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Dismantling the Marriage Myth

Contrary to the often looming reports on marriage today, Ellen McCarthy of the Washington Post has recently published a rather uplifting article on marriage education as “divorce prevention,” underscoring how marriage remains an important institution in today’s American culture and how couples in crisis have reason to hope.

McCarthy begins by introducing couples who have undergone a marriage education retreat for Army couples – a free, two-day event that’s part of an Army-wide initiative called Strong Bonds. The retreat consists of taking couples away from their daily routines, giving them time to think critically about their relationship under the guidance of a chaplain. McCarthy notes how courses such as Strong Bonds have been sprouting at a rapid rate that is indicative of the way marriage experts are beginning to view “an institution that remains the fundamental unit of our society but is so shaky that it crumbles about half the time.”

“Americans,” she explains, “place enormous value on marriage: Nearly 90 percent of us will take the plunge at some point in our lifetime, according to the 2009 book The Marriage-Go-Round by Andrew Cherlin.”

As such, the growing popularity of marriage education has persuaded leaders of the federal government and the U.S. military to spend hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars a year “attempting to disseminate its teachings to the masses.”

McCarthy boldly states that at the core of this movement is the dismantling of the basic principle which drives romantic relationships in America: “That if you find your soul mate, everything will be fine.” Instead, the new approach now asks every participant: What if the truth is that you didn’t marry the wrong person? What if you just don’t know how to be married?

In other words, without undermining the importance of finding the right life partner, this task force for saving marriages stresses the skills needed – especially in the realm of communication – to make a marriage last.
 
Notably, McCarthy brings up a study by psychology professor John Gottman that reveals that couples who make it to their 50th anniversary and those who divorce before they hit their fifth disagree more or less the same amount. Thus, what seems to distinguish happy couples from those on the brink of divorce is how creatively and constructively they manage their differences. As such, organizations like Strong Bonds, PREP and the National Institute of Relationship Enhancement (to name a few) have begun to focus on behaviors in marriage, specifically when it comes to how couples communicate and handle conflict.

Yet while it is incredibly encouraging to note the peak in interest in preventing divorce and circulating practical tools to build up marriages, McCarthy neglects to mention anything regarding the faith aspect of a marriage, which, as the Church has long taught, holds great significance when it comes to the quality and preservation of a union.

After all, the fundamentals of marriage based on faith principles give couples a life-changing perspective on the meaning of their union, understanding it as a vocation rooted in the love of God and sustained though the sacramental life of the Church.

These principles form the basis of many successful marriage ministries that have sprouted up in recent years – most notably, Marriage Encounter (for couples looking to improve their marriage) and Retrouvaille (for couples that have reached a crisis point). Both faith-based marriage renewal experiences boast tremendous success rates. With programs in 24 countries, Retrouvaille has saved the marriages of 80 percent of nearly 50,000 couples who have attended programs in Canada and the U.S. over the last decade (many of whom had already filed divorce papers or were living apart when they began the program).

Fittingly, the U.S. bishops’ conference has just released the first in a series of videos highlighting the beauty and possibility of marriage as God intended it.

Andrew Lichtenwalner, who coordinated the project, explained to ZENIT that the series titled Made for Each Other “offers an introduction to the topic of sexual differences and how men and women complement each other as husband and wife.” Intended as a catechetical and educational aid for priests, deacons, catechists and teachers, the videos include a viewer’s guide and resource booklet. Read here for more info.

Finally, the Pontifical Council for the Family will soon be releasing a marriage manual promoting marriage as a journey of faith and Christian life which leads to a deeper knowledge of the mystery of Christ, the Church and the meaning of grace and responsibility in marriage. In his recent address to the council, Pope Benedict stressed that it is only by making Christ the center of one’s personal life and one’s marriage that authentic love and self-giving is possible – two vital ingredients for a healthy marriage.

Learning to forgive, respect, empathize and communicate are practical and essential tools without which no marriage can last. While emphasizing those tools, the Church in her wisdom offers couples even more, providing them a framework by which their marriage and faith can both be strengthened.

-Michèle Nuzzo-Naglieri

The Pope's Call for a New Evangelization

Last night, Pope Benedict XVI announced the creation of what Vatican observers have been buzzing about for weeks: a pontifical council dedicated to furthering the new evangelization, especially in regions where secularism has become deeply entrenched.

