immigration,
and nationalist approach to foreign
policy has drawn direct criticism
from others, including the pope, who
just recently called his family-separation
policy at the U.S.-Mexico border
“cruelty of the highest form.”
The aftermath of this election is
expected to bring at least two of the
things Pope Francis and Dreher
warned about to the fore: on one hand,
heightened political polarization and
distrust of “the other” on a scale the
modern world has not seen in decades;
on the other, the advance of secular
progressivism, championed by the media,
cultural influencers, universities,
and corporations.
To be clear, Pope Francis’ encyclical
is part of the Church’s ordinary magisterium;
Catholics are obligated to
strive to assent to its teaching. Dreher’s
thesis does not carry with it that weight.
And while the two texts look at our
current crises through different lenses
and speak to different audiences,
they share some similar insights and
worries, chief among them how fear,
isolation, and individualism are shaping
our geopolitical landscape as well
as dividing families, neighborhoods,
and the Church.
For American Catholics, the
post-election situation that awaits is a
call to once again answer a timeless
question: How can we live a life of
holiness amid all this — mess?
TWO DIAGNOSES
Dreher’s book is
written through the lens
of historical memory,
that of Christians who
resisted Soviet totalitarianism.
He takes his title
from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s
counsel in “The
Gulag Archipelago” to
“never knowingly support
lies” — to preserve
one’s integrity, even if it
comes at a great price.
Dreher believes that
U.S. soil is fertile for
what he calls a “soft
totalitarianism” to take
root. He borrows his
definition from German-born
American
political philosopher Hannah Arendt,
who says that under totalitarian rule,
“an ideology seeks to displace all prior
traditions and institutions, with the
goal of bringing all aspects of society
under control. Truth is whatever the
rulers decide it is.”
Fidelity to a new ideology will not
initially come from the government,
Dreher argues. Instead, cultural elites
and corporations will drive conformity.
Dreher writes that all of this will be
undertaken in the name of “social
justice.” While he lauds an impulse
toward care for the downtrodden,
he says that it is divorced from the
Christian tradition from which it was
born. Today’s concept of social justice
“depends on group identity and …
achieving justice means taking power
away from the exploiters and handing
it to the exploited.” Anyone who stands
in the way is to be removed.
“Christians cannot endorse any form
of social justice that denies biblical
teaching,” Dreher writes, including
sexuality, family, and the dignity of
every human person, which are the
building blocks of a just order.
Dreher’s concern, and that of his anticommunist
interviewees, is that embracing
these goods in practice and in
public is now characterized as hateful.
Christians are losing jobs, livelihoods,
and reputations for their commitment
to their faith claims. Non-Christians,
too, are worried; “cancel culture” is
quickly spreading, and unlike Soviet
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/JONATHAN ERNST AND BRIAN SNYDER, REUTERS
November 13-20, 2020 • ANGELUS • 11

Author Rod Dreher speaks in 2017.
Russia, it takes no prisoners.
Like Dreher, Pope Francis invokes the
lens of historical memory as a way of
looking at the “dark clouds” gathering
over the world. He uses the example of
St. Francis of Assisi, his namesake, to
look at our present condition.
“In the world of that time, bristling
with watchtowers and defensive walls,
cities were a theater of brutal wars
between powerful families, even as
poverty was spreading through the
Father Tomislov Kolakavic
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
countryside,” he writes.
Pope Francis shares a number of
Dreher’s concerns about economies
of exclusion. He, too, worries about
how digital platforms are changing
communication, producing enclaves in
which like-minded groups perpetuate
groupthink and in which opponents
are demoralized or eliminated.
“Persons or situations we find unpleasant
or disagreeable are simply deleted
in today’s virtual networks; a virtual
circle is then created, isolating us from
the real world in which we are living,”
he laments.
The Holy Father likewise condemns
the neoliberal deification of consumption
and individual rights, and juxtaposes
it with the universal destination
of goods and radical hospitality. He
warns against populist movements
that appeal to people’s worst inclinations
and fears, and calls politicians to
remember their vocation to serve the
common good.
The antidote is a global commitment
to treat every person as a brother
or sister, loved by the same Father.
According to Catholic writer Brandon
McGinley, “The Holy Father envisions
a free, open, tolerant, welcome,
fraternal exchange of ideas and culture
as the path to social peace based on
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/THE TRINITY FORUM
truth.”
He believes deeply what St. Paul says,
that every person has the natural law
written on their hearts. As Christians,
we are to appeal to those inclinations
by being good neighbors.
HEROIC DISCERNMENT
Given this grim outlook, how is the
Christian to proceed? Dreher encourages
readers to engage in a threefold
process of discernment made popular
among Christian dissidents under
Soviet rule by the Jesuit priest and
anticommunist activist Father Tomislov
Kalokavic: “See. Judge. Act.”
“See meant to be awake to realities
around you. Judge was a command to
discern soberly the realities in light of
what you know to be true, especially
from the teachings of the Christian
faith. After you reach a conclusion,
then you are to act to resist evil.”
The heroes in “Live Not By Lies”
include Czesław Miłosz, the Polish
poet and literary critic, who was exiled
for his dissidence; Karol Wojtyla (later
St. Pope John Paul II), who helped to
preserve Poland’s cultural heritage and
memory through underground gatherings,
and ordinary men and women
who lost material security for refusing
to acquiesce.
Though Dreher acknowledges that
this has not yet come to pass, the fact
Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio
washes and kisses the feet of residents of a
shelter for drug users during Holy Thursday
Mass in 2008 at a church in a poor neighborhood
of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
12 • ANGELUS • November 13-20, 2020

that any shared understanding of
and respect for liberal principles like
equality, fraternity, and justice between
Christians and those in power does
not bode well. Christians must turn
their effort to resisting the forthcoming
aggression.
This includes building up strong
families and transmitting the faith to
children. It involves preserving historical
memory, which is essential for
culture. And it means modeling moral
courage at home and in public, no
matter the cost.
“Our cause appears lost … but we are
still here,” Dreher concludes. “Now
our mission is to build the underground
resistance to the occupation to
keep alive the memory of who we were
and who we are, and to stoke the fires
of desire for the truth God.”
ALL IN THE SAME BOAT
Incidentally, the “See. Judge. Act.”
approach is one that the Holy Father is
known to use: It is central to his vision
of how to engage with the modern
world and to some of his most important
writings, from “The Aparecida
Document,” whose drafting he oversaw
at a meeting of Latin American bishops
in 2007, to his 2015 encyclical on the
environment “Laudato Si” (“Praise Be
to You”).
Pope Francis uses the parable of
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/ENRIQUE GARCIA MEDINA, REUTERS
This fresco in the Shrine of La Verna in Italy depicts St. Francis of Assisi’s meeting with the Sultan
of Egypt 800 years ago.
the good Samaritan as our lens for
discernment. In his view, the Church
is still the field hospital, and we are to
consider every person (particularly the
marginalized) as the man left half dead
on the side of the road, ignored by the
people with the power to help him.
These moments don’t call for resistance,
or the perpetuation of an “us”
versus “them” mentality. Instead they
demand that we reach out our hands,
even to those who consider themselves
our enemies.
The good Samaritan rose to the occasion
not because he was not concerned
with the question, Who is my neighbor?
but rather, What kind of neighbor are
you?
It is clear to Pope Francis that a good
number of people are in a great deal of
pain. The polarization, isolation, and
anger we see are symptoms of much
deeper wounds, namely spiritual ones.
They need the Savior, and Christians
are called to make that introduction.
“A worldwide tragedy like the COV-
ID-19 pandemic momentarily revived
the sense that we are a global community,
all in the same boat, where one
person’s problems are the problems of
all,” he writes in “Fratelli Tutti.” “Once
more we realized that no one is saved
alone; we can only be saved together.”
So which historical moment is more
instructive? Which is the way forward?
Are Christians in the United States
called to resist cultural pressure by
retreating into churches and homes,
preserving and passing on the Faith in
its fullness? Or should we reach out
our hand to our neighbors and appeal
to their natural instincts for good?
Perhaps it’s best to take a “both/and”
approach. As the dust settles from this
fraught election and campaign season,
we will be faced with opportunities at
home, at work, in our parish, and on
our social media platforms to discern
how to speak, pray, and act.
The Church has produced saints in
all historical circumstances: St. Francis
and St. Pope John Paul II lived in two
different moments, and both responded
to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
In a homily on All Saints’ Day a
few years ago, Pope Francis said that
like stained-glass windows, the saints
allow the light of God to permeate
the darkness of sin in the world. The
Christian’s task in the days ahead is
to determine how to best let the light
shine through.
Elise Italiano Ureneck is a contributor
to Angelus and columnist for Catholic
News Service writing from Boston.
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/OCTAVIO DURAN
November 13-20, 2020 • ANGELUS • 13

LA’s vocation
POWERHOUSE
Cathedral High School almost closed its doors 35 years ago. Now,
graduates are known for showing the ultimate kind of generosity
BY STEVE LOWERY / ANGELUS
Cathedral High School in Los Angeles.
IMAGE VIA FACEBOOK @CATHEDRALPHANTOMS
What is immediately apparent
when visiting the campus
of Cathedral High School
is the striking, panoramic perspective
of downtown Los Angeles, skyscrapers
seeming to rise out of one of the end
zones of the school’s football field —
go Phantoms!
Not so obvious, at least to the outsider,
is what the campus produces more
of than any other Catholic school in
town: exceptional numbers of young
men who choose to pursue a religious
vocation.
No, for that, you need a perspective
not of distance but time, so consider
this: When Daniel Garcia was
ordained a priest this summer at the
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels,
he became the seventh Cathedral
alum (Class of 1992) to choose the
religious life in just over a decade.
Coming off of National Vocation
Awareness Week (Nov. 1-7) and the
urgency to foster vocations at the
local, national, and global level, it’s
natural to ask: What is Cathedral’s
secret?
Turns out, the secret is there is none.
In talking to some of the “Phantoms”
who have answered God’s call,
they made clear there are no magic
words or gimmicks, but that what
distinguishes Cathedral’s success is as
apparent as its view of downtown.
“In the last couple of decades, there’s
always been at least four brothers and
up to seven [on campus],” said Brother
Chris Patiño, a Cathedral alum
14 • ANGELUS • November 13-20, 2020

IMAGE VIA FACEBOOK @CATHEDRALPHANTOMS
(Class of 2002), who later returned to
teach at the school.
“I know as a student this made a
great impact on me. While most of
the faculty and staff are laypersons,
the commitment of the brothers to
continue their presence at Cathedral
is significant.”
Indeed, at a time when religious
men and women are fewer and far
between at many Catholic schools
and congregations, when their very
presence is treated as an occasion as
opposed to an everyday occurrence,
the daily, consistent presence of the
brothers, in habit, provides both modeled
behavior as well as a constant
reminder of what a religious life looks
like and the very real-world effects it
can have.
In other words, Cathedral’s all-male
student body knows that such a life is
not only available, but attainable.
“There were quite a number of
Lasallian Brothers who were present
on campus and always available to the
needs of the students,” recalled Rev.
Canon Joel Estrada (Class of 2003),
today a priest of the Institute of Christ
the King Sovereign Priest and pastor
of St. Patrick Church and Oratory in
Waterbury, Connecticut.
“[That] helps us remember the
brothers’ commitment to their
vocation in teaching and following
the charism of St. John Baptist de La
Salle.”
St. John Baptist is credited with
starting what we think of as modern
Catholic education. The Christian
Brothers, the order he started to
educate working-class children, has
operated Cathedral since its founding
in 1925 by Archbishop John J.
Cantwell. As with any institution that’s
been around for almost a century,
Cathedral has experienced its ups
and downs, none further down than
when the Archdiocese of Los Angeles
announced it was closing the school
in June 1985.
Ultimately saved (in large part due to
the efforts of then-Archbishop Roger
Mahony), the school saw enrollment
shrink to about 300 in the mid-’90s,
before rebounding to a healthy 700
young men today.
Those young men, the religious will
tell you, feel a kinship and connection
to those who went ahead. Take
Guillermo Alonso (Class of 2014), a
seminarian of the Archdiocese of Los
Angeles currently studying for the
priesthood at St. John’s Seminary in
Camarillo. As a freshman, Brother
Chris was his religion teacher. When
Brother Chris attended Cathedral, he
was close friends with Ryan Resurrecion,
who would enter the Carmelite
order and become Brother Ryan
Resurrecion.
“The school is without a doubt
special, and the Lasallian spirituality
and teachings of St. John Baptist that
the brothers form us with have a lot
to do with how young men there can
see the religious life as a possibility,”
Alonso told Angelus.
To that end, when Brother Chris
taught at Cathedral, he helped form
a “vocations club” that allowed any
student to listen to various vocational
stories, religious or not. Brother Chris
said being able to have a real relationship
with the brothers was a key in
drawing him to the religious life.
“Seeing how the brothers lived out
Cathedral High School alumni Brother Chris Patiño (right) with Brother Ryan Resurrecion (center)
at Brother Resurrecion’s first vows as a Carmelite brother in 2019.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
November 13-20, 2020 • ANGELUS • 15