Fittingly, the pope made his announcement on the vigil of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, the two greatest evangelists in the Church’s earliest years. Speaking at a prayer service in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, Pope Benedict said the new council’s primary task will be

… promoting a renewed evangelization in the countries where the first proclamation of faith has already resounded and where there are churches of ancient foundation present, but which are living through a progressive secularization of society and a kind of “eclipse of the sense of God.”

Details so far on how the council’s goals will be implemented are slim, though one can be sure that the Church in Europe – where Mass attendance is down to the low single digits in some countries – was especially on the Holy Father’s mind.

Indeed, the creation of this “new evangelization pontifical council” (an official name hasn’t been released) significantly builds upon what has been a continuous theme in Benedict’s pontificate: a plea for the Western world to return to its Christian heritage. Renewal – whether social, political, economical or spiritual – cannot happen in a country that has uprooted itself from the greater context of its patrimony, or fails to recognize inherent truths about the dignity of man, the pope has repeatedly stressed.

Enter the new evangelization – a term coined by Pope John Paul II and reflected upon beautifully by Pope Benedict XVI last night.

Men and women today, he said, long for “an authentic and full life, they need truth, profound freedom, unconditional love. Even in the deserts of the secularized world, the human soul thirsts for God.”

It’s exactly in that thirsting of the soul that the new evangelization seeks to meet man. Pope John Paul II recognized, as does his successor, that while the needs and problems faced by modern men and women have changed – and thus, that ways to preach the Gospel must adapt, too – our basic desire for truth, freedom and unconditional love remains the same. How the evangelizing Church meets that desire today – always pointing to Christ as its fulfillment – requires both creativity and grace … and in this case, perhaps the creation of a pontifical council.

In today’s column on Headline Bistro, Catholic scientist Gerard Nadal hits the nail on the head in offering a prescription to a society rampant with sobering examples of a Culture of Death.

He writes, “Rather than curse the darkness around them, [Saints Peter and Paul] … saw the world about them as a harvest waiting for workers to bring in the sheaves. They looked upon the pagans as utterly bereft and boldly proclaimed their dignity and true worth. We must do the same.”

He continues:

Our most persuasive arguments will not be intellectual apologias of dogma and canon law, which seem parched and lifeless to the parched and lifeless. Rather, our evangelization must target people’s hearts, address the issues of isolation, meaninglessness and despair that drive people to contraception, abortion, euthanasia, and the rejection of sacramental marriage. We must appeal to the fruits of faith and not its rules. People buy the rules only when they desire the fruits that follow.

Another great theme for Pope Benedict is precisely the type of evangelization that goes hand in hand with what Nadal is describing: the personal, one-on-one witness in which a person brings Christ’s presence to the world through his or her everyday actions.

Before he became pope, then-Cardinal Ratzinger told a group of catechists gathered in Rome that “to evangelize means … to teach the art of living.”

“This is why we are in need of a new evangelization – if the art of living remains an unknown, nothing else works,” he said. “But this art is not the object of a science – this art can only be communicated by one who has life – he who is the Gospel personified.”

Following the Holy Father’s lead, may each and every member of the Church readily undertake this mission, serving as witnesses of hope to a world that desperately longs for it.

-Elizabeth Hansen

An Oasis for Religious Freedom

In 2004 Cardinal Angelo Scola launched an important and timely initiative in an effort to build greater mutual understanding between Christians and Muslims. His creation, the Oasis Foundation, accomplishes this through a biannual journal, a monthly newsletter, a book collection and a website. This week, Oasis held the annual meeting of its Scientific Committee in Beirut, Lebanon. The meeting brought together 70 Christian and Muslim leaders to focus on the theme “Education between Faith and Culture: Christian and Muslim experiences in Dialogue.”

Lebanon was in many ways an ideal choice for the gathering. The country has long been seen as a shining example of the potential for interreligious cooperation. Despite the fact that in recent years large number of Christians have fled the country due to religious persecution, Lebanon still boasts the largest Christian population in the Middle East. It is a country in which thousands of Muslim students attend Christian school and universities – a reality unheard of in the rest of the region.

The Oasis meeting this week led to several distinct proposals for future dialogue. One idea is to create a manual exploring the shared values between the three great monotheistic faiths of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. According to Father Samir Khalil, one of the conference attendees interviewed by AsiaNews, such a manual on values like respect, openness towards others and charity could have a profound impact on young people who might otherwise be swayed by fundamentalist charlatans. Another proposal is to publish a new history of the Crusades, jointly authored by a Christian and a Muslim, in order to move past lingering hard feelings over the perceived abuses on both sides.