the ministry of education became
really attractive,” he said. “Of course,
like many vocation stories, much of it
had to do with the personal relationships
I was able to establish with the
brothers. During my time as a student,
two brothers taught me, the president
and principal were brothers, and for
two years the campus minister/service
coordinator was a brother. It was the
latter who I really connected with and
which provided a path to really coming
to know the brothers’ community.
“They were very intentional about
inviting groups of us to dinner and
prayer. Their availability it seemed
was 24/7, and that also made a huge
impression on me. I truly tried to live
out this kind of spirit when I became
a brother and was assigned to Cathedral
High School years later. In short,
being drawn to teaching, a desire to
serve, and the dynamic presence of
the brothers at Cathedral planted
the seeds during high school toward
religious life.”
It is seeing the religious life lived,
every day, that each man agreed
helped give direction to their own
lives. As Brother Rafael Rodriguez
(2013), a novice brother, pointed out,
the religious at Cathedral do not only
participate in religious matters but in
all aspects of student life.
Future priest Joel Estrada (left) with the future
Brother Ryan Resurrecion at their graduation
from Cathedral High in 2003.
Cathedral High School alumnus Danny Garcia with family after his diaconate ordination at the Cathedral
of Our Lady of the Angels in 2019. Garcia was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of
Los Angeles this summer.
SUBMITTED PHOTO VICTOR ALEMÁN
“Students continue to be accompanied
by these educators after school in
sports, clubs, theater productions, but
most importantly in the relationships
that are cultivated by the students with
one another,” he said. “The students
are able to put into practice what
they see being modeled by the adults
around them with one another.”
And it’s an interesting thing about
that word “modeling.” Yes, it can
mean behavior, but the men agreed
it can also quite literally mean how
one presents himself physically, that
seeing the brothers in full habit daily
reminded the students not only who
these men were, but of the commitment
they had made.
“It’s unique in that amidst the world
of modernism where many religious
would forgo wearing their religious
habit, the brothers at Cathedral wore
their habit, which I believe is an important
visible way of being a witness
to Christ,” Father Estrada said.
“It is not at all a sign of clericalism,
but a sign that they are consecrated
and set apart in order to fulfill their
vocation in teaching others and lead
others to Christ.”
To illustrate his point, Father Estrada
mentioned that, not too long ago, he
was attending a diocesan-wide meeting
with other priests. As usual, he
wore his priestly blacks while chatting
lightheartedly in a hotel lobby with
other priests dressed in plain, casual
clothes.
“It was interesting to note that some
other people who entered the lobby
immediately walked toward me and
asked which parish I belonged to, and
that they were happy to see a priest in
full habit,” he said.
“They did not realize that there were
other priests around me, which I later
pointed out to them. Truly, a visible
sign of our vocation helps speak a
silent but powerful message to all
who see our religious habit. I thank
Cathedral High School and the brothers
for helping me foster that holy
example.”
Steve Lowery is the arts and culture
editor for the Long Beach Post and
a parishioner at American Martyrs
Church in Manhattan Beach.
16 • ANGELUS • November 13-20, 2020

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November 13-20, 2020 • ANGELUS • 17

St. Pope John Paul II laughs while
speaking with Italian Cardinal Camillo
Ruini on board a papal flight in 1991.
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/ARTURO MARI, L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO
The Italian job
When it comes to the papacy, one country
still may be more equal than others
BY JOHN L. ALLEN JR. / ANGELUS
ROME — You know it’s a strange time when the pope
gives an interview to a major news outlet, and arguably
it’s not even the most interesting ecclesiastical
Q&A of the month.
Pope Francis spoke Oct. 30 to the Italian agency Adnkronos.
Yet a few weeks earlier, legendary Cardinal Camillo
Ruini, the once all-powerful vicar of Rome and president of
the Italian bishops’ conference under St. Pope John Paul II,
spoke to the Italian paper Corriere della Sera and offered
possibly even tastier food for thought.
Now a lion in winter as he nears his 90th birthday in
February, Cardinal Ruini is seen as one of the leaders of the
College of Cardinals’ conservative wing. In Catholic circles,
the main headline from the interview thus was a comment
from Cardinal Ruini about whether there’s an “international
conservative front” against Pope Francis.
“In some ways, it exists,” he said, “but it has various accentuations
and facets. Only a few could truly be considered
‘against’ Pope Francis; for example, not all of those who’ve
formulated certain criticisms with a constructive intent.”
18 • ANGELUS • November 13-20, 2020

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/ARTURO MARI, L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO
In Italy, the zinger was Cardinal Ruini’s flattery of Giorgia
Meloni, who, Cardinal Ruini said, is “deservedly on the
crest of the wave.” Meloni is the founder and leader of the
Fratelli d’Italia Party, and she’s widely seen as the main
challenger to populist Matteo Salvini as the leader of the
center-right.
However, Cardinal Ruini also had some interesting things
to say about cardinals and popes, which merit unpacking.
Here’s the relevant part of the
interview.
Not just Venice, Turin and
Genoa, but even Milan, today
don’t have a cardinal. Is this a
sign of decline
[for the Church in Italy]?
“A hundred years ago, Italians
were the absolute majority
among cardinals. Internationalization
began with Pope Pius
XII, more in keeping with the
catholicity and universality of
the Church, which, with Pope
Francis, is developing further.
Naturally, there has to be a limit
to this process, too. It wouldn’t
be good if Italy were under-represented,
also because Rome,
the seat of the successor of Peter,
is the capital of Italy.”
Some foreign cardinals have
said the weight of the Italians
has to be reduced: “Better to
come from Tonga than Milan.”
Has it become a problem
to be Italian?
“I don’t think the Italian
bishops perceive such a problem.
Anyway, nationality, whether Italian or non-Italian,
shouldn’t be either a handicap or a title of merit. That’s
demanded by the very nature of the Church.”
Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco in 2015.
We haven’t had an Italian pope for a half-century. Is
being Italian by now a handicap for becoming pope?
“I don’t think so. I’d say instead that it’s no longer an advantage,
or at least a prerequisite, but it’s good that it’s no longer
so. The one elected pope should be the person regarded as
most worthy and suitable, independently of nationality.”
Three takeaways occur.
First, for anyone who knows the Vatican, the idea that Italians
are being under-represented would seem almost silly.
Despite decades of alleged internationalization, the Vatican
remains an unalterably Italian institution, and under Pope
Francis, it’s arguably more so than ever.
Cardinal Ruini wasn’t talking about the Vatican but the
College of Cardinals, but even so, the Italian imprint in that
arena too remains sui generis. As of Nov. 28, when Pope
Francis will create nine new cardinals under 80, Italy will
have 22 cardinals eligible to vote for the next pope, and the
United States will have nine.
Italy, with about 60 million Catholics, has 23 cardinals,
while Brazil, with 120 million, has four. Put differently, Italy
gets a cardinal for every 2.6 million Catholics, while Brazil,
the largest Catholic country in the world, gets one for every
30 million.
Let’s face it: The Italians in the
College of Cardinals still are on
their home field; everyone else
is playing a road game.
Second, Cardinal Ruini’s point
seemed to be not just about
numbers, but the intrinsic link
between Rome as the capital
of Italy and as the seat of the
papacy. The implied argument
is this: If Catholics believe in
salvation history, then it’s not
just an accident the center of
government for the Catholic
Church is in Italy. Italy is a
culture uniquely shaped by Catholicism,
warts and all, and to
strip the Vatican or the College
of Cardinals of its primarily
Italian ethos would be to deny
tradition and to risk identity.
That argument may or may
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/PAUL HARING
not hold water, but it would be
very interesting to play out.
Third, Cardinal Ruini asserts
that being Italian is no longer
an advantage in becoming
pope, but I wonder.
Granted, most cardinals
probably begin with policy, not
nationality. That is, cardinals
who support the direction set by Pope Francis will want
someone to continue it; those opposed will want someone to
set a new course.
However, suppose one of those in favor of continuity is
choosing between Cardinal Pietro Parolin, secretary of state,
and Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago. You don’t think he
might give Cardinal Parolin the nod on the grounds that, as
an Italian, he’ll know how to get things done?
Conversely, suppose one of those seeking change is
pondering Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, retired from Genoa,
or Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for
Divine Worship. Despite the inherent attraction of a “black
pope,” one wonders if Cardinal Bagnasco might not have
the edge as an Italian who knows where the bodies are
buried.
In other words, we are in an era in which all countries in
the papal sweepstakes may be equal, but that doesn’t mean
Italy still isn’t a little more equal than others.
John L. Allen Jr. is the editor of Crux.
November 13-20, 2020 • ANGELUS • 19