John Allen conducted an exclusive interview with Cardinal Angelo Scola on the prospects of Muslim-Christian dialogue and the importance of education in the quest for unity. Cardinal Scola told Allen:

The most grave problem in the Middle East is violence: violence against Christians, the permanent conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, but also violence among Muslims. … Normally, they say that to avoid violence you’ve got to promote education. Naturally that’s true, as long as it’s clear what kind of education you’re promoting. There’s a kind of education that closes someone and makes them violent, and there’s a kind that dissolves one’s personality altogether, cutting ties with the people who generated you. Certainly we need education, but not just any education. We need educational practices that know how to connect truth and freedom. In Lebanon, this necessity is very clear: the schools of that country have produced both militia members and people of peace. Now we’re trying to understand how to favor the latter. That’s a precondition to any conversation about dialogue.”

You can read the full interview with Cardinal Scola here.

The idea that education is the best antidote to the onslaught of fundamentalism and violence was echoed by Archbishop Henri Teissier of Algeria. In an interview with Zenit, Archbishop Teissier shared his own personal experience in Algeria where Islamic fundamentalism helped provoke a bloody civil war (1991-2002), and where Catholic schools teaching Muslim students have since served to promote mutual understanding.  
This week’s Oasis meeting does appear to have inspired some concrete efforts towards building mutual understanding. Tarek Mitri, Lebanon’s Information Minister, announced March 25 (Feast Day of the Annunciation) as a new national holiday to observe Christian-Muslim dialogue – through the lens of the two religions’ mutual love and admiration for the Virgin Mary. Mitri called new policies aimed at promoting respect for other faiths “preventive diplomacy” to guarantee peace.

This October, Pope Benedict XVI will host the much anticipated Synod on the Middle East to explore ways to strengthen Christian communities in the troubled region. Looking ahead to the synod, Cardinal Scola said, “The bishops of the Middle East are well aware that given the situation facing many of them, if I can use a slightly rude expression, this is almost a ‘last call.’ This obviously means the event will be freighted with a lot of expectations, but it will also help it go directly to what’s essential.”

While the synod may very well be a “last call,” for educators who properly understand their role to promote respect and tolerance while not diminishing truth, it is simply time to go to work.

-David Naglieri

Religious World Leaders Gather to Push G8 Nations for Change

Today marks the third and last day of the G8 Religious Leaders Summit in Canada where, since 2005, up to 100 religious leaders from diverse faith traditions have gathered to discuss ways of encouraging G8 nations to remain committed to the UN Millennium Development Goals. As a complement to the G8 meeting of political leaders taking place in Toronto, Ontario from June 25-26th, the Religious Leaders Summit has gathered in the central city of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

For three days, leaders of the Christian, Judaic, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Islamic, Bahá'í, indigenous and Shinto faith traditions have been drafting a statement (to be released later today) focusing on three main issues: the eradication of extreme poverty, care for creation and investing in peace.  The first draft of the statement can be read here.

Of great significance for this year’s summit is the Middle Eastern, African and indigenous representation, among which is his Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia.

Likewise, the Roman Catholic contingent is represented by Archbishop James Weisgerber of Winnipeg and Bishop Pierre Morissette of Saint-Jérôme, Québec, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Due to the summit’s location in the heart of indigenous Canada, the First Nations presence has been prominent. In an interview with Salt and Light Television, Anishinabe elder and spiritual leader David Courchene said that he hopes that all those present realize the significance and influence that they hold.

“We should feel that we are alive with the highest power that exists,” he said. “All we need to do is secure the direction that that spirit is willing to offer.”

Headline Bistro spoke to Salt and Light Television reporter Kris Dmytrenko, who is covering the religious summit, to learn more about the significance of this gathering in terms of its influence on G8 politicians.

“If you consider for a moment the amount of people that are represented here by these religious leaders, we’re talking millions,” Dmytrenko said. “This is unprecedented. In terms of lobbying efforts, it will be by far the broadest collective statement that has been developed to date.  If anyone can hope to influence the G8 leaders in a significant way, it will be this group.”

Dmytrenko spoke at length with Bishop Morissette, who explained that at the heart of the gathering is the desire to formulate a religious voice on many of these global issues and to do so in a spirit of humility and great conviction, recognizing on the one hand that although spiritual leaders are not economic experts, they are experts on issues of morality and ethics. As such, they bear a great responsibility to embrace their callings.

Delivering a very powerful and emotional appeal on responsibility to the leaders of the summit was retired Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire, a Catholic and prominent Canadian senator, widely known as the commander of the United Nations peacekeeping force in 1993 that attempted to stop the genocide in Rwanda. Drawing from his experiences recounted in his book Shaking Hands with the Devil, Dallaire challenged the religious leaders to offer a vision of what the world can be. As reported by the Anglican Journal, Dallaire said that faith communities have a “significant authority and responsibility” and, because they see a common humanity, can intervene in situations of conflict. Nations, on the other hand, are dominated by three considerations: “What am I risking politically? What’s my self-interest? Will there be any casualties?”

“What world leaders are doing is leadership by crisis management,” he said. “We are not shaping the future but reacting to it. … Who is really advancing human rights?”

Dallaire called particular attention to the plight of more than 300,000 child soldiers recruited by rebel groups and, in some cases, governments, in 30 conflicts around the world. More than 40% are girls, prized because they can fire small weapons, prepare food and act as sex slaves.

“It’s not just a crime against humanity,” said Dallaire. “It’s a sin” – and yet, he said, “I don’t see anybody rushing to the gates to stop this.”

Later today, the world religion leaders will present their message to Steven Fletcher, Canada's Minister of State for Democratic Reform, who in turn, will deliver it to the G8 Summit host, Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

On the first day of the summit, when Courchene first welcomed religious delegates to the traditional territory of his people, he said, “We are all suffering because of our inability to practice the law of spirituality, the law of love” which calls on people to perform acts of sharing and respect.

As the heads of the world’s most powerful nations gather in Ontario this weekend, let us pray that that law of love may guide their decisions.

Michèle Nuzzo-Naglieri

Pope Benedict's guidance for a new crop of priests

The lives of most ambassadors are quite comfortable, including dinners, galas and wining and dining dignitaries at cocktails parties in far flung locales.

But nothing could be further from that than the lives and duties of Christ’s special ambassadors: his priests.

Last Sunday, Pope Benedict’s homily given for the ordination of 14 new priests from the Diocese of Rome functioned as a final reflection on the Year for Priests and the challenges of the priesthood. His homily included stern guidance about the true nature of the priesthood: The priest does not work for himself, the pope declared, but he works for others as Christ’s “envoy” to his people.  

Pope Benedict impressed upon the new priests that their vocation should never be a comfortable position. The priesthood exists and runs against the grain of mainstream culture. In other words, priests should never expect or even hope to be invited to cocktail parties for doing God’s work. Though the priest is in service to society, society can never be the sole or primary arbiter of priests; they must be oriented towards Christ, not towards the expectations of popular culture or opinion. As Pope Benedict stated:  

The priesthood must never represent a way to achieve security in life or to attain social position. Anyone who aspires to the priesthood in order to increase his personal prestige and power has radically misunderstood the significance of this ministry. Anyone whose main goal is to realize an ambition of his own, to achieve success, will always be a slave to himself and to public opinion. In order to be noticed he will have to adulate; he must say what people want to hear, he must adapt to changing fashions and opinions. In this way, he will deprive himself of the vital relationship with truth, reducing himself to condemning tomorrow what he praises today. 

His words were aimed not only at priests, but at all who would seek worldly praise: “A man who organizes his life like this,” the Holy Father added, “a priest who sees his ministry in these terms, does not truly love God and neighbor.”

Trumpeting the fashionable opinions of the day is easy to do – especially in a media environment that can be downright hostile to the Church and its priesthood – and will win praise and popularity. Yet in so doing, one loses fidelity to the truth of Christ and compromises one’s priestly mission. It is Christ who prevents us from becoming a rudderless ship, tossed, turned and misdirected by every movement of the sea.

Benedict clearly shows why priests’ works are guided by the path of Christ, not the path of least resistance.

The priesthood is often a thankless job of service, and the world will not offer a due reward but rather will ignore or even condemn the good works of priests. But that is the point of the priesthood.

As Archbishop Fulton Sheen once wrote in The Priest Is Not His Own, “Contact with people for Christ’s sake is the victimhood that makes the priesthood. Only by also being a lamb offered through forgetfulness of worldly superiority does the priest become the shepherd of souls.” 