The saints who stalk us
Making sense of
the life and death of
LA native Andrew
Walther, a Catholic
layman of heroic virtue
BY KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ /
ANGELUS
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/COURTESY EWTN GLOBAL CATHOLIC NETWORK
I
sometimes find myself stalked by
saints.
It’s not as spooky — or creepy —
as it may sound. “Accompany” might
be a more accurate verb, but “stalk”
captures the drama.
In New York, where I live, reminders
of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St.
Frances Xavier Cabrini, and Dorothy
Day seem to pursue me at every turn
(Archbishop José H. Gomez once said
of Day: “I don’t know if she’s a saint,
but I know she makes me want to be
one”).
They all lived here and poured out
their hearts, souls, and minds for the
love of God. The feast day of “Mother
Cabrini” is Nov. 13, so she’s always
especially on my mind this time of
year, the same month the Catholic
Church celebrates All Saints’ Day and
All Souls’ Day.
We are particularly blessed with
many saints here in the northeast. The
latest to be raised to the altars is a man
who walked our streets and ministered
to our ancestors here. Just a few hours
after his beatification on the eve of
All Saints’ Day, I visited the tomb
of Father Michael McGivney, best
known as the founder of the Knights of
Columbus.
He died at the age of 38 from a
pandemic, but did not waste time in
spending himself for the love of Christ
and his people.
On my knees at his tomb, I begged
for a total healing for my friend,
Andrew Walther, who was battling
leukemia. A Los Angeles native, he
had worked for the Knights for 15
years, most recently as vice president
for Communications and Strategic
Planning, before joining EWTN News
as its president this year.
It seemed wrong to be at a festival
Andrew Walther, president and
chief operating officer of EWTN
News Inc., in an undated photo.
He died from complications
related to leukemia Nov. 1.
for Father McGivney’s beatification at
St. Mary’s Church in New Haven —
where we had prayed together before
with his family — celebrating his
friend and new “blessed” without him.
Earlier in the day, before getting on
the train to New Haven, I found myself
hugging my copy of the authoritative
illustrated history of the Knights of
Columbus he and his wife, Maureen,
had authored.
It was the closest I had been to Andrew
in a long time, due to the danger
posed by the coronavirus (COVID-19)
for someone undergoing chemotherapy
and a bone-marrow transplant. In
olden times, our frequent visits usually
included a long meal and conversation.
Some of those were lunches we
would co-host to help bring people
together around a cause, like helping
Christians in the Middle East.
Even before we became close friends,
20 • ANGELUS • November 13-20, 2020

I was so appreciative of his personal
mission at the Knights: to encourage
real Christianity in the public square
and in families for the protection of
life. I was so honored to be his friend.
And I was so proud of the grace he
allowed God to give him in suffering.
I told him not too long ago, “I love
you too much to call you a saint, but if
you stay on this path, Andrew, you will
be one.” Well he sure did, until God
amounting to genocide. The work
would expand, and Andrew would
find himself in different parts of the
world, working to protect lives and the
very existence of Christianity in those
places.
The ultimate behind-the-scenes strategist,
with a servant’s heart and a passion
for truth, he did more to advance
the culture of life and civilization of
love than those who frequently make
he was moving from the Knights of
Columbus, founded by a likely saint,
to EWTN, also founded by a possible
future saint, Mother Angelica. I saw
firsthand how he trusted that they
would keep him on the right path with
their intercession.
When he made the move, we
thought God was preparing to help
lead us in a time when the forces of
evil were working overtime to cause
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/CARLO ALLEGRI, REUTERS
A statue of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini,
patron of immigrants, after its unveiling
Oct. 12 in the Manhattan borough
of New York City.
took him home the next day.
I wanted a miracle for Andrew, for
his wife, Maureen, their beautiful four
children, and their extended families.
But if I’m honest, I also feared life
without him.
Under the leadership of Carl
Anderson, the Knights of Columbus
had already committed to helping the
Christians and religious minorities
of Iraq and Syria suffering a violent
persecution from the Islamic State
the headlines.
He labored for the love of God. And
he didn’t do it because he was a nice
guy or because he wanted to have
street cred for his next job, but because
it was what God asked him to do. He
was very clear about that, and he was
relentless in building the kingdom of
God in this mess of a world.
That’s why his move to EWTN this
year was such a big deal. By what
clearly seemed to be God’s initiative,
confusion and evil.
When he got the leukemia diagnosis
the same month he took the new job,
we told ourselves that this was obviously
to purify and strengthen him. We
thought about the fight ahead. Instead,
it seems it was to prepare him to die,
to bring him to a final passion earlier
than expected.
I do not like when people say that
someone who has died is in a better
place (please, when I die, do not say
November 13-20, 2020 • ANGELUS • 21

Baltimore Archbishop William E.
Lori, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson,
and members of the Schachle
family pay their respects Nov. 1
at the sarcophagus near the entrance
of St. Mary’s Church in New
Haven, Connecticut, where the
remains of Bl. Michael McGivney
are entombed.
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/AARON JOSEPH, ARCHDIOCESE OF HARTFORD
that). We have to be prepared for heaven.
But I can now add Andrew to the
list of the saints who stalked me.
He made me better. I look back now
and realize that our conversations
were about heaven. They were about
being who God made us to be, so that
we could be with him for eternity and
bring as many people along with us as
possible.
In some of our final conversations,
he was more detached than ever
about what the future would hold,
including who might win an election.
He loathed the idea of his children
and Maureen being without him, but
he was at peace, believing that God
knows what he is doing.
I think that’s what I loved the most
about Andrew. He was always solving
problems with his brilliant mind, but
when it came to the most important
things, my amazing friend radiated
humility.
All of this brings me back to a passage
from Mother Cabrini’s travel diaries,
writing home to her sisters in Europe.
She was talking about their congregation’s
patron, St. Margaret Mary
Alacoque, to whom Jesus gave the
devotion of the Sacred Heart, when
she wrote that “truly faithful and
loving souls are not discouraged. Thus,
our Margaret, knowing that the work
she was chosen to establish came from
heaven, lost neither her confidence
nor her courage.”
She continued:
“Completely abandoned to the infinite
mercy of her beloved Jesus ... she knew
Inside the Chapel of the Revelation of Jesus Margaret Mary Alacoque in Paray Le Monial, France.
SHUTTERSTOCK
22 • ANGELUS • November 13-20, 2020

how to triumph over all obstacles and
was rewarded by seeing the Sacred
Heart of Jesus known, loved and glorified
by a great number of devotees before
her death. As a reward for such generous
action, Blessed Margaret Mary
now contemplates in heaven the beauty
of the Divine Heart of Jesus, enjoying
peace, joy, and sovereign delights. She
can talk to Him openly at any moment,
can implore and obtain even prodigious
graces. She will certainly implore them
for you if you honor her as your true
protectress, but more so if you imitate
her. From heaven, as she contemplates
the sight of what your charity accomplishes
in continuing the mission that
she exercised on earth with immense
benefit to souls, she will console you
with her powerful intercession and present
your fervent prayers to the throne of
God. As a reward for your zeal, she will
place all of you in the loving shelter of
the Heart of Jesus and obtain for you
the grace to live, as she did, a life of
humility, meekness, obedience, sacrifice
and love.”
Andrew was God’s missionary who
God is now rewarding.
I think of the time Andrew and Carl
Anderson worked to get the Obama
administration to recognize the Islamic
State’s campaign of persecution as
“genocide.” We had the opportunity
to celebrate a Chaldean Mass at the
Catholic Information Center, the
closest tabernacle to the White House.
Days later, then-Secretary of State
John Kerry declared ISIS guilty of
committing genocide against Christians,
Yazidis, and Shia Muslims.
We saw it as a miracle. God had used
faithful servants as instruments along
the way.
The only way I can make sense of
Andrew’s death is in dying so young,
we all have to pay more attention. This
was a saint who lived among us. He
had heroic virtue. We have to live this
way, too. Andrew, I know you will help
us!
Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at
the National Review Institute, editor-at-large
of National Review magazine,
and author of the new book, “A
Year with the Mystics: Visionary Wisdom
for Daily Living” (Tan Books, $44.95).
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6/17/20 1
8:12 AM

Carol Rice, Deborah Reddy, and Joan Stine
stand in solidarity during the closing song, “Let
There Be Peace on Earth,” during a listening
session on racism at Notre Dame of Maryland
University in Baltimore April 29, 2019.
What can people of faith
do to help end racism?
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/KEVIN J. PARKS, CATHOLIC REVIEW
One of the country’s few African American bishops has some ideas
BY BISHOP JOSEPH N. PERRY / ANGELUS
As one of the nation’s five active
black Catholic bishops, people
ask me all the time what they
can do to confront the racial problems
of our day.
I take their questions as a signal of
their sincere desire to live with the
tone established for us by the savior
Jesus Christ, a sincere desire to let his
Gospel redeem us from the sins of fear,
indifference, and racial and ethnic
prejudice.
The place to start, I believe, is in our
own hearts and in our own little corners
of the world. And the first concrete
step we need to take is to courageously
examine our consciences.
Think about our thoughts and words,
our actions or inactions. Do we detect
expressions or subtle references to the
inferiority of certain peoples?
Have we picked up conscious or
unconscious bias regarding peoples of
color or other marginalized peoples
from our homes and formative environments?
How might this have influenced
my worldview or determined
my assumptions about certain types of
people?
Continuing this examination, we
want to determine whether we avoid
the experiences, the neighborhoods,
or the viewpoints of people of color.
Do I see people of color as a threat,
or do I consider them beneath me or
somehow making my life difficult? At
the extremes: Do I get anxious or cross
the street when I see a person of color
walking toward me?
We are believers in Jesus Christ.
Our gestures and words should always
indicate that we believe the Christian
message: that every man, woman, and
child has inherent dignity.
In the Gospels, we find a definite
pattern in the life of Jesus. He broke
through the popular biases and prejudices
that plagued the society of his day.
As a Jew, Jesus was deliberate about
his friendships and about including
those who were excluded and at the
margins of society and the religious
community: the sick, those whose lives
were morally compromised, the impoverished,
Samaritans, Romans, officials,
women.
With his parable of the good samari-
24 • ANGELUS • November 13-20, 2020

tine
ng, “Let
ning
ryland
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/KEVIN J. PARKS, CATHOLIC REVIEW
tan, in which he teaches us to see every
person as our neighbor, and with his
command to love even our enemies, he
sets the tone for how we are to live as
his disciples.
Over the millennia, Jesus’ disciples
have not always lived up to the teachings
and example of their Master.
Jesus called everyone to conversion
of life. And he continues to call us to
break through the hesitation and fear
endemic to the human condition when
we are faced with those who are different
from us, whether those differences
be racial, economic, or differences in
wealth.
From the example of Jesus, we can
start to think about how we might make
concrete changes in our homes and
parishes to think and act more inclusively,
with the same love and sensitivity
that Jesus demonstrated.
In our homes and parishes, we need
to make spaces for our young people
to be able to pray and reflect on racism
and the social unrest we have been
seeing.
And as parents and Church leaders,
Chicago Auxiliary
Bishop Joseph N.
Perry, the postulator
for the sainthood
cause of Father
Augustus Tolton,
speaks at the Dominicans’
motherhouse
in Nashville,
Tennessee, Feb. 10,
2019.
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/COURTESY THE DOMINICAN SISTERS OF NASHVILLE
we need to really listen to their experiences.
What do they see happening
in their schools with fellow students
of different backgrounds, races, or
ethnicities?
We need to encourage our young
people to be creative, to be ambassadors
of friendship and goodwill. Young
people have keen observations about
what is fair, right, and wrong. We need
to invite them to come up with action
steps that are meaningful to them.
In Catholic dioceses around the
country, bishops have been strategic in
trying to increase diversity in ministries,
schools, liturgies, and diocesan
administrations. This has taken a lot
of energy, forethought, and education.
It has also taken the humility to admit
wrong and correct missteps.
I know this work best in my own
Archdiocese of Chicago. In the 1990s,
we launched racial sensitivity workshops
and other programs for pastors
and administrators in our parishes and
schools.
More recently, Cardinal Blase Cupich
has ordered the creation of a curriculum
on race to be included in our
elementary and secondary schools.
These kinds of initiatives can make
a difference for the next generation
of Catholics, who will hopefully see
things more clearly and do things better
than we are doing now.
Everywhere in the Church, we need
to continue to study and explore how
racism looks and how it is experienced
by people of color. We need to continue
to encourage pastors to preach
against racism and to take personal
responsibility to eradicate subtle traces
of racism in parish life.
The United States Catholic bishops
have produced many resources to help
us. Since 1958, the bishops have produced
nearly a dozen major statements
at the national level, most recently
“Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring
Call to Love — A Pastoral Letter
Against Racism” in 2018. Local bishops
around the country have issued their
own statements and pastoral letters.
I recommend reading these materials
and talking about them in your
Bible studies or in small group settings.
Broaden your awareness of how
structural realities in our society affect
minorities’ access to good schools,
quality health care, fair paying jobs,
and decent housing.
I also encourage people to “schedule”
diversity into their lives. We need to be
intentional about seeking ways to diversity
in our relationships, with co-workers,
neighbors, our circles of friends and
acquaintances.
Again, it is good to ask: Who are the
people you hang around with? Who
are your children’s friends? Are they
mostly or entirely of one ethnicity?
One practical thing we can do is try
to worship occasionally in a Catholic
Church where the congregation is
predominantly from a different ethnic
group. This helps us imbibe a sense of
the worth, the offerings of a people, the
culture and beauty of a people.
We need to continue to work to build
bridges and break down barriers and
try to link our parishes and ministries
across racial and ethnic lines.
Another idea might be to volunteer at
a parish food pantry or meal program;
especially bring your children along.
Performing the corporal works of mercy
deepens your awareness of the needs of
November 13-20, 2020 • ANGELUS • 25