A World Cup of Hope

It’s Day 11, and World Cup mania has once again reached fever pitch. With entire nations coming to a halt when their team hits the field, soccer is arguably the world’s most watched sport, with the power to affect national pride and – as FIFA now proudly affirms – bring about hope.

In 2005, the international governing body of association football formalized its commitment to social development by creating Football for Hope, a global movement that uses the sport to achieve sustainable development. By bringing together hundreds of NGOs, Football for Hope provides countless young people with opportunities that were once out of reach.

2010 marks the first year in which the social dimension of the game will be celebrated as an official element of the FIFA World Cup. A Football for Hope Festival is set to take place in the Alexandra township in Johannesburg from July 4 -10, during the final and most thrilling week of the global tournament.

“From the minefields of Cambodia to the slums of Nairobi, football can bring hope to the lives of young people,” said Jürgen Griesbeck, managing director of the initiative streetfootballworld, which collaborated with FIFA to create Football for Hope. “This festival will be a celebration of the people who dedicate their lives to helping others in their community using the game we all love.”

As the first world cup held on African soil, there is no better time or place for the officiating of the marriage between sports and hope.

Although Ghana is thus far proving to be the hope of the continent in terms of bringing home the cup, much attention remains on Catholic soccer star Didier Drogba, the French and Ivorian soccer hero who plays for Chelsea in the Premier League and is the captain and all-time top scorer of the Ivory Coast national soccer team. Beyond changing the face of the game, Drogba is credited for having used his stardom to bring peace to his country in the lead up to the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

A little background:

The issue of identity has long been at the center of the Ivorian crisis. Known in the early 1960s and 1970s as a tranquil place in West Africa, the country’s flexible immigration policy, measured agricultural policy and political stability attracted many citizens from the poor and unstable neighboring countries.

This new influx of manpower worked hard in the coffee and cocoa plantations, propelling the country to the position of the world’s top cocoa producer and second top coffee producer. Immigrant families began to dramatically outnumber local inhabitants in many regions of the country. Recognizing their power in numbers, they began an attempt to participate in the country’s political life. They were met with fierce resistance from self-proclaimed “true Ivorians” who sought to exclude immigrants from national politics. Under the administration of President Bédié, an even fiercer identity dogma took root whereby immigrants and people from the north were labeled “undesirables” and began being harassed by armed forces.

After the third coup attempt in September of 2002 failed, the country spiraled into civil war divided into two factions: the rebel-held north and the pro-government south.

While the country slid into civil war, the Ivorian national football team, the Elephants, remained intact. With the team’s top soccer players coming from all parts of the country, the Elephants became a strong symbol of unity to the point where violence would literally cease whenever the national team played. As Selay Marius Kouassi of Twenty Ten writes: "For a few short hours, northerners and southerners thought of themselves as Ivorians... – transcending political parties, tribes and religion."

In October 2005, Didier Drogba surprised Ivorians with an appeal. After defeating Sudan 3-1 and leading Ivory Coast to the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany, Drogba, surrounded by his team mates in the dressing room, fell to his knees, asked all of his teammates to kneel down with him, looked straight into the camera, and begged both warring factions to lay down their arms.

“Citizens of Ivory Coast,” he said, “from the north, south, center and west, we beg you on our knees to forgive each other! A great country like Ivory Coast cannot sink into chaos forever. Lay down your weapons and organize elections.”

This appeal was broadcast for months by the state-run TV station and was answered with a cease fire, bringing the five-year civil war to an end.

After being named African Player of the Year in 2006, Drogba flew with his trophy to Bouaké, the former rebel stronghold just north of Abidjan, to share it with the northern population.

“I am here to show to the whole world that I am one of yours,” he said. “There should be no distinction between the north, the south, the east, west and center … we are the same country.”

Back in Abidjan, a few months after his visit to Bouaké, Drogba requested that the Africa Nations Cup qualifier against Madagascar be played in Bouaké. His bold wish was shockingly granted by politicians and football authorities, and for the first time since the start of the war, a soccer match was to be played in the north.

Many of the Ivory Coast’s top dignitaries from the south drove to Bouaké to attend the historic game in the packed-to-capacity stadium. Drogba led his team to a 5-0 win and for the first time ever, rebel soldiers joined government forces in celebration of a victory that in the end, helped cement the country’s peace process.