09102020_C
n
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/KEVIN J. PARKS, CATHOLIC REVIEW
others, and how often race plays a part
in people’s poverty.
Single-race or predominantly ethnic
parishes are not the ideal. Often,
unfortunately, our parishes mirror the
racial segregation patterns of American
neighborhoods. We need to keep working
on overcoming these racial divides.
In our ministries we need to look for
ways to partner and link our parishes
across racial, ethnic, and cultural lines.
Diocesan-wide events can also be opportunities
to bring people together to
Donna Hargens, superintendent
of Catholic
Schools for the Archdiocese
of Baltimore,
congratulates Sts.
James and John School
student Breanna Ervin,
left, and Holy Angels
School student Jaylah
Golder, following their
remarks at the 2019
groundbreaking of the
Mother Mary Lange
School in Baltimore.
celebrate our diversity as a Church.
The first Pentecost shows us the
beautiful “weave” of the human race,
with people from every nation, race,
and language all gathered to hear the
Gospel. Pentecost shows us that the
Church is meant to be a universal
community of people. It shows us that
nationality, race, ethnicity, language
— these uniquely identifying human
marks — represent the imprint of a
remarkably artistic and loving Creator
upon us.
We still have a long way to go in making
that Pentecost template a reality in
our Church and in our neighborhoods
and society.
But Jesus insists that we implement
his teachings and that we be lights in
the world and the salt of the earth. In
other words, Jesus calls us to be the
seasoning of life’s experience toward
the better.
And with him, and working together,
we know that we can create more light
for our darkness, more courage for our
fears, more hope for our disappointments,
more wisdom for our confusion,
more love for our hate, and more peace
for our turmoil.
Much has been accomplished. And
much more needs to be done for the
honor of God.
Bishop Joseph N. Perry is a native of
Chicago and has served as an auxiliary
bishop for the Archdiocese of Chicago
since 1998. He is the diocesan postulator
of the sainthood cause for Ven.
Augustus Tolton, the first known black
Catholic priest in the U.S.
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26 • ANGELUS • November 13-20, 2020

n
Wednesday, November 18, 2020 * 7:00 PM * Q & A to follow
Sunday, November 22, 2020 * 2:00 PM * Q & A to follow
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tory
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November 13-20, 2020 • ANGELUS • 27
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10/26/20 4:13 PM

WITH GRACE
BY DR. GRAZIE POZO CHRISTIE
The consolation of ‘Two Crowns’
Adam Woronowicz in a scene from “Two Crowns.”
KONDRAT MEDIA
Regardless of which side of the great American political
divide one stands on, the view in 2020 is grim.
Everywhere people are beset by a widespread feeling
of impending doom, fueled by a fractured polity, a global
plague, and the fierce ideological attacks on family and faith
that increase in strength each day.
While our difficulties are real, it is crucial to put them into
perspective, both historical and supernatural. Historically,
even just in our own young country, things have been much,
much worse. And supernaturally, this is no war but more a
simple skirmish.
If you have trouble believing this, I recommend something
that helped me enormously: Watch the recently released
film “Two Crowns.”
The 92-minute documentary combines interviews and
well-acted recreations to depict the life of St. Maximilian
Kolbe. Most Catholics today know about the sacrifice that
lifted him, bounding, into the luminous ranks of the saints in
heaven. Watching, you will see in all its pathos and humanity
the famous moment when the Polish priest, already suffering
intensely in the Auschwitz concentration camp, volunteers to
die in the starvation cell.
He takes the place of another camp inmate who cried out
28 • ANGELUS • November 13-20, 2020
in despair, “My wife! My children!” when being chosen for
random extermination.
It’s the kind of heroism capable of inspiring us to do great
things, if we let it. But there is another blinding lesson in the
life of St. Maximilian.
That slow starvation in the fetid cell that he turned into a
chapel of grace — helping his friends die, agonizing one by
one with hymns and songs of undying hope in the tender
mercy of God — was only the end of his life. Before that he
spent decades sowing seeds of faith, building castles of apostolate,
growing forests of tall and splendid Christian men and
women. He was doing all of this in his native Poland, with
the exception of a brief stint in Japan.
In those years leading up to the German invasion, the
young priest did tremendous things. He founded a Catholic
evangelization movement called the “Militia Immaculatae”
(“Army of the Immaculate One”), centered around the total
consecration of each human heart to the Virgin Mary.
He built an apostolic center near Warsaw called the “City
of the Immaculata,” where he was joined by more than 650
friars in just 12 years. Living in poverty, St. Maximilian and
his friars created a magazine that reached a monthly circulation
of 1 million and a daily newspaper that reached more
“ L
a
w
S
O
R
f
P