Although a broken arm has prevented top performance during this year’s World Cup, Drogba remains an athletic hero that has affected unimaginable change for his country and elevated soccer to noble levels. Between such players for peace and FIFA’s far reaching opportunities for change, the 2010 World Cup has indeed embodied “Football for Hope” like no other tournament. 

Michèle Nuzzo-Naglieri

Apologizing for 'Bloody Sunday'

Yes...

I can't believe the news today
Oh, I can't close my eyes
And make it go away
How long...
How long must we sing this song?
How long? How long...

Those famous opening lines to U2’s hit song “Sunday Bloody Sunday” may have finally been answered. The lyrics were penned to voice the anger and frustration of Irish citizens following the killing of 14 protesters by British troops during a 1972 civil rights march in Derry, Ireland – a horrific event that came to be known as “Bloody Sunday.”  How long must we sing this song? Well, if Bono meant until the truth was revealed and apologies issued, then this week marked the culmination of a search for justice that spanned four decades.

This Tuesday the British government revealed the highly-anticipated Saville Report, a 12-year-old study into the events of Bloody Sunday. The 5,000-page report, which cost nearly $300 million (USD), asserted the innocence of the protesters and painted the British soldiers involved in the shootings as reckless and impulsive. The report also led to a historic apology by British Prime Minister David Cameron.

First, abrief backgrounder: On Jan. 30, 1972, British troops opened fire on civil rights demonstrators who were demanding universal suffrage in Northern Ireland and an end to discrimination against Catholics. Despite evidence that numerous victims were shot in the back while fleeing, the British government’s Widgery Tribunal exonerated the soldiers after concluding that they had fired in self-defense. However, in 1998, Tony Blair ordered Lord John Saville's commission to undertake a new investigation of the incident as part of the Northern Ireland peace process.

In his report issued this week, Lord Saville concluded: “What happened on Bloody Sunday strengthened the Provisional IRA, increased Nationalist resentment and hostility towards the army and exacerbated the violent conflict of the years that followed. Bloody Sunday was a tragedy for the bereaved and the wounded, and a catastrophe for the people of Northern Ireland.”
You can read the full report here.

British PM David Cameron apologized to victims' relatives in a statement to the British Parliament.

“What happened should never, ever have happened,” he said. “The government is ultimately responsible for the conduct of the armed forces and for that, on behalf of the government, indeed, on behalf of our country, I am deeply sorry.”

Bishop Seamus Hegarty of Derry responded to the publication of the Saville Report saying, "The ways in which people on different sides of the community have viewed the events of Bloody Sunday and have interpreted their significance has been a source of pain and tension over the past three decades. The publication of this report now presents us with the possibility of some healing of those differences."

Thousands gathered in Derry’s Guildhall to watch Cameron’s historic apology and to mark a profound moment of healing for Ireland. One of the witnesses in the crowd was Bishop Edward Daly, the former bishop of Derry who was a curate at the time of Bloody Sunday. TV cameras captured him assisting a bloodied victim down the street, a gripping scene that became an enduring image of the historic day. Dalytold the Irish Catholic, ''There will be a healing out of this. It is a burden off my shoulders. For 38 years, it has been a heavy burden at times.''

The next time you hear “Sunday Bloody Sunday” on the radio, don’t forget how those powerful lyrics mirror a modern quest for justice. 

-David Naglieri

Encouraging Updates From the Church in Cuba

In recent weeks the Catholic Church in Cuba is experiencing a stunning resurgence of political influence. As Cuba welcomes Vatican Foreign Minister Archbishop Dominique Mamberti this week for a series of high level meetings, hope is growing that the Church in Cuba can help spearhead long-needed reforms in the communist country.

The Roman Catholic Church, for decades marginalized in Cuba, burst on the scene last month when Cardinal Jamie Ortega successfully negotiated an end to a ban on marches by the Ladies in White, a small group of wives and mothers of political prisoners who have faced violence and repression from the Cuban government. Ortega followed this up with a private meeting with President Raul Castro in which the Church was able to secure the transfer of twelve prisoners of conscience to prisons closer to their families, and ensure improved medical care for inmates.

Ortega also arranged for the release of prisoner Ariel Sigler in Matanzas province. Sigler, who is paralyzed from the waist down, had been serving a 25 year sentence for treason. His release was praised by the U.S. State Department, which called Sigler’s release a “positive development.”

NPR offers a poignant glimpse into the lives of the women who make up the Ladies in White. Julia Nunez, whose husband was arrested in a 2003 crackdown on political dissidents, says she has not lost hope that her husband will be released. She told NPR, "I and other Ladies in White haven't lost faith that the prisoners who are in poor health will be released, and that others will follow."

Mamberti’s presence in Cuba this week coincides with the tenth annual “Catholic Social Week,” bringing together religious leaders and top Cuban scholars, including several from U.S. universities. Mamberti is expected to lead discussions on economic reform in Cuba and national reconciliation between islanders and the large Cuban exile community in the United States.

The sudden shift in the Cuban government’s view of the Catholic Church has triggered much speculation as to the motives behind the change. Global Post speculates that Castro is seeking to initiate reforms without appearing to bow to U.S. pressure. By working with the Catholic Church, the Cuban government has found a national partner to share credit for reforms that will help heal decades of economic duress caused by the US commercial, economic and financial embargo imposed on Cuba.

While Cardinal Ortega has won two crucial concessions over the past month, and Archbishop Mamberti is expected to privately push for the release of more political prisoners this week, the Church in Cuba is careful to remain humble in its hopes for reform.

“We’ve always said that this is process, and like any process, it won’t necessarily move forward at the same speed and along a straight line,” church spokesman Orlando Marquez told reporters at a recent press conference. “The process has begun, and we hope it will continue.”

As the Church in Cuba intensifies its efforts to create a social order more reflective of Christian values, it will do well to heed the advice of Pope John Paul II. In his historic visit to Cuba in 1998 the late Holy Father spoke to the bishops of Cuba, urging them to assert their position in Cuba, but always for the right reason. He said:

“…Continue your efforts to discern those areas which rightly belong to the Church, not for the sake of increasing her power — for this is alien to her mission — but for the sake of increasing her ability to serve others. In this undertaking and with ecumenical openness, seek the healthy co-operation of other Christian confessions and maintain a frank dialogue with the institutions of the State and the independent agencies of civil society, endeavoring always to deepen and expand that dialogue.”

Hopefully that expanding dialogue will soon lead to more released prisoners and ultimately no more need for passionate protests by groups such as the Ladies in White.

-David Naglieri

Charity in the U.S.: Looking Back and Moving Forward

Last year was a record breaking one for the Knights of Columbus’ charitable endeavors. Earlier this month, the organization announced that its members had contributed 69 million hours of volunteer service, marking an increase of almost half a million hours from 2008. Likewise, in a year when total charitable donations were down across the country, Knights of Columbus councils still pulled ahead with $151million in charitable donations – over $1 million more than the previous year.

This surge in volunteerism has spiked as the need for assistance reached its highest ebb. As recent statistics indicate, this has been part of a broader trend in the U.S. as ordinary individuals have been responding to the increased need.

A new study by the Corporation for National & Community Services (CNCS) confirms that last year, the number of Americans volunteering was the highest since 2003, with 63 million people giving 8.1 billion hours of service.

“I think the important thing to remember is that it is part of the American spirit of generosity,” said Patrick Corvington, CEO of the CNCS. “What is amazing about this country is that people turn toward problems, rather than away from them.”

With the new host of crises and disasters that have ushered in 2010 – from the flooding in Nashville to the oil spill along the Gulf Coast to the earthquake in Haiti – it would not be a surprise if American generosity and volunteerism outstrip last year’s numbers in 2010. Time will tell.

Last Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI welcomed members of the Council of Europe Development Bank, a group devoted to financing social service projects supporting infrastructure and environmental improvement, educational facilities, and a broad range of development related projects. His words seemed addressed to business and banking leaders throughout the world, though, when he encouraged them to continue their work with a focus not simply on financial calculation, but on fraternal solidarity. He stressed the dignity of the human person and the common good that must lie at the center of all economic decisions for businessmen, political leaders and lending institutions.

Recalling themes from his latest encyclical Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict’s remarks were a sign that this will be a lasting legacy and message of his papacy, as he continues to be a champion for incorporating the spirit of charity into the fabric of society and into economic systems themselves. The pope is asking much more from the business world than a once-a-year, volunteerism day – he is advocating that charity and solidarity become permanent fixtures in economic and business decision-making on all levels, from individual actors to institutions.  His emphasis on charity envisions a shifted focus for economics, a “human-centered” view of capitalism informed by principles of fraternalism, mutual-aid and giving intended not to replace the profit motive, but to refine and humanize it.