than 230,000.
The idea was to use print and radio in cities across the
country to reach souls and draw them to Christ through
Mary.
Then in 1939 Poland went dark, swallowed by the German
invasion. St. Maximilian continued his work bravely, knowing
the risk he was running. He and the other friars not only
hid more than 2,000 Jews, but continued their publishing
ministry, announcing hope in the face of the tragedy. He was
eventually arrested and sent to the Auschwitz death camp.
It is clear that the man who sang hymns, comforted his
fellow prisoners, and exhibited only calm acceptance in
the face of the greatest torture was firmly grounded in the
most perfect hope. And yet, where was his hope but in the
purposes of God?
Every single material accomplishment of his life was being
ground to dust under the pitiless German boot. Whatever
was left would, after his death, be blown away by the awful
winds of decades-long Soviet oppression. Or would it?
Here is the lesson for us.
The faith of the Polish people, growing from seeds planted
by St. Maximilian, still bears the fruits of this persecution
today, even after a lifetime or two of dehumanization and
de-Christianization. Policies for the protection of the unborn,
of the family, of marriage, and of faith are thriving in Poland.
Long after the saint’s death, it is the Catholic faith that he
helped preserve and watered with his martyr’s blood that
keeps the Polish people strong against the ideologies that
seek to conquer them as the Nazis and the Soviets once did.
In our own moment of darkness we can think of St. Maximilian
and take heart.
There is no act of faith,
or apostolate, or charity,
that does not bear fruit.
There is no hope that
is not fulfilled in good
time. There is no fear
that in the end is not
perfectly relieved for
the one who wants
what God wants, and in
just the way that God
wants it, no matter how
great our terror.
If St. Maximilian
could go to his death in
perfect, faithful confidence,
in the darkest historical moment and the most cruel
place on earth, then we can proceed cheerfully. Whatever
good we can do today will find its way to where it is needed,
and all our hopes will be gratified.
Screenings of “Two Crowns” have been suspended due to
the coronavirus (COVID-19). To stay up-to-date with the
latest developments concerning ways to watch the film, visit
TwoCrownsMovie.com.
Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie practices radiology in the Miami
area, where she lives with her husband and five children, and
serves on the advisory board for The Catholic Association.
Like Sister de Lourdes and Sister Florence
Kruczek (right), 91, some 30,000 senior
Catholic sisters, brothers, and religious order
priests have spent their lives doing the Lord’s
work. Most served for little or no pay, and now
their religious communities do not have enough
retirement savings. Your gift to the Retirement
Fund for Religious offers vital support for
necessities, such as medications and nursing
care. Please be generous.
Roughly 94 percent of donations
directly aid senior religious.
“ Live with good humor
and just do the Lord’s
work,” says Franciscan
Sister de Lourdes
Okoniewski (left), 87.
Retirement Fund
for Religious
Please give to those who have given a lifetime.
Please give at your local parish
December 7–8.
To donate by mail:
Archdiocese of Los Angeles
Attn: Office of Vicar for Women Religious
3424 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles CA 90010-2241
Make check payable to Archdiocese of Los Angeles/RFR.
retiredreligious.org
November 13-20, 2020 • ANGELUS • 29
©2019 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC. All rights reserved.
Photo: Jim Judkis

INSIDE
THE PAGES
By KRIS MCGREGOR
Julian of Norwich:
The statue of
Julian of Norwich
on the west
front of Norwich
Cathedral, in
Norwich, Norfolk,
England, made by
the sculptor David
Holgate in 2014.
A guide for
hard times
“If God is supremely good and wise, why do evil and
the suffering of innocents exist?”
Pope Benedict XVI asked this question in his
audience on Dec. 1, 2010. To answer, he cites the words of
Julian of Norwich, a 14th-century English anchorite and
mystic found in the The Catechism of the Catholic Church
(cf. nn. 304-313, 314).
He recognized that “the Saints themselves asked this very
question. Illumined by faith, they give an answer that opens
our hearts to trust and hope: in the mysterious designs of
Providence, God can draw a greater good even from evil,
as Julian of Norwich wrote: ‘Here I was taught by the grace
of God that I should steadfastly hold me in the Faith ... and
that ... I should take my stand on and earnestly believe in ...
that ‘all manner of thing shall be well’ ” (The Revelations of
Divine Love, Chapter 32).
I spoke with Veronica Mary Rolf, who has written two
books on the life and teachings of this incredible woman,
“An Explorer’s Guide to Julian of Norwich” (IVP Academic,
$14) and “Julian’s Gospel” (Orbis Books, $26), which won
the 2014 Catholic Press Association Book Award.
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Kris McGregor: How did you come to know of Julian of
Norwich?
Veronica Mary Rolf: My deep, loving relationship —
spiritual friendship really — with Julian goes back to my
high school days at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in New
York City. My theology teacher used to say to me whenever
I was in crisis, “All shall be well, and all shall be well. And
thou shalt see thyself that all matter of things shall be well.”
Of course, those are Julian’s most famous words that she
heard the Lord speak to her.
30 • ANGELUS • November 13-20, 2020

As I read her
“revelations,” I
came to know
this woman,
speaking to me
of her experience
of Christ on
the cross, both
suffering and
transformed into
glory. Her whole
understanding of
Christ’s unconditional
love, of
the total lack of
blame, of the
total lack of wrath
or anger that she
felt coming from
Christ on the
cross, it was all
Veronica Mary Rolf
about embracing
and enfolding
and cherishing us. And wow, that packed a wallop, and it
still does.
At the age of 30, Julian suffered a deathly illness. For one
week she thought she was dying, and the priest brought a
crucifix. She looked at it and suddenly she was healed, and
she felt herself transported into an experience of deep, contemplative
revelation. She saw Christ on the cross.
She heard him speak to her, not through the lips, but
interiorly, and these 16 revelations unfolded over the next 11
hours. During this time, she asked Christ questions: What is
sin? What is suffering? Does God really love us, or does God
punish us? These are still the big questions we ask today.
She even laughed out loud at one point, she said. And then
finally, at the end of the revelations, she saw and felt Christ
in her heart, sitting in her heart. And she was so touched that
he was sitting, and not standing or leaving or coming. He
was securely there forever.
All of her revelations unfolded in this time period, but it
took her the next 40 or 50 years to write about them. She
wrote a “Short Text,” which many people love because it’s
very simple, in probably the late 1370s.
She had her revelations in 1373, but then in the 1390s,
she entered a very small anchorage. We speak of her as an
anchorite, but that was only the last part of her life. She had
already been a wife and mother, and probably lost a child in
the plague, and she’d been a businesswoman.
Her anchorage was attached to the side of the church. She
could hear Mass and receive communion. We know she
died sometime after 1416, so she was in the anchorage for
about 25 years.
McGregor: This was a period of extraordinary women.
I’m thinking of St. Bridget of Sweden and St. Catherine of
Siena. What a trio of women.
Rolf: Yes, and yet very different in many ways. We know St.
Catherine, although she had three years as a cloister in her
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
own home, was a very political figure, as well as a mystic, as
was St. Bridget.
Julian was not like that. Julian was probably hardly known
in her own time and for most of the 600 years since, until
the early 20th century. I feel she was saved for our time.
Julian’s writings must’ve been scurried out of England by
those who wanted to remain Catholic during the turmoil of
the Reformation in England and held by the Benedictine religious
women in France, and then copied. But they weren’t
published. They weren’t well circulated.
It wasn’t until the early 20th century when the “Short Text”
turned up, the so-called “Lost Text,” at Sotheby’s in 1910 at
an auction.
McGregor: Pope Benedict pointed out the importance of
these women and that their voices had been underutilized in
theology and needed to be heard, especially today.
Roth: Absolutely. Julian became the first woman to write a
book in the English language. She became the first female
English theologian, and she has been lauded as this pioneer,
but it took hundreds of years for it to get known.
She also has such a positive, light-filled, hope-filled message,
but she isn’t a Pollyanna. It isn’t an easy message. She
came to that realization through her contemplative life and
through the revelations, and as such it appeals to us because
we know she is grounded in the very suffering we endure. It’s
not like she was spared real life and the real sufferings, war,
famine.
She had to deal with the reality of sin in the world all
around her, and the wars and brutality and viciousness of
her time. And yet, she had to see how Christ was working
transformation through it all.
Unless we go through Calvary, we can’t really appreciate
Easter Sunday morning. You can’t whitewash or obliterate
the fact of our suffering, united with Christ suffering on the
cross. Because if you do, you can’t experience the Resurrection
and transformation.
We mustn’t act as if it’s all going to be well tomorrow —
wow, I’m going to get the job, I’m going to fall in love, win
the lottery. It’s about our ongoing spiritual transformation. It
gives us the mystical eyes, ears, and heart to see how Christ
is working now and in eternity because Christ is looking at
all of our suffering and already realizing how he is making it
well.
With God’s help, we can get through anything. We will
not be overcome. And I think that was her mantra. It doesn’t
mean our lives will be easy, but we will find deeper and
deeper peace and joy in the presence of Christ working in
us, and confidence. We will never be overcome by suffering
or sorrow or loss or illness or even evil. As Christ said on the
cross, “It is done. It is finished.”
He has overcome the world. And that’s how she says, “If
we mightily trust in him, we shall see how all shall be well.”
And that stays with me every day, every hour of the day. I
give thanks to Julian for being in my life, because I don’t
know what I would’ve done without her.
Kris McGregor is the founder of Discerninghearts.com, an online
resource for the best in contemporary Catholic spirituality.
November 13-20, 2020 • ANGELUS • 31