With high levels of unemployment and great needs in the U.S. and around the world in 2009, people found themselves with more free time and opportunities to volunteer. But how long will this last?

Eventually, the economy will recover and economic hardships will subside as most Americans are able to find work. One can only hope that people continue to carry with them the spirit of selfless charity, and that voices like the pope’s will guide our thinking and help move our economy and business leaders in the direction of fraternity, solidarity and charity in tomorrow’s economy.

-Paul Ciarcia

Man and Nature: The environment in the news

Much of the news is still dominated by updates from the Gulf Coast, but a look at the headlines reveal multiple environmental stories developing around the world that are having profound impacts on both man and nature.

• Yesterday CNN highlighted an ongoing story in Nigeria that doesn’t seem to have taken hold much in American media. Since January, at least 111 children in northern Nigeria have died of lead poisoning likely caused by illegal gold mining in the region. Other sources cite a much higher number – over 160 in the last month alone, plus multiple miscarriages, reports of male impotency, and a devastating amount of livestock deaths.

For years, villagers have flocked to the region’s unregulated mines, especially with the recent soar in gold prices. But the process of extracting gold from the mountain’s ore is what’s deadly: After the men haul the rocks back to the villages, their wives bash it down to a powder, unknowingly releasing extremely high concentrations of lead particles into the dust and air. As young children are most susceptible to lead poisoning – and have closest contact with soil in the village – they make up the largest share of lead-related deaths in this region of the country.

The allure of gold is undeniable for villagers who traditionally eke out their living as farmers and herdsmen. A gram of gold could go for more than $23 – in comparison, most Nigerians live on less than $1 a day.

“It is a hard decision for us to make: striking a balance between gold mining … and the health of our children,” pointed out one village chief. “It only takes a few hours’ work to get a gram of gold while it takes a whole rainy season to grow a bag of millet.”

• Another major story this week is the discovery of nearly $1 trillion of vast mineral deposits in Afghanistan, which could alter the course of the current war and the nation’s economy forever.

“There is stunning potential here,” Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the U.S. Central Command, said Saturday on the enormous veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and lithium – the latter being the raw material used in batteries for laptops and BlackBerrys. “There are a lots of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant.”

Those ifs include how the discovery will affect the Taliban insurgency’s fierce battle to wrest control of the country; whether outside nations such as China will pounce on the chance to dominate the developing mining industry; how a country with virtually no mining infrastructure can extract the riches safely and in environmentally friendly means; and what the impact of nearly $1 trillion in untapped wealth will have on Afghanistan’s government – not exactly known for being free of corruption.

• Meanwhile, in Iraq, the ancient Shatt al Arab river is so polluted and withered after decades of mismanagement, neglect and diplomatic bickering under Saddam Hussein it can no longer hold back the salt water of the Persian Gulf – spelling destruction for the fisheries, crops and livestock in the once fertile peninsula of southeast Iraq.

This is the land of Eden – the Tigris and Euphrates rivers converge in the Shatt al Arab – turned into a wasteland, and the current government is barely in a position to address it.

“This used to be paradise,” one farmer told the New York Times.

• Finally, closest to home, a congressional panel released documents this week showing decisions made by BP engineers in the days leading up to the fatal Deepwater Horizon rig  explosion were based on concerns over cost and saving time.

“Time after time, it appears that BP made decisions that increased the risk of a blowout to save the company time or expense,” wrote Reps. Henry Waxman and Bart Stupak, the two top Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Four days before the explosion, for example, company engineers decided to use only six “centralizers” meant to stabilize the well, as opposed to the 21 recommended by a contracting company.

“It will take 10 hrs to install them … I do not like this,” BP’s well team leader wrote in an email.

All of these examples recall the truth that responsibility and respect toward man and the environment go hand in hand – and that when war, lust for power and desire for profit override a basic concern for one’s fellow human beings, nature, too, can and will suffer.

As Pope Benedict XVI wrote in Caritas in Veritate, “Our duties toward the environment are linked to our duties toward the human person, considered in himself and in relation to others. It would be wrong to uphold one set of duties while trampling on the other.”

Unfortunately, it seems communities around the world are learning that lesson the hard way.

-Elizabeth Hansen