THE CRUX
BY HEATHER KING
Saints
alive
Author Mary Lea Carroll at Holy Doors of the Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Pasadena native Mary Lea Carroll
has written two engaging books
on saints. The first, “Saint Everywhere:
Travels in Search of the Lady
Saints,” (Prospect Park Books, $16)
came out in 2019. In it, she travels,
among other places, to Siena (St.
Catherine), Prague (Infant Jesus) and
Medjugorje (Our Lady of Peace).
This year, just in time for Christmas,
comes “Somehow Saints: More Travels
in Search of the Saintly” (Prospect
Park Books, $20). The publisher is
based in Altadena, making this small,
attractive volume altogether “locally
grown.”
“Somehow Saints” is no “Pilgrim’s
Progress.” Carroll is not the type (nor
am I) to undergo the three-day ordeal
of fasting, walking barefoot, and prayer
known as St. Patrick’s Purgatory; nor to
crawl two miles up a hill on her knees
to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe
in Mexico City.
To her great credit, in fact, she never
pretends to be anything other than
exactly what she is: a grateful wife and
mother with a beautiful home, a husband
retired from a comfortable job,
three grown kids, a yard full of rose
bushes, and eyelash extensions. She
likes boutique hotels, good coffee, fine
restaurants, and shopping.
Also to her great credit — and this is
what elevates “Somehow Saints” above
a mere stocking stuffer — Carroll is a
born traveler: comfortable talking to
strangers, willing to follow up on possi-
32 • ANGELUS • November 13-20, 2020

Monument to St. Marie of the Incarnation, founder of the Ursuline convent, in Quebec.
ble dead-end leads, always ready for an
adventure. She goes out of her way to
talk to the people she meets along the
way: cabbies, bartenders. She’s curious,
persistent, and a genuine seeker.
Take, for example, the first paragraph
of the chapter “A Mystic in the Classroom:
St. Marie of the Incarnation
(1599-1672, Quebec, New France)”:
“Bill and I had just finished an early
morning walking tour of Quebec, a
city that sits so picturesquely on the
banks of the St. Lawrence River. Four
hundred years of history whisper and
wink through winding alleys and
wondrously old architecture. Now,
Bill wanted to peel off and chill in
our small Hôtel de Vieux. Actually,
chill isn’t the right word — we were
freezing in the fall temperatures of
the Great North. He wanted a warm
room and a football game. After we
parted ways, I looked around and
found that I was standing in front of
the stone Chapel of the Ursulines and
its 350-year-old elementary school.
Five steps away was the contemporary
Ursuline Museum. I didn’t know
anything about the Ursulines, so I
thought, Hey! And went in.”
Don’t let the breezy tone fool you:
What follows is a lively and engaging
description of the life of a saint who I,
for one, had never heard of.
Carroll reads her history, does her research,
and distills the information into
an informative, accessible, compelling
narrative. In 1635, St. Marie of the Incarnation,
two fellow Ursuline sisters,
their female patron, a Jesuit priest,
and two Augustinian nursing sisters
endured a three-month, 4,400-mile sea
voyage on the “St. Joseph” to arrive in
Quebec.
They were the first order of nuns and
the first missionaries to arrive in the
New World, where they established
the first girls school.
And the winter cold was so intense
that one account holds the frontier
sisters slept in “chests modeled after
coffins so they wouldn’t freeze to
death. That’s a fun idea!”
Carroll, in other words, never delivers
a mere dry recitation of facts. She
intersperses the saints’ stories with
glimpses of her own quirky Catholic
family history. She asks the questions
we all ask if we’re honest. What is it
with Catholic relics and the mummified
fingers, heads, feet? Are Marian
visions all a giant hoax? Are bodily
mortifications a disguised form of masochism
— or one gateway to genuine
miracles?
She makes a pilgrimage to Manhattan’s
old St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where
the Ven. Pierre Toussaint (1766-1853),
a Haitian-born freed slave who became
a wealthy hairdresser to high-society
white women, was originally buried.
She visits the Mohawk Nation Reservation
outside Montreal and makes
friends with the women who run the
SHUTTERSTOCK
St. Kateri Tekakwitha Shrine adjacent
gift shop and home-curated museum.
She travels all the way to Venice to
see the convent that had been home
to St. Josephine Bakhita (circa 1869-
1947). Born a slave in Sudan, sold to
Arab traders, and viciously mistreated,
St. Josephine escaped to Italy,
converted to Catholicism, became a
Canossian sister, forgave her abusers,
and then — understandably — was
canonized.
Mary Virginia Merrick (1866-1955), a
Washington, D.C., native, was paralyzed
as an adolescent from a fall from a
window. Confined to a wheelchair and
in incessant chronic pain, she devoted
the rest of her life to sewing clothes for
needy children.
Here’s where Carroll gets to the real
question posed by the saints: “[Merrick’s
example] just got me to pondering.
Why did I let so much time go by
when I was in my twenties, cocktail
waitressing in that country-western
fish house or, for months, lying in the
sun on a Greek island. I mean, none
of it was wrong, but did I not know
that time is finite? Could I not have
attempted more?”
Well — couldn’t we have?
Carroll will host a Zoom talk and
reading for Holy Family Bookstore
in South Pasadena Nov. 12, and a
conversation and launch at Vroman’s
Bookstore in Pasadena Nov. 18. For
more events, check her website,
maryleacarroll.com.
Heather King is an award-winning author, speaker, and workshop leader. For more, visit heather-king.com.
November 13-20, 2020 • ANGELUS • 33

